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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/34941-8.txt b/34941-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5c2277a --- /dev/null +++ b/34941-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6640 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Bygone Church Life in Scotland, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Bygone Church Life in Scotland + +Author: Various + +Editor: William Andrews + +Release Date: January 13, 2011 [EBook #34941] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BYGONE CHURCH LIFE IN SCOTLAND *** + + + + +Produced by Brian Foley and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + +BYGONE CHURCH LIFE IN SCOTLAND. + + + + +[Illustration: Glasgow Cathedral with Blacader's Aisle] + + + + + Bygone Church Life in Scotland + + + Edited by William Andrews + + + LONDON: + WILLIAM ANDREWS & CO., 5, FARRINGDON AVENUE, E.C. + 1899. + + + + +WILLIAM·ANDREWS·& CO + +THE·MULL·PRESS + + + + +Preface. + + +I hope the present collection of new studies on old themes will win a +welcome from Scotsmen at home and abroad. + +My contributors, who have kindly furnished me with articles, are +recognized authorities on the subjects they have written about, and I +think their efforts cannot fail to find favour with the reader. + +WILLIAM ANDREWS. + +THE HULL PRESS, + +_Christmas Eve, 1898._ + + + + +Contents. + + + PAGE + + THE CROSS IN SCOTLAND. By the Rev. Geo. S. Tyack, B.A. 1 + + BELL LORE. By England Howlett 34 + + SAINTS AND HOLY WELLS. By Thomas Frost 46 + + LIFE IN THE PRE-REFORMATION CATHEDRALS. By A. H. Millar, + F.S.A., Scot. 64 + + PUBLIC WORSHIP IN OLDEN TIMES. By the Rev. Alexander Waters, + M.A., B.D. 86 + + CHURCH MUSIC. By Thomas Frost 98 + + DISCIPLINE IN THE KIRK. By the Rev. Geo. S. Tyack, B.A. 108 + + CURIOSITIES OF CHURCH FINANCE. By the Rev. R. Wilkins Rees 130 + + WITCHCRAFT AND THE KIRK. By the Rev. R. Wilkins Rees 162 + + BIRTH AND BAPTISMS, CUSTOMS AND SUPERSTITIONS 194 + + MARRIAGE LAWS AND CUSTOMS 210 + + GRETNA GREEN GOSSIP 227 + + DEATH AND BURIAL CUSTOMS AND SUPERSTITIONS 237 + + THE STORY OF A STOOL 255 + + THE MARTYRS' MONUMENT, EDINBURGH 260 + + + + +Bygone Church Life in Scotland. + + + + +The Cross in Scotland. + +BY THE REV. GEO. S. TYACK, B.A. + + +The Reformation in Scotland was of a character more sweeping and +destructive than is easy of realisation by an Englishman at the present +day. In the southern kingdom much that as symbolism was valuable, and as +art was admirable, was wantonly given over to the hammer or the flames at +that time; but one learns to be thankful for the many works of glory and +of beauty that were nevertheless left to us, when one turns one's eyes to +the northern realm. Carried away by the violence of the most extreme men, +the Reformation there became a veritable revolution, in which everything +that spoke of earlier times was condemned, and was treated as if it were a +sacrament of Satan; and the attempt was seriously made to render "the +King's Daughter" yet more "glorious within" by stripping her of every +shred of her "clothing of wrought gold." Religion, that it might be more +truly spiritual, was to be sent forth into the world absolutely naked of +every external sign or form. The furniture of the churches was torn out, +and sold or burnt; the statues of the saints were of course broken up; but +the organs were also pulled down, and even the carved stalls and screens +of the cathedrals were declared to be "idolatrous." Nothing illustrates +more strongly, and more curiously, the indiscriminate frenzy of +destruction which for a time took possession of the people, than the fact +that monuments and tombstones were even condemned as superstitious and +sinful. Only a comparatively few of all the many memorials of Scottish +worthies of earlier centuries escaped demolition, and this not wrought by +the mere violence of a turbulent mob, but by formal resolutions of the +General Assembly in the seventeenth century. In 1640 the Kirk Session of +Aberdeen ordered the removal of a portrait of "Reid of Pitfoddels" from +the vestry of the church, on the ground of its "smelling somewhat of +Popery"; and in 1649 a similar authority at Kilmarnock condemned "a +graven image" on the tomb of Lord Boyd. This action was taken, no doubt, +in obedience to the summons issued by the General Assembly in 1640 to the +presbyteries to complete the removal and destruction of all monuments. + +Such being the state of feeling in Scotland, we are not surprised to find +that the sign of our salvation was found even more obnoxious by the +leaders of the movement there than it was among their brethren in England. +With the latter, when the interiors of the churches were swept bare of +crosses, the passion for destruction was stayed so far as that emblem was +concerned; on spire and gable, on tomb and tablet, in churchyard and +market-place, the stone crosses were for the most part left; and even +when, under the Puritan regime of the following century, an attempt was +made to pull down these by Parliamentary authority, the popular feeling +was so far from being strongly in its favour, that the work was by no +means done thoroughly and completely. + +In spite of all that was intended, and even attempted, Scotland has, +nevertheless, retained some examples of the ancient crosses, which are +well worthy of our attention. In remote places the sacred sign has been +spared in scattered instances for more appreciative days; in more populous +centres the cross has been preserved in a secularised form, its symbol +gone, and with it its meaning; but amid the wreck of so much, we must +receive gratefully the fragments that remain. + +The strictly church crosses, those that once stood on altar or on +rood-screen, that led the stately procession, or cast their benign shadows +athwart the graves of the faithful--these were all swept away. The Synod +of Fife held, at the time of the Reformation, "visitations" from time to +time, to search out and remove "crosier staffes" and "divers crosses," as +well as other ancient furniture, from the parish churches; and in so +doing, doubtless, it was but acting as the other Synods of the country +did. The old crosses in the churchyards, many of them of great age, and +probably most interesting pieces of sculpture, were almost all destroyed. +The market crosses, however, have in several cases survived, although the +national emblem, the unicorn, has usurped the place of the Christian +symbol, the cross; and the attack upon mortuary memorials was not +altogether successful; in fact, it was hardly to be expected that any +people would consent to the entire obliteration of the grave-stones of +their ancestors. + +The most famous existing example is the High Cross, or Market Cross, of +the capital. The date of the foundation of this structure is unknown. Not +far from its site is an ancient well, known as the Cross Well, from which +some have conjectured that possibly the earliest cross was reared by some +unknown teacher of the faith, who, in a far distant age, established +himself in a cell beside this clear spring. Such a spot, we know, was +often chosen by these apostolic teachers, and not infrequently a rude +cross, erected hard by, served to mark the place as, in some sort, a +sanctuary. Our first authentic allusion to this Cross is, however, of a +date some centuries later than this. In 1175 William the Lion (1165-1214) +decreed that "all merchandisis salbe presentit at the mercat and mercat +croce of burghis." From this, we may safely conclude that Edinburgh had a +recognised Market Cross by that date, since we can hardly imagine that the +capital was without a symbol that was evidently usual in the burghs of +the country. A reference to the Cross is supposed to be contained in a +document of 1437. The assassins of the noble but unfortunate King James +I., who was barbarously slain in the February of that year, are said to +have suffered for their crime "mounted on a pillar in the market-place in +Edinburgh." Ten years later we meet with a definite reference to this +structure; the Charter of St Giles's Church, dated 1447, contains the +words "ex parte occidentali fori et crucis dicti burgi," on the west side +of the market-place and of the Cross of the said burgh. King James III. +(1460-1488), in an epistle to the citizens of his capital written in +October 1477, ordains that "all pietricks, pluvaris, capones, conyngs, +checkins, and all other wyld foulis and tame to be usit and sald about the +Market Croce and in na other place." At this time, therefore, we find the +Cross established as an acknowledged centre for commercial Edinburgh, such +as it was in the fifteenth century. + +The exact form of this early Market Cross is as doubtful as the date of +its foundation. The pillar of the present erection is the same as that in +the earliest historical notices which we have of it; but whether this +originally stood upon a simple pedestal, upon a pyramid of steps, or upon +an elevated platform like that of a later date, we cannot say. It has been +thought probable, however, that the Cross was raised to its dignified +altitude by the addition of the arcaded platform in the time of James III. +This monarch was indolent, and unfit for the rule of a somewhat turbulent +kingdom, but he was a patron of the arts, and a friend of the Church. +Several improvements were made in Edinburgh during his reign, including +the enlargement of St Giles's Cathedral; hence it is possible that he also +took in hand the adornment of the neighbouring Cross. Under James VI., +previously to his becoming Sovereign of Great Britain, further alterations +were made. In 1555 we read of work at the Cross consisting of "bigging the +rowme thereof," which is supposed to mean that at this time the open +arches which upheld the platform were filled in, so as to form an enclosed +"rowme" below. This room was entered by a door, which was secured with a +lock; so that thenceforward only those having some high and official duty +to perform, such as publishing a royal proclamation, could ascend to the +broad base of the Cross. In the City Treasurer's accounts for 1560 are +two entries as follows: "Item for ane band to ye Croce dur," and "Item for +mending of ye lok of ye Croce dur." Once more, we read in the same records +for 1584, "5 Julii, Item, ye sam day given for ane lok to ye Croce dur, +and three keyis for it." There is extant an old engraving giving a +bird's-eye view of Edinburgh in 1647, from which we may see that in its +main outlines the Market Cross was then much as it is to-day; the summit +of the shaft (from which, doubtless, the cross had already been flung +down) having been surmounted by the heraldic symbol of Scotland at the +date of the last-quoted entry from the city accounts. The record +concerning it is of a sum "payit to David Williamson for making and +upputting of the Unicorn upon the head of the Croce." + +Early in the next century the whole erection was moved to a new site. In +1617 it was "translated by the devise of certain mariners of Leith from +the place where it stood past the memory of man to a place beneath in the +High Street." A new substructure was made for it, of stone "brocht from +the Deyne"; and the shaft was swung into "the new seat" on the 25th +March, the cost of the entire work being £4486, 5s. 6d. (Scots). + +The republicans of the Commonwealth period defaced the Cross, tearing down +the royal arms, and hanging the crown from the head of the unicorn upon +the gallows. At the Restoration, therefore, certain repairs had to be +made; Robert Mylne was entrusted with the work, and a further contract was +made with George Porteous "for painting the Croce." + +During the succeeding century frequent complaints were made that the Cross +was an obstruction to traffic; and at last in 1756 the complainants +obtained their wish. On the 13th March in that year the Market Cross of +Edinburgh was demolished. The pillar, which fell and broke during the +operation, was sold to Lord Somerville, who set it up in the vicinity of +his house at Drum; the medallions which had adorned the base came +eventually into the hands of Sir Walter Scott, who built them into a wall +at Abbotsford, where they remain; the site was marked out with stones, as +some small compensation for the loss to the lovers of antiquity; and +finally a plain stone pillar was erected beside the well hard by, and this +was officially declared to be from that day forward the Market Cross of +the city. Even this contemptible substitute was not, however, suffered +long to remain; but on the same plea of obstruction was presently removed +like the Cross itself. + +The citizens of the ancient city did not unanimously concur, by any means, +in this destruction of a time-honoured landmark in the history of the +country; and efforts were repeatedly made to obtain its restoration. After +a time the movement was so far successful as to gain the return of "the +pillar of the Cross" to Edinburgh, where it was set up on a pedestal +within the railings of St Giles's Church. So matters stood until recent +times, when a complete restoration was effected by the generosity of the +late Rt. Hon. W. E. Gladstone, who built a new and imposing octagonal +base, on one of the faces of which the following inscription was placed in +Latin, "Thanks be to God, this ancient monument, the Cross of Edinburgh, +devoted of old to public functions--having been destroyed by evil hands in +the Year of our Salvation 1756, and having been avenged and lamented, in +song both noble and manly, by that man of highest renown, Walter +Scott--has now, by permission of the city magistrates, been rebuilt by +William E. Gladstone, who, through both parents claims a descent entirely +Scottish. November 23rd, in the Year of Grace 1885." The date is that of +the day on which this noble present was formally given to the civic +authorities by Mr Gladstone, who was then member of Parliament for +Midlothian. + +So far of the history of the fabric of the Cross: to trace in detail the +great events in which it has been called to play a part, would be to +recount no small portion of the annals of the Scottish kingdom. This spot +has long been treated as the very centre and heart of the country. Here +Scottish sovereigns met the citizens of their capital; here proclamation +was made of peace and war, of the accession of kings, and of aught else of +prime and pressing interest to the people; here, too, many have suffered +for their devotion to causes, political or religious, which had--at any +rate for a time--fallen before superior force. + +A fountain near the old Cross ran red with wine when James IV. of Scotland +brought home his bride, Margaret of England, and the first link in the +golden chain was forged which should shortly join the realms. Here in +1512 the royal summons was read for the mustering of that army, so many of +the gallant members of which were to fall at Flodden; and here--most +fateful of all proclamations published there--the death of Elizabeth was +announced, and the accession of James VI. to the double Crown of Great +Britain. + + +[Illustration: EXECUTION OF THE EARL OF ARGYLE, SHEWING THE OLD HIGH +CROSS, EDINBURGH.] + + +John Knox was burnt in effigy at the Cross in 1555, when he failed to +return from Geneva in answer to a summons from the bishops; and ten years +later a Roman Catholic Priest was "tyed to the Cross" and pelted because +he had dared to say Mass on Easter Day. The Earl of Morton was beheaded +here in 1581. Under James the Seventh of Scotland and Second of England +many a powerful head fell on the scaffold beneath the shadow of the Cross. +Those were stormy times in which religion and politics were curiously and +unhappily mingled, so that those who to one side seemed mere rebels, to +the other appeared as martyrs. Among others who suffered was the Earl of +Argyle, together with many of his clan who had been led by him to open +revolt. + +Edinburgh had another Cross, known as St John's, situated in the +Canongate; it was similar in design to the High Cross, but smaller. + +The Crosses of the Metropolis seem to have been taken as models by other +Scottish burghs. Their plan was quite unlike any existing examples in +England. The base or pedestal was an elevated platform, supported either +by open arches, or by solid walls; on the top of this, the tall shaft of +the cross was placed, and latterly it was crowned by a unicorn holding +the Scottish shield. Steps, within the base, led to the platform from +which proclamations and official notices were published by the city +heralds. Judging from the analogy of the Market Crosses in the southern +kingdom, it seems probable that the base was originally intended to be +open, so as to afford shade or shelter, as the weather might require, to +some at least of the market folk. Many English Crosses, the best known +example of all, for instance, that of Chichester, provide accommodation of +this sort, but none of them have a flat roof serving as a platform. +Subsequently, as the business of the country grew, this shelter would +prove so inadequate as not to be worth considering; and then the lower +structure was in some cases built in, so as to protect the access to the +platform, reserved now for formal and official purposes only. + +The city of Aberdeen boasts that her Market Cross is the finest in the +land. It was built in 1688 by a country mason named John Montgomery, and +was placed opposite the Tolbooth. In 1842 it was moved to the present site +in Castle Street, and was at the same time somewhat altered. It is +hexagonal in plan, six wide arches supporting the upper platform, round +which runs a circular balustrade garnished with shields of arms and +medallions of Scottish kings. The pillar rising from the midst is +handsomely carved, and supports a unicorn in white marble holding the +national shield. All the British sovereigns since its erection have been +proclaimed from this Cross, as well as the two Pretenders in 1715 and +1745. Near the spot now occupied by this erection originally stood the +Flesh Cross, close to which were the shambles; lower down Castle Street +was the Fish Cross, or Laich Cross, indicating the position of the fish +market. + +Prestonpans possesses a Market Cross of the same type as those already +described, and still in good condition, as also does Elgin; similar +Crosses at Perth and Dundee have been unhappily destroyed. Amongst other +notices of the Town Cross at Linlithgow is a record of punishment +inflicted upon an unfortunate burgess, for "in his great raschness and +suddantie destroying the head of the Toun's drum." This unmusical citizen +was deprived of the freedom of the burgh, fined £50 Scots, and ordered to +"sitt doune upon his knees at the Croce at ten houres before noone, and +crave the provost, baillies, and counsall pardone." Drums were evidently +of more account in Scotland in the seventeenth century than crosses or +tombstones. + +The ceremony of beating the bounds, or as it is called in Scotland "riding +the marches," is still observed in some burghs, and the procession usually +starts and terminates at the Cross if there be one. At Lanark before +separating the company sings "Scots wha hae" beneath the Cross, near which +stands what would two centuries since have been called "an idolatrous +statue" of William Wallace. At Linlithgow the function begins by drinking +the sovereign's health at the Cross, and the procession returns thither +before breaking up. At Kilmarnock Fastern's Eve (in English, Shrove +Tuesday) used to be celebrated by a large amount of horse-play round the +ancient Cross; the town fire-engines and their hose being called into +requisition for the drenching of the crowd with water, who probably +drenched themselves with something rather stronger later in the day. + +Of all the royal edicts proclaimed from these Crosses the following was +certainly one of the most curious. It was ordered to be published from +every Town Cross in Scotland in 1619, and was issued by King James from +London, whither a host of adventurers from his northern dominions had +promptly followed him. The proclamation warns "all manner of persons from +resorting out of Scotland to this our kingdome, unlesse it be gentlemen of +good qualitie, merchands for traffiques, or such as shall have a generall +license from our Counselle of that Kingdome, with prohibitioun to all +masters of shippes that they transport no such persons;" it further goes +on to announce that "Sir William Alexander, Master of Requests, hath +received a commission to apprehend and send home, or to punish all vagrant +persons who came to England to cause trouble, or bring discredit on their +country." + +Here and there throughout Scotland crosses of various kinds have no doubt +escaped destruction, when they happen to be in obscure places, or small +and scarcely noticeable in form or situation; thus the old Cathedral of +Brechin still preserves one of the consecration Crosses, cut in its walls +as part of the ceremony of its original dedication. But almost the only +examples of importance left to us, besides those town crosses which we +have considered, are several exceedingly interesting ancient memorial or +sepulchral crosses, of which those at Iona are by far the best known. + +An anonymous writer in 1688, speaking of this sacred isle, says, "that +M'Lean's Cross is one of the 360 standing before the Reformation; the +others were thrown into the sea by order of the Synod of Argyle." In the +absence of anything beyond the bare assertion, this statement must be +considered as at least doubtful. No earlier writers, including those who +had visited Iona, mention the fact; and if an organized attack of this +kind were made upon the monuments of the island, it is difficult to +explain why two were left untouched. That there were many more Crosses +here formerly may be taken for certain, and that the Synod of Argyle would +think them all idolatrous is equally clear; but it is not likely that it +ordered so great an undertaking as that of digging from their foundations +nearly four hundred massive blocks of stone, some, to judge by what is +left to us, of great size, and casting them into the sea. All such +monuments having been formally condemned throughout Scotland, it is fair +to assume that those of Iona met with a good deal of ill-usage. The "axes +and hammers" of the isle would be brought to bear upon "the carved work +thereof"; and it is more probable that the mode of destruction has been of +this kind, aided by time and storm, whose ravages nothing has been +attempted to stay or to repair, than that any definite scheme of +demolition has been carried out. + + +[Illustration: ST. MARTIN'S CROSS, IONA.] + + +Two fine crosses yet remain in good preservation in Iona, known +respectively as St. Martin's Cross and the Cross of the Maclean. The +former of these is considerably the older, and stands in front of the +ruined cathedral. It is a monolith measuring fourteen feet in height above +ground, eighteen inches in breadth, and ten inches in thickness, and is +set in a block of granite three feet in height. It is elaborately carved, +figures of the Blessed Virgin-Mother and the Holy Child, of ecclesiastics +in vestments, of musicians with harps and wind instruments, occupying one +face, together with foliage and twining snakes; while the other has a more +conventional design. On the roadside, near the ancient nunnery, stands +Maclean's Cross, which has been described as "one of the oldest Celtic +crosses in Scotland," and even as "the oldest Christian monument" in that +country. This is to ascribe to an undoubtedly ancient relic an antiquity +to which it has no claim; it dates probably from the fifteenth century. It +is eleven feet high, and is carved with the figure of the crucified +Redeemer, attended by angels, and with much graceful scroll-work. The +claimants for the greater age of this fine cross assert that it marks the +spot where St. Columba rested on his last walk about the monastic lands. + +St. Oran's Chapel, alleged to have been built by Queen Margaret some time +after 1072, contains one or two broken crosses. There is the shaft of one +erected in memory of the Abbot Mackinnon in 1489, a portion of another +known now as the "Flat stone of Oran," and a fragment of yet a third. The +famous burial ground of Iona, the Reilig Orain, to which were brought the +remains of kings, not only from the mainland of Scotland, but from Ireland +and even from Norway, has several sepulchral slabs which still bear the +sacred sign. One, probably of the twelfth century, has a well-designed +interlaced cross stretching almost the whole length and breadth of the +stone, with a galley carved upon the one side of it and a sword upon the +other; another, alleged to commemorate Ranald, Lord of the Isles in the +early thirteenth century, has a small interlaced cross upon one side of a +sword, and two "disguised" crosses, somewhat of the fylfot shape, upon the +other. There is also a broken stone, with a portion of a cross of Irish +design, and a fragmentary inscription. It has been supposed to mark the +burial-place of Maol Patrick O'Banan, the saintly bishop of Conor and +Down, who died in Iona in 1174.[1] Two boulders, measuring rather less +than two feet in length, have also been found in the island, each incised +with a cross. One, which has a well-proportioned figure of the type +commonly called "runic," is supposed by some to have been the stone, +which, according to his biographer Adamnan, formed the pillow of St. +Columba. + +Some others of the Western Isles have preserved a few of their ancient +crosses. Boswell, in his "Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides" in 1773, +speaks thus of the approach to Rasay: "Just as we landed I observed a +cross, or rather the ruins of one, upon a rock, which had to me a pleasing +vestige of religion." A few days later the traveller set out to explore +the island, and he made other discoveries of the same nature. "On one of +the rocks just where we landed," he tells us, "there is rudely carved a +square, with a crucifix in the middle: here, it is said, the Lairds of +Rasay, in old times, used to offer up their devotions; I could not +approach the spot without a grateful recollection of the event +commemorated by this symbol." A little further on he writes, "The eight +crosses, which Martin mentions as pyramids for deceased ladies, stood in a +semicircular line, which contained within it the chapel; they marked out +the boundaries of the sacred territory, within which an asylum was to be +had; one of them, which we observed upon our landing, made the first point +of the semicircle; there are few of them now remaining." On the islet of +Oronsay, immediately to the south of Colonsay, is a Celtic cross with a +Latin inscription, erected in memory of a Prior who died in 1510. Some of +the crosses from Iona are said to have been carried to the neighbouring +island of Mull, and to the mainland of Argyle. At Campbelltown in that +county is a handsome cross, carved from a monolith of blue granite, and +now serving as a Market Cross, which is alleged to be one of the spoils of +St. Columba's isle. + +Argyleshire has also preserved some interesting sculptured tombstones. The +churchyard of Kilfinan has two such; one is adorned with a wheel-headed +cross, the shaft of which is covered with scrolls, a wicker-pattern design +running down either side of it; the other has a cross with deep hollows at +the intersection of the arms. At Nereabolls, in Islay, is the upper +portion of a crucifix, broken off beneath the arms of the figure; it is +roughly carved, but has nothing of the grotesqueness of some very early +attempts at the human form. All these stones date from the fourteenth or +following century. + +In certain districts several Celtic crosses have been suffered to survive, +or have been brought forth from the concealment into which the neglect, or +the violence, of past ages had thrown them; and they present perhaps the +most valuable examples of runic inscriptions and of contemporary carving +which we now have in Great Britain. Some of them are quadrilateral slabs +on which the sacred symbol is cut, others are carved into the shape of a +cross; most of them have a large amount of characteristic adornment. There +are men riding and hunting, animals conventional, if not actually +grotesque, interlaced chain designs, and intricate and often very graceful +scrolls. Among other figures cut on these ancient monuments we find +constantly repeated some of those Pictish symbols, the meaning of which is +one of the apparently insoluble problems of archæology. The twin circles +connected by three lines like a Z, or included within the arms of it, the +crescent crossed by two lines forming a V, a grotesque somewhat distantly +resembling an elephant; these and other forms constantly meet us. They are +characteristic of the carving of a time not more than eight or nine +centuries from our own, yet the very alphabet of the symbolic language +which they speak is lost. They have been described as the work of Cymric +Christians, as Gnostic, as magical, as derived from oriental Paganism, as +learned from Scandinavian heathenism; but even if we could agree as to +their origin, we should yet be in the dark as to their meaning. In +Wigtonshire are several crosses, including some of this type: we find them +at Kirkcolm, Kirkmadrine, Whithorn, Monreith, and St. Ninian's cave. At +Kirkcolm is an exceedingly rudely carved crucifix; beneath the figure of +the Crucified is another human figure accompanied by two creatures meant +apparently for birds; the whole being of the roughest description. The +Monreith Cross stands seven and a quarter feet in height, and has a wheel +head, with a shaft whose sides curve slightly outwards from top and +bottom; an ingeniously contrived scroll covers the face. The Kirkmadrine +example has incised upon it the sacred monogram XP conjoined, and arranged +crosswise within a circle. + +In Kirkcudbright is the splendid Ruthwell Cross, standing over seventeen +feet in height. The shaft tapers gracefully towards the head, and has +within panels upon it the effigies of several saints; the sides have a +singularly fine scroll of conventional foliage with birds; and the head is +light and elegant. It is altogether a very beautiful structure. + +Other stones worthy of notice now are, or have been found, at St Madoes +and Dupplin, near Perth; at Kirriemuir, and elsewhere, in Forfar; and in +some other places, chiefly along the north-eastern coast of the country. +It must be remembered that the Reformation progressed much more slowly in +the Highlands than in the Lowlands, so that we might naturally expect that +the demolition of the crosses would not be carried out quite so thoroughly +in the north as in the south. + +It was, however, in a southern town that we read of the last use, until +recent times, of that ancient ceremony for Good Friday which our +forefathers called "Creeping to the Cross." On May 8th, 1568, Grindal, +then bishop of London, writes to Sir William Cecil, afterwards Lord +Burleigh: "Evans, who is thought a man of more simplicity than the rest, +hath reported (as I am credibly informed) that at Dunbar, on Good Friday, +they saw certain persons go bare-foot and bare-legged to the church, to +creep to the cross; if it be so the Church of Scotland will not be pure +enough for our men." + +In spite of the abolition of the sign of the cross in the ceremonial of +the church, and the destruction, so far as possible, of the material cross +in its buildings, even Presbyterian Scotland could not discard the emblem +of St. Andrew from among its national devices. The Covenanters marched +across the Border in the Great Civil War, under a flag which bore that +symbol; the white Cross of St. Andrew lay athwart its field, charged at +the centre with the thistle, while in the spaces between the four members +of the cross was the motto, "Covenants for Religion, Croune, and +Kingdoms." Under the Commonwealth the royal arms, of course, dropt out of +use, their place being taken by a shield, the first and fourth quarters of +which were charged with St. George's Cross (for England), the second with +St. Andrew's Cross (for Scotland), and the third with the Irish harp. + + +[Illustration: COVENANTER'S FLAG.] + + +Some few folk-customs, involving the use of this sign have also lived on +in the northern kingdom. At Borera, for instance, is a Celtic cross, now +overthrown; and whosoever wishes for rain has but to raise this, according +to the local belief at one time, and he will obtain his desire. It used +also to be customary in some parts of the country, when a bridegroom +arrived at the church door ready for his wedding, to unfasten the +shoe-string on his right foot and to draw a cross upon the doorpost. Such +usages, however, seem to have been rarer in Scotland than in England. + +St. Margaret of Scotland, a queen worthy of everlasting remembrance, who +died in the year 1093, gave to one of the churches in her husband's +dominions a splendid crucifix, on which was a figure of the Redeemer in +pure gold. The one historic crucifix of the country, however, is the +famous Black Rood of Scotland, round which gathers much both of legend and +of history, and from which the royal palace and abbey in Edinburgh +received its name of Holy Rood. The story of this ancient cross is +recounted at length in the "Rites of Durham," and is as follows. + +King David Bruce was hunting in a forest hard by Edinburgh one Holy Cross +Day, or Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (September 14th), and had +become separated from his companions, when a wondrous hart, of great +beauty and strength, suddenly appeared to him. The creature charged the +king's horse, and so terrified it that it took to flight; but the hart +followed "so fiercely and swiftly" that it bore down both the horse and +its royal rider to the ground. Bruce, putting forth his hands to save +himself, was about to seize the antlers of his assailant, when, from the +head of the hart, "there most strangly slypped into the King's hands the +said crosse most wonderously," and forthwith the animal vanished. On the +following night Bruce was warned in his sleep to build an abbey at the +spot where this miracle had happened. Accordingly, he sent to France and +Flanders for workmen, built the abbey of the Holy Rood, which he gave to +the canons regular of St. Augustine, and "placed the said Cross most +sumptuously and richly in the said Abbey, ther to remayne in a most +renowned monument." So it continued until "the said king" invaded England +previous to the Battle of Neville's Cross; this sacred relic was then +brought forth, and carried to the war. Again the king received a vision +during his sleep, in which he was warned in no case to damage the +patrimony of St. Cuthbert; but, in spite of this, he proceeded to lay +waste and to destroy the domains of the great Abbey at Durham; and for +this disobedience divine vengeance fell upon him. He himself was captured +at the ensuing fight, many of the flower of his nobility fell on the +field, his royal standard became a prize to the English, and the Holy Rood +was taken! All the trophies of the victory were solemnly offered by the +English as an act of thanksgiving at St. Cuthbert's shrine at Durham, and +the Rood "was sett up most exactlie in the piller next St. Cuthbert's +shrine in the south alley of the said Abbey." The writer of the "Rites" +tells us in one place that "no man knew certenly what mettell or wood the +said crosse was mayd of;" at a later point in his story he implies that it +was of silver and was termed the "Black Rude of Scotland" from "being, as +yt weare, smoked all over," doubtless from the tapers constantly burnt +before it both in Edinburgh and in Durham. At the Reformation this +valuable and historic cross was carried off with the other abbey +treasures, and no doubt found its way into the melting pot. + +Our chronicler is not quite sound in his history. It was David I. who +founded Holyrood Abbey, about the year 1128; and to whom, therefore, the +first part of the story relates; but it was David II., son of Robert +Bruce, and thus a descendant of the first Scottish King of that name, who +lost the relic at Neville's Cross in 1346. There is another story to the +effect that St. Margaret brought the crucifix from the Holy Land in 1070; +and that both religious and filial devotion thus prompted David I., the +youngest of her sons, to raise and dedicate the abbey, which was to +enshrine it. The saintly queen may perhaps have received the rood from +Jerusalem, she can hardly have brought it thence herself, for it does not +seem that she ever undertook that pilgrimage. + + +[Illustration: SEAL OF HOLYROOD ABBEY.] + + +The seal of Holyrood Abbey, probably the most famous of all the many +foundations dedicated in honour of the Holy Cross, contains a memorial of +the legend above given. The centre is occupied by a crucifix beneath a +canopy, with the Blessed Virgin and St. John on either side; below this is +the Madonna enthroned and holding the Holy Child. A crosier, on one side +of these figures, marks the dignity of the abbey; a stag, on the other +side, with a cross rising from its forehead recalls the tradition of its +inception; while the royal shield of Scotland below informs us of the +sovereignty of the founder. + + + + +Bell Lore. + +BY ENGLAND HOWLETT. + + +In all Christian countries from the earliest ages the use of bells is +practically as old as Christianity itself. The bell in its original form +was nothing more or less than a piece of metal rolled into a wedge-like +form and riveted together, and it is a curious instance of survival that +the cattle bells in many countries are now practically of this primitive +pattern. In the early days of Christianity small portable handbells were +used for summoning the people to worship. It was not long, however, before +the bell founder's art made great progress, and long before the year 1000 +the music of bells pealing from church towers could not have been by any +means a rare sound. + +We must remember that although bells are primarily connected with matters +ecclesiastical, still, more especially in the middle ages, they were used +in all cases where it was necessary to give a public notice or warning. +The commercial transactions of a market were to a great extent regulated +by bells. In case of fire or danger the bells were sounded to arouse or +warn the people. In harvest time the gleaners' bell was rung to limit the +time when the gleaners should set forth and return from their work. Before +the days of the telegraph and quick travelling, bells were found to be a +good medium for passing on intimation of any great national event or +danger; and perhaps no sound has carried the news of such great joy and +sorrow as the sound of the bell. + +Gifts of bells to churches, particularly in the earlier ages, were always +deemed the most acceptable of gifts, and during the middle ages these +bells were not uncommonly given as a memorial of some deceased friend or +relation. Kings and Queens may be found amongst the donors of bells, and +one of the earliest royal bell givers was probably Canute, who presented a +pair of bells to Winchester Cathedral in 1035. + +The art of bell founding was principally, if not entirely, carried out +under the direction of the ecclesiastics, prior to the thirteenth century. +This, of course, is not to be wondered at when we remember that at this +period the arts in general owed their preservation and development to the +zeal and industry of the church. + +In the early middle ages, not only in Scotland but also in England and on +the Continent, we are told by Mr F. C. Eeles[2] that the richer churches +each possessed several bells, obtained usually at various times, and often +without regard to their respective sizes, or to the relations between +their notes. The great bell was often dedicated to the patron saint of the +church, and the smaller bells to the other saints who were commemorated in +the church below; each was used separately for the services at the +corresponding altar, while all were used for High Mass, and on great +occasions. A desire to ring the bells in a musical way made itself felt +very early. On the continent this took the form of adding a carillon to +the already existing collection of heavy bells, while here it showed +itself in a tendency to make the heavy bells themselves form a part of the +diatonic scale, and therefore suitable for ringing in succession. Shortly +before the Reformation the carillon developed very rapidly on the +continent, and reached its perfection in the seventeenth century. It +consisted of a large number of small light bells, fixed "dead," and +sounded by hammers worked by wires from an arrangement of levers, +something like the keys of an organ. + +In Scotland, during the middle ages, the country churches as a rule had no +tower. This was one of the architectural peculiarities of the country at +this period, and as the use and appreciation of bells was steadily +progressing at the time, we find the architects gradually adapting +themselves to the requirements of the case. This they did, not by building +towers as in England, but by elaborating a type of belfry which became +almost peculiar to Scotland, a sort of architectural feature of the +country. It is curious and interesting to notice that this type of belfry +survived the destructive element of the Reformation, and lived on through +the re-actionary period when art and taste were practically dead. Thus we +often find in buildings otherwise devoid of all architectural pretensions, +these redeeming little belfries which were evolved simply to meet the +growing use of the bell. + +Most of these belfries come under the head of the open stonework class, +which, from their very formation give an air of lightness and freedom to +the building they surmount. When the Renaissance period came in the form +of the belfry was not altered, but the detail then became of classical +design. + +In Scotland we find that in some of the larger towns both the steeples and +the bells are the property of the municipality, the Church only having the +use of the bells on Sundays, while on week days they are used by the town +authorities. The origin of this curious sort of co-ownership would appear +to lie in the fact that in former times it was no uncommon thing for a +town to acquire a lien on the bells in exchange for helping to build the +steeple or undertaking to keep it in order.[3] + +The following extract from the Burgh Records[4] of Peebles exhibits a good +instance of this:-- + +"1778, December 29. The Council in conjunction with the heritors, agree to +the proposition of building a new church.... The town to be at the expense +of building the steeple and furnishing it with a clock and bells, for +which it is to be the property of the burgh." + +From the Perth Session Records, October 6, 1578, we find that "The Session +ordains James Sym, uptaker of the casualities that intervenes in the kirk, +to buy a tow to the little skellit bell--the which bell shall only be rung +to the affairs of the kirk, also to the examinations, or to the +assemblies." + +The same Session Records for Perth, under date February 6, 1586, tells us +that "The Session ordains Nicol Balmain to ring the curfew and workmen's +bell in the morning and evening, the space of one quarter of an hour, at +the times appointed--viz., four hours in the morning and eight at even." + +In many primitive parts of Scotland, where there was no belfry, it seems +to have been the custom to hang the solitary bell on a tree. A writer in +1679 protests against "that pitiful spectacle, bells hanging upon trees +for want of bell houses." At Drumlithe the town bell used to hang on an +ash tree, and thus continued to do until 1777, when a small steeple was +provided for it. + +Among the Church ornaments to be provided by the parishioners in the +fourteenth century was "a bell to carry before the body of Christ in the +visitation of the sick." This was done in order that all, according to the +then teaching of the Church, might be warned of its approach and pay +reverence to it.[5] + + Saint John before the bread doth go, and poynting towards him + Doth show the same to be the Lambe that takes away our sinne, + On whome two clad in Angels' shape do sundrie flowres fling, + A number great of sacring Belles with pleasant sound do ringe.[6] + +These hand-bells were also used in procession on the Rogation days, and +frequent notices of them are to be found in Church inventories. + +Small hand-bells were in general use in a variety of ways in +pre-Reformation times. At the burial of the dead we find them used for the +double purpose of clearing the way for the funeral procession, and also to +call for prayer for the deceased. The Bayeux Tapestry, which was worked by +Matilda, the Queen of William the Conqueror, depicts the burial of Edward +the Confessor, and in this a boy appears on each side of the bier carrying +a small bell. We find reference to the use of these hand-bells at +funerals by Chaucer:-- + + ... they heard a bell clink + Before a corse was carried to the grave. + +Hand-bells which were kept for this purpose were generally called "the +corse bell" or "the lych bell," and by these names they are constantly +found mentioned in Church inventories. The custom of ringing these small +bells at funerals was sought to be stopped by the Bishops in the sixteenth +century. In 1571, Grindal directs that "at burials no ringing of +hand-bells," and a few years later (1583), Middleton directs "that the +clerk nor his deputy do carry about the town a little bell called the +Sainctes bell before the burial."[7] + +It is a very prevalent belief that a large quantity of silver was used in +the composition of the old bells, and that to this fact we owe much of the +beauty and purity of their tone. It is commonly stated that in the middle +ages it was the practice for our ancestors to throw in their silver +tankards and spoons when the parish church bells were cast. However, a +subsequent analysis of many bells of this period which have since been +recast show the proportion of silver in them to have been exceedingly +small. + +The ancient bells, when cast, were set apart for their sacred uses by a +solemn benediction, often called, from a too close approximation to the +office of Holy Baptism, the Baptism of Bells. The office and the +ceremonies used, which can be found in the Pontificals of the Mediæval +Church, varied very little after the ninth century. The bell itself was +washed by the bishop with water, into which salt had been previously cast. +After it had been dried by the attendants, the bishop next dipped the +thumb of his right hand in the holy oil for the sick, and made the sign of +the cross on the top of the bell; after which he again marked it both with +the holy oil for the sick and with chrism, saying the words:-- + + "Sancti + ficetur, et conse + cretur, Domine, signumistud: in nomine + Pa + tris, et Fi + lii, et Spiritûs + sancti in honorem Sancti N. pax + tibi."[8] + +It is interesting to notice that in many places the practice still remains +of ringing the bells at particular hours when no service is to be held. +This is clearly a survival of the times when the bells were rung to call +people to the mediæval services. We are reminded in "The Bells of +Kincardineshire,"[9] that at the present day various reasons, more or less +utilitarian, have been given in Scotland for these old service bells. The +country people say that the eight o'clock bell is to "let you ken it's the +Sabbath," or to "gar the hill folk mak' theirsel ready or the kirk win +in." This is very often called the "rousing bell," and the later bell the +"dressing bell," or the "get ready." + +The Perth Session Records, July 10, 1560, provide that "The Session, after +the appointment of the order of communication, ordains that the first bell +should be rung at four in the morning; the second at half five o'clock; +the third at five. The second ministration, the first bell to be rung at +half nine o'clock; the second at nine; the third at half ten." July 6, +1703, "The Session appoints that the church doors be opened at seven of +the clock in the morning, and _not_ till then; as also that the first bell +be rung at eight of the clock; the second at half nine; and the third at +nine." + +The ringing of bells at funerals is a custom of ancient origin. It was a +popular belief that the sound of the bell had power to drive away evil +spirits. In England, Bishop Grandison of Exeter in 1339 found it necessary +to check the long ringings at burials, on the grounds that "they do no +good to the departed, are an annoyance to the living, and injurious to the +fabrick and the bells."[10] + +Before the Reformation there were five bells at Dundee on which "six score +and nine straiks" were given three times a day, to call to "matins, mess, +and even-sang." + +Presbyterianism has naturally had a great influence on the bells in +Scotland. Mr Eeles, who is an authority on the subject, tells us that the +passing bell is no longer rung, nor is there any ringing at burials beyond +tolling the bell for a few minutes as the procession approaches the +churchyard. In some parishes even this is said to be fast dying out. In +the Burgh Records of Dundee "it is statute that an ony person cause the +gret bells to be rung for either saul, mass or dirige, he sall pay forty +pence to the Kirk werk." + +The ringing of the death-knell was universal after the Reformation, when +it seemed to have acquired a new meaning in the minds of the people, +having become degenerated, so to speak, into a mere notice to the public +that a death had taken place. Shakespeare refers to this ringing of the +death-knell in his seventy-first sonnet:-- + + No longer mourn for me when I am dead, + Than ye shall hear the surly, sullen bell + Give warning to the world that I am fled + From this vile world, with vilest worms to dwell. + +The Reformation and the decline of Gothic architecture both combined to +put their impress upon bells. The Reformation naturally caused a great +change in the inscriptions, and the decline of Gothic led to a poverty of +design and an abandonment of the fine lettering, crosses, and other +ornaments. Figures of angels and saints no longer appeared, and soon the +artistic black letter gave place to the commonplace Roman capitals. With +these drastic changes much of the romance of the bell has been swept +away. + + + + +Saints and Holy Wells. + +BY THOMAS FROST. + + +Among the results of the preaching of the Gospel to the ignorant and +superstitious in the early ages of the Church there must, unfortunately, +be included a considerable mixture of pagan beliefs and customs with the +new religion, some of which have survived even to our own time. The sacred +character ascribed to a great number of wells or springs both in England +and Scotland may be traced back, in numerous instances, to pagan rites +observed at them in pre-Christian ages. Some of these, as at Drumlanrig, +in Dumfries county, and at Tully Beltane, in the Highlands of Perthshire, +have near them a circle of stones, resembling those supposed to be +associated with Druidism; and of the latter, Jamieson says in his +"Scottish Dictionary,"--"On Beltane morning, superstitious people go to +this well and drink of it, then they make a procession round it, as I am +informed, nine times; after this, they, in like manner, go round the +temple," as he calls the circle of upright stones. + +In the little island in Loch Maree, in the county of Ross, is a well or +spring traditionally associated with St. Maelrubha, who is said to have +been a monk of the monastery of Bangor, in Ireland, and to have founded a +church at Applecross, in the same county, in 673. Pennant, who visited +Innis Maree in 1772, says:--"In the midst is a circular dike of stones,... +I suspect the dike to have been originally Druidical, and that the ancient +superstition of paganism had been taken up by the saint, as the readiest +method of making a conquest over the minds of the inhabitants." The +probability of this appears from old Kirk Session records of an annual +custom in Applecross of sacrificing a bull to "Mourie" on the saint's day. +This custom survived until the latter half of the seventeenth century, +when it was denounced as idolatrous. + +In the island of Lewis, one of the Hebrides, are the ruins of a chapel +formerly dedicated to St. Mulvay, near which is a spring, the water of +which was supposed to be of singular efficacy in curing diseases of the +brain. The patient was made to walk seven times round the ruins, and was +then sprinkled with water from the spring. In others of the Hebrides, and +along the west coast, there are many wells named after St. Columba. Almost +every well in Scotland is, indeed, named after some mediæval saint, many +of them of only local fame, and very few having a place in the +ecclesiastical kalendar. St. Ronan's Well, from the association with it of +Scott's novel of that name, is the best known to the general reader. It +has been identified with the mineral well at Innerleithen, in the county +of Peebles, which long enjoyed good repute as a curative agent in diseases +of the eye and the skin, and also in dyspepsia. + +The church of St. Fergus, in Buchan, commemorates an Irish missionary of +the eighth century, in whose memory a well in the parish of Kirkmichael, +in Banffshire, is named. Concerning this spring, Dr Gregor, in his "Folk +Lore of the North-east of Scotland," says:--"Easter Sunday and the first +Sunday in May were the principal Sundays for visiting it, and many from +the surrounding parishes, who were affected with skin diseases or running +sores, came to drink of its water, and to wash in it. The hour of arrival +was twelve o'clock at night, and the drinking of the water and the washing +of the diseased part took place before or at sunrise. A quantity of the +water was carried home for future use. Pilgrimages were made up to the end +of September, by which time the healing virtues of the water had become +less. Such after-visits seem to have begun in later times." + +The best known of several wells named after St. Helena, the mother of +Constantine, is beside the road from Maybole to Ayr, and about two miles +and a half from the former place. It used formerly to be much resorted to +on the 1st of May, for the benefit of sickly children. St. Iten's Well, at +Cambusnethan, in Lanarkshire, at one time was held in good repute as a +cure for asthma and skin diseases. Martin, in a description of the +Hebrides, written about 1695, mentions a well named after the same saint +in the Isle of Eigg, which was regarded by the natives as a panacea for +"all the ills that flesh is heir to." He gives a curious, and in view of +the connection of holy wells with pagan beliefs and customs, an +interesting account of the dedication of this well by a priest called +Father Hugh. + +"He obliged all the people to come to this well," he says, "and then +employed them to bring together a great heap of stones at the head of the +spring by way of penance. This being done, he said mass at the well, and +then consecrated it; he gave each of the inhabitants a piece of wax +candle, which they lighted, and all of them made the Dessil,--going round +the well sun-ways, the priest leading them; and from that time it was +accounted unlawful to boil any meat with the water of this well." + +St. Fillan's Well, at the foot of a green hill in the parish of Comrie, +was formerly much frequented on the 1st of May and the 1st of August by +persons in quest of health, who walked or were carried three times round +it, from east to west, following the course of the sun. This done, they +drank of the water of the spring, deposited a white stone on the saint's +cairn, and departed, leaving some rag of linen or woollen as an offering. + +Half-way between the bays of Portankill and East Tarbet, on the coast of +Wigtonshire, are the ruins of St. Medan's chapel, within which are three +natural cavities in the rock, which at high water are filled by the tide. +Sickly children used to be brought to the larger hole to be bathed, and +this is still done occasionally, though faith in such matters, as in so +many others, seems to be lessening. Dr Trotter, who visited the place in +1870, had the ceremony described to him by an eye-witness as +follows:--"The child was stripped naked, taken by one of the legs, and +plunged head-foremost into the big well until completely submerged; it was +then pulled out, and the part held on by was dipped in the middle well, +and then the whole body was finished by washing the eyes in the smallest +one, altogether very like the Achilles and Styx business, only much more +thorough. An offering was then left in the old chapel, on a projecting +stone inside the cave behind the west door, and the cure was complete." + +There is nothing certain known about this St. Medan, though there are +wonderful legends concerning her in the Aberdeen Breviary and elsewhere. +Concerning the chapel in Wigtonshire, Dr Trotter thinks that "the well was +the original institution; the cave a shelter or dwelling for the genius +who discovered the miraculous virtues of the water, and his successors; +and the chapel a later edition for the benefit of the clergy, who +supplanted the old religion by grafting Christianity upon it; St. Medana +being a still later institution." + +St. Catherine's Well, at Liberton, near Edinburgh, has been regarded for +centuries as a remedy for diseases of the skin, and is still frequented by +persons suffering from them. It derives its name from a tradition, +preserved by Boece, in his chronicle of Scotland, that the spring rose +miraculously from a drop of oil brought from the tomb of St. Catherine of +Alexandria on Mount Sinai, and this story was considered to be +countenanced by the fact that drops of oil are often observable on the +surface, a phenomenon now regarded as due to the decomposition of coal, or +bituminous shale, in seams below. Boece says that Queen Margaret, the wife +of Malcolm III., built a chapel near the spring, and dedicated it to St. +Catherine; but this chapel, some remains of which were still standing at +the close of the last century, was dedicated to St. Catherine of Sienna, +not to her sister saint of Alexandria. Before the Reformation, the nuns +made an annual visit to the well, three miles from their convent, in +solemn procession, a ceremony due perhaps to the coincidence of name. + +James IV. made an offering in this chapel in 1504, and when James VI. +returned to Scotland in 1617, he visited the well, and, as Sir Daniel +Wilson relates in his "Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Time," he +"commanded it to be enclosed with an ornamental building, with a flight of +steps to afford easy access to the healing waters; but this was demolished +by the soldiers of Cromwell, and the well now remains enclosed with plain +stone-work, as it was partially repaired at the Restoration." + +St. Bernard's Well, a sulphurous spring in the valley below Dean Bridge, +Edinburgh, is traditionally associated with the sainted Abbot of +Clairvaux. Its medicinal virtues appear to have escaped notice, however, +until 1789, when the property on which it is situated came into the +possession of Lord Gardenstone, who erected a handsome Grecian edifice +over the spring, set up within it a statue of Hygeia, and appointed an +attendant to dispense the water at a very trifling charge. The place then +became a popular resort for the purpose of drinking the water, and in 1889 +the statue of the Roman goddess, having become decayed, was replaced by +one in marble, by the generosity of the late William Nelson, who also +restored the temple and made the surroundings more attractive. + +On Soutra Hill, the westernmost point of the Lammermoor range, there once +stood a hospital founded by Malcolm IV., for the reception of poor +travellers, and dedicated to the Trinity. Only a small portion of the +building now remains, but near it is a spring known as Trinity Well, which +in former times was much frequented on account of the healing virtues +attributed to it. A similar reputation was enjoyed for a long time by St. +Mungo's Well, on the west side of the hill named after that famous +Scottish saint, in the parish of Huntley, Aberdeenshire. + +There were springs also which were reputed to preserve from disease those +who partook of their water. The virtues of St. Olav's Well, in the parish +of Cruden, in Aberdeenshire, are recorded in the couplet-- + + St. Olav's Well, low by the sea, + Where pest nor plague shall never be. + +Of St. Corbet's Well, on the top of the Touch Hills, in Stirlingshire, it +was formerly believed that whoever drank its water before sunrise on the +first Sunday in May was sure of another year of life, and crowds of +persons resorted to the spot at that time, in the hope of thereby +prolonging their lives. Water for the font was often taken from holy +wells, and it was believed in the middle ages that persons baptised with +water from Trinity Well, at Gask, in Perthshire, would never be attacked +by the plague. Baptisms in St. Machar's Cathedral, Aberdeen, were at one +time performed with water taken from the saint's spring; and, before the +Reformation, the font at Airth, in Stirlingshire, is said to have been +supplied from a well dedicated to the mother of Christ, near Abbeyton +bridge. + +Passing over a number of springs with reputed medicinal properties, but +not associated with any hagiological tradition, we find it stated by Mr J. +R. Walker, in a communication to the Scottish Society of Antiquaries, that +"many of the wells dedicated to 'Our Lady' and to St. Brigid, the Mary of +Ireland, were famous for the cure of female sterility, which, in the days +when a man's power and influence in the land depended on the number of his +clan or tribe, was looked upon as a token of the divine displeasure, and +was viewed by the unfortunate spouses with anxious apprehension, dread, +doubt, jealousy and pain. Prayer and supplication were obviously the +methods pursued by the devout for obtaining the coveted gift of fertility, +looked upon, by females especially, as the most valuable of heavenly +dispensations; and making pilgrimages to wells under the patronage of the +mother of our Lord would naturally be one of the most common expedients." + +Some saints' wells were believed to have the power of foretelling whether +the patients on whose behalf they were invoked would recover,--a +superstition which may be traced to Greek paganism of a time thousands of +years before the Christian era. St. Andrew's Well, at Shadar, in the +island of Lewis, was reputed to possess this power. A vessel filled with +water from the spring was taken to the patient's abode, and a small wooden +dish placed on the surface. If this turned towards the east, it was held +to denote that the patient would recover; but if in the opposite direction +that he would die. "I am inclined," says Mr Gomme, "to connect this with +the vessel or cauldron so frequently occurring in Celtic tradition, and +which Mr Nutt has marked as 'a part of the gear of the oldest Celtic +divinities,' perhaps of divinities older than the Celts." The Virgin's +Well, near the ancient church of Kilmorie, in Wigtonshire, was also +reputed to possess this power. If the patient on behalf of whom the +prophetic power of the well was sought would recover, the water flowed +freely; but in the contrary case it failed to well up. + +Votive offerings have been mentioned as made to the saints to whom wells +were dedicated, and thus became holy. At Montblairie, in Banffshire, +shreds of linen and woollen were hung on the bushes beside a consecrated +well, and farthings and halfpence were thrown into the water. Miller, in +his "Scenes and Legends of the North of Scotland," notices a similar +custom as practised in the vicinity of Cromarty, his native town. He says, +"It is not yet twenty years since a thorn, which formed a little canopy +over the spring of St. Bennet, used to be covered anew every season with +little pieces of rag, left on it as offerings to the saint by sick people +who came to drink of the water." + +St. Wallach's Bath, in Strathdeveron, is a cavity in the rock, about three +feet in depth, into which water flows from a spring several yards higher +up, the overflow trickling over the edge into the stream, about four feet +below. Down to the beginning of the present century, large numbers of +weakly children used to be brought to this bath to be strengthened by +immersion in it, and some small article of the child's clothing was hung +on a neighbouring tree. The spring was resorted to for the cure of sore +eyes, and pins were offered to the Saint, being left in a hollow of a +stone beside the well. At the end of May, which was the season for the +visit, the hollow was often full of pins. Sir Arthur Mitchell, describing +the holy well on Innis Maree in a communication to the Scottish Society of +Antiquaries, says, "Near it stands an oak tree, which is studded with +nails. To each of these was originally attached a piece of the clothing of +some patient who had visited the spot. There are hundreds of nails, and +one has still fastened to it a faded ribbon. Two bone buttons and two +buckles we also found nailed to the tree. Countless pennies and +halfpennies are driven edgeways into the wood." A more recent visitor, +surprised at finding what appeared to be a silver coin fixed in the tree, +took the trouble to examine it, and found it spurious. + +Coins were more usually, however, thrown into the well, and Mr Patrick +Dudgeon, who in 1870 had the well of St. Querdon, in Troqueer parish, +Kirkcudbrightshire, cleaned out, observes in an article contributed to the +transactions of the Dumfries and Galloway Natural History Society, that +several hundreds of coins were found at the bottom--nearly all being the +smallest copper coins, dating from the reign of Elizabeth to that of +George III., but chiefly Scottish issues of James VI., Charles I., and +Charles II. He mentions also having been told by old residents that they +remembered seeing rags and ribbons hung on the bushes around the well. + +Dr Macgeorge, describing St. Thenew's Well, in his "Old Glasgow," states, +"It was shaded by an old tree, which drooped over the well, and which +remained until the end of the last century. On this tree the devotees who +frequented the well were accustomed to nail, as thank-offerings, small +bits of tin-iron--probably manufactured for that purpose by a craftsman in +the neighbourhood--representing the parts of the body supposed to have +been cured by the virtues of the sacred spring, such as eyes, hands, feet, +ears, and others." + +Pilgrimages to saints' wells were a well-observed custom until they were, +after the Reformation, prohibited both by the Church and Parliament. In an +Act of 1581, allusion is made to the perverse inclination to superstition, +"through which the dregs of idolatry yet remain in divers parts of the +realm by using of pilgrimage to some chapels, wells, crosses, and such +other monuments of idolatry, as also by observing of the festal days of +the Saints sometime named their patrons in setting forth of bon-fires, +singing of carols within and about kirks at certain seasons of the year." +In accordance with this enactment, the Kirk Session of Falkirk, in 1628, +ordered several persons who had made a pilgrimage to a holy well to appear +in church on three appointed Sundays, clad in the garb of penitents. A +warning was also issued that persons doing the like in future would be +fined in addition to the penance, and in default, would be put in ward and +fed on bread and water only for eight days. + +In the following year, the Privy Council made an order "that commissioners +cause diligent search at all such parts and places where this idolatrous +superstition is used, and to take and apprehend all such persons of +whatsomever rank and quality whom they shall deprehend going in pilgrimage +to chapels and wells, or whom they shall know themselves to be guilty of +that crime, and to commit them to ward, until measures be adopted for +their trial and punishment." But though pilgrimages in bodies were +checked, individual visits to holy wells continued. In 1630, the Kirk +Session of Aberdeen fined a woman for sending her child to be washed in +St. Fittack's Well, in the parish of Nigg, on the opposite side of the +Dee, and she and her nurse were ordered to acknowledge the offence before +the session. + +In course of time, such "offences" came to be regarded more leniently. +Fines gradually ceased to be inflicted, and penance to be enjoined. In +three cases entered in the Kirk Session records of Airth, in +Stirlingshire, in 1757, the persons cited were merely admonished. But old +customs have wonderful vitality, and holy wells are still frequented. Sir +Arthur Mitchell remarks, in "The Past in the Present," that he has seen at +least a dozen wells "which have not ceased to be worshipped," though he +adds that the visitors are now comparatively few. Mr Campbell of Islay +says, in his "Tales of the West Highlands," "Holy healing wells are common +all over the Highlands, and people still leave offerings of pins and nails +and bits of rag, though few would confess it. There is a well in Islay +where I myself have, after drinking, deposited copper caps amongst a hoard +of pins and buttons and similar gear placed in chinks in the rocks." + +Some of the wells once resorted to by great numbers of persons have +disappeared in consequence of changes of the surface. The growth of towns, +railways, agricultural improvements, have each had their part in the +obliteration of spots formerly deemed sacred. The Pilgrims' Well, at +Aberdour, in Fifeshire, which for centuries attracted crowds, is now +filled up. The like end has come to the Abbot's Well at Urquhart, in +Elginshire. St. Mary's Well at Whitekirk, in Haddingtonshire, has also +ceased to exist, the water having been drained off. Near Drumakill, in the +parish of Drymen, Dumbartonshire, there was once a famous spring dedicated +to St. Vildrin, and near it was a cross, with a figure of the Saint upon +it in relief. Between thirty and forty years ago the cross was broken up, +and the fragments used in the construction of a farm-house; and shortly +afterwards the spring was drained into a stream. + +There was formerly a holy well beside the lonely cross-road from Abbeyhill +to Restalrig, near Edinburgh, and in the middle ages it attracted a great +number of pilgrims. It appears to have been originally dedicated to the +Holy Rood, but it afterwards became known as St. Margaret's Well, and Mr +Walker thinks that the dedication may have been changed in connection with +the translation of Queen Margaret's remains in 1251, on the occasion of +her canonisation. There was a small Gothic building over the spring until +the North British Railway Company acquired possession of the site and +built a station upon it. The covering was then taken down, stone by stone, +and rebuilt above St. David's spring, on the northern slope of Salisbury +Crags. The water of St. Margaret's Well found another channel, and thus +one more of Scotland's holy wells ceased to exist. + + + + +Life in the Pre-Reformation Cathedrals. + +BY A. H. MILLAR, F.S.A.SCOT. + + +The history of every Scottish city or burgh of importance is intimately +connected with one of two possible originals. Each burgh has taken its +origin either from a feudal castle or from a cathedral or abbey. This +statement may seem very sweeping in its character, but a close examination +will prove that it is founded on fact. Edinburgh, for instance, grew up +around the ancient Castle--Eadwin's burh--while the Cathedral of St. Giles +and all the subordinate churches were adjuncts of the secular centre. The +true ecclesiastical point of origin in Edinburgh was St. Margaret's +Chapel, and it still stands within the Castle walls. Glasgow, on the other +hand, took its origin from the Cathedral. That building formed the nucleus +of the original city, and the first houses in Glasgow were the Bishop's +Castle beside the Cathedral, and the dwellings and manses of the +ecclesiastics in its immediate vicinity. It was as a "Bishop's burgh," or +community under ecclesiastical control, that Glasgow first had a corporate +existence. The Bishop or Archbishop nominated the civic rulers, and though +an attempt was made shortly after the Reformation to abrogate priestly +control, and to transfer the power of the election of the Provost to the +Guildry, the Protestant Archbishops strove to retain this right up till +the early years of the seventeenth century. In 1639 the Town Council for +the first time elected the Provost and Bailies, but even then the consent +of the Duke of Lennox--who had received the secularised property of the +Archbishopric--had to be obtained; and it was not until 1690 that the +citizens of Glasgow obtained the right to choose municipal governors. + +These two forms of origin may be traced in all the important Scottish +burghs. Stirling found its centre in the Royal Castle; Dunfermline owed +its existence to the Abbey. Perth originated from the ancient Church of +St. John, and was long known as "Saint John's toun"; Inverness clustered +around its baronial Castle. The Round Tower and the Cathedral of Brechin +were the starting points of that burgh; and Paisley dates its history from +the foundation of its Abbey. St. Andrews and Arbroath bear still +unmistakable evidences of their ecclesiastical origin; while Dundee found +its first nucleus in its Castle, and after the destruction of that +fortress the centre was shifted to the magnificent church of St. Mary, one +of the largest parish churches in Scotland in the fifteenth century. It is +clear, therefore, that life in the pre-Reformation Cathedrals and +ecclesiastical buildings had an important influence in forming and +fashioning the history of the people. This fact is too frequently +overlooked by modern historians. + +Only two of the pre-Reformation Cathedrals in Scotland have survived +unimpaired the iconoclastic zeal of the Reformers. St. Andrews Cathedral, +the seat of the Primate of Scotland, was partially devastated by the +Protestant mob, and weather and storm completed the ruin thus begun. +Dunblane Cathedral has recently been restored and rescued from the wrecked +condition in which it lay for centuries. The restoration of Brechin +Cathedral is now (1898) in progress; and the Cathedral of St. Giles, +Edinburgh, has only been brought back to some of its pristine magnificence +within the last quarter of a century. The two Cathedrals which escaped the +fury of the Reformers are, the fanes dedicated to St. Mungo (St. +Kentigern) at Glasgow, and to St. Magnus at Kirkwall, Orkney. Both these +Cathedrals had Episcopal Palaces adjoining the main structures, and from +the history of these it might be possible to spell out the conditions of +life during their palmy days. As Glasgow Cathedral shows in a remarkable +manner the gradual development of a great commercial city from a small +ecclesiastical burgh, and thus supplies a connecting link between remote +times and the present day, it will be most convenient to treat it as a +typical example of the far-reaching influence of early ecclesiastical +modes of life. + +Glasgow Cathedral occupies a very peculiar site. It is built on ground +that slopes rapidly down from the level of the floor of the nave towards +the bed of the Molendinar Burn. So steep is the declivity that a Lower +Church--wrongly called the Crypt, but really an _Ecclesia Inferior_--is +built under the floor of the Choir, only a few steps being necessary in +passing from the Nave to the Choir, so as to give the requisite height to +the roof of the "Laigh Kirk." Such a site would not have been chosen by a +modern architect for a building of the same magnitude, because of the +structural difficulties it presented; yet it has been asserted by Mr John +Honeyman, an experienced architect who has made a special study of Glasgow +Cathedral, that the whole design of this magnificent structure "was +carefully thought out and settled before a stone was laid. It is a skilful +and homogeneous design, which could only be produced by a man of +exceptional ability and of great experience. Nothing has been left to +chance or the sweet will of the co-operating craftsmen, but the one +master-mind has dictated every moulding and every combination, and has +left the impress of his genius upon it all." ("Book of Glasgow Cathedral," +p. 274.) It is a remarkable fact that the name of this gifted architect is +quite unknown, though a theory has been advanced that seeks to identify +him with a certain John Morvo or Moray, a man of Scottish descent, born +and trained in Paris, who was also architect of Melrose Abbey. But nothing +absolutely certain is known as to the architect who planned Glasgow +Cathedral; and this is no unusual circumstance in the history of other +ecclesiastical buildings. Referring to this fact Mr Gladstone once wrote +thus:--"It has been observed as a circumstance full of meaning, that no +man knows the names of the architects of our Cathedrals. They left no +record of themselves upon the fabrics, as if they would have nothing there +that could suggest any other idea than the glory of God, to whom the +edifices were devoted for perpetual and solemn worship; nothing to mingle +a meaner association with the profound sense of His presence; or as if in +the joy of having built Him a house there was no want left unfulfilled, no +room for the question whether it is good for a man to live in posthumous +renown." + +Though the name of not one of the great architects who designed the +Scottish Cathedrals has been preserved--unless we accept the doubtful +theory as to John Morvo already mentioned--it is evident that the +ecclesiastical designer must have been an important personage in every +religious community from the beginning of the twelfth century until the +Reformation. In those remote days it was not given to any architect to +witness the completion of his design. That unique experience was reserved +for Sir Christopher Wren, who superintended the building of St. Paul's +Cathedral from its foundation till the last stone was laid. Many +circumstances prevented the early architects from witnessing the end of +their labours. The poverty of the country, the perpetual warfare which +ravaged Scotland, the impossibility of employing the wandering Lodges of +Masons from the Continent so continuously as to ensure the rapid execution +of the work, and the frequent changes in the Bishop or Archbishop who had +the control of the building, necessarily spread the labour over centuries. +Glasgow Cathedral was begun by Bishop John Achaius during his episcopate, +which extended from 1115 to 1147. It was not completed till the time of +Archbishop Blacader, who died in 1508. During these four centuries the +original designs by the nameless first architect must have been carefully +preserved, and handed down through a succession of equally unknown +architects, until the whole work was finished. Yet all these men, whose +brilliant ideas and excellent workmanship are at once the admiration and +the despair of modern architects, will ever remain anonymous. The Kings +and Princes who contributed towards the cost of the structure, the Bishops +who added various portions to the building at long intervals, and the +Archbishops who consecrated these additions are all carefully recorded; +but the architects from whose fertile brains the ideas sprang, and the +workmen who laboriously realised their dreams, are alike unknown. + +The Cathedral of Glasgow took its origin from a _cella_ erected on the +bank of the Molendinar Burn, by the pious St. Kentigern. This early +Christian Apostle was the natural son of Eugenius or Ewen III., King of +Reged. His mother was Thanew, daughter of Loth, King of Lothian. Her name +survives in a corrupted form as "St. Enoch," there being now several +Scottish churches so designated, though she is distinctly denominated "St. +Thanew" in pre-Reformation documents. The life of Kentigern is very fully +detailed in the biography written by Jocelyn, a monk of Furness, at the +request of Herbert, Bishop of Glasgow (died 1164), and is included in the +"Lives of the Scottish Saints." The careful examination of this biography +by Skene gives the probable date of Kentigern's birth as 518, his +consecration as Bishop of Glasgow at 543; his foundation of Llanelwy (now +St. Asaphs) in Wales at 553; his return to Glasgow at 581; and his death +at 603. Kentigern was visited by St. Columba at Glasgow before 597, and +his popular name of St. Mungo (_mon gah_ == my friend) was then conferred +upon him by Columba. From the time of Kentigern's death until the twelfth +century nothing definite is known regarding the history of Glasgow. Within +the present Cathedral the site of "St. Mungo's tomb" is pointed out; and +it is not improbable that the magnificent pile was erected on this spot to +commemorate the founder of Glasgow. During the bishopric of Kentigern it +is not likely that there was any building on the present site of the +Cathedral save the little _cella_ or chapel of the Bishop, and possibly a +few of the houses inhabited by the Culdee priests. It should be remembered +that the Culdees were not celibates, but lived with their families in +these rude dwellings, which thus formed the nucleus of modern Glasgow. +When the ground beside the Cathedral was turned into a grave-yard every +trace of these houses must have been removed. It is possible that St. +Kentigern was buried within his chapel; and if so, the tomb of St. Mungo, +in the crypt of the Cathedral, will mark the place where that primitive +structure stood. + + +[Illustration: The Duke's Lodging, Drygait.] + +[Illustration: Bishop Cameron's Tower Episcopal Palace of Glasgow.] + +[Illustration: Town Residence of the Rector of Renfrew.] + + +The history of the See of Glasgow for five centuries after the death of +St. Kentigern is almost a total blank; save for some dubious references to +certain ecclesiastics supposed to have been the successors of the Saint, +there is nothing to show the progress of the church in those days. The +reforming zeal of Malcolm Canmore and Queen Margaret led to a revival of +religion, as remarkable in its own way as the Protestant Reformation. The +Culdees were supplanted by the Romanists, and the foundations were laid of +a hierarchy that attained to vast power in Scotland. The reforms of the +Queen were principally confined to the east coast--Dunfermline and St. +Andrews--and it was not until her sixth and youngest son, David, Prince of +Cumberland (afterwards David I.), ordered an "Inquisitio" as to the +property belonging to the See of Glasgow in 1120, that any documentary +evidence was made available on this point. Prince David had already +procured the appointment of his chancellor and tutor John Eochey or +Achaius to the bishopric of Glasgow, and with the installation of that +prelate a new era began in the history of the city. The Inquisitio or +Notitia showed that the lands possessed by the Bishop of Glasgow were +co-extensive with the kingdom of Strathclyde, and were in the upper ward +of Lanarkshire, and the counties of Peebles, Roxburgh, and Dumfries. +Bishop John Achaius was consecrated in 1115; Prince David came to the +throne in 1124; and shortly after this accession the Bishop began the +building of the Cathedral, which was dedicated to St. Kentigern on the +nones of July, 1136. Bishop John Achaius died in 1147, and the Cathedral +which he built did not long survive him. It is probable that it was a +wooden structure, for it was destroyed by fire in 1176, and in that year +Bishop Jocelin (1175-1199) began to rebuild it with stone. The next +"building Bishop" was William de Bondington (1233-1258), who completed the +Lower Church (or Crypt) and the Choir. Bishop William Lauder (1408-1425) +began the erection of the present tower, and partly built the +Chapter-house. These portions were completed by his successor Bishop John +Cameron (1426-1446). Robert Blacader (1484-1508), the first Archbishop of +Glasgow, erected the crypt at the south transept known as "Blacader's +Aisle," built the splendid rood-screen and the stairs leading from the +Nave to the Choir and Lower Church, and put the finishing touches to the +Cathedral, which had thus taken nearly four hundred years to reach +completion. + +The gradual development of the Cathedral necessarily led to the increase +of the ecclesiastics connected with it. The elaborate ceremonial of the +Romish Church required a staff of officials far out-numbering that of the +simple Culdee _cella_ of St. Kentigern's time. No definite information is +available as to the method adopted for supplying these officials in the +early years of the Cathedral's existence. It is reasonable to suppose, +however, that the Rectors and Parsons who had charges in the +widely-scattered parishes under the control of the Bishop, would have +stated periods when they would take their turns of officiating. These +clergymen would likely reside temporarily in the Bishop's Palace, to which +reference will be made presently. At a later date, as the grandeur of the +Cathedral increased and its ceremonial became more ornate, houses were +provided for them near the building, and thus a return was made to the +social system of the Culdees, though with a celibate clergy. Even so +recently as the middle of the present century, about twenty of the manses +belonging to different prebends connected with the Cathedral could be +identified in its immediate vicinity. It has been credibly conjectured +that the remains of a building outside the north wall of the Cathedral +mark the site of the Hall of the Vicars Choral, and a narrow lane between +the Cathedral and the Bishop's Castle was known as the Vicar's Alley, +probably because it gave access to the building. A consideration of some +of these clerical homes will give an idea of the social life in a +pre-Reformation Cathedral. + +The Bishop's Castle was for centuries a central point around which the +burghal and national life crystallised. The date of its erection is not +known. The earliest reference to it is found in a charter of 1258, in +which the Bishop alludes to _palacium suum quod est extra castrum +Glasguense_. This phrase proves that in the middle of the thirteenth +century there was not only a Castle in existence, but also a _palacium_ or +minor dwelling--not a "Palace" as the word has been absurdly translated, +but a "place," equivalent to the old Scots word "ludging"--which stood +outside the wall of the Castle. It is reasonable to suppose that Bishop +Jocelin, who rebuilt the Cathedral with stone towards the close of the +twelfth century, had caused the erection of the Castle to be begun, and +that Bishop William de Bondington, who completed a large part of the +Cathedral, also finished the Castle and the _palacium_ referred to in his +charter. The Castle would be constructed for defence in those lawless +times as well as for residence, and would probably be a square keep +surrounded by a moat. There was a Bishop's Garden in 1268, and the +Bishop's Castle is mentioned in a document dated 1290. At the latter date +Robert Wishart (1272-1316) was Bishop, and as he built rural mansions at +Castellstarris (Carstairs) and Ancrum, it is probable that he extended the +Castle at Glasgow beside the Cathedral. During the War of Independence +this Castle became a stronghold coveted by both belligerents. In 1297 it +was captured for Edward I., by Anthony Bek, the famous "fighting Bishop of +Durham," and re-taken by Sir William Wallace. After Bishop Wishart's time +references to additions made to the Castle are more distinct. Before the +middle of the fifteenth century the moat had been partially replaced by a +high wall. In 1438 Bishop John Cameron built "a great tower," at the +south-western corner of this wall, and his arms with episcopal insignia +were visible on this tower in 1752. Archbishop James Beaton (1508-1522) +enlarged the tower and completed a wall 15 feet high, which enclosed the +grounds of the Castle. In the time of Archbishop Gavin Dunbar (1524-1547) +a gate-house or port was erected on the line of the wall to form the main +entrance to the Castle. From the fact that a sculptured stone, still in +existence, which was taken from this port bears the arms of James Houston, +Sub-Dean of Glasgow, it has been conjectured that the gate-way was erected +at his expense; and as he had workmen building the Church of the B. V. M. +and St Anne (now the Tron Church) which he founded in 1530, he probably +employed them upon this other piece of work at that date. After the +Reformation the Bishop's Castle fell into disrepair. It was partly +occupied by several of the Protestant Archbishops, but they had not +incomes sufficient for its up-keep, and after the abolition of episcopacy +by the Revolution of 1688 the Castle degenerated into a prison for rebels +and petty offenders. Public executions took place in the Castle-yard so +late as 1784--a curious survival of the power of the early Bishops over +the lives of their vassals, for it is said that the gallows of modern +times was erected on the site of the old "heading-stone" of former days. +In 1755 the Magistrates gave permission to Robert Tennant to use the +stones of the ruined Castle for the erection of the Saracen's Head Inn, a +building which still exists though now divided into tenements. + +During the stormy period of the sixteenth century, when Scotland was +constantly in turmoil, through foes within and without the realm, the +Bishop's Castle was frequently besieged. The legal proceedings that +followed one of these incidents affords a glimpse of life within the +Castle at that time. John Mure of Caldwell, acting under the orders of the +Earl of Lennox, laid siege to the Castle on 20th February 1515, and +captured it. He was soon compelled, by the Duke of Albany, to evacuate +this stronghold, but before he retired his followers had sacked and +pillaged the Castle. Two years afterwards Archbishop James Beaton claimed +damages for the goods destroyed, and obtained a decree in his favour from +the Lords of Council. The following articles were specially detailed in +this decree, and are of interest as showing the furnishing and contents of +an episcopal dwelling of that period:--"xiii feddir bedds furnist, price +of ilka bedd v marks; xviii verdour bedds, price of the pere xl{s}.; xii +buird claiths, xii tyn quarts, xii tyn pynts, v dusane of peuder +veschellis, tua kists, xv swyne, iv dakyr of salt hyds, vi dusane of +salmond, ane last of salt herring, xii tunnes of wyne, ane hingand +chandlar, ane goun of scarlett lynit with mertricks, vi barrels of +gunpulder, ix gunnis, xiv halberks, xiv steill bonnets, vi halberts, iv +crossbowis, vi rufs and courtings of say, and iv of lynning, with mony +uther insight guds, claithing, jewells, silkes, precius stanes, veschell, +harness, vittales, and uther guds." From this list it will be seen that +the luxuries of peace in which the prelates indulged had to be defended by +the weapons of war. + +While the Bishop's Castle was the centre of ecclesiastical influence, the +first extension of Glasgow was due to the erection of manses for the minor +officials of the Cathedral. To any one acquainted with the topography of +Glasgow, the city may be thus "skeletonised" to show the manner of its +evolution. The Cathedral stands on an eminence rising gradually from the +north bank of the Clyde, and is distant about a mile from the river. The +main route from the Cathedral to the Clyde is by an almost straight +succession of streets--High Street and Saltmarket--which, unquestionably, +follow the line of an ancient footpath. The origin of secular Glasgow was +a small collection of huts inhabited by salmon-fishers on the bank of the +river. A pathway was formed in course of time between this primitive +village and the Cathedral, but for centuries there were no continuous +buildings between these two points. In the time of Bishop Jocelin +(1175-1199) the village had extended so far along the river-side and up +the line of the present Saltmarket that the Bishop deemed it advisable to +obtain from William the Lion the grant of a weekly market and an annual +fair. About this time also, arrangements were made for the erection of +manses for the ecclesiastics near the Cathedral. These houses were built +on a road running at right angles with the footpath to the river, the part +going westward being called the Rottenrow (Ratoun Raw), while the eastward +route was called the Drygait. There was thus a sacerdotal burgh in process +of formation on the summit of the hill beside the Cathedral, while a +secular burgh was gradually developing on the bank of the river. In the +course of centuries these two burghs were conjoined, and thus the +"backbone" of Glasgow was formed. The ecclesiastical houses were, of +course, more elaborate than those used by the fishermen and tradesmen who +were soon attracted to the place by the wealth of the Cathedral; and thus +it has happened that the greatest commercial city in Scotland--the second +in the United Kingdom--took its rise from the houses of the ecclesiastics +by whom the burgh was ruled for a very long period. + +No record exists as to the time when the prebendal manses were first +erected, but it is certain that Bishop Cameron (1426-1446) increased the +number of canons from twenty-five to thirty-two, and caused all of them to +build manses within the burgh and near the Cathedral. The sites of many of +these manses can be identified from descriptions in old charters, and some +of them have only been removed within the past thirty years. The Dean of +the Cathedral, who was Parson of Cadzow (now Hamilton), had his manse in +the Rottenrow. The Archdeacon of Glasgow was Rector of Menar (now +Peebles), and his house stood in the Drygait. Long after the Reformation +it came into the possession of the Duke of Montrose, and was known as "the +Duke's lodging." It was removed about 1880, to make way for an extension +of the North Prison. The Rector of Morebattle, Archdeacon of Teviotdale, +had a manse in the Kirkgait, now also absorbed in the grounds of the North +Prison. The Sub-Dean was Rector of Monkland, and his house was on the bank +of the Molendinar Burn, south-east of the Cathedral. The Chancellor, +Rector of Campsie, lived in the Drygait at the place called "the +Limmerfield" to which reference is made in Scott's "Rob Roy." The +Precentor of the Cathedral, Rector of East Kilbride, had a manse near the +Castle, the approach being by the Vicar's Alley. The Treasurer, Rector of +Carnwath, also had a manse, though its site has not been identified. The +Sacristan of the Cathedral, Rector of Cambuslang, lived in the Drygait, +near the house of the Archdeacon. The Bishop's Vicar, Parson of Glasgow, +had a manse beside the Castle. The Sub-Precentor, Prebendary of Ancrum, +had a parsonage in the Vicar's Alley, north of the Cathedral. The Parson +of Eaglesham lived in the Drygait, beside the Archdeacon; and the Rector +of Cardross had his manse on the south side of the same street. The manse +of the "Canon of Barlanark and Lord of Provan," in Castle Street, is the +only remaining house supposed to have been occupied by him, though it +seems more likely to have been erected after the Reformation. The Rector +of Carstairs resided in a manse in Rottenrow, beside the houses of the +Prebendary of Erskine and the Rector of Renfrew. Other officials who lived +in the immediate vicinity of the Cathedral were the Rector of Govan, the +Vicar of Kirkmahoe, Dumfriesshire, the Rector of Tarbolton, Ayrshire, the +Rector of Killearn, Dumbartonshire, the Prebendary of Douglas, +Lanarkshire, the Rector of Eddleston, Peeblesshire, the Rector of Stobo, +Peeblesshire, and the Rector of Luss, Dumbartonshire. The houses of six of +the Prebendaries--Durisdeer, Roxburgh, Ashkirk, Sanquhar, Cumnock, and +Ayr--have not been identified, though it is extremely probable that they +had to comply with Bishop Cameron's command, and to erect manses in the +burgh. The Hall of the Vicars Choral, with accommodation for eighteen +officials, was built on the north side of the Cathedral, by Bishop Andrew +Muirhead (1455-1473). + +From this list it will be seen how great must have been the influence of +this Levite village upon the development of the burgh. The comparatively +luxurious style of living among the ecclesiastics would attract craftsmen, +artificers of various kinds, and merchants trading with other countries to +supply the rich garments, the expensive wines, and the numerous delicacies +which were deemed necessaries by ecclesiastical dignitaries of high +degree. With the Reformation all this grandeur was swept away, but before +that epoch Glasgow had been made the favourite residence of many of the +Lowland noblemen; and when the sacerdotal burgh disappeared, the secular +and commercial city was ready to take its place. The domination of the +Church passed, but not before it had prepared the way for its successor. +In other Cathedral cities in Scotland a similar process of development may +be traced, though not in so distinct a manner as exhibited in the +evolution of Glasgow. Verily, that city owes much of its prosperity to the +foresight and patriotism of those who ruled in its pre-Reformation +Cathedral! + + + + +Public Worship in Olden Times. + +BY REV. ALEXANDER WATERS, M.A., B.D. + + +Many changes in the form of Church service have been witnessed in the +Church of Scotland since the Reformation. In the first book of discipline, +compiled by Knox and others in 1560, it is stated that "to the churches +where no ministers can be had presentlie must be appointed the most apt +men that distinctly can read the common prayers and the Scriptures to +exercise both themselves and the church till they grow to greater +perfection." In accordance with this recommendation there were, in +parishes where ministers could not be procured to preach and administer +the sacraments, a class of men employed in the Church under the name of +"readers," whose office was to read the Scriptures and a liturgy of +printed prayers such as is used in the public service of the Church of +England. After the Church became more fully plenished with ministers, +readers were still in many places continued. In parishes supplied with +both a reader and a minister there were two distinct services in the +church on Sundays. There was, first of all, a preliminary service +conducted by the reader. The service consisted of reading the public +prayers and portions of Scripture. It usually lasted an hour, and when it +ended the minister entered the church and conducted his service of +extempore prayer and preaching. In the year 1580 the General Assembly +declared that "the office of a reader is not an ordinary office in the +Kirk of God;" and the following year it was expressly ordained that +readers should not be appointed in any church. It is evident, however, +that readers continued to be employed in the Church of Scotland long after +that date, both during the episcopacy that subsisted from 1606 to 1637, +and during the ascendency of Presbytery from 1637 to 1645. + +The Westminster Assembly of Divines ignored the office of reader, and when +the Westminster Directory for Public Worship was adopted by the Church of +Scotland in 1645, it may be said that the service of the reader was +ostensibly and almost practically brought to an end in Scotland. It has to +be stated, however, that readers were, nevertheless, employed in some +parishes long after their office had ceased to be recognised in the +constitutions of the church. Mr More, in his account of Scotland in 1715, +describes the Sunday service in Scottish churches as follows:--"First the +precentor, about half an hour before the preacher comes, reads two or +three chapters to the congregation of what part of Scripture he pleases, +or as the minister gives him directions. As soon as the preacher gets into +the pulpit the precentor leaves reading, and sets a psalm-singing with the +people, till the minister by some sign orders him to give over. The psalm +over, the preacher begins confessing sins and begging pardon ... then he +goes to sermon, delivered always by heart, and, therefore, sometimes +spoiled by battologies, little impertinences, and incoherence." + +The reader was usually also precentor, and it will be a natural +transition, therefore, to pass on now to an account of that part of the +Sunday service which the precentor conducted. In the Reformed Church of +Scotland a very limited space was originally allotted to the service of +praise in public worship. "There is perhaps no country in Christendom," +says Dr Cunningham, "in which psalmody has been as little cultivated as +in Scotland. Wherever the Church of Rome reared her altars, music grew up +under her shadow, and gave a new charm to her sensuous services. But +Presbytery gave little countenance to such a hand-maid." The use of +instruments in the service of praise was repudiated or almost abjured. +Organs were not even allowed standing room in church. In 1574 the Kirk +Session of Aberdeen gave orders "that the organis with all expedition be +removit out of the kirk and made profeit of to the use and support of the +puir." On his visit to Scotland in 1617 King James endeavoured to +inaugurate a more æsthetic and cultured form of worship in Scotland, after +the manner of what he had seen in England. Among other innovations he set +up an organ in the Chapel Royal at Holyrood. "Upon Satterday, the 17th +May," says Calderwood, "the English service was begun in the Chapel Royal +with singing of quirristers, surplices, and playing on organes." The +popular feeling, however, that in 1637 was aroused against the service +book was turned against the organ also, and among the outbreaks of 1638 +Spalding records that "the glorious organes of the Chapell Royall were +maisterfullie broken doune, nor no service usit thair bot the haill +chaplains, choristis, and musicians dischargeit, and the costlie organes +altogether destroyit and unusefull." + +The old doctrine of the Church of Scotland in regard to psalmody is +tersely expressed in the first book of discipline. "There be two sorts of +policie," it is said in that book; "the one of these sorts is utterlie +necessary, as, that the word be preached, the sacraments ministered, and +common prayers publicly made. The other sort of policy is profitable, but +not necessarie, as, that psalms should be sung and certain places of +Scripture read when there is no sermon." And in accordance with this +doctrine there is very little singing of psalms prescribed as part of +public worship in either Knox's Liturgy or the Westminster Directory. In +each of these manuals of worship there are only two psalms appointed or +supposed to be sung during the minister's service--one before the sermon +and another before the benediction. It is possible, however, that there +was, from an early period, a third psalm sung in the church by the +congregation, although that psalm was not included in the service. Just as +in modern churches where instrumental music has been introduced, there is +a voluntary played on the organ during the time that the congregation are +assembling, so in very ancient times, long before the Reformation, it was +customary over a large part of Christendom for the people "to entertain +the time with singing of psalms" till the congregation had gathered. And +in Scotland within quite recent times the epithet of the "gathering psalm" +was commonly applied to what is now called the first psalm. + +Pasdoran states that, "It was the ancient practice of the Church of +Scotland, as it is yet of some Reformed Churches abroad, for the minister +or precentor to read over as much of the psalm in metre as was intended to +be sung at once, and then the harmony and melody followed without +interruption, and people did either learn to read or got most of the +psalms by heart." What is here called the ancient practice of the Church +of Scotland in the rendering of praise is just the practice that is +observed at the present day. But soon after 1645 a different practice +arose and continued long in the church. The Westminster Directory for +Public Worship recommends that, "for the present, where many in the +congregation cannot read, it is convenient that the minister or some +other fit person appointed by him and the other ruling elders, do read the +psalm line by line before the singing thereof." The practice was +accordingly introduced into the Church of Scotland soon after of giving +out the psalms in instalments of one line at a time, and so popular did +the practice become, and so essential a part of revered use and wont, that +very great difficulty was found long afterwards in getting it +discontinued. Indeed, the practice of reading the line was pretty general +until the beginning of this century. + +Loud objections were raised to the singing of hymns and what, in Scotland, +are commonly called paraphrases; and even within living memory this +innovation gave rise to bitter controversy. Not a few persons maintained +that the only proper subjects for divine praise in public worship are the +metrical versions of the Old Testament Psalms. But from the date of the +Reformation down to the sitting of the Westminster Assembly, not only were +metrical versions of the psalms, but hymns and doxologies also, generally +sung in the public worship of the church. The year 1650, however, +witnessed a change in that respect. The present version of the psalms was +that year printed for use in public worship, and no hymns nor paraphrases +were appended. It was not until 1781 that a Committee appointed by the +General Assembly submitted "such a collection of sacred poems as they +thought might be submitted to the judgment of the church." It is this 1781 +collection of paraphrases that is still, after the lapse of more than a +hundred years, bound in Scottish Bibles along with the metrical version of +the Psalms of David. The paraphrases have established a secure place in +the psalmody of all the Presbyterian Churches in Scotland. But it was not +without contention and controversy, strife and bitterness, that the +paraphrases made their way into use in the services of public worship. The +writer has seen a worthy elder violently close his Bible on the giving out +of a paraphrase, and remain seated while it was being sung. + +Having described the reader's and precentor's service, there remains the +service that specially devolved on the minister. It is well known that a +liturgy was at one time, and for a long time, used in the Church of +Scotland. Knox's liturgy continued to be used by some ministers and +readers down to the year 1637 at least. Its use was by no means universal, +however, during that period. Extempore prayers were always popular with +the general public, but when young and raw readers, however sparely gifted +and not more than half-educated, took on themselves, as they often did, to +treat congregations to extempore prayers, the guardians of public manners +were shocked. It was a shame to all religion, said King Charles I., to +have the majesty of God so barbarously spoken to; and, as a remedy for +this deformity, as he termed it, in the public worship of the Church of +Scotland, Charles issued a new service book to be used as a liturgy by all +preachers and readers. But neither minister nor people would take the +king's liturgy, and extempore prayers became more established in use and +favour than ever. + +It is well known that in Protestant churches generally, and in the Church +of Scotland particularly, the preaching of the word has always been +reckoned the chief part of the service of the sanctuary. The quantity of +preaching that ministers had to give and people had to take in olden +times was enormous. There were commonly two diets of worship on the +Sabbath and very often what was termed a week-day sermon besides. It was +customary for ministers to take up a subject or text and on that subject +or text to preach for six or eight Sabbaths consecutively. It seems not to +have been uncommon for ministers to take an hour to their sermon. And to +keep preachers right in this matter, it was customary to set up a sand +glass in the church. + + +[Illustration: PREACHER'S HOUR GLASS.] + + +It is doubtful if in olden times there was as much good order observed in +church during divine service as there is now. In some of the old +ecclesiastical records, we find curious regulations for the preservation +of order in church. In the Kirk Session records of Perth we find an +instruction minuted that the kirk-officer "have his red staff in the Kirk +on the Sabbath days wherewith to waken sleepers and remove greeting +bairns." In 1593 complaint was made at Perth of boys in time of preaching +running through the church clattering and fighting. + + +[Illustration: HOUR GLASS STAND.] + + +The hours of church service on Sundays were much earlier long ago than +they are now. In 1615 the Kirk Session of Lasswade appointed nine o'clock +as the hour on which service should begin in the summer months, and +half-past nine as the hour of service in winter. + +The neglect of public ordinances has at all times been a subject of +lamentation. In olden days many devices are said to have been tried to +remedy or abate these evils. Those resorted to by the Covenanters in +Aberdeen in 1642 were perhaps as ingenious as any that have ever been +adopted. "Our minister," says Spalding, "teaches powerfullie and plainlie +the word to the gryte comfort of his auditores. He takes strait count of +those who cumis not to the communion, nor keepis not the kirk, callis out +the absentis out of pulpit, quhilk drew in sic a fair auditorie that the +seatis of the kirk was not abill to hold thame, for remeid quhair of he +causit big up ane loft athwart the body of the kirk." + +Mr Cant did not go quite so far, but being annoyed that his afternoon +diets were sparsely attended, he naïvely dismissed his forenoon audience +without a benediction, and reserved his blessing for those that returned +to the second sermon. + + + + +Church Music. + +BY THOMAS FROST. + + +Though the use of instrumental music in the services of the Church fell +into disfavour after the Reformation, the existence of a sculptured +representation of an organ in Melrose Abbey shows that instrument to have +been known as early as the fourteenth century. That "regals," as they were +then called, were placed in some of the principal churches, and used in +worship, is also evidenced by documents still in existence. That these, +however inferior they may have been to similar instruments of the present +day, were carefully constructed, and at considerable cost, appears from +the payments made to William Calderwood for "a pair of organs" for the +Chapel Royal at Stirling in 1537, and for "a set of organs" for the King's +Chapel at Holyrood in 1542. But the Reformation led to these instruments +being everywhere discarded as partaking too much of Romanism to be +acceptable to the followers of Knox. + +The organs of the royal chapels kept their places for a time, but +elsewhere the "kists of whistles," as they then came to be called, were +broken up and the materials sold in aid of the fund for the poor. But no +long time elapsed before the Earl of Mar, as captain of Stirling Castle, +caused the organ in the Royal Chapel to be removed and broken up; and in +1571 the Scottish Parliament expressed approval of the act. The prevailing +feeling against the organ was intensified when, in 1617, orders were given +by James VI. that carved figures of the Apostles should be affixed to the +seats of the choir in the Chapel at Holyrood, where the organ was then +being repaired, after a long period of disuse and neglect. Instrumental +music thus became associated in the public mind with what was regarded as +idolatry, and so much excitement prevailed that the bishops advised that +the restoration of the organ and the choir stalls should be delayed until +it subsided. + +In 1631 Charles issued an order for the erection of an organ in every +cathedral and principal church, and thereby renewed the agitation against +the instrument. The order was disregarded, and in 1638, when popular +opposition to the introduction of the Anglican prayer-book was being +strongly manifested, the General Assembly ruled that the attempt to +introduce instrumental music into the services of the Church should be +resisted. Spalding, speaking of the agitation of that period, says that +"the glorious organs of the Chapel Royal were masterfully broken down, nor +no service used there, but the whole chaplains, choristers, and musicians +discharged, and the costly organs altogether destroyed and unuseful." Six +years later, the General Assembly recorded in their minutes the gladness +with which that body had received the news from their commissioners at +Westminster of the taking down of the great organs of St. Paul's Cathedral +and Westminster Abbey. + +Psalmody was little more in favour than the gilded pipes of the organ. The +Westminster Directory for Public Worship, adopted by the General Assembly +in 1645, recommends that "for the present, where many in the congregation +cannot read, it is convenient that the minister, or some other fit person +appointed by him and the other ruling officers, do read the psalm, line by +line, before the singing thereof." Before this time, in 1642, there had +been much controversy in the western Lowlands concerning the singing of +the doxology at the end of a psalm, a practice which was popularly +regarded as a commandment of men, not to be accepted as a divine +ordinance. The General Assembly, in 1643, took the matter into +consideration, and ordered the dispute to be dropped. In 1649, however, +the subject was again before the Assembly, which then resolved that the +singing of the doxology should be discontinued. + +In 1647, a committee was named by the General Assembly to examine and +revise Rous's paraphrase of the Psalms, and Zachary Boyd was requested to +make a metrical version of the other Biblical songs; but nothing was done +in the latter direction, probably due to the desire for uniformity with +the Presbyterian Church in England, and in 1650 the present metrical +version was printed for use in public worship, without the addition of any +hymns or paraphrases. Nothing further was done for the improvement of +congregational singing for more than half a century. + +The question of instrumental music was revived in 1687, by the erection in +the Royal Chapel at Holyrood, by order of James II., of a large and +magnificent organ, which was regarded as a step towards the introduction +of the Romish service. So convinced were the people of this that the +clergy of even the Episcopal churches discontinued the use of the organ in +public worship. In the following year, when James had abdicated, and the +fear of Popish devices had become allayed, the mob of Edinburgh testified +to the national joy, and at the same time indulged their latent propensity +to mischief by breaking down the organ and burning the materials. + +As in England down to a much later period, so also in Scotland, a metrical +version of the Psalms was alone in use in worship, though several attempts +were made at different times in the last century to introduce hymns of a +more distinctively Christian character, as well as more poetical than the +old paraphrases of Hebrew psalmody. The matter was before the General +Assembly in 1707, and again in 1742, when a committee was appointed to +prepare some paraphrases of passages in the Bible, "to be joined with the +Psalms of David, so as to enlarge the Psalmody." Three years afterwards, +some examples of religious poetry were submitted by the committee for the +judgment of the Assembly; but, as before, nothing was done, and the matter +remained in abeyance until 1775, when it was suggested by the Synod of +Glasgow and Ayr that the Assembly should take such measures as might be +judged necessary to introduce the paraphrases of 1751 into the Psalter of +the Church. These were, in consequence, again examined and revised by a +committee, but it was not until 1781 that the committee made their report +and the Assembly ordered copies of the collection (which had been printed +in 1751) to be submitted to the Presbyteries. Pending the Presbyterial +judgment, the Assembly allowed the collection to be used in public worship +"where the minister finds it for edification." + +The permission to use this collection of Biblical paraphrases was never +recalled by the Assembly, but it has also never been made a permanent act. +It appears to have been given reluctantly, and only as a measure of +policy, in concession to popular feeling in favour of the collection; for +it appears to have been previously used in several churches. "Use and +wont," says Dr Edgar, in his "Old Church Life in Scotland," "have now +given as valid an authority for the singing of the paraphrases in church +as a special Act of Assembly could do. The paraphrases have, on the +strength of their own merits, established a secure place in the psalmody +of all the Presbyterian churches in Scotland." + +Instrumental music had, in the meantime, continued to be banished from +public worship. The psalm to be sung was announced by the minister, and +the precentor, who occupied a smaller pulpit below him, placed in a slit +in a lyre-shaped brass frame in front of him a card bearing the name of +the tune in large letters, so as to be visible to all the congregation. +The minister then repeated the first two lines of the verses to be sung, +and the precentor struck his tuning-fork on the desk. It was a custom of +long standing, probably dating from a time when few of the congregation +could read, for the precentor to read and sing a line alternately, which +must, to persons unaccustomed to it, have sounded strange, and certainly +have destroyed what little harmony there might have been if the psalm had +been sung differently. + +It was not until the first decade of the present century that the organ +was called to the aid of the volume of praise in the Scottish Church. To +Dr Ritchie, minister of St. Andrew's Church, Glasgow, belongs the honour +of this innovation. With the approval of the congregation, he introduced +an organ, which was played for the first time on the 23rd of August, 1807, +not without producing a sensation and a protest. The Presbytery was +convened, and the Lord Provost appeared before that grave body, at the +head of a deputation of influential citizens, to protest against the +minister's innovation on long established custom. The Presbytery ruled, +"that the use of organs in the public worship of God is contrary to the +law of the land, and to the law and constitution of our Established +Church." The organ was summarily silenced, therefore, and the grand tones +of that instrument were not again heard in accompaniment of sacred song in +the Presbyterian churches of Scotland for more than twenty years. + +The ineffective character of unaccompanied congregational singing was very +slowly recognised. In 1829, however, the congregation of the Relief +Church,[11] at Roxburgh Place, Edinburgh, with the approval of their +minister, had an organ erected in their place of worship. The act was +clamorously opposed outside his own following, and the Relief Presbytery +called upon the minister, John Johnston, to remove the offending +instrument, under pain of deprivation. The response of minister and +congregation to this command was the severance of their connection with +the Synod. In 1845, a Congregational Church in Edinburgh set up an organ +in their place of worship, and as each congregation in that denomination +is an independent body, no outside opposition or interference was in that +case possible. + +The progress of the movement continued, however, to be very slow. A large +proportion of the older men in the ministry still regarded instrumental +music in churches as associated with Romanism, and when Dr Lee, the +minister of the Old Greyfriars' Church, in Edinburgh, ventured, in 1863, +to introduce a harmonium there, it was rumoured that he was a disguised +Jesuit, seeking to Romanise the Reformed Church. He was well able to +defend himself, however, and he did so with such ability and power that, +in the following year, the General Assembly ruled that "such innovations +should be put down only when they interfered with the peace of the Church +and the harmony of congregations." The cause was won. The Old Greyfriars' +congregation subscribed four hundred and fifty pounds for an organ, which +replaced the harmonium in 1865. + +The Free Church lingered long in the rear of the movement, mainly owing to +the opposition of Dr Begg, but in 1883 the General Assembly recorded a +resolution similar to that adopted by the Assembly of the Established +Church of Scotland in 1864, and opposition to instrumental music is now +practically at an end. The prejudice against it still lingers, however, in +some districts remote from the life and light of the larger towns. A story +is told of a lady of the old school of religious thought, that, having +been induced by some friends to attend an Episcopalian service, and being +asked on her return how she liked the music, she replied, "It was verra +fine, but waes me! yon's an awfu' way of spending the Sawbath." + + + + +Discipline in the Kirk. + +BY THE REV. GEO. S. TYACK, B.A. + + +In no country and at no time has a more searching system of ecclesiastical +discipline been attempted than in Scotland in the first century after the +Reformation. Not only was the teaching or the practice of the unreformed +faith punished with the severest penalties, not only was attendance at +church and the learning of religion, as the reformers understood it, +rigidly enforced; but even the private life of the people was watched and +scrutinized. The behaviour of the congregation on the way home from divine +service, the amusements which formed the relaxation of the people, the +dress of the women in the street as well as at kirk, the snuff-taking of +the men, domestic broils and filial misbehaviour in the various +households,--these and other such matters were discussed by ecclesiastical +tribunals and visited with pains and penalties, as much as offences +against human or divine laws. The country was overspread with a network +of church authorities claiming disciplinary powers, there was quite an +arsenal of punitive machines in every district, and the whole system was +kept in motion by the free use of espionage. Verily, in Scotland "new +presbyter was," as Milton said, "but old priest writ large," larger in +fact than the original by far. Even the soldiery of the Commonwealth, +sufficiently used to the methods of Puritanism in England, were astonished +and disgusted with the ways and means of Scottish discipline; so much so +that during their stay in the country in 1650 they destroyed many of the +weapons of this intolerable tyranny; and it is indeed surprising that the +people themselves accepted it so long with submission. That the Church has +authority to use discipline over its members is admitted; and that at the +present time this authority is too little recognised is, in the opinion of +very many, equally true; but in the day of its supremest power the +Scottish Kirk Sessions seem to have usurped a universal authority. The +punitive rights of the State, the proper control which a man has within +his own house, even that discipline which every one should learn to +exercise over himself, all these, as well as that influence which more +strictly is the province of the Church, the Kirk endeavoured to control +and enforce by means of its own ecclesiastical courts. + +Of these courts the first was the "Exercise," as it was at first quaintly +called, from the custom of "making exercise," or critically examining a +given passage of Scripture; more properly described as the Presbytery. +Next to this came the authority of the Synod, or district court, and the +final appeal lay to the General Assembly. Of these the higher courts not +infrequently did much more than exercise appellant jurisdiction, issuing +orders to spur on the zeal of the inferior ones. + +The methods of punishment employed by the Kirk were various. +Excommunications were freely launched against offenders, especially +against those who did not accept in their fulness the teaching and +practices of the reformers. Public penance was also resorted to, often in +addition to some other form of punishment; the penance usually involving +the use of the "repentance-stool," or the jaggs, or jougs. The former of +these was a wooden structure formed in two tiers or steps, the lower of +which, used for less heinous offences, was named the "cock-stool." An +offender, judged to perform a public penance on this stool, was first +clothed in an appropriate habit, the Scottish representative of the +traditional white sheet, which consisted of a cloak of coarse linen, known +as the "harden goun," the "harn goun," or the "sack goun." Thus arrayed, +he (or she) stood at the kirk door while the congregation assembled and +during the opening prayer of the service; just before the sermon the +penitent was led in by the sexton and placed, according to the terms of +the sentence, either upon "the highest degree of the penitent stuill" or +upon, "the cock-stool"; where he stood barefoot and bare-headed during +the discourse, in which his sins and offences were not forgotten. The +congregation generally wore their hats during the sermon. + + +[Illustration: REPENTANCE STOOL, FROM OLD GREYFRIARS, EDINBURGH.] + + +The minutes and accounts of the Presbyteries have frequent allusions to +this stool and its accompanying "goun." Thus at Perth mention is made of +the provision of both cock-stool and repentance-stool, and in 1617 the +Kirk Session of the same place ordered a stool of stone to be built. The +Synods specially enjoined on all parishes the procuring of a +repentance-gown; in 1655 as much as £4, 4s. 6d. was spent in one for +Lesmahago, and in 1693 Kirkmichael, Ayrshire, ordered one of a special +fashion, "like unto that which they have in Straitoun," to be made. The +repentance-stool has maintained its place in scattered instances down to +modern times, one of the latest instances of its use being in 1884, when a +man stood on the stool to be publicly rebuked in the Free Kirk at +Lochcarron. The Museum of the Society of Antiquaries at Edinburgh contains +the old repentance-stool, formerly used in the Old Greyfriars' Church of +that city; the repentance-gown of Kinross parish is also preserved in the +same museum. It does not always follow that penance implies repentance, +and the strong arm of the Scottish Kirk sometimes compelled a man to +submit to the former without his experiencing the latter; such was +evidently the case with three reprobates who were excommunicated in 1675 +by the Kirk Session of Mauchline, Ayrshire, because of "their breaking the +stool of repentance on which they had been sentenced to stand in presence +of the congregation." + + +[Illustration: JOUGS FROM THE OLD CHURCH OF CLOVA, FORFARSHIRE.] + +[Illustration: THE JOUGS AT DUDDINGSTON.] + + +The jagg or jougs consisted of an iron collar fastened by a padlock, which +hung from a chain secured in the church wall near the principal entrance. +An offender sentenced to the jagg was compelled to stand locked within +this collar for an hour or more before the morning service on one or more +Sundays. About the time of the Revolution this dropt out of use, chiefly +from the fact that the State no longer suffered the powers of the Kirk to +be carried with so high a hand; several of the old jaggs, however, yet +remain. At Merton, Berwickshire, at Clova, in Forfarshire, and at +Duddingston, Midlothian, the instrument may still be seen attached to the +kirk wall; the jaggs of Stirling and of Galashiels have also been +preserved, though removed from their original places.[12] + +Besides the repentance-stool and the jagg, which were specially the +weapons of the kirk, there were other instruments of punishment employed +by the State, to which the Kirk also did not hesitate at times to have +recourse. Just as the Spanish Inquisition handed over those whom it +condemned to the "secular arm" for punishment, so the Scottish Kirk passed +resolutions desiring the bailies to put this or that offender in gyves; +magistrates were requested to imprison others, "their fude to be bread and +watter;" employers were instructed to fine or chastise servants who used +profane language; and town authorities were solicited to procure +appliances for "ducking" certain classes of sinners. The brank or scold's +bridle, the stocks, and the pillory, were used by the ecclesiastical, no +less than by the civil, authorities; the Kirk also imposed fines, decreed +banishment, used the steeples as prisons, and inflicted mutilation, and +even death, upon offenders; its power to enforce these sentences being +largely due to the fact that civil disabilities followed the pronouncement +of excommunication. The excommunicated person was an outlaw; he could hold +no land, might be imprisoned by any magistrate to whom he was denounced, +and was to be "boycotted" by friends, followers, and tradesmen; any one +showing him the smallest consideration, or affording him the least +assistance, was liable to a similar punishment. These large powers were +only abrogated in 1690. + +Among the offences dealt with by the Kirk, a prominent place was given to +adherence to the unreformed faith, and to any apparent lack of zeal for +presbyterianism. Saying mass according to the ancient rite, or even +hearing it, or giving any countenance to such as did so, was severely +dealt with. Hamilton, Archbishop of St. Andrews, was summoned, with nearly +fifty others, before the High Court in 1563, charged with saying mass; and +although he was liberated at that time, he was subsequently hanged. For a +similar "crime," John Carvet was put in the pillory at Edinburgh, in 1565; +other priests were banished in 1613; and another (John Ogilvie) was +sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered in 1615. For hearing mass, +John Logane was fined a thousand pounds in 1613, and many persons were +from time to time imprisoned, or otherwise punished. The Church festivals +were also put under a ban. The General Assembly in 1645 prohibited +schoolmasters from granting a holiday at Christmas; the Kirk Session of +St. Andrews punished several persons for keeping that festival in 1573; +and in 1605 the same authority at Dundonald summoned a man for not +ploughing on "Zuile day" (Yule). To harbour a priest, to possess books of +Catholic devotion, to paint a crucifix, all these were recognised +offences, which were visited with fines and imprisonment. In 1631 Sir John +Ogilvy of Craig was committed to jail for "daily conversing" with +supporters of the old faith. + +The means adopted to promote reformed opinions among the people were +equally drastic. + +The most rigid observance of Sunday as a Sabbath was enforced. In 1627 +nine millers at Stow, in Midlothian, had to do public penance and pay +forty shillings for that "their milnes did gang on the Sabbath;" and in +1644 another miller, in Fifeshire, was sentenced to a fine of thirty +shillings, with the same addition, for a similar offence. The uncertainty +of the weather was not admitted as any excuse for Sunday harvesting, as is +shown by a fine inflicted (together with the usual penance) upon one +Alexander Russell and his servant for "leading corn on the Sabbath +evening," at Wester Balrymont. There are records of the stool of +repentance being called into use for the correction of fishermen who +mended their nets, of sundry people who gathered nuts, of a woman who +"watered her kaill," and of another who "seethed bark," on a Sunday. The +last named had to stand in the jagg for three Sundays as well. Lads who +were found playing on Sunday were sometimes whipt, as in a case dealt with +by the Kirk Session of St. Andrews in 1649, and others at Dunfermline in +1685. In 1664 it was enacted at Dumfries that "persons walking idly from +house to house and gossipping on Sabbath" should be fined thirty shillings +for their evil conduct; and in 1652 the Kirk Session of Stow actually +compelled one William Howatson to do public penance for having, on a +Sunday, "walked a short distance to see his seik mother." + +But mere abstinence from work and play was not sufficient; attendance at +the kirk was compulsory. The amount of the fine exacted in different +districts varied, but everywhere even a single absence was noted, and had +to be paid for. At Aberdeen, in 1568, the penalty was 6d. for every +service missed; at Lasswade, in 1615, it was 6s. 8d. from a gentleman, and +3s. 4d. from a servant; at Dunino, in 1643, sum was 2s. for a first +offence, 4s. for the second, and a like proportion for others. Paupers who +failed in this duty were to be deprived of all relief, by order of the +Kirk Session of St. Andrews in 1570. + +The almost omniscient eyes of the Kirk Sessions kept watch, moreover, on +the behaviour of the congregation while at the services. The Kirk Session +of Ayr summoned Andrew Garvine before it and reproved him in 1606, because +he was late at kirk; and at Saltoun, in 1641, a fine of 6s. 8d. was +decreed against everyone who ventured to "take snuff in tyme of divine +service"; at Perth the Session's officer was instructed "to have his red +staff in the kirk on Sabbath days, therewith to wauken sleepers, and to +remove greeting bairns forth of the kirk." The congregation was divided +according to the sexes, the men (most ungallantly) being allowed to +occupy forms, while the women sat upon the floor; and any departure from +this arrangement was gravely censured. The dress of the women also +occupied the attention of the Sessions, their habit of wearing their +plaids about their heads being especially condemned. At St. Andrews, the +beadle was commanded to go about the kirk during the service "with ane +long rod to tak down their plaidis" from the women's heads; while the +authorities at Monifieth took very extreme measures, ordering the +expenditure of five shillings in tar "to put upon the women that held +plaids about their heads." Women condemned to do public penance upon the +penitence-stool were deprived of their plaids before ascending that +ecclesiastical pillory. + +The instruction which the people were to receive was also regulated by the +Kirk Sessions. Before the morning service, and between that and the +afternoon service, the children were publicly to recite their catechism, +both for their own edification and that of the people present. So it was +ordained at Stow in 1656, and at Dunfermline in 1652, on the ground that +it was "usit in uthyre kirks." But the passages of Scripture to be +treated by the preachers were also settled by the same authorities; the +custom being, apparently, for the minister to go systematically through +some complete book of the Bible. The Kirk Session of the "Kirk of the +Canongait," Edinburgh, desired the minister, who had just entered upon the +Book of Isaiah, "to begyne the Actes of the Apostles," after completing +the first chapter of the prophet; and Mr George Gladstanes, at St. +Andrews, was requested to take up the Second Book of Samuel. The length of +the sermon was fixed also by the Session, as is illustrated by a +resolution passed at Elgin, to the effect that Mr David Philips do "turn +his glass when he preaches, and that the whole be finished within an +hour." + +All these regulations, moreover, did not apply exclusively to Sunday; for +although the Kirk forbade the observance of old Church festivals, it +rigidly enforced its own fasts and days of thanksgiving. There was public +service in the towns usually every Wednesday and Friday, and work was as +absolutely forbidden during service time on those days, and attendance at +kirk as strictly enjoined, as on Sundays. Moreover, the non-observance of +an appointed fast was visited with a heavy fine. + +For the further protection of the people from any teaching contrary to the +received standard, the Press was carefully guarded, and the publication of +any work bearing on religion forbidden, unless it had first received the +_imprimatur_ of the Kirk's official "superintendent"; and publishers who +issued books which proved to be obnoxious to the ecclesiastical +authorities were compelled to withdraw them. The purchase of Bibles, +moreover, was not left to the zeal or discretion of the people; but by an +act of 1576, every householder worth 300 marks annual rent, and every +yeoman or burgess having stock valued at £500, was compelled to procure a +Bible and a Psalm-book, under a penalty of £10 (Scots). + +Next to importance in the guidance of religious teaching and worship, and +indeed closely connected with it, in the estimation of the Scottish +ecclesiastical courts, came the question of witchcraft and sorcery. The +annals of the country throughout the seventeenth century, together with +the closing years of the preceding one, are full of stories of the trial, +torture, and punishment of alleged witches; and even in the early years +of the eighteenth century there are occasional instances of persons +proceeded against in the Kirk Sessions for using charms, and similar +superstitious practices. The unfortunate women charged with selling their +souls to Satan in exchange for occult powers seldom succeeded in +establishing their innocence, and juries which ventured to acquit them +were themselves occasionally charged with "wilful error" for so doing. +Under these circumstances it would seem that the accused, abandoning all +hope of escape, frequently took pleasure in exciting the wonder and the +horror of the court by the weird and marvellous tales which they invented +of their evil deeds; and no tale could be too marvellous for belief. It +made no difference in the enormity of the crime whether the supernatural +powers ascribed to the prisoner were used for good objects or for evil; +Isabel Haldane, who "cured Andrew Duncan's bairn, by bringing water from +the burn at Turret Port," Margaret Hornscleugh, who restored Alexander +Mason's wife to health and renewed the milking powers of Robert Christie's +cow, were burnt equally with Agnes Simpson, who had raised a storm to +drown King James, and Catherine Campbell, who had struck her young +mistress with convulsions. Foremost in hunting down these poor deluded, or +maligned creatures, were the ministers of the Kirk; and practically the +only lawful excuse for absence from a public service on Sunday, or even +for the omission of the service altogether, was attendance at a +witch-burning. + +Much time of various Kirk Sessions was also occupied, now and again, in +considering cases of pilgrimage to holy wells, "turning the riddle" to +discover the name of a thief, and similar matters, and in reprimanding the +offenders. So late as 1709, the Kirk Session of Kilmorie summoned before +it a woman accused of "the horrid sin of the hellish art of +riddle-turning," and sentenced her to public penance on three several +Sundays. + +More useful were the efforts, directed by the disciplinary authorities of +the Kirk, to prevent such sins as drunkenness, profanity, slander, and +sexual immorality. At Stirling, in 1612, a man was fined 20s. for being +intoxicated; and Dunino had, in 1645, a regular scale of fines for such +cases, 6s. for the first offence, 12s. for the second, and so forth. +Cursing and swearing were openly punished at the market crosses, by the +shame of the pillory, and by fines. Slander was met with the use of the +brank, the pillory, compulsory shaving of the head, or, in extreme cases, +with banishment from the district. In all these cases, a public reprimand +on Sunday at the stool of repentance was usually inflicted, in addition to +whatever other penalty there was imposed. + +The violation of the marriage vow was made a capital crime in Scotland in +1563; but the death sentence was not actually carried out very frequently. +At Glasgow, in 1586, it was considered sufficient to send the offenders to +the pillory, barefoot and in sackcloth, and then to cart them through the +town; but in 1643, the punishment was made more severe--the jagg, a public +whipping, committal to the common jail, and, finally, expulsion from the +town, being the satisfaction demanded by local justice. In the case of a +minister who had admitted that he was guilty of adultery, the utmost +humiliation was demanded. He had first to prostrate himself before the +General Assembly, and implore their pardon in the most abject manner; he +was then required to do public penance in sackcloth at the kirk door, and +on the repentance-stool for two Sundays each, in three several towns, +which were chosen so as to complete his degradation. Edinburgh, the +capital, Dundee, his native town, and Jedburgh, the place of his ministry, +were all to witness his shame. For other sins of impurity, fines, +imprisonment in the kirk steeple, standing in irons at the market cross, +and having the head shaved, were, one or more of them, adjudged. + +Some of the cases in which the Kirk exercised its discipline were such as, +it would appear to us, might have been dealt with more effectually in less +formal or more private ways. When a lad failed in proper respect to his +father, like the Glasgow youth who did not "lift his bonnet" on meeting +him, or even like him of St. Andrews, who struck his parent, it would +hardly seem to have been needful to report the matter to the Kirk, for it +to deal with it; yet the Sessions at those places solemnly considered +these misdemeanours, in 1598 and in 1574 respectively. Again, few +husbands, now, would probably care so far to confess themselves unable to +control their wives as to call in the authority of the Kirk to prevent the +"weaker vessels" from abusing their lords; yet such cases frequently +occupied the attention of Kirk Sessions. The brank, or imprisonment, or +the pillory, was the sentence usually pronounced on these rebellious +wives. + +The interference of the Kirk Sessions in some matters, which they once +claimed as within their sphere, would now certainly be resented. Thus, the +presbytery of Glasgow forbade a marriage between James Armour and Helen +Bar, in 1594, on the ground that the prospective bridegroom was "in greit +debt"; and at St. Andrews, in 1579, all persons who could not recite the +Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Commandments were debarred from +matrimony. Moreover, the Kirk undertook the regulation of the wedding +festivities. At Stirling, in 1599, the Kirk Session decreed that no +marriage dinner or supper should cost above 5s.; and this was an advance +upon the rule passed at Glasgow, in 1583, which limited the cost to +"eighteen pennies Scots." At Cambusnethan, in 1649, the presence of a +piper at a wedding was forbidden; and at Dumfries, in 1657, the number of +guests was limited to twenty-four. + +In too many instances the Kirk procured the information on which it acted +in enforcing these decrees through spies of one kind or another. The +informants, through whom cases were got up against the adherents of the +unreformed rites, were often men of the worst characters, such as Robert +Drummond, a twice-convicted adulterer, who finally died by his own hand. +The wretches who hunted down and tested those accused of witchcraft were +scarcely more respectable agents. Officers both of the kirks and of the +municipalities were required to watch for and report those who did not +attend divine service regularly; an espionage of the most dangerous and +objectionable kind being introduced when, as at Glasgow in 1600, it was +decreed that, on the "deacons" of craft-gilds informing of any remissness +in kirk-attendance of their members, half the fine imposed should be given +to the gild. Bailies were desired to traverse the houses on "preaching +dayes" to see that the people did not stay at home; beadles were "to tak +notice of those who tak ye sneising tobacco in tyme of divine service, and +to inform concerning them;" others were appointed to take the names of +such as were in the alehouses after eight o'clock at night; midwives and +doctors were threatened with discipline if they failed to report any +illegitimate birth which they attended; "searchers" were appointed to find +out those who did not buy Bibles and Psalm-books; in a word the lives of +the people were constantly under observation. It is perhaps the strongest +proof of the strength of the Scotsman's character that, after a century or +more of such interference with his responsibility, his sturdy independence +survived. Much of this disciplinary system died away when, in 1690, it +ceased to have behind it the civil disabilities attendant on +excommunication. + + + + +Curiosities of Church Finance. + +BY THE REV. R. WILKINS REES. + + +"The plate for collections is inside the church, so that the whole +congregation can give a guess at what you give. If it is something very +stingy or very liberal, all Thrums knows of it within a few hours; indeed, +this holds good of all the churches, especially, perhaps, of the Free one, +which has been called the bawbee kirk, because so many half-pennies find +their way into the plate. On Saturday nights the Thrums shops are besieged +for coppers by housewives of all denominations, who would as soon think of +dropping a threepenny bit into the plate as of giving nothing. Tammy Todd +had a curious way of tipping his penny into the Auld Licht plate while +still keeping his hand to his side. He did it much as a boy fires a +marble, and there was quite a talk in the congregation the first time he +missed. A devout plan was to carry your penny in your hand all the way to +church, but to appear to take it out of your pocket on entering, and some +plumped it down noisily like men paying their way. I believe old Snecky +Hobart, who was a canty stock but obstinate, once dropped a penny into the +plate and took out a half-penny as change; but the only untoward thing +that happened to the plate was once when the lassie from the farm of Curly +Bog capsized it in passing. Mr Dishart, who was always a ready man, +introduced something into his sermon that day about women's dress, which +everyone hoped Christy Lundy, the lassie in question, would remember." + +This, from Mr J. M. Barrie's "Auld Licht Idylls," will ever be a classic +passage on Scottish church finance, so far as it is represented by the +collection. It is not, however, in such pages that the material for such +an article as this must be sought, but rather in such fruitful fields as +those afforded by, chiefly, the Kirk Session Records preserved in various +parts of the country. + +It has been pointed out, I think by Buckle in his "History of Civilisation +in England," in comparing Spain and Scotland in point of superstition and +religious intolerance, that the latter country has denied to political +what it has conceded to priestly government, and hence its superior +material progress and prosperity. The general influence of the Kirk +Session, especially as exemplified in its disciplinary powers, was +unquestionably large and far-reaching, surpassing even that of magisterial +authority. Hence we may find records of fines levied by and paid to the +Kirk Session which we should have thought would have been solely within +civil jurisdiction. The church revenue derived from fines must have been +in some instances quite considerable, and as indicating their nature many +entries derived from old church records are of peculiar interest and +value. What the Church forbad _was_ forbidden, and when her laws were +broken or her wishes not complied with, the culprit had to pay the +penalty. When the minister and the session anathematized it was generally +discovered that it was not as with the Highland laird, who "did not swear +at anybody in particular: he jist stood in tae middle o' tae road and +swore at lairge." The anathemas were directed at a definite object, and of +the luckless individual thus aimed at it could not be said, as in the +"Ingoldsby Legends," "Nobody seemed one penny the worse." + +The manner in which these fines were determined is sufficiently indicated +by an extract from the Records of Session of Tyninghame, under date May +12, 1616:--"Maister Johne (the minister, by name John Lauder) heavilie +compleinit yt ye last Lord's Day the Sabbothe was prophanit be sundrie +pepill, as he was informit, by yoking thair cairts about 10 or 11 houris +at evene, and led wair fra the see, to ye dishonour of God and evill +example of utheris. For redress heirof in tyme coming, it is ordainit be +the said Maister Johne and elderis present, that quhaevir sall yok to leid +wair on ye Sabbothe, befor ane hour efter midnight, or until 12 houris at +even be past, sall make publik satisfaction in the kirk, and pay 20s. +_toties quoties_; and also ordains publik intimation heirof to be maid." + +The following may be taken as supplying a commentary on this. It will, of +course, be remembered that in the days here referred to Scots money was +only one-twelfth part the value of what it is now:--"August 12 +(1621).--The minister shew to the elderis that he had causit wairn Robert +Skugall, servitor to James Neilsone, befor the session. Callit on, +compeirit, and accusit of carying netis to the sea in ane cairt, be yoking +hors efter the efternoone sermon, confessit the samin, bot did it, as he +alledgit, with his maister his directions. James Neilsone, present, +answerit yt he bade him not yoke ane cairt, bot cary the netis on ane +horseback. Ordainis the said Robert to satisfie publicklie the nixt Lordis +Day. Item: Thomas Airthe compleinit on ane man quha brocht salt from the +Panis to this towne this day, befor sermon, to sell to qm presentlie the +minister past; and George Shortus, the officer, with him, arrestit the +salt, and put it in Rot. Quhyte his barn, that nain of it micht be sold +that day. Takin fra him 12s. to the pure." "August 26.--James Neilsone, +accusit for comanding his man to pass to the sea with netis in ane cairt, +the said James denyit he comandit him except only to carie them on +horseback; to qm the minister answerit that the last day he confessit he +bade him yok the cairt, qlk some of the elderis testifeit; the brethren +present ordainit the said James to remove, to be censured, and ordainis +him to sit down on his kneis befor the elderis and ask God forgiveness, +and to pay twentie s. to the box, qlk bothe he did, and the session was +qtentit." + +Other extracts from the same records are worthy of note in this +connection. On September 25, 1631, Alex. Jackson was ordered to give to +the box what he received for the herrings which he brought in on the +Sabbath day. He affirmed that he got but thirty shillings, which was +produced before the session and put into the box. On April 3, 1642, John +Nicolson was accused for hauling some lines in the water one Sabbath day, +but the minister and elders, seeing him penitent, and submitting himself +humbly, alleging that he did not get four shillings' worth of fish, +ordered him to pay penalty, four shillings, and to make satisfaction on +his knees before the session. The fishermen were, however, allowed to set +their nets on Sunday, though not to haul them, as Dunbar records +testify:--"8 September 1639, Sunday.--Gude order keipit be the seamen at +the draife; no herring brocht in, nor nets hauled, but only nets set at +efternoon." "30 August 1635.--The session appoints some of the elders to +go to the seaside at efternoon, to see that there be no mercat in herring; +and the minister to be with them efter the efternoon, to see guid order +keepit." + +Sabbath-breaking was, unquestionably, a fruitful source of church income. +On December 26, 1619, it was shown to the minister that Robert Barrie, +hind to the Lady Bass, had thus offended by carrying peat; and on February +4, 1621, the said Lady Bass had to pay 18s. for a servant who again broke +the Sabbath. "Profanation of the Sabbath," with its attendant fine, was +again and again reported. Sometimes it was football on the links after the +afternoon sermon, and drinking after the pastime, which had to be atoned +for by a money payment, or again, it might be that "for not being in the +kirk in time in the afternoon" the offender had to pay ten shillings, even +though he might have "come to the kirk shortly after the third bell." +Occasionally, it would seem, the fines were imposed with drastic +severity:--January 21 (1644).--"James Kirkwood gave to the session, to be +put in the box, in name and behalf of George Hay, in Scougall, tasker to +said James, 7s., because he came not with his companie tymeouslie to the +kirk that Lord's Day his wyffe was buryed, as he aucht to have done.... He +said that the days were short, and they had few to carry hir corpes, and +the pepill did not conveine so tymeouslie as he expectit, and this was the +caus." + +Absence from worship caused many a shilling to fall into the coffers of +the kirk. "Advertise them that they come to the kirk every Sabbath and +that they that were convicted of absence, without lawful excuse, should +pay six shillings every person, seeing they might now, the farthest of +them, the days being long and the weather fair, come every day." This was +in 1619. What a significant entry is the following:--"October 14, +1621.--The minister exhortit the peple to repentance. George Shortus +searchit the towne." Or this:--"This day Alexander Davidson seairchit ye +towne, and delatit some persons absent fra ye kirk in tyme of preiching." +Absentees were followed and fined with an almost relentless pertinacity. +Elders were ordered by the minister to search the town and "to delate the +absentees." As soon as public worship began, the elder started on his +quest, and the luckless delinquents were hunted in home and alehouse. A +few days after, their names, with penalties attached, appeared in the +session books. Sometimes no excuse was taken. An elder, even though he +pleaded headache as reason for his absence, had to pay a fine; so had a +deacon with like adequate excuse; each exaction tending to increase the +income of the kirk. + +But not only had Sabbath-day offences thus to be acknowledged. On January +2, 1625, Alex. Johnson, Patrick Wood, George Foster and Patrick Bassenden +were called on and accused before the session "for troubling James +Neilsone's house, singing at the door, being drunk." The two former had to +pay, "ilk ane of them, 3 lib. for thair dronkenness, if they be able, and +to seik the concurrence of the civile magistrat for payment thairof; and +if they suld refuse, being unable, to speik the civile magistrat that they +micht be utherwayis punishit." And in the same year it was found necessary +to intimate "out of the pulpitt, to absteine from drunkenes, utherwayis if +any suld be fund giltie thairof suld be ordainit to pay thre punds." On +October 28, 1630, appeared an item of forty shillings, Alex. Jackson's +penalty for fighting, "sent down by my Lord of Haddington to the box, to +be employed _ad pios usus_." In 1659 the Kirk Session of Dunbar rebuked +and fined in £20 Scots a woman who had sinned when Cromwell's army was in +the neighbourhood eight years before! Such a sin-penalty was, as far as +possible, applied to a secular purpose, and the _godly_ poor were not +supposed to benefit therefrom. In 1620 James Neilson complained of his +wife's misbehaviour, and she was warned that should she disagree again she +would be "inactit to pay 10 lib., _toties quoties_, and suld pay for this +tyme also if she did disagree againe." And in 1642 "John Bryson's wife, in +Scougall, is to be warned next day to the session for flyting with her +husband, and abusing him by her unreverent speeches." The penalty for such +speeches was "20s. _toties quoties_." Whether these ladies had private +means, or the husbands had to endure the further hardship of providing the +fine, history does not record. It should, however, be mentioned that cases +sometimes occurred in which the fair sex were not to blame, as when a man +was brought before the session for having assaulted his wife with a spade, +and was fined a dollar, beside having to express his regret and to satisfy +the session of his sincerity! + +A few other curious sources of income may be mentioned. On May 29, 1625, +it is reported in the Records of Session of Tyninghame that "John Jakson +was not to proceid in mariadge wt Helen Bassenden, bot that the mariadge +was given over, and thairfor qfiscats to the use of the pure, and uther +pious uses, the 40s. qsigned be him, according to the order maid +thairanent." In the old Records of Innerwick, during 1608, it is stated +that the minister having reported that the greatest part of the people +were ignorant of the "Comands and very many of the Beliefs," the session +ordained that if such knowledge were not acquired within a given time, a +penalty should be paid; also that no marriage shall be "maid or parteis +proclaimit until baith the parteis also recite ye Lord's Prayer, ye +Belief, and ye Comands, or ells pay five libs. that they sall have them +before the accomplishment of the mariage, qlk, if it be not done they sall +forfeit." And in 1620, when a man excused himself for not having come to +the examination, because he was ignorant, he was "ordained to heir the +Word diligentlie and attentivelie, and to keip the examination; and in +caise of absence againe, he suld mak publik satisfaction, and pay one +merk." + +The introduction of pews at the commencement of the eighteenth century was +a means of obtaining additional revenue. As a return for the privilege of +placing these seats in the previously open area of the kirk, "half-a-crown +for the use of the poor," was demanded as a rent, and it was further +required "that the same be payd before the seats be set up." The pew was +also a source of indirect income, as when, in 1735, one John Porter was +rebuked before the pulpit and heavily fined for pushing James Cobbam out +of a seat in church, wringing his nose, and thumping him on the back. +Bitter jealousy and anger were often occasioned by the pew, and hence free +fights with accompanying fines not seldom occurred. + +But the humours of the collection must not be altogether omitted. Burns, +in giving his experience in "The Holy Fair," has immortalised the elder +(Black Bonnet--so called from a peculiarly shaped black hat worn by him) +who stood by the plate as the people passed into the kirk-- + + "When by the plate we set our nose, + Weel heapit up wi' ha'pence, + A greedy glower Black Bonnet throws, + And we maun draw our tippence." + +And R. L. Stevenson refers to these elders, "sentinels over the brazen +heap," when he says of a countryman whom he met out West--"He had a +pursing of the mouth that might have been envied by our elders of the +Kirk. He had just such a face as I have seen a dozen times behind the +plate." The elder, at any rate, magnified his office and closely watched +each gift and giver. When a certain titled lady once made a profound and +formal bow only, in passing, the elder followed her as she marched in +state towards her seat, and in tones distinct enough to reach the whole +congregation, said, "Gie us less o' yer manners, my lady, and mair o' yer +siller." When in later days one of the elders passed from pew to pew with +outstretched ladle, he touched the people with it, and with unmistakable +directness would say, "Wife, sittin' next the wee lassie there, mind the +puir," or "Lass, wi' the braw plaid, mind the puir." + +The obligations of the congregation in regard to the collection were also +frequently enforced from the pulpit. Of "Wee Scotty o' the Coogate Kirk" +the following is related: "One Sunday, when there was a great noise o' +folk gaun into their seats, Scotty got up in the pu'pit and cried out, 'Oh +that I could hear the pennies birlin' in the plate at the door wi' half +the noise ye mak' wi' yer cheepin' shoon! Oh that Paul had been here wi' a +lang wooden ladle, for yer coppers are strangers in a far country, an' as +for yer silver an' yer goold--let us pray!'" And of Dr Dabster, "an unco +bitter body when there was a sma' collection," to whom, before the sermon +began, the beadle used to hand a slip of paper with the amount collected, +we are told that one day when the whole collection only reached two +shillings and ninepence, he stopped suddenly in his discourse and said, +with biting sarcasm, "It's the land o' Canawn ye're thrang strivin' after; +the land o' Canawn, eh? Twa an' ninepence! Yes, ye're sure to gang there! +I think I see ye! Nae doot ye think yersel's on the richt road for't. Ask +yer consciences an' see what _they'll_ say. Ask them an' see what they +_wull_ say. I'll tell ye. Twa miserable shillin's an' ninepence is puir +passage money for sic a lang journey. What! Twa an' ninepence! As well +micht a coo gang up a tree tail foremost, an' whustle like a superannuated +mavis as get to Canawn for _that_!" After this we cannot wonder at the old +farmer's advice to the young minister, "When ye get a kirk o' yer ain, +dinna expeck big collections. Ye see, I was for twal' year an elder, and +had to stand at the plate. I mind fine the first Sabbath after the +Disruption, though our twa worthy ministers didna gang out, and the +strange feelin' about me as I took my place at the plate for the first +time. It was at ane o' the doors o' St Andrew's Parish Kirk, in Edinburgh. +Noo, hoo muckle d'ye think I got that day?" "Oh, well, I know the church +nicely," was the answer--"seated for at least two thousand--you might get +two pounds." "Wad ye believ't?" responded the elder, "I only got five +bawbees, stannin' i' the dracht for twenty minutes, too! If I had only +kent, I wad rather hae pit in the collection mysel' an' covered up the +plate. Mind, dinna expeck big collections." + +The coins of other countries were strongly objected to. As far back as +1640, "The minister dischairget the people to give ill curreners," or the +treasurer writes, "Collect 8s. 4d., whereof much ill cureners." And in the +Records of Whitekirk, August 18, 1730, we find that "The minister and +elders did receive from John Lermond, son to the deceased William +Lermond, who was kirk-treasurer, the poor's box; and the poor's money +therein was compted, and there was in the box of good current money, at +the present rates, ane hundred and ten pounds of whit-money. In turners +there was of current coin 15lb., 10s. 10d.; in Scots half merks, 12lb.; in +doyts and ill copper money, 2lb., 4s. 2d." This doyt ("not worth a doyt") +was "a Dutch coin of debased metal, and equivalent in value to the twelfth +part of a penny only." Its use in Scotland seems to have been confined +solely to collection purposes. In Paul's "Past and Present in +Aberdeenshire" is mentioned a rebuke once given by a Mr Wilkie, a minister +of the parish of Fetteresso, whose income was chiefly obtained from the +kirk door collections. One Sunday morning he thus delivered himself: "When +ye gang to Aberdeen to sell your butter, and your eggs, and your cheese, +and get a bawbee that ye're dootfu' about, I'm tell't that ye'll gie't a +toss up atween ye'r finger an' ye'r thoom, an' say, 'It's nae muckle +worth, but it'll dae well eneuch for Wilkie.'" In the "Statistical Account +of Scotland" the minister of Nairn expressively states that "the weekly +collection at the church on Sundays amounted to about three shillings in +_good_ copper." + +This spurious money often accumulated. Sometimes a box of such coins was +given to the minister "to see what he could mak' of them" when in +Edinburgh. "Sometimes," we are told, "a man would turn up in a district +with a horse and cart, making offers for the bad copper or pewter that had +been laid aside. At other times it would be sent to an open market, and +there sold to the highest bidder. In 1774 there were over seven stones' +weight of this truly 'filthy lucre' sold in the market-place of Keith, and +its price was £2, 18s. 6d., less 4s. for carriage from Banff.... In order +to counteract as far as possible the practice of putting spurious money +into the plate, the various presbyteries under one synod used occasionally +to combine and send as much as £100 sterling to the mint in London, and +ask that the amount be exchanged for farthings, and returned with 'the +first sure messenger.'" + +But the use of the farthing has not been confined to the collections of +bygone days. The Rev. John Russell, in his comparatively recent book, +"Three Years in Shetland," thus writes of the collections in the parish of +Whalsay: "The coin usually put into the ladle was a farthing. As the +collections were exchanged at the shop for silver, and as it was at the +shop where my hearers provided themselves with those farthings, I thought +that if the Session hoarded up the farthings and so stopped the supply of +them, we might get halfpence put into the ladle instead." This ingenious +plan was not, however, put into practice, for the minister was assured +that for the popular farthing would be substituted no gift at all. As to +that perennial favourite, the bawbee or halfpenny, nothing need be said. + +A few words must be given to the box that held the money--an important +piece of Scottish ecclesiastical furniture that was jealously guarded. +"Given to George Cuming, smith in Peffersyd, 32 pence for mending the lock +of the box, and causing it to open and steek," is an entry under date, +June 30, 1639. Innerwick looked well after the box:--"23 April 1609.--The +quilk day ye sessioune ordains George Wallace to keip the key of the box." +But there are not a few entries in the Records of Dunbar which show that +the box had been tampered with by the elder in charge; and for a +considerable period one of the civil magistrates there took his place by +the side of the elder at the plate on Sunday. The beadle also fell +occasionally under suspicion, well merited at times, it is feared. In a +certain Highland parish the money, after being counted, was placed in a +box which was consigned to the care of the minister, who secreted it, with +the key, in a part of the session-house press known only to himself and +the beadle. Small sums were regularly extracted, and one Sunday when the +minister discovered that the usual small amount had disappeared, he +summoned the beadle. "David," said he, "there's something wrong here. Some +one has been abstracting the church money from the box; and you know there +is no one has access to it but you and myself." Thinking he had the beadle +thoroughly cornered, the minister fixed him with his eye and paused for an +answer. But David dumfounded the minister by this cool proposal: "Weel, +minister, if there's a defeeshency, it's for you and me to make it up +atween us, an' say naething about it!" + +But if on the side of revenue we find much curious reading we find it none +the less surely on the side of disbursements. When poor law and poor rate +alike were unknown in Scotland the Church took care of the poor, and +that, oftentimes, in most thorough and effective fashion. Even when other +urgent claims asserted themselves the poor were by no means neglected. A +proclamation of the Privy Council, August 29, 1693, decreed that one-half +the sums collected at the church door was to be given to the poor as +before, while the other half might be retained for the relief of other +distress, or for any matters that might come under the consideration of +each individual Kirk Session throughout the country. In the Kirk Session +Records of Falkirk, under date July 1696, it is stated that "the number of +the poor within the parish church does daily abound," and the session +recommends to the minister "to intimate to the congregation the next +Lord's Day that they would be pleased to consider ye present strait and be +more charitable." The response to such appeals may not always have been +adequate, and in some records we find it stated again and again that "the +raininess of the day" caused the collection to be so small that the +treasurer, instead of transferring it to the box, handed it to the beadle. + +The manner in which the poor were relieved is sufficiently indicated by +the following selected passages from the Kirk Session Records of +Tyninghame, which, for our purpose, may here be considered typical:-- + + "November 2, 1617.--Given to ane pure honest man, quha had ane sair + hand, 6s." + + "May 23, 1619.--Given to ane pure man, lying sik in Patrik Jaksonis, + being ane coupper in Tranent, 10s. His wyfe came befor ye session and + earnestlie desyrit it, being in great necessitie." + + "August 26, 1621.--Given to ane pure man, being ane scollar, 6s." + + "January 26, 1623.--Collect 4s., given all to Thomas Harvie in + Tyninghame, being ane ald honest man tailyeour." + + "September 18, 1625.--To ane pure young man, being ane minister's + son, 6s. 8d." + + "September 7, 1628.--Given to ane stranger, being ane Transelvanian, + 18s. He was supportit be all the kirks of the presbiteries." + + "April 24, 1631.--Given to a man with a testimonial, robbed by + pyratis, 9s." + + "December 3, 1637.--Given to ane poore woman at the Knowis, callit + the Daft Lady, 5s." + + "September 5, 1641.--Given to ane poor scholar (being a minister's + dochter), 5 dollars." + +These extracts are also instructive:--"January 2, 1620.--Reportit that +Andrew Law, being ane agit man grieve to ye Ladie Bass, was lying deidlie +sik in ane hous. Ordainis to adverteis ane of the hostlairis to furnish +him in drink and breid for a tyme, and out of ye box they suld gett +payment, seing he was in great necessitie, being ane honest man. Ordainis +also the Ladie to be adverteisit heirof." "January 30.--The said day given +to them that furnishit drink to Andrew Law, being in great necessitie, +14s. 4d." + +In the treasurers' books of the time, entries frequently occur of sums +paid to "twa hirpling women, sairly needing something out of the box," or +to "a lass wi' a cruikit back-bane," or to "a laddie wi' black een and a +white face." Space will not permit any treatment of the interesting +subject of badges for the poor. + +One ludicrous incident in connection with a collection for the poor should +be related. In Mr Sinclair's "Scenes and Stories of the North of Scotland" +we read of a Highland minister who, notwithstanding an imperfect knowledge +of the tongue, dared to make some announcements in Gaelic. He intimated +that "on the following Lord's day there would be a collection for the poor +of the congregation. But, alas, for him! he forgot how nearly alike in +sound are the words 'bochd,' signifying poor, and 'boc,' which means a +buck. The word he uttered was the latter instead of the former, so that +he startled his audience by solemnly intimating a collection for the bucks +of the congregation!" + +It seems that among the many and diverse poor none needed help more sorely +or frequently than the schoolmaster. A flood of light is thrown upon his +condition by such extracts as these:--"February 1, 1618.--The session +ordainis that Mr James Macqueine, schoolmaister, sal have of everie +baptisme 40d., and for everie mariadge half ane merk--viz., for ye +proclamation 40d. and of ye mariadge 40d.--for his better help." "March +8.--Ordainis ye wemenis penalties that commits fornication to be given to +Mr James Macqueine, schoolmaister." "August 1, 1619.--Given to Maister +James Macqueine, schoolmaister, 4s., seing thar was verie few bairnis at +the school." "August 29.--The qlk day given to Maister James Macqueine, +schoolmaister, 24s., and 10s., being Cristen Stories penaltie, according +to contract maid with him." "September 26.--Given to Maister James +Macqueine, 25s., in regaird of his povertie, and in respect he was to go +hame to ye Northe; in respect, also, of his reading in the kirk." "October +17.--The quilk day Mr James Macqueine, schoolmaister, desyrit earnestlie +some support, that he micht pass to ye Northe, seing thair was few or na +bairns at the schoole. The session heirwith advysit. Ordainis thre lib. to +be given to him." + +"Maister James Macqueine's" successor suffered still more acutely from the +eternal lack of pence. "October 22, 1620.--Given to George Davidsone, +scholm{r.}, for reiding and singing in the kirk, at his request, 40s." +"November 19.--Lent to Mr George Davidsone, scholm{r.}, out of the box, +18s." "July 15, 1621.--The said day George Foster his penaltie given to +George Davidsone, schoolmaister and reiddar, becaus of his povertie." +"September 16.--George Davidsone, schoolmaister, earnestlie desyrit somqt +for his support out of the penalties, seing he had few bairnis in the +school. Given to him 20s." "October 7.--Given to George Davidson 20s. of +Thomas Greivis penaltie, the uther twentie given befor in respect of his +reiding and singing in the kirk, he being verie puir, having ane familie." +Soon the minister addresses plaintive appeals to the church in behalf of +the said schoolmaster, and at last the climax comes. "December 1, +1622.--The minister earnestlie desyrit the elderis to have ane cair of +George Davidsone, schoolmaister, now in great distress, being somqt +distract in his witt, and desyrit that George Shortus, officer, wald cause +some ane waik ilka nicht with him, and that the minister and he wald go +from hous to hous for his support. The elderis promeisit to help, and to +caus utheris to help." "December 8.--The minister desyrit bothe the +elderis themselfs to help George Davidsone, and to caus utheris, he being +almost now weill againe, seing he wald go over to Fyff againe. They +promeisit to do the same. Maister Johne (the minister) reportit that he +hyrit ane man on his owin expenss to go to Fyff for his father and brother +to come to him--viz., Patrick Watson--and that he gave him 20s., and that +his father has now come." "December 15.--The minister desyrit the elderis +to help George Davidsone, being now well, praised be God! Given be the +minister and elderis out of their purss, 45s." The schoolmaster's +departure is, however, delayed, for in the following year, 1623, his name +appears again. "March 9.--Given to George Davidson, 20 lib." "November +23.--This day collect at the kirk doore, for George Davidsone, being to +depairt, 50s. 8d." + +Assistance to cripples constituted a repeated charge on the church funds. +"May 28, 1615.--Collect 4s., qlk was given to ane crepill." "Mairch 31, +1616.--Given to the belman for carrying ane puir cripple man off the +toune, 6 lib." "June 21, 1618.--Given to Jhone Finla 3s. for carrying away +ane crepill." "February 11, 1638.--Given to Alexander Storie, wricht, for +ane pair of stelts to Henrie Caning, crepill, 4s." "September 23.--Four +shillings given to carray away a crepill. We could get nane in the toune +to carray away this crepill the morn, becaus of their business." + +Payments for medical help were also frequently made. "May 28, +1615.--Gathered at the kirk door to give ane physician--viz., George +Adamson, in Dunbar--for curing Agnes Tailzeour, in Peffersyd, 40s., qrof +28s. given to the pottingar, and the rest to the said Agnes Tailzeour, +dauchter to Marion Peacock, in Peffersyde." "Januarii 3, 1641.--Given to +Agnes Richisone (hir bairne being still vehementlie diseast, and hir +husband at the camp), 20s. to buy cures." "Januarii 7, 1644.--Ane merk to +Elspethe Duns sonne, lyklie to be crepill. 20 shillings given to his +mother, to be given to the man wha promeised to do diligence to cure the +said; to be given for drogis." "July 20, 1645.--Given to Robert Ewart, in +Tyninghame, for curing James Brown, his leg, 3 lib. 4s. 4d." All this +links the church finance of the Scotland of that day with that of the +early Christians, for in the _Apologia_ of Justin Martyr and of Tertullus +we read that the early Christians contributed or collected, on the first +day of the week, money for widows, orphans, and others in distress, and +particularly for the relatives of poor slaves condemned to work in the +mines. + +From the Kirk also was drawn much money that eventually found its way into +the pockets of the sea-robbers of the Mediterranean. The collections made +at the church door largely supplied the amounts necessary for effecting +the ransom of those luckless sailors who fell into the clutches of the +pirates. Hence we find:--"May 11, 1617.--Intimation maid to ye peple out +of pulpite to provyde something againe ye nixt Sabbothe according to thair +powar, for the relieving of Jhone Mure, in Dunbar, and some utheris, wha +was takin be ye Turkis on the sea, and deteinit be them in prison, seing +thair was ane collection to be maid throughout all ye kirks in the qtrie +to this effect." "May 18.--Collect at ye kirk doore for relief of them +that wer takin be ye Turkis, 5 lib. 18s. 4d.; the speciallis, or richest +of ye peple, being absent, quhas portionis were also to be socht fra +them;" and "May 7, 1620.--Collect at the kirk doore for the Scottishmen +lying in Algiers, taken by the Turkis, 3 lb. 17s. 4d." + +Again and again we find in the pages of the Kirk Session Records +reflections of the history of the time. Thus on December 5, 1641, +"Intimation maid of collect the nixt Lord's day for ane pure honest woman, +spous to umquhile James Freeman. He was slain in Ireland, and quarteret, +as is allegit, for mainteining the Scottis Covenant." On February 29, +1622, "Earnest exhortations maid to the pepill anent ye contributions to +the Kirk of God in France. Collect this day efter the sermon threttie +pund, 8s. 2d.;" and on March 3, "Qtribut this day at ye kirk door to the +Kirk of France 3 punds, 11s. 10d." On August 28, 1646, a collection was +made in the parish church of Auchterhouse for the people of Cullen, who +had suffered much from the burning of their town by the Marquis of +Montrose on his march northward; and in 1746 the Falkirk beadle begged +the Kirk Session to lend him five shillings because of harsh treatment he +had endured at the hands of Prince Charlie's soldiers on their retreat +from England. + +Among the miscellanea of church finance as concerning expenditure the +following should, undoubtedly, have place. The stool of +repentance--imposing and certainly not cheap--deserves some prominence. +"Given to Andrew Stone, wricht, 22s., and 2s. to his man, for mending and +repairing the stoole of repentance;" and "David Nimmo, wricht in Lintoun, +compeirit, and desyrit payment for making and repairing the stoole for +repentance. The minister and elders herewith advysit; deliverit to him, +out of the box, aucht pounds, and sax shillings to his sonne, and twentie +s. to James Paterson, mason," are two suggestive items. Alexander Sherrie +receives six shillings on April 19, 1635, "to buy poudder with to shett +the dowes in the kirk, becaus they filet the seitts." At Cullen Parish +Church, in the session records for 1703, the treasurer writes:--"For a +calf's skinn to be a cover to ye Kirke bible, 7s. For dressing ye skinn +bought to cover ye Kirke bible, and alm'd leither to fasten ye cover to ye +brods, and for sowing thereof, 10s. For keepers to ye clasps, brass nails +putting on ye stoods, and gluing loose leaves, 14s." Dr Russell, writing +in his "Reminiscences of Yarrow," about his father's pastorate in the Vale +of Ettrick, says, "At the first Martinmas of my father's incumbency, Robin +(Robert Hogg, the father of the Ettrick Shepherd) came to him and said, +'Sir, Mr Potts (the predecessor of Dr Russell's father) used always to +allow me five shillings of the collections in the kirk at this time, for +gathering the bawbees, in order to buy a pair of shoon!' But to his +disappointment, my father replied that he could not take it on him to make +this application of the public money." The beadle, however, sometimes got +the price of a pair of shoes; and in one book, in 1615, we have "_Nota_ (a +word scarcely ever used) That in all the gatherings for the poor there is +the price of ane pint of ale, that collect which is set doun in the +session-books, because of the pains which the clerk of the kirkmen taks in +going thrice aboot the toune, and ance efternoon. This custom of giving +sae mickle to the beadle has been ust of ald in this parish." + +In February, 1733, a certain Jean Hall, a pauper in the parish of +Morebattle, dies, and on the 16th of the month James Robson, in Kirk +Yetholm, receives £3, 14s. 3d. for "cheese, tobacco, and pipes" provided +at the funeral. "The digging of the grave, the crying of deceased's +effects at the roup, and the ringing of the 'passing-bell' are all +provided for by the treasurer, out of his continually replenishing and +inexhaustible kirk-box." At one time thirty shillings is given for a +winding sheet for a "dead corpse" which came in on the sands of Aldhame, +and, at another, twenty-five shillings is given for one for a man "quha +came in Peffersand and was buryed the last week." Sometimes twelve +shillings is given to a man for reading and singing at the communion, and, +occasionally, as much as twenty pounds is given to buy a horse, "seing he +had ane horse deid latly, and fallen abak in meins;" or there is given out +of the penalties to Alexander Sherrie, "for mending and translating the +pulpitt, ane dollar." (In the writer's article, "Witchcraft and the Kirk," +in the present volume, reference is made to expenditure occasioned by the +imprisonment and execution of witches.) + +Help is given to Dundee for a new harbour, to North Esk for a bridge, and +to Glasgow because of a disastrous fire. Even "a collection for the +Northern Infirmity" is mentioned, but this is an obvious reference to the +Northern Infirmary. + +One closing quotation must suffice:--"May 2.--The minister also shew to +the elderis that the bishop, at the last Provinciall Assemblie, haldin at +Edinburghe, the twentie of April 1619, ordainis everie minister to bring +ye contribution for ye students of ye new colledge in Saint Androis, and +everie minister to give it to ye moderator of the presbiterie quhair he +dwellis, that it micht be sent to Saint Androis. The minister shew to ye +elderis that ye kirk of Tyninghame was ordainit to pay thre lib. yerlie. +The elderis wer unwilling to grant thairto. The minister shew them that +everie kirk was appointit to pay, and that he wald give 20s. out of his +awin purse to that effect, seing thair was little in the box, and many +puir in the parishe. They grantit thairto, bot with some regraits." "May +9.--The said day takin out of the box 34s., and 6s. of Jhone Walker's +penaltie; and Maister Jhone (the minister) gave 20s. out of his awin purse +to make out thre lib. to be given for ye qtribution to ye studentis in the +new colledge at St. Androis." This is but one among many contributions +made by the minister to fulfil obligations resting on the kirk. + + + + +Witchcraft and the Kirk. + +BY THE REV. R. WILKINS REES. + + +For centuries belief in witchcraft was an article of faith with dour and +brooding Scots. The Scot was made by Scotland; the country stamped an +indelible impress on every characteristic of its inhabitants. With much +truth it has been said, "From the cradle to the grave the Scotch peasant +went his way attended by the phantoms of this mysterious world; always +recognising its warnings, always seeing the shadows which it cast of +coming events, and so burdening himself with a weight of grim and eëry +superstition, that we marvel he did not stumble and grow faint, seeing +that his dreary Calvinistic creed could have brought him little hope or +comfort. Nay, it is a question whether his superstition did not partly +grow out of, or was fostered by, his hard, cold religion. Superstition is +the shadow of Religion, and from the shadow we may infer the nature of the +substance or object that casts it." + +There are traditions concerning witchcraft, even earlier than that of the +fourth century which credits his Satanic Majesty with such a hatred of St. +Patrick's sterling piety that he roused the whole tribe of witches against +him. St. Patrick fled from the determined assault, and finding, near the +mouth of the Clyde, a boat, set off in haste for Ireland. But running +water being ever an insuperable barrier in the path of a witch's progress, +these emissaries of Satan tore up a huge rock and hurled it after the +departing saint. With the proverbial inaccuracy of feminine aim they +missed their mark, but the mass itself ultimately became the fortress of +Dumbarton. In those early days the marvels of witchcraft were great and +many--Holinshed, among others, has chronicled the same--and, at the close +of the seventh century, King Kenneth, fearful of his own safety and the +stability of his throne, decreed that jugglers, wizards, necromancers, and +such as call up spirits, "and use to seek upon them for helpe, let them be +burnt to death." + +That persons accused of witchcraft suffered death is unquestionably true, +as in the cases of the Earl of Mar in 1479, and Lady Janet Douglas in +1537, the executions of whom are foul blots on the pages of history. But +it can hardly be said that it was witchcraft as an offence against +religion or as mere superstition that was so punished. It was rather +witchcraft in its political bearings--generally, in fact, as connected +with treason and not with sorcery--that received condemnation. + +But with the advent of Calvinism--the natural turn of the Scottish nation +for metaphysical discussion induced them to receive the doctrines of the +Reformation with general interest and favour--it would seem that the +"crime" of witchcraft was looked upon in a somewhat different light. In +1563 the Scottish Parliament by statute, for which John Knox was a chief +agitator, formally constituted witchcraft and dealing with witches a +capital offence. "That all who used witchcraft, sorcery, necromancy, or +pretended skill therein, and all consulters of witches and sorcerers, +should be punished capitally" (Erskine's "Institutes," p. 706). And +henceforth the irreligion of witchcraft caused it to be regarded as an +offence against the law of the country, and the Kirk and its connections +played an important part in the stern measures adopted for its +suppression, doing their work with resolute determination and fanatical +zeal. The authority of the ministry was great; its influence +preponderated. Its friends were the allies, its opponents the enemies, of +heaven. The theocracy which the clergy asserted on behalf of the Kirk was +not so distinctly understood, or so prudently regulated, but that its +administrators too often interfered with the civil rule. Old Mellvin's +words were suggestive of much when, grasping King James the Sixth's +sleeve, he told him that in Scotland there were two kingdoms--that in +which he was acknowledged monarch, and that in which kings and nobles were +but God's silly vassals; and the clergy were but too apt to assert the +superiority of the latter, which was visibly governed by the assembly of +the Kirk in the name of their unseen and omnipotent Head. To disobey the +king might be high treason, but to disobey the kirk, acting in the name of +the Deity, was a yet deeper crime, and was to be feared as incurring the +wrath which is fatal both to body and soul. With severity the Presbyterian +teachers inflicted church penances, and with rigour they assumed dominion +over the laity in all cases in which religion could be possibly alleged +as a motive or pretext, that is to say, in almost all cases whatever. + +Led by their clergy, and believing fully as they did in the literal +interpretation of all Biblical imagery and the personal appearances of the +devil, the people of Scotland waged a fierce unresting war against a great +number of ill-fated individuals, whose only ground for being attacked was +some physical or mental peculiarity, or who suffered simply because of the +malice or ignorance of their accusers. At one time, stupid justices, +instigated by foolish clergymen, consigned to torture and the stake almost +every old woman dragged before them, even though brought only by the spite +of malicious neighbours. In his preface to the _Bibliotheque de Carabas_ +edition of Robert Kirk's "Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns, and +Fairies," Mr Andrew Lang says: "Some of the witches who suffered at +Presbyterian hands were merely narrators of popular tales about the state +of the dead. That she trafficked with the dead, and from a ghost won a +medical recipe for the cure of Archbishop Adamson of St. Andrews, was the +charge against Alison Pearson.... 'She was execut in Edinbruche for a +witch.'" On several occasions, commissions were issued by King James for +the purpose of "haulding Justice Courtis on Witches and Sorceraris." The +commissioners gave warrants in their turn to the minister and elders of +each parish in the shire to examine suspected parties and to frame an +indictment against them. And as a rule the accused were overwhelmed by a +huge heap of rumoured or concocted evidence, composed of exaggeration, +prejudice, and credulity, wellnigh incredible. Even Sir George Mackenzie, +Lord Advocate of Scotland during the time of the greatest fury, admitted +the indiscretion of ministerial zeal, and recommended that the wisest +ministers should be chosen, and that those selected should proceed with +caution. "I own," says the Rev. John Bell, Minister of the Gospel at +Gladsmuir, in his MS., "Discourse of Witchcraft," 1705, "there has been +much harm done to worthy and innocent persons in the common way of finding +out witches, and in the means made use of for promoting the discovery of +such wretches, and bringing them to justice; that oftentimes old age, +poverty, features, and ill fame, with such like grounds, not worthy to be +represented to a magistrate, have yet moved many to suspect and defame +their neighbours, to the unspeakable prejudice of Christian charity; a +late instance whereof we had in the west, in the business of the sorceries +exercised upon the Laird of Bargarran's daughter, anno 1697, a time when +persons of more goodness and esteem than most of their calumniators were +defamed for witches, and which was occasioned mostly by the forwardness +and absurd credulity of diverse otherwise worthy ministers of the gospel, +and some topping professors in and about the city of Glasgow." + +In the last forty years of the sixteenth century, we have the astounding +aggregate of no less than eight thousand persons who suffered, almost +invariably by burning, for witchcraft. For about the first decade, not +more, perhaps, than forty were so punished in a year, but towards the +close of the period alluded to, the annual death-roll probably reached +five hundred. The total number of victims, strange to say, represented +even a larger proportion than those of the Holy Office, during a +corresponding space of time. That during one period the Kirk should have +been more disposed to kindle the pile than was the Inquisition, is, +without doubt, a startling fact. + +For a time, at any rate, the population seemed divided into only two great +classes, witches and witchfinders. The dark tales of witchcraft were not +even relieved by fairy folk-lore. There was, perhaps, no little truth in +what Cleland said in his "Effigies Clericorum," when he attributed the +disappearance of Scottish fairies to the Reformation. In writing of +Parnassus, he proceeds:-- + + "There's als much virtue, sense, and pith, + In Annan, or the Water of Nith, + Which quietly slips by Dumfries, + Als any water in all Greece. + For there, and several other places, + About mill-dams, and green brae faces, + Both Elrich elfs and brownies stayed, + And green-gown'd fairies daunc'd and played: + When old John Knox, and other some, + Began to plott the Haggs of Rome; + Then suddenly took to their heels, + And did no more frequent these fields; + But if Rome's pipes perhaps they hear, + Sure, for their interest they'll compear + Again, and play their old hell's tricks." + +As far as fairydom survived, however, it was regarded as under the same +guilt as witchcraft. + +The harsh forbidding creed of the Kirk had its influence in every +direction; and music, instrumental at any rate, fell under its ban. +During the sway of the Covenant, indeed, the Scottish minstrels were +popularly supposed to be under the special care and protection of the +devil. The Reverend Robert Kirk, author of the "Secret Commonwealth," +attributed certain impressions produced by music to diabolical influence. +"Irishmen," says he, "our northern Scottish, and our Athole men are so +much addicted to, and delighted with harps and musick, as if, like King +Saul, they were possessed with a forrein sport; only with this difference, +that musick did put Saul's play-fellow asleep, but roused and awaked our +men, vanquishing their own spirits at pleasure as if they were impotent of +its powers, and unable to command it; for wee have seen some poor beggars +of them chattering their teeth for cold, that how soon they saw the fire, +and heard the harp, leap thorow the house like goats and satyrs." Without +enlarging on the subject, may we not conclude that such an estimate of +instrumental music as became common, especially in Covenanting days, had +much to do with the prolonged antipathy of the Kirk to its introduction in +worship? + +But the Presbyterians went even further than this. At one time they +declared that the bishops were cloven-footed and had no shadows, and that +the curates themselves were, many of them, little better than wizards. The +Episcopalians seem to have been regarded by the Presbyterians with little +more favour than the Red Indians were by the early Puritan settlers in +America. The extraordinary story of Salem witchcraft shows us that the +Puritan clergy assured their people that the Red Indians were worshippers +and agents of Satan; and we can but faintly imagine the effect of this +belief on the minds and tempers of those who were thinking of the Indians +at every turn of daily life. The common people, always susceptible to +exaggeration, had been preached into such a holy hatred of popery that +they saw its type and shadow in everything which approached even to +decency in worship; so that, as a satirist expressed it, they thought it +impossible they could ever lose their way to heaven, provided they left +Rome behind them. + +On the other hand, John Knox was deemed a skilful wizard by the Catholics +in Scotland; it was even said that in the churchyard of St. Andrews he +raised Satan himself, wearing a huge pair of horns on his head, at which +blood-curdling sight Knox's secretary became insane and died. And in old +Kirkton's "Secret and True History," in his picturesque account of the +curious scene which was witnessed in Lithgow upon the anniversary of the +King's restoration, we see that the Episcopal party lost no favourable +opportunity of turning the tables on their opponents. In the pageant they +had an arch, in the midst of which was a litany: + + "'From Covenants with uplifted hands, + From Remonstrators with associate bands, + From such Committees as govern'd this nation, + From Church Commissioners and their protestation, + Good Lord deliver us.' + +"They hade also the picture of Rebellion in religious habit, with the book +Lex Rex in one hand, and the causes of God's wrath in the other, and this +in midst of rocks, and reels, and kirk stools, logs of wood, and spurs, +and covenants, acts of assembly, protestations, with this inscription, +'REBELLION IS THE MOTHER OF WITCHCRAFT.'" + +But Episcopacy was abhorrent to the people generally. A contemporary +writer--a Presbyterian--candidly remarks, "I have known some profane +people that, if they committed an error over night, thought affronting a +curate to-morrow a testimony of their repentance." This religious +animosity had no doubt much to do with the belief that witchcraft was +common among the Episcopalian clergy. The Reverend James Kirkton (before +alluded to), a true son of the Kirk, writing at that time gravely relates, +amongst several similar accusations, that one Gideen Penman said grace at +the devil's table as his chaplain; that one Thomson, the curate of +Anstruther, was a "diabolic man," the wench who bore a lantern in front, +as he returned from a visit, "affirming that she saw something like a +black beast pass the bridge before him;" and that the hated Archbishop +Sharp, when assassinated, had "several strange things," and, in +particular, "parings of nails," about his person. Archbishop Sharp was +also charged with entertaining "the muckle black Deil" in his study at +midnight, and of being "levitated" and dancing in the air; and of +Archbishop Adamson, men of learning like James, nephew and companion of +Andrew Melville, believed that, as in the case of other witches, he had a +familiar in the form of a hare, which once ran before him down the +street. + +It is a curious circumstance, as Pitcairn in his "Criminal Trials" points +out, that in almost all the confessions of Scottish witches, their +initiation and many of their gatherings were said to have taken place +within churches, or at least the surrounding ground, and a certain +derisive form of service was carried out. James VI. of Scotland and I. of +England was, in the matter of witches, undoubtedly the greatest royal +expert that ever lived. His famous dialogue, "Dæmonologie," in which he +carefully classifies witches, describes their ceremonials, and details +their various characteristics, did much to encourage popular credulity and +the spirit of persecution. "Witches," he affirms, "ought to be put to +death, according to the laws of God, the civil and imperial law, and the +municipal law of all Christian nations; yea, to spare the life, and not +strike whom God bids strike, and so severely punish so odious a treason +against God, is not only unlawful, but, doubtless, as great a sin as was +Saul's sparing Agag." He even contended that, because the crime was +generally abominable, evidence in proof might be received which would be +rejected in other offences, and that the only means of escape to be +offered was through the ordeal. If we only remember that Luther said he +would burn every one of them, urging that there must be witches because +the Bible says, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live," we shall wonder +less at the credulity of the witch-hunting king. + +The principal witch cases and trials in Scotland may be said to date from +the conspiracy of devils to prevent James's union with the Princess Anne +of Denmark. "An overwhelming tempest at sea during the voyage of these +anti-papal, anti-diabolic, royal personages was the appointed means of +their destruction." To describe the trial of those who were implicated as +the human agents, even though it may be one of the most extraordinary and +weirdly fascinating stories in the annals of Scottish witchcraft, would be +beyond the scope of this article; it is fully related in an exceedingly +scarce black-letter pamphlet--"Newes from Scotland, declaring the damnable +Life of Doctor Fian, a notable Sorcerer, who was burned at Edenbrough in +Januarie last, 1591; which Doctor was Register to the Devill, that sundry +times preached at North-Baricke Kirke to a number of notorious Witches, +&c." It may be noted, however, that "Agnis Sampson, which was the elder +witch," at last confessed, "before the king's majestie and his councell," +"that upon the night of Allhollon-Even, shee was accompanied, as well with +the persons aforesaide, as also with a great many other witches, to the +number of two hundreth, and that all they together went to sea, each one +in a riddle, or cive, and went in the same very substantially, with +flaggons of wine, making merrie and drinking by the way in the same +riddles, or cives, to the kirke of North-Barrick, in Lowthian, and that +after they had landed, tooke handes on the lande, and daunced this reill, +or short daunce, singing all with one voice:-- + + 'Commer, goe ye before, commer, goe ye; + Gif ye will not goe before, commer, let me!' + +At which time shee confessed, that this Geillis Duncane (another of those +charged) did goe before them, playing this reill or daunce uppon a small +trumpe, called a Jewe's trumpe, untill they entered into the Kerk of +North-Barrick. + +"These confessions made the king in a wonderful admiration, and sent for +the saide Geillis Duncane, who, upon the like trumpe, did play the saide +daunce before the kinges majestie, who, in respect of the strangeness of +these matters, tooke great delight to be present at their examinations. +Item, the said Agnis Sampson confessed that the divell being then at North +Barrick Kirke, attending their comming, in the habit or likenesse of a +man, and seeing that they tarried over long, hee at their comming enjoyned +them all to a penance ... and having made his ungodly exhortations, +wherein he did greatly inveigh against the King of Scotland, he received +their oathes for their good and true service towards him, and departed; +which done, they returned to sea and so home again. + +"At which time the witches demanded of the divell, why he did beare such +hatred to the king? who answered, by reason the king is the greatest +enemie hee hath in the world." + +Spottiswoode also tells a fantastic story in connection with this Agnes +Sampson, Dr John Fian, Geillie Duncan, and others, meeting the devil at +North Berwick kirk, of black candles round about the pulpit, of the devil +calling the roll and preaching a sermon, and of the rifling of three +graves for magical cookery. Of Francis, Earl of Bothwell, who was accused +of being associated with Dr Fian in his magical conspiracy against the +king, and who was also imprisoned for having conspired the king's death by +sorcery, we have this note attached to a curious discourse, from Mr Robert +Bruce's Sermons, preached at Edinburgh, November 9th, 1589--"At the which +time the Earle Bothwell made his publicke repentance in the church." It +will not be forgotten that, in "Tam o' Shanter," Burns depicts a witches' +meeting in Alloway Kirk:-- + + "A winnock-bunker in the east, + There sat auld Nick, in shape o' beast; + A towzie tyke, black, grim, and large, + To gie them music was his charge: + He screw'd the pipes and gart them skirl, + Till roof and rafters a' did dirl.-- + Coffins stood round like open presses, + That show'd the dead in their last dresses; + And by some devilish cantraip sleight + Each in its cauld hand held a light." + +As typical of the evidence afforded by parochial inquisitions, and on +which death sentences were based, the following may be taken:-- + +"Isabel Roby.--She is indicted to have bidden her gudeman, when he went to +St. Fergus to buy cattle, that if he bought any before his home-coming, he +should go three times 'woodersonis' about them, and then take three +'ruggis' off a dry hillock, and fetch home to her. Also, that dwelling at +Ardmair, there came in a poor man craving alms, to whom she offered milk, +but he refused it, because, as he then presently said, she had three +folks' milk and her own in the pan; and when Elspet Mackay, then present, +wondered at it, he said, 'Marvel not, for she has thy farrow kye's milk +also in her pan.' Also, she is commonly seen in the form of a hare, +passing through the town, for as soon as the hare vanishes out of sight, +she appears." + +"Margaret Rianch, in Green Cottis, was seen in the dawn of the day by +James Stevens embracing every nook of John Donaldson's house three times, +who continually thereafter was diseased, and at last died. She said to +John Ritchie, when he took a tack (a piece of ground) in the Green Cottis, +that his gear from that day forth should continually decay, and so it came +to pass. Also, she cast a number of stones in a tub, amongst water, which +thereafter was seen dancing. When she clips her sheep, she turns the bowl +of the shears three times in her mouth. Also, James Stevens saw her +meeting John Donaldson's 'hoggs' (sheep a year old) in the burn of the +Green Cottis, and casting the water out between her feet backward, in the +sheep's face, and so they all died." + +These charges were considered sufficient by the Presbytery of Kincardine, +and were duly signed by "Mr Jhone Ros, Minister at Lumphanan." + +The following, under date February 8th, 1719, will, however, more clearly +illustrate the manner in which an accused person was examined by Kirk +authority:-- + +"The said day, Mr William Innes, minister of Thurso, having interrogat +Margaret Nin-Gilbert, who was apprehended Fryday last, on suspicion of +witchcraft, as follows:--1_mo_, Being interrogat, If ever there was any +compact between her and the devil? Confessed, That as she was travelling +some time bygone, in ane evening, the devill met with her in the way in +the likeness of a man, and engaged her to take on with him, which she +consented to; and that she said she knew him to be the devil or he parted +with her. 2_do_, Being interrogat, If ever the devil appeared afterwards +to her? Confessed, That sometimes he appeared in the likeness of a great +black horse, and other times riding on a black horse, and that he appeared +sometimes in the likeness of a black cloud, and sometimes like a black +henn. 3_to_, Being interrogat, If she was in the house of William +Montgomerie, mason in the Burnside of Scrabster, especially on that night +when that house was dreadfully infested with severall catts, to that +degree that W. M. foresaid was obliged to use sword, durk, and ax in +beating and fraying away these catts? Confessed, That she was bodily +present yr, and that the said M. had broke her legg either by the durk or +ax, which legg since has fallen off from the other part of her body; and +that she was in the likeness of a feltered cat, night forsaid, in the said +house; and that Margaret Olsone was there in the likeness of a catt also, +who, being stronger than she, did cast her on Montgomerie's durk when her +legg was broken. 4_to_, Being interrogat, How she could be bodily present +and yet invisible? Declares, She might have been seene, but could give no +account by what means her body was rendered invisible. She declares, that +severall other women were present there that night in the other end of the +house. Being interrogat, How they came not to be seene, seeing they were +not there in the likeness of catts, as were others condescended on? +Declares, The devil did hide and conceall them by raising a dark mist or +fog to skreen them from being seen.... 6_to_, Being interrogat, What +brought her and her accomplices to Montgomerie's house? Answered, They +were doing no harm there. To which Mr Innes replyed, that the disturbing +and infesting a man's house with hideous noises, and cryes of catts, was a +great wrong done to him, having a natural tendency to fright the family +and children. The premisses are attested to be the ingenuous confession of +Margaret Nin-Gilbert, _alias_ Gilbertson, by William Innes, minister of +Thurso.... _Nota_, That upon a vulgar report of witches having the devil's +marks in their bodies, Margaret Olsone being tryed in the shoulders, where +there were severall small spots, some read, some blewish, after a needle +was driven in with great force almost to the eye, she felt it not. Mr +Innes and Mr Oswald, ministers, were witnesses to this." In another case +it is recorded that "Mr John Aird, minister, put a prin in the accused's +shoulder (where she carries the devill's mark) up to the heid, and no +bluid followed theiron, nor she shrinking thereat." + +The foregoing "dittay," conjointly with the confessions of so many of the +accused, inevitably prompts the anxious question--how could it be that +these persons declared themselves guilty of an impossible offence when the +admission must have sealed their doom? The assumption that the victim +preferred being killed at once to living on, subject to suspicion, insult, +and ill-will, under the imputation of having dealt with the devil, cannot +here, any more than in the astounding cases recorded in connection with +Salem witchcraft, cover anything like the whole ground. There can be +little doubt now that the sufferers under nervous disturbances, the +subjects of abnormal conditions, found themselves in possession of strange +faculties, and thought themselves able to do new and wonderful things. +When urged to explain how it was, they perhaps could only suppose that it +was by some "evil spirit," and except where there was an intervening +agency to be named, the only supposition was that the intercourse between +the Evil Spirit and themselves was direct. It is impossible, as an +Edinburgh Reviewer has remarked, even now to witness the curious phenomena +of somnambulism and catalepsy without a keen sense of how natural and even +inevitable it was for similar subjects of the middle ages and in Puritan +times to believe themselves ensnared by Satan, and actually endowed with +his gifts, and to confess their calamity, as the only relief to their +scared and miserable minds. It would also seem as though some of these +unfortunate women credited themselves with certain powers because others +so credited them, and believed that they could perform deeds of witchcraft +because their neighbours declared they could. + +But let us turn again to the Kirk Session Records, than which we can find +no better sources of information. During the years 1649-1650, for +instance, the witch fires seemed never to have ceased burning. In the +Lowlands one, John Kincaid, and another, George Cathie, were expert +searchers. In 1650 the Presbytery of Biggar called on the Presbytery of +Haddington, as well as the civil power, to secure Cathie's services +whenever they were required. In 1649 John Kincaid received from the +minister and elders of Stowe for the "broding of Margret Durham, 6lb." His +colleage Cathie once condemned as witches twelve people in +Crauford-Douglas on the evidence of a lunatic. + +And here are a few significant extracts from the Tyninghame Kirk Session +Records:--"January 11, 1629.--This day James Fairlie preichit, the +minister being at Edinr., at comand of the presbiterie, to assist Mr Js. +Home, minister at Dunbar, anent the tryall of ane woman suspect of +witchcraft in the parish of Dunbar--viz., Issbell Yong, in Eist Barns." +She was accused of both inflicting and curing diseases, and was burnt for +witchcraft. "17 September 1649.--Janet Nicolson execut and brunt at Hails +for witchcraft. 25 November.--Item: According to the ordinance, he +intimate out of the pulpit if any had any delations against Agnes Raleigh, +in East Barns, suspect of witchcraft, and apprehendit there for that, they +come to the session of Dunbar upon Tysday, or the presbyterie on Thursday +next. On Monday the witches at Wittinghame brunt, being three in number. 9 +December.--Intimation maid from the pulpit anent Patrick Yorston and +Christian Yorston, in Wittinghame, if any in this parish either knew or +have any delations against both or either of them, that they show it to +the kirk-session. 6 January 1650.--Some of our pepell confronted with some +witches in Prestonkirk parish. 13 January.--The minister demandit the +elders if they knew of any suspect of witchcraft, and shew them that they +were to search diligentlie such as are delated be the witches at +Prestonkirk parish, when the searchers cam. Upon Tysday ane man in +Wittinghame brunt for witchcraft. Upon Wednesday, the 23 of January, six +people at Staintoune parish brunt. 3 February.--Item: Reported that the +searchers of the witches were not yet returned from the southe, and in the +meantime that Agnes Kirkland and David Stewart shall be apprehendit. On +Thursday Agnes Kirkland and David Stewart, bothe of this parish, were +imprisoned. Wednesday.--I (the minister) went to Dunbar, being ordained +thairto, whair ten witches were execut. + +"10 February.--This day the session sett doon orders aboot the watching of +those that are apprehendit for witchcraft nichtlie, appointing ane roll of +all the parishe to be taken up and six to watch everie nicht, and twa +everie day thair, tyme aboot in order, qlk accordinglie was done. Upon the +20 of February the searcher in Tranent cam and found the mark on those +that were suspect of witchcraft, and shortlie thairafter they confessit. 3 +Mairch.--Item: Ordains the watch to be keipit preceisely, and ane elder to +watch everie nicht in turn with them, qlk they did, and promeisit to +continue. The minister shew his diligence in going to those suspect of +witchcraft, both in the day and nicht-time, in examining of them, and in +praying for them, both privatelie and publiklie, and performing all the +other duties recognisit or practised in such cases, qlk the session +heartilie and unanimouslie acknowledge and approved. Upon Tysday, the 1st +Mairch, the pepell given up be Agnes Kirkland and David Stewart, both in +this parish and Prestonkirk parish, confronted with them, and did pass +from some and stand by others. 29 Mairch.--Appoints the watch to be better +keipit, qlk they promeisit to do. 31 Mairch.--Item: Because the commission +anent the witches was not as yet come, it was thocht gude to have ane cair +of them still. The elders shew it was hard to get pepell to watch all the +day, albeit the watch was preceisly keipit all the nicht; and thairfor it +behoved them to tak something out of the box, or rather to borrow it, to +give to some wha had watched this eight days byegane--viz., Robert Nisbet +and George Ker, given to them 3lbs., and efter the burning of the witches. +7 April.--Item: The minister shew to the elders anent David Stewart and +Agnes Kirkland, that now the commission to put them to assize had come +eist to our hands, and that some that were appointed and put in the same +did meet heir on Setterday, and appointed all things to be done, and in +what manner; and Tysday next to be the day wherin to put them to an +assize; and thairfor to appoint the watch to be well observed this twa +nichts to come, and all the elders and honest men to be present on Tysday, +wherunto they consentit. 9, Tysday, 1650.--David Stewart and Agnes +Kirkland were execut. 14 April.--George Shorthous intromits with what +belongs to Agnes Kirkland; promeisit to the session 12lbs. out of Agnes +Kirkland's readiest gudes and gear, and find the box lykwys, if by any +means he culd." There is no necessity to add anything to the ghastly +simplicity of such sentences as these. + +The expenses incurred in these matters by the Kirk cannot be considered +trifling. There are significant entries like the following: "21 July +1661.--Given for candle to watch the witch, 11s.;" but much fuller +statements are also given. In 1633 two poor victims, "William Coke and +Alison Dick, witches," were burned, as the Kirk Session Records testify, +on the sands at Kirkcaldy. And in connection with that event these were +the "Extraordinary Disbursements":-- + + _In primus_--To Mr John Millar when he went to + Prestoun for a man to try them, £2 7 0 + To the man of Culross when he + went away the first time, 0 12 0 + Item--For cales for the witches, 1 4 0 + Item--For purchasing the commission, 0 3 0 + Item--For one to go to Finmouth for the + Laird to sit upon their assize as + judge, 0 6 0 + Item--For harden to be jumps to them, 3 10 0 + Item--For making of them, 0 6 0 + --------- + Summa, Kirk's part, £17 10 0 + --------- + + _In primus_--For 10 loads of coal to burn them, £3 6 8 + Item--For a tar barrel, 0 14 0 + Item--For towes, 0 6 0 + Item--To him that brought the executioner, 2 18 0 + Item--To the executioner for his pains, 8 14 0 + Item--For his expenses here, 0 16 4 + Item--For one to go to Finmouth for the Laird, 0 6 0 + --------- + Summa, Toun's part, £17 1 0 + --------- + +The other items, the cost of which would bring the "Summa, Kirk's part," +to £17, 10s., are not supplied. + +The severity with which the witches were sometimes treated during +imprisonment is sufficiently indicated by the following entries, 1597:-- + + _Item._ To Alexander Reid, smyth, for twa pair + of scheckellis to the Witches in the + Stepill, xxxii_sh._ + + _Item._ To John Justice, for burning upon the + cheik of four seurerall personis + suspect of witchcraft and baneschit, xxvi_sh._ viii_d._ + + _Item._ Givin to Alexander Home, for macking of + joggis, stapillis, and lockis to the + witches, during the haill tyme forsaid, xlvi_sh._ viii_d._ + + Expense on witches, aucht-score, xlii_li._ xvii_sh._ + iiii_d._ + +It could not be supposed that ministers, who were so zealous in attacking +witchcraft, would be permitted by the supernatural powers to go scot-free. +In the evidence given in the Mohra witch commission, held in Sweden in +1670, the minister of the district testified that having been suffering +from a painful headache, he could account for the unusual severity of the +attack only by supposing that the witches had celebrated one of their +infernal dances upon his head while asleep in bed; and one of them, in +accordance with this conjecture, acknowledged that the devil had sent her +with a sledgehammer to drive a nail into the temples of the obnoxious +clergyman, but the hardness of his skull mercifully saved him. And in +Scotland the Renfrewshire witches were charged with roasting the effigy of +a Rev. Mr Hardy, after having dipped it into a decoction composed of ale +and water; while, in 1622, one of the accusations against Margaret +Wallace, burnt for witchcraft, was "that being conveined before the Kirk +Session of Glasco 5 or 6 years since, by Mr Archibald Glen, minister at +Carmunnock, for killing Robert Muir, his good brother, by witchcraft; she, +to be revenged, laid on him ane uncouth sickness, whereof the said Mr +Archibald, sweating, died; to which it was answered, that in truth the +said Mr Archibald died of a consumption of his lights." In a curious +sheet, "Endorism, or a strange Relation of Dreamers or Spirits that +trouble the Minister's House of Kinross," we read how a minister was +molested in 1718. For some time "they could eat no meat but what was full +of pins"; "a stone thrown down the chimney wambled a space in the floor, +and then took a flight out at the window. Also there was thrown in the +fire the minister's Bible, which would not burn; but a plate and two +silver spoons thrown in, melted immediately; also what bread is fired, +were the meal never so fine, it's all made useless; and many other +things, which are both needless and sinful to mention. Now, is it not very +sad that such a good and godly family should be so molested, that employ +their time no other way but by praying, reading, and serious meditation, +while others, who are wicked livers all their lifetime, and avowedly serve +that wicked one, are never troubled." + +And let it not be inferred that Kirk Sessions were, without exception, +quick to condemn. We find in the records of the Kirk Session at Eastwood +that a woman, who was delated for using charms at Hallow-even and who +confessed, was sentenced to be rebuked before the congregation; and in the +records of Lanark Presbytery (1630), that another woman, charged with +consulting with charmers and "burying a child's clothes betwixt three +lairds' lands for health," was saved by penitence from punishment. And +sometimes the consideration of cases, far more serious than these in the +eyes of the grave Kirk Session, was wisely postponed, and postponed for +ever, for we hear no more of the matter. + +But in 1735 the reaction, which had long made itself felt, found something +like adequate expression in the repeal of the statutes against +witchcraft, and, notwithstanding the action of such as the Seceders from +the Established Church of Scotland, who inveighed against this repeal as +iniquitous, prosecutions for witchcraft entirely ceased. These "Seceders," +who claimed to be the real representatives of the Church's teaching, were +so offended that, in the annual Confession of National and Personal Sins, +printed in an act of their Associate Presbytery at Edinburgh, 1743, the +Penal Statutes against witches are specially mentioned as having been +repealed by Parliament, contrary to the express Law of God! + +And with this reference the consideration of witchcraft and the Kirk may +conveniently and appropriately end. + + + + +Birth and Baptisms, Customs and Superstitions. + + +Some strange customs, the origin of which does not appear to have been +traced, but which probably came down from the dark ages of Celtic +paganism, were performed in bygone times on the birth of a child. When +such an important event in family history was expected, a rich cheese was +made, which, when the anticipation was realised, was divided among the +women who, on such occasions, were injudiciously allowed to crowd the +chamber. A lighted slip of fir-wood was whirled three times round the bed, +with the superstitious idea of averting evil influences. The new-born babe +was next dipped into a vessel of cold water, tempered in a very slight +degree by dropping a burning coal into it. This may have been done with +the Spartan idea of rendering the child hardy. If a boy, it was afterwards +wrapped in a woman's chemise; if a girl, in a man's shirt. The idea +underlying this custom is not clear. Women were not allowed to touch the +child without first crossing themselves. The tiny creature was not to be +referred to in terms of admiration, lest it should be "forespoken," which +implied consequences prejudicial to its future welfare. + +After the mother's recovery, friends and neighbours assembled to +congratulate the parents, and drink to the child's future prosperity. This +gathering was known as the _cummer-fealls_, or the gossips' wake, +concerning which custom the Kirk Session of Dunfermline made, in 1645, one +of the most sensible enactments to be found on the minutes of those +bodies. Considering, it is recorded, "the inconveniences arising +therefrom, as mainly the loss and abusing of so much time, which may be +better employed in attending to business at home, by such as frequent the +occasions thereof, and the prejudice which persons lying in child-bed +receive, both in health and means, being forced, not only to bear company +to such as come to visit, but also to provide for their coming more than +is either necessary or their estate may bear," the Session inhibited "all +visits of this kind, and for the end foresaid, under the pain of being, +for the first fault, censured by the Session, and there to be obliged to +acknowledge their fault, and, for the next, to make public confession of +their fault before the whole congregation." + +Other singular practices were observed in connection with the baptism of a +child. It was placed in a basket, on which a white cloth was spread, with +some bread and cheese, and the basket was suspended by a crook over the +fireplace, and swung round three times. This was said to be done to +counteract the evil influence of fairies and other malignant spirits. The +bread and cheese were offered to the first person met on the way to the +church, and rejection of it was thought to presage future evil to the +babe. When several children were baptised at the same time, the boys were +presented for the rite first, for it was thought that, if a girl obtained +priority, she would in after time be disfigured by a beard. + +Baptism was at one time refused to the children of persons outside the +communion of the Reformed Church. In 1567, the Countess of Argyle was +ordered by the Assembly to "make public repentance in the chapel royal of +Stirling, one Sunday, in time of preaching," for assisting at the baptism +of the royal infant, afterwards James VI., "in a papistical manner." And +even in 1716, registration of baptism was refused to the child of Harry +Foulis, son of Sir James Foulis, on the ground that it had been baptised +by a minister of the Episcopal Church. Thereupon the father procured the +baptismal register from the session clerk, and made the entry himself, +appending a statement of the circumstances. + +The sacrament of baptism has been the subject of much controversy in the +Scottish church, especially in the seventeenth century, when everyone born +north of the Tweed seems to have been, more or less, a theological +disputant. In the First Book of Discipline, in the framing of which Knox +had much to do, it was laid down that, "In baptism, we acknowledge nothing +to be used except the element of water only; wherefore, whosoever +presumeth to use oil, salt, wax, spittle, conjuration, and crossing, +accuseth the perfect institution of Jesus Christ of imperfection, for it +was void of all such inventions devised by men." The abjuring of +conjuration seems to refer to a formula of exorcism prescribed by the +first Prayer Book of Edward VI., to be used in the rite of baptism. + +Concerning the use of the cross in baptism there has been an enormous +amount of controversy, and very opposite views are still held. Dr Renaud, +who wrote a ponderous volume on the subject in 1607, says: "It is as unfit +to make a cross a memorial of Christ as for a child to make much of the +halter or gallows wherewith his father was hanged." The Service Book of +1637 enjoined the use of the cross in baptism, and as that book is said, +by Spalding, to have been introduced in many parts of the country, it may +be concluded that the practice existed thereafter in some Scotch churches. +As to other baptismal ceremonies, Dr Edgar observes, in his "Old Church +Life in Scotland," that the principles laid down by Knox "are the +principles on which the Church of Scotland has always acted. She has +uniformly endeavoured, except during a brief interlude of Anglican +innovation prior to 1638, to make her sacramental forms square with the +pattern and precepts set before her in Scripture." + +Another question concerning which there has been much controversy, is the +lawfulness or otherwise of private baptism. In 1618, when the historically +famous "five articles," framed by James I., as king of both England and +Scotland, were sent to the General Assembly for sanction and approval, +their adoption by that body raised a storm of indignation and opposition +which was not allayed until they were abjured by the General Assembly in +1638, and the proceedings of the Assembly held at Perth in 1618 were +declared null and void. + +One of the articles objected to was that which pronounced "that baptism +might be administered at home when the infant could not conveniently be +brought to church." This was objected to as papistical, and denounced as +introducing a new and false doctrine of baptism, calculated to create a +superstitious belief that there was some spiritual efficacy in the act of +sprinkling a few drops of water on an infant's face, in the name of the +Trinity, thereby giving ground for the belief that baptism is essential to +salvation. This doctrine, though taught by the Church of England, has not +been accepted by the Church of Scotland since the Reformation. + +Moreover, as non-attendance at the services of the Church was regarded as +contrary to good order, it was objected that the administration of baptism +in private houses would allow Christian privileges to be enjoyed without +compliance with Christian duty. If a child was to be accepted and +declared a member of the Church, the act should be performed by the whole +congregation, and not by the minister alone. For at least a hundred years +this was strongly and firmly insisted upon. Some doubt seems to have been +felt in 1643, as to whether the Westminster Assembly would adopt the +Scottish view of the question, as baptisms were very commonly performed in +private houses by ministers of the English Presbyterian Church. It was +with much satisfaction, therefore, that the news was received in Scotland +that the Assembly had affirmed the necessity of public baptism. + +The Directory for Public Worship in the Presbyterian Church states, +accordingly, that baptism "is not to be administered in private places, or +privately, but in the place of public worship, and in the face of the +congregation, where the people may most conveniently see and hear; and not +in the places where fonts, in the time of Popery, were unfitly and +superstitiously placed," that is, near the church door, and behind the +backs of the congregation. The view held by Presbyterians since the +Reformation thus became the law of the Church; and the General Assembly, +in 1690, strictly enjoined that baptism should not be administered +elsewhere than in church, and before the congregation. But in this matter, +as in some others, there appears to have been a laxity in enforcing the +rule of the church, which has gone on increasing. Wodrow stated, in 1718, +that private baptisms were unknown in the Church of Scotland, except in +Edinburgh and Glasgow; and only two years later the Synod of Glasgow and +Ayr had to repeat the injunction of 1690. What the state of things in this +respect is at the present day we are told by Dr Edgar, who, as minister of +Mauchline, must be considered to speak from experience. He says that, "in +some parishes there are ten private baptisms for every one public baptism; +and these private baptisms are never challenged as irregular, unlawful, or +deserving of censure." + +Registers of baptisms have been kept, with more or less regularity, from +the time of the Reformation; and these show that, in some parishes at +least, private baptisms had become very frequent about the middle of the +eighteenth century. In referring to the evidence of the parish register of +Mauchline on this matter, the writer just quoted says: "Although such +baptisms were a violation of Church order, I cannot help remarking that +Church order was not, in this instance, clearly founded on the evangelical +principle professed by our forefathers, that all procedure in Church +ritual should be conform to the precept or example of Scripture. It seems +quite certain that, in the days of the Apostles, baptism was not always, +if ever, administered in the place of public worship and in the face of +the congregation. The eunuch of Ethiopia, Cornelius the centurion, St. +Paul himself, and the gaoler at Philippi were each baptised privately." + +The Church of Scotland has been more strict in upholding the rule of the +Westminster Directory, that baptism "is not to be administered, in any +case, by any private person." This also, it may be remarked, is not in +strict accordance with the principle of the Christian Church in its early +ages, as set forth by some of the Fathers; and down even to the present +day the Church of England, while discountenancing lay baptism as a rule, +has recognised its validity in cases of necessity. The recorded instances +of refusal to admit evidence of lay baptism in the Church of Scotland +are, however, chiefly cases in which the rite had been performed by +deposed ministers. In 1708, a Kilmarnock man was cited to appear before +the Kirk Session for having had a child irregularly baptised by a deposed +minister, namely, Macmillan, the founder of the Reformed Presbyterian +Church. No further proceedings appear, however, to have been taken. +Similar cases occurred in 1715 and 1721, the General Assembly in the +former case, and the Presbytery of Ayr in the latter, merely pronouncing +the baptisms null and void. + +Some differences have to be noted between the Churches of Scotland and +England with regard to the forms and customs connected with baptisms. The +former is the more strict with regard to the sponsors of the children to +be baptised. The Westminster Directory states that the child is to be +presented at the font by its father, or in the case of his unavoidable +absence, by some Christian friend in his place; and in 1712 the General +Assembly enacted that no other sponsor than a parent should be received at +a baptism, "unless the parents be dead, or absent, or grossly ignorant, or +under scandal, or contumacious to discipline; in which cases, some fit +person (and if it can be, one related to the child,) should be sponsor." + +Not only was the Church more strict in this matter in Scotland than in +England, but the nature of the sponsion was different. In Knox's Liturgy, +the sponsors are not regarded as proxies for the child, but are required +to make a declaration of their own faith, in which they engage to instruct +the child. As the matter is well put by Dr Hill, "the parents do not make +any promise for the child, but they promise for themselves that nothing +shall be wanting, on their part, to engage the child to undertake, at some +future time, that obligation which he cannot then understand." + +In the latter half of the seventeenth and the first of the eighteenth +century, the Kirk Sessions had as much to do in repressing undue +gatherings at the font as on the occasion of wedding festivities. In 1622 +the Kirk Session of Aberdeen, considering "that it is come in custom that +every base servile man in the town, when he has a bairn to be baptised, +invites twelve or sixteen persons to be his gossips and god-fathers to his +bairn," whereas the old custom was not to invite more than two, ordered +that in future only two or at most four persons should be allowed to +appear in that capacity. In 1681 an Act of Parliament prohibited the +attendance at baptisms of more than four witnesses, in addition to parents +and children, brothers and sisters; and in 1720 the Kirk Session of +Kilmarnock made an ordinance that "only so many women as are necessary +attend infants that are carried to the church to be baptised, and the +Session think three sufficient." + +Down to the time of the Westminster Assembly, it seems to have been the +custom in Scotland for parents, at the baptism of a child, to repeat the +Creed. But in the Westminster Directory the father is merely required to +promise that he will bring up the child "in the nurture and admonition of +the Lord." Nevertheless, many Kirk Sessions overlaid this requirement with +regulations of their own devising. In 1615, the Kirk Session of Lasswade +ordained that "no children of ignorant persons be baptised, except the +father first lay one poynd of ten shillings, and a month shall be granted +to learn the Lord's Prayer, Belief, and Ten Commandments, with some +competent knowledge of the sacraments and catechism, which he performing, +his poynd shall be returned, otherwise forfeited." In 1700 an application +to the Kirk Session of Galston for the baptism of a child was refused, on +the ground that the father "did not attend diets of catechising." On his +promising to attend in future, and submitting to rebuke for his previous +non-attendance, the child was allowed to be baptised. More than +three-quarters of a century later, that is, in 1779, a man who had applied +to the Kirk Session of Mauchline for the baptism of a child was subjected +to a theological examination much too stiff for him; but on promising to +study the knotty points propounded to him, and signing an undertaking to +that effect in the minute-book, he was allowed to present the child for +baptism, though the permission seems to have been regarded as a great +favour. + +As in England, so also in Scotland, the registration of baptisms was +required at a period long antecedent to the statutary obligation to +register births. Old sessional records show that fees were paid, but it is +a disputed question whether these were for baptism or for registration. +Dunlop, in his "Parochial Law," quotes a legal opinion to the effect that +"as to baptisms, what is paid on that account is for obtaining the Kirk +Session's order for baptism, and recording that order." But an entry in +the records of the Kirk Session of Galston, in 1640, after prescribing the +fee to be paid for baptism, adds--"and there shall be no more exacted of +any that come to this kirk for all time coming, except they desire the +baptism registered, and in that case to satisfy the reader therefore, +which is hereby declared to be other four shillings Scottish." + +There are several curious entries in Kirk Sessional Records, showing that +those parochial bodies were as zealous in restricting the customary +festivities at christening parties as they have, in another paper, been +shown to have been in repressing undue feasting at weddings. With respect +of the former, the interference of Kirk Sessions was preceded by that of +the Scottish Parliament, by which assembly it was enacted, in 1581, "that +no banquets shall be at any upsitting after baptising of bairns in time +coming, under the pain of twenty pounds, to be paid by every person doing +the contrary." In 1621 it was further enacted that, "no person use any +manner of dessert of wet and dry confections at marriage banqueting, +baptism feasting, or any meals, except the fruits growing in Scotland, as +also figs, raisins, plum dames, almonds and other unconfected fruits, +under the pain of a thousand marks _toties quoties_." + +These enactments appear, however, to have had little effect. In 1695 the +Kirk Session of Greenock ordained that "persons having their children +baptised on the Sabbath day abstain from keeping banquets and convening +people at such occasions on that day, whereby much idle discourse and sin +may be evited." In 1701 it was very seriously complained by the Kirk +Session of Kilmarnock that feasts continued to be held on Sundays after +baptisms, and it was ordered that children should be baptised on the +weekly sermon day (Thursday), except in case of necessity. But, either +through attachment to old customs, or want of inclination to attend the +week-day sermon, children continued to be presented for baptism on Sunday, +and in 1720 the Session again ordered "that none make or hold feasts at +baptising their children on the Lord's day." + +In conformity with the Registration Act for Scotland, passed in 1854, all +parish registers are deposited in the Registry Office then established in +Edinburgh. Most of the registers of births commence about the middle of +the seventeenth century, those of only fifteen parishes, out of about nine +hundred, dating from the preceding century. The register of baptisms of +Errol, Perthshire, commences in 1553, but the entries for the years +preceding 1573 are transcribed from an older register which has been lost. +Many of the older registers have been injured by damp, others by fire, and +not a few have suffered from the negligence of their custodians. In many +of them blanks occur. In some instances session clerks of the sixteenth +century recorded in their registers events unconnected with their own +parishes. The clerk of the Kirk Session of Aberdeen made an entry in the +register of the birth of James VI., who was born at Edinburgh, loyally and +piously adding, in the curious spelling of the period (which in previous +extracts in this paper, has been modernised,) "quhame God preserve in guid +helth and in the feir of God, to do justice in punishing of wrayng and in +manttinyen the trewht all the dais of his lyfe. So be itt." + + + + +Marriage Laws and Customs. + + +The laws relating to marriage differ so much in Scotland from those under +which dwellers south of the Tweed live, that no comparison of social and +religious life in the two countries can be made without knowledge of them. +In no part of Christendom have the ecclesiastical laws relating to the +relations of the sexes been more strict, or more strictly enforced, than +in Scotland, and in no other have there been more irregularities. It was +not until more than twenty years after the Reformation that the custom of +"handfasting," which had come down from old Celtic times, fell into +disrepute and consequent disuse. By this term was understood cohabitation +for a year, the couple being then free to separate, unless they agreed to +make the union permanent. Lindsay, the chronicler, says of Alexander +Dunbar, son of the sixth Earl of Moray, and Isobel Innes,--"This Isobel +was but handfast with him, and deceased before the marriage." When +Margaret, widow of James IV., sued for a divorce from the Earl of Angus, +she pleaded that he had been handfasted to Jane Douglas, "and by reason of +that pre-contract could not be her lawful husband." How such marriages +were regarded at that time is shown by the fact that the marriage was +dissolved by the Pope, though the issue of the Queen's marriage with Angus +was pronounced legitimate. + +Sir John Sinclair's "Statistical Account of Scotland" contains a report +from the minister of Eskdale Muir, referring to the practice of +handfasting as existing in that parish, under ecclesiastical sanction, at +a period anterior to the Reformation. At a fair held there, unmarried men +chose women to be handfasted with them, and a monk from Melrose Abbey +visited the place annually, to marry those couples who wished the union to +be made permanent. The first check given to the practice appears to have +been the decree of the Kirk Session of Aberdeen, in 1562, that persons +cohabiting under the sanction of a handfast contract of marriage should be +united in lawful wedlock. But though this practice was discontinued, and +those who wished to be thought respectable obtained the blessing of the +Church on their marriage, irregularities continued to exist, and even to +be permitted. An acknowledgment by a couple that they were husband and +wife, either orally or in writing, followed or preceded by cohabitation, +was regarded as a valid marriage, both by the Church and by society. In +1563, however, the General Assembly of the Church ruled that no contract +of marriage so made should be recognised until the parties had submitted +themselves to the discipline of the Church, and the contract had been +verified by witnesses of good repute. + +The custom of betrothal was very general, but it varied in form in +different parts of the kingdom. The presentation of an "engagement ring," +as in England, is not found among these forms, nor does it appear that the +sanction of parents was thought necessary; but after the contract was made +it was usual for them to be informed and their sanction sought. Among the +upper and middle classes there was usually a betrothal feast, but among +the classes living by manual labour this was dispensed with. Dr Rogers +says, in his "Social Life in Scotland," that--"In betrothal, the parties +usually moistened with the tongue the thumbs of their right hands, and +then pressed them together. The violation of a contract so consecrated was +considered tantamount to an act of perjury." Another form of betrothal was +the clasping of hands across a stream. In this way Burns, the laureate of +the Scottish peasantry, and Mary Campbell vowed fidelity. In some counties +silver coins were exchanged by plighted lovers, or a worn one was broken +between them, each retaining one of the halves. + +Marriages regarded by the ecclesiastical courts and Kirk Sessions as +"regular" have always, from a long period anterior to the Reformation, +been preceded by the publication of banns. In 1569 a case came before the +General Assembly which shows the successive steps taken at that time +before the solemnisation of a marriage. It is recorded that "ane promise +of marriage made, before the readers and elders, in ane reformit church, +the parties contractit compeirs before the minister and session, and +requires their banns to be proclaimit." In 1575 the question came before +the General Assembly, whether the form of mutual declaration prior to the +publication of banns should be longer continued; and it was ruled that it +should be considered sufficient for the names of the parties desiring +proclamation of banns to be given to the session clerk. Banns were ordered +to be published, as in England, on three successive Sundays; but, after +the Reformation, it was ruled that, on payment of a larger fee, one public +announcement should be held sufficient, the words "for the first, second, +and third time" being used. + +It became customary towards the close of the sixteenth century for +security to be given, with the notice of banns, for the solemnisation of +the marriage, two friends of the parties depositing with the clerk a sum +of money as a guarantee, and that for more than one purpose. In 1570 the +Assembly ordered that "promise of marriage shall be made according to the +order of the reformed Kirk to the minister, exhorter, or reader, taking +caution for abstinence till the marriage be solemnised." The minutes of +Kirk Sessions show that, in numerous instances, during the latter half of +the seventeenth century, such deposits were retained for the space of nine +calendar months after the marriage. The Kilmarnock Kirk Session was not so +strict. It was there ordered, in 1670, that the deposit should be +returned to the parties on the expiration of half a year. Whatever the +term was, if scandal arose before it expired, the deposit became +forfeited. + +Kirk Sessions in some cases accepted personal security in lieu of cash, +the bondsmen in such cases becoming liable in the event of scandal +arising, or the non-solemnisation of the marriage. But this system, so +convenient for those who could not raise the caution money, or "pawn," as +it was commonly called, was in course of time abandoned. The Kirk Session +of Mauchline instructed the clerk, in 1691, "to take neither bond nor +cautioner for consignation money, but to require that the money be laid +down, to remain in his hand for the space of three-quarters of a year." +The example was followed by other Kirk Sessions, but the custom continued +for a long time afterwards, and was never formally abolished, falling into +abeyance gradually. Dr Edgar, in his "Old Church Life in Scotland," states +that "on a page at the end of a small volume of scroll minutes still +extant there is a writing, under date 23rd November, 1771, which has all +the appearance of being a genuine matrimonial consignation bond." + +The First Book of Discipline makes it peremptory that no persons should be +married without the consent of the parents, unless it should appear that +there was no reasonable ground for the refusal of their consent. The +Westminster Directory qualifies this by ruling that the consent of parents +should be obtained to first marriages, especially if the parties were +under age. It is not clear whether non-age means under the age of +twenty-one, or is to be interpreted by the decree of the General Assembly +of 1600 that, "considering that there is no statute of the kirk,... +defining the age of persons which are to be married, ordain that no +minister within this realm presume to join in matrimony any persons in +time coming, except the man be fourteen years of age, and the woman twelve +complete." The same ages are given in the First Book of Discipline. + +Deviations from even this rule sometimes occurred, and may be classed +among the permitted irregularities referred to at the beginning of this +paper. The marriage of heiresses under the age of twelve was not +infrequent, the plea of the guardians, that they feared the abduction of +their wards if longer unmarried, being admitted. There is a record of the +marriage of a girl in her eleventh year to a boy of fourteen in 1659; and +no longer ago than 1859 a girl was married at Edinburgh, who was entered +by the registrar as in her eleventh year. The official inspector thought +there must have been an error in the registration, but inquiry proved that +the entry was correct. + +There was no laxity, however, in the matter of prohibited degrees of +relationship. In 1731, an irregular marriage came before the Presbytery of +Ayr. The banns had been forbidden on the ground that the woman's first +husband had been grand-uncle to the second bridegroom. The lovers +thereupon proceeded to Carlisle, and were there united in marriage. The +Presbytery pronounced them guilty of incest, prohibited them from +cohabitation, and the interdict being disregarded, passed sentence of +excommunication. + +Marriage might be refused in former times when either of the parties was +found to be "under scandal." In 1565, the General Assembly enacted that +"such as lie in sin under promise of marriage, deferring the +solemnisation, should satisfy publicly, in the place of repentance, upon +the Lord's day before they be married." Many instances are recorded of +persons appearing before the Kirk Session, and denying upon oath that they +had committed the sin of which they were accused. The Kirk Sessions were +equally diligent in their endeavours to prevent scandals. In 1621, it was +reported to the Kirk Session of Perth "that Janet Watson holds house by +herself, where she may give occasion of slander," wherefore an elder was +directed "to admonish her in the Session's name either to marry or to pass +to service." + +But while the Church authorities were so zealous for the morals of the +nation and the prevention of scandal, they appear to have sometimes thrown +impediments in the way of lawful marriage. In the early years following +the Reformation, it was a very frequent ordinance of Kirk Sessions that no +persons should be allowed to marry until they were able to repeat to the +minister or reader the Lord's Prayer, the Apostles' Creed, and the Ten +Commandments. Either a "pawn" was required for the fulfilment of this +condition or a fine was exacted in case of failure. In some parishes the +Kirk Sessions went beyond this requirement, and insisted on regular +attendance at public worship. In 1700, the Kirk Session of Galston, +"considering that there were some who lived within the parish who did not +join with the congregation in public worship, nor submit themselves to +discipline, and yet craved common privileges of members of this +congregation, such as proclamation in order to marriage, concluded that +none such should have privileges, until they should engage to live orderly +for the time to come." And a further entry, of the same date, states that +one of the persons referred to applied for proclamation of banns, and, on +the resolution being communicated to him, he "engaged, through God's +grace, to live orderly, and to wait upon gospel ordinances more +particularly, and was then allowed to be proclaimed." + +There was some difference of opinion in the early days of the Reformed +Church as to whether a pre-contract should be an impediment to marriage +with another person. The minutes of the Westminster Assembly show that +some of the divines maintained that a promise of marriage was a "covenant +of God," and could not be broken, even by mutual consent. The Church of +Scotland did not adopt this view. In 1570, the General Assembly directed +that persons desiring to withdraw from a contract of marriage should, if +nothing had followed, be allowed to do so. In the same year, an appeal was +made to the Assembly from the decision of a Kirk Session that a man should +not be allowed to marry any woman other than a former servant of the +appellant, whom he had seduced. He had applied to the Kirk Session for +proclamation of banns, putting in the document known as a "discharge of +marriage," signed by the woman he had wronged, for three or four +successive years, but it was persistently refused recognition. The +Assembly sustained his appeal, gave him the liberty he sought, and added, +"yea, and there is injury done to him already." + +Sometimes, however, contracted persons declined to set each other free, +and forbade the publication of banns with any other person. In 1689, one +John Meikle was cited to appear before the Presbytery of Ayr, to show +cause why he forbade the banns of Janet Campbell. He pleaded that Janet +had been engaged to him, and on that ground he objected to her becoming +the wife of any other man. The Presbytery decided that Janet was free to +do so. In 1777, a woman applied to the Kirk Session of Mauchline to have +her banns stopped, on the ground that she had changed her mind, and had +become engaged to another man. The first lover opposed the application, +pleading that she was his "by the covenant of God." The Kirk Session did +not admit his plea. The publication of banns was stopped, and a minute of +the Session justifies this decision, on the ground that "there would be an +obvious impropriety in proceeding further in the proclamation, after being +certified by the woman of her resolution not to marry the petitioner." + +There were some superstitions connected with marriage as to lucky and +unlucky days and seasons. Perthshire couples refrained from wedlock in +January, and everywhere it was declined in May. In the Lowlands, Friday +was considered an unlucky day for weddings, but in the Highlands, it was +the day generally chosen for the ceremony. These notions had no weight +with the compilers of the First Book of Discipline, who expressed their +opinion that Sunday was the day "most expedient." On the other hand, the +Westminster Assembly advised that marriages should not be solemnised on +the Lord's day. The latter may have been influenced by the same reason +that moved the Kirk Session of Perth to adopt, in 1584, a resolution that +"forasmuch as sundry poor desire to, because they have not to buy clothes, +nor to make bridals, marriages should be as well celebrated on Thursday, +within our Parish Kirk in time of sermon, as on Sunday." The former, on +the other hand, probably had in view the disorderly scenes to which a +wedding was often the prelude. The General Assembly, in 1645, adopted the +view of the Westminster Directory, and marriages from that date were +generally solemnised on the day of the weekly lecture. + +In former times, and down to the first quarter of the present century, the +celebration of a marriage otherwise than in church was regarded as +irregular and clandestine. In 1581, the General Assembly "concluded by +common consent of the whole brethren, that in times coming no marriage be +celebrated, nor sacraments administered, in private houses." At that time, +and long afterwards, ministers were liable to deposition, and were +actually deposed, for marrying persons in private houses. It is a fact, +nevertheless, that though the law of the Church remains as settled in +1581, marriages celebrated in private houses have not been regarded as +irregular since the beginning of the last century; and the records of the +General Sessions of Edinburgh show that, as long ago as 1643, private +marriages were not infrequent in that city, where, however, they were +restricted to the well-to-do classes by a fine of twenty marks. + +Weddings were usually followed by great festivities, which were generally +on a scale so extensive, and carried to so great an excess, that the +records of Kirk Sessions during the seventeenth century show numerous +regulations for their restriction. They fixed the number of guests who +might be lawfully entertained on such occasions, and the hour at which the +festivities should cease. Many of the customs observed were peculiar to +the country, or to certain parts of it. In the Highlands, until about a +century ago, the bride walked round the wedding party at the close of the +ceremony, saluting each with a kiss. A dish was then passed round, in +which each deposited a coin, the amount collected being given to the +bride. The term "penny wedding" appears to have arisen from this custom. +Owing to the large number of guests entertained, which Kirk Sessions did +not venture to reduce to less than forty, it was usual for the neighbours +to assist in providing for them. Landowners gave beef, mutton and venison; +farmers, poultry and dairy produce; and the minister and the schoolmaster +lent cooking utensils. The bridal feast was followed by a dance. + +Some peculiar rites, of ancient and pagan origin, were practised at the +home-coming of the bride. The guests assembled at the door, on the +threshold of which a sieve containing bread and cheese was held over her +head, and, as she entered the house, a cake of shortbread was broken over +her head, the young folk present scrambling for the fragments. The +ceremony was completed by the bride sweeping the hearth with a broom. + +This paper would not be complete without some notice of an aspect of the +matter with which it deals, which has not received the attention to which +it is certainly entitled. The law relating to marriage remains unsettled. +It has been so constantly regarded as a matter for ecclesiastical +regulation, that it has been practically left to be dealt with by +Presbyteries and Kirk Sessions. "As far back as any living man +remembers," says Dr Edgar, "it has taken very few formalities to +constitute in Scotland a marriage that is binding in law. A man and a +woman have only had to take up house together, and declare themselves +husband and wife. The law thereupon pronounced them married persons. But +this was not always understood to be the law of the land in Scotland, and +the Church of Scotland did not always recognise such unions as marriages." +But while writing of what was or was not _understood_ to be the law, he +tells us nothing as to what the law really was or is. + +It seems to have been the practice of the Church, in former times, to +pronounce her own judgment, and then to ask the State to confirm it. In +the first General Assembly held in Scotland, that of 1560, there was a +declaration made concerning marriages within certain degrees of +relationship, and "the authority of the Estates was craved to be +interposed to that finding as the law." There were many of the ministers +of the Reformed Church who held that a religious ceremony was not +necessary to constitute a valid marriage. One of the members of the +Westminster Assembly, in 1644, expressed the opinion, previously given by +Luther, that only the consent of the parties was necessary. This view +appears to have prevailed very generally among the laity, notwithstanding +the action taken so frequently by Kirk Sessions in opposition to it. + +The question continued to be disputed throughout the last century. Writers +on legal questions held one view, and judges on the bench pronounced +contrariwise. Erskine argued that, in Scotland, the consent of the parties +was all that was necessary to constitute a valid marriage. Lord Braxfield +affirmed the opposite in 1796. Lord Fraser, on a later occasion, said that +the view set forth by Erskine was never judicially pronounced to be the +law of Scotland until 1811. Can we wonder, therefore, when lawyers and +judges disagree, at the haziness of mental vision displayed by Kirk +Sessions, and the frequent want of uniformity in their decisions? + + + + +Gretna Green Gossip. + + +Gretna Green is the name of an insignificant village in the Border country +between England and Scotland. It is situated in Dumfriesshire, near the +mouth of the Esk, nine miles north-west of Carlisle, and consequently +within a mile of the English border. Probably no place of such absence of +pretension to size and population has attained the notoriety which +attaches to the name of Gretna Green, a distinction it has obtained merely +through its being the first place suitable for stoppage after the English +border was once passed. This close proximity was utilised by runaway +couples, who, dispensing, for various reasons, with the preliminaries of +anyone's consent to their union, or the publication of banns requisite by +the English Marriage Laws, could, when once on Scottish ground, accomplish +their wedding by simply declaring before witnesses their mutual +willingness to undertake the contract. To the facility, then, which the +Marriage Laws of Scotland offered to amorous and impatient couples (minors +or not), the fisher-village of Gretna Green owes its repute as a chosen +altar of Hymen. A marriage once declared here was henceforward considered +valid, and after exchanging before any witness the mutual promises, the +pair might return to England at once, the knot being tied beyond all +chance of dispute. As might be expected, haste was a great factor in these +summary pairings, and consequently postillions were largely employed to +get over the distance between Carlisle and Gretna, a course upon which, no +doubt, many a tough race has been run between prudent parent or guardian +and ardent runaways. + +The "parsons" of Gretna were the ordinary inhabitants, who were weavers, +fishermen (Gretna being at the head of the Solway), blacksmiths, &c., and +their fees were entirely arbitrary, being fixed on the spot, according to +the private information of the postillions, or according to the appearance +and simplicity of the young couple. Marriages have been contracted here +for a glass of whisky, while on the other hand a fee of twenty pounds has +been paid, as in the case of Lord Chief Justice Erskine, who availed +himself of the easy ceremony, and even much larger sums, as in the cases +of the Earl of Westmoreland, Lord Deerhurst, and others, who paid to the +officiating "cleric" upwards of one hundred guineas. In the absence of any +local person to receive the attestations to the contract, the postillions +themselves have been known to assume the sacerdotal functions. + +The first broker in Gretna Green marriages was one Scott, who lived at a +point called the Rigg, a few miles from the village. It is said that he +commenced his infamous profession about the year 1750, but beyond the fact +that he was a crafty fellow, who could turn the emergencies of the time to +his own advantage, little is known of him. The next who undertook the +remunerative duties of high priest was George Gordon, an old soldier, who +invariably wore as canonicals a full military uniform of a by-gone type--a +tremendous cocked-hat, scarlet coat, and jackboots, with a ponderous sword +dangling from his belt. His "church," which had the appearance of a barn, +stood a little to the left of the public road; his altar was an ale cask +upon which was placed an open Bible. Following Gordon, Joseph Paisley +(sometimes called Pasley) became the recognised parson. He was a +fisherman, who agreeably united with the duties of that position the +pursuits of smuggler and tobacconist. He has been also called a +blacksmith, but this was simply a fanciful allusion to the part he took in +the Gretna Green marriages, Vulcan being the marriage maker of the gods as +well as their smith. He commenced the matrimonial business in 1789, and +from being retiring in his manner of dealing, became audaciously +unscrupulous, going so far even as to supply fictitious signatures to the +certificates, instead of, as at first, resorting to the less culpable +proceeding of signing his own name as a witness. It is said of this man +that at his death, about 1811, he weighed twenty-five stones. He was a +coarse, blatant individual, and habitually appeared in a sort of priestly +dress, even in his constant dissipations. At his death the priesthood was +taken by his son-in-law, Robert Elliott, who kept an account of his +transactions, and afterwards published them under the title of "The Gretna +Green Memoirs." In this he states that between 1811 and 1839, not less +than 7744 persons were united by him at Gretna. The _Times_, in a review +of the book, doubted the accuracy of the assertion, which drew from him a +reply in the form of a letter to that paper. He said, "I can show +registers for that number from my commencement, and which either you or +any respectable individual may inspect here, and which I can substantiate +on oath." + +We give here an extract from the "Memoirs" of Elliott. He says:--"As the +marriage ceremony performed by me and my predecessors may be interesting +to many of my readers, I give it verbatim: The parties are first asked +their names and places of abode; they are then asked to stand up, and +inquired of if they are both single persons; if the answer be in the +affirmative, the ceremony proceeds. Each is next asked, 'Did you come here +of your own free will and accord?' Upon receiving an affirmative answer, +the priest commences filling in the printed form of the certificate. The +man is then asked, 'Do you take this woman to be your lawful wedded wife, +forsaking all others, and keep to her as long as you both shall live?' He +answers, 'I will.' The woman is asked the same question, when, being +answered the same, the woman then produces a ring, which she gives to the +man, who hands it to the priest; the priest then returns it to the man, +and orders him to put it on the fourth finger of the woman's left hand, +repeating these words, 'With this ring I thee wed, with my body I thee +worship, with all my goods I thee endow, in the name of the Father, Son, +and Holy Ghost. Amen.' They then take hold of each other's right hand, and +the woman says, 'What God joins together let no man put asunder.' Then the +priest says, 'Forasmuch as this man and this woman have come together by +giving and receiving a ring, I therefore declare them to be man and wife +before God and these witnesses, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy +Ghost. Amen.'" + +The following are among the memorable matches effected through the agency +of Robert Elliott, and recorded in his Memoirs:-- + +1812.--Rev. Wm. Freemantle, an English clergyman. C. Ewen Law, son of Lord +Ellenborough, to Miss Nightingale. + +1815.--A "droll gaberlunzie without legs or arms, to a comely damsel, both +appearing anxious for the ceremony," to the disgust of the not too +fastidious parson himself. + +1816.--Lord Chief Justice Erskine. Within a year, however, his lordship +unsuccessfully tried to loosen his matrimonial chains by a divorce by the +Scottish law. + +1826.--E. Gibbon Wakefield, with Miss Turner. Of the trial which ensued +upon this union we give particulars below. + +During the latter part of Elliott's "ministration" competition in the +marrying business became brisk, and he had numerous rivals, the most +powerful of these candidates for clerical emolument being another son of +Mars, named David Laing. The competition became so pronounced that the +rival parsons canvassed for the assistance and co-operation of the +postillions, who, commencing by receiving a commission per runaway pair, +at last ended by working upon a system of equal shares with their priestly +co-partners. + +In 1827, at the Kent Assizes, a Gretna Green marriage was the subject of a +curious trial before Mr Baron Hullock. The action was taken against one +Mrs Wakefield and her two sons, for conspiring "to take away by subtle +stratagems" a young lady named Turner, who had not yet left school. The +David Laing above mentioned was called as a witness on behalf of the +defendants, and he affirmed that the couple were married lawfully +according to the Scottish fashion--namely, by putting on the lady's finger +a ring. The witness said he was seventy-five years old, and had spent more +than half of his life in the performance of marriages. In +cross-examination by Mr Brougham, he admitted obtaining £30 for this +particular ceremony, or even £50, but could not remember exactly, "being +somewhat hard of hearing." The accused was found guilty of causing this +young lady to "contract matrimony without the consent of her father, and +to the great disparagement of the King's peace." The chief prisoner, E. +Gibbon Wakefield, was convicted of abduction, and the marriage, which +excited considerable public attention, was afterwards rendered invalid, +and annulled by an Act of Parliament specially obtained. After this +flagrant case Gretna Green marriages fell into disrepute, and the business +showed a steady decline, though cases of the employment of pseudo-parsons +are on much later record. In 1853, a person named Thomas Blythe, a witness +before the Court of Probate at Westminster, stated that he lived at +Springfield, Gretna Green, and that he obtained his livelihood by means of +agriculture, but that he not unfrequently took advantage of opportunities +to increase his income by small strokes of business in the "joining" line. +Again, the demise of another "joiner" was announced so late as 1872, when +the obituary of Simon Laing appeared in the _Glasgow Herald_. It is +probable, however, that the pursuit of his "clerical" profession ceased +long before the date of his death, for, in 1856, the old law by which the +mere verbal declaration of consent before witnesses was sufficient to +constitute a Scottish legal marriage became effete through the passing of +the Act of Parliament, 19 and 20 Victoria, cap. 96. By this Act the laws +of Scotland and England were brought into assimilation, and in that year +the occupation of the northern hedge-parsons was virtually gone. + +It may be said such marriages as those we have described were considered +as clandestine and ill-advised in Scotland, as in more southern parts, the +Church of Scotland doing all that lay in its power to discourage and +prevent them. The only punishment, however, which it had for transgressors +being excommunication, the restraint by the Kirk was very slight, its +injunctions and fulminary condemnations being treated with contempt. + +Probably the best known of the notable marriages which have taken place at +Gretna is that of the Earl of Westmoreland with the daughter of Child, the +banker, whose counting-house was at the sign of the Marygold, in the +Strand. The romantic but determined couple had the advantage of an early +start, one starlight night in May, but the pursuit was not less hot than +the departure had been well arranged, and when within a few miles of the +Border the coach was nearly overtaken by Mr Child's carriage. The Earl, +however, not to be baulked when so near the end of the journey, shot down +one of the pursuing horses, while one of the servants cut the carriage +straps behind. The crown of firs which mark Gretna from the surrounding +country came quickly into view, the bridge was crossed, and the village +was reached by the reckless couple. A parson was found, and quickly the +Earl and Miss Child were made one. Within a year Mr Child died, it is +said, of the mortification and disappointment connected with this affair. +The elder daughter of the match, Lady Sophia Fane, afterwards married Lord +Jersey, and inherited his immense fortune, including Child's Bank at +Temple Bar. + + + + +Death and Burial Customs and Superstitions. + + +Among the many pagan beliefs and observances which were adhered to during +many centuries of Christian creed and worship, and some of which have +survived among the less enlightened even to the present day, a large place +is held by those connected with death and burial. In Scotland, many +trivial things were regarded as omens of death. In the northern Highlands, +an itching of the nose was believed to prognosticate the death of a +neighbour. In the southern parts, a humming in the ear was held to prelude +the death of a relative. The crowing of a cock at an unusual hour was +regarded as a token of the death of some person in the parish. In the +Lowlands, the howling of a strange dog was accepted as a warning of the +approaching death of some inmate of the house near which the melancholy +wail was raised. The "death candle," as the phosphoric light sometimes +seen flickering over burial-grounds was called, was similarly regarded in +the Hebrides. + +In some parts of the Highlands it is still believed that the last moments +of a dying person are prolonged by the door of the death-chamber being +closed. It is usual, therefore, for it to be left ajar, so that there may +be room for the departing spirit to take its flight, and yet the intrusion +of any evil thing be prevented. When a death occurred, the clock was +stopped, and its face covered, as were all the mirrors in the house. A +bell was laid under the head of the corpse, and a vessel containing earth +and salt placed upon the breast. + +From the moment of death until the departure of the funeral procession to +the place of burial, the corpse was watched night and day by parties of +friends and neighbours, who relieved each other. Silence was observed, but +this did not prevent the consumption of much ale and whisky. Among the +poorer classes the interment took place soon after death, in order to +lessen the cost of watching, but the well-to-do deferred the funeral for +at least a week, and sometimes a fortnight, in order that the hospitality +of the house might be more extensively offered and enjoyed. Among these a +feast was given on the evening preceding the funeral. + +There were many superstitious beliefs and customs connected with funerals. +As in England, the proverb was accepted that "happy is the corpse that the +rain falls on." If the funeral party, on the way to the burial-ground, +walked in a straggling manner, it was regarded as an omen that another +death would soon occur under the same roof. In the Hebrides, if one of the +party stumbled and fell, the incident was held to indicate that he would +be the next to die. + +In the last century, there was a lamentable amount of ale and whisky +drinking before and after funerals. The company began to assemble two +hours before the time appointed for the corpse to be carried from the +house. If the deceased was a farmer, each of the guests was offered a +glass of whisky at the gate of the farm-yard, and another on crossing the +threshold. On entering the guest-room, a portion of shortbread and another +glass of whisky were handed to him, a reverential silence being observed +for a time, after which conversation was carried on in whispers. When all +the guests were assembled, the minister commenced a religious service, +which lasted about three-quarters of an hour. This was followed by the +handing round of oatcake, cheese, and whisky, and afterwards shortbread +and more whisky. Then the coffin was carried out, and followed to the +grave by all those who were sufficiently sober to walk straight. + +Religious ceremonies at burials have never found favour in the Church of +Scotland. They were discouraged both by the First Book of Discipline and +the Westminster Directory, the compilers of the former saying, "for +avoiding all inconveniences, we judge it best that neither singing nor +reading be at the burial,... yea, without all kind of ceremony heretofore +used, other than that the dead be committed to the grave with such gravity +and sobriety as those that be present may seem to fear the judgment of +God, and to hate sin, which is the cause of death." The Westminster +Directory deals with the matter in much the same way, the Assembly +maintaining that the burial of the dead is not a part of the work of the +ministry, as baptisms and marriages are. + +It appears to have been customary in the early centuries of the Church in +Scotland, to bury the dead uncoffined; and this custom prevailed among the +poor for some time after the Reformation. It lingered in rural districts +longer than in towns, and in some later than in others; but the Kirk +Session records of some parishes refer to the provision of coffins for the +interment of persons who were practically paupers in the last quarter of +the seventeenth century. As to the mode of burial before the use of +coffins became general, the General Assembly ordained, in 1563, "that a +bier should be made in every country parish, to carry the dead corpse of +the poor to the burial-place, and that those of the villages or houses +next adjacent to the house where the dead corpse lieth, or a certain +number out of every house, shall convey the dead corpse to the +burial-place, and bury it six feet under the earth." + +The biers appear to have been of more than one kind. Some of them were +mere rails upon which the corpse was laid, covered only with a pall, +called in Scotland a mort-cloth. Others were wooden boxes, with the lid on +one side furnished with a hinge, so that the corpse could be taken out, +and lowered into the grave by ropes. In some parts of the Highlands, a +long basket, made of twisted rushes, was used, and called the "death +hamper." There were three pairs of loop handles, through which short iron +bars were passed for convenience of carriage; and on the grave being +reached, it was lowered by ropes, so arranged that it could be turned over +and recovered for future use. + +Before the Reformation, it was the custom to bury unbaptised children +apart from members of the Church, the north side of the churchyard being +reserved for that purpose. This was afterwards regarded as contrary to the +true principles of Protestantism, and in 1641 the Synod of Fife ordained +that "all these who superstitiously carries the dead about the kirk before +burial, also these who bury unbaptised bairns apart, be taken notice of +and censured." Suicides and excommunicated persons were also, at one time, +buried apart, and at night. In 1582, the Kirk Session of Perth refused to +allow the corpse of a man who had committed suicide by drowning to be +"brought through the town in daylight, neither yet to be buried among the +faithful,... but in the little Inch within the water." + +With regard to interment within the churches, the Scottish Reformers seem +to have been in advance of those south of the Border. The Brownists were +as much in advance of the former, for in 1590 one of the leaders of that +denomination wrote:--"Where learned you to bury in hallowed churches and +churchyards, as though you had no fields to bury in? Methinks the +churchyards, of all other places, should be not the convenientest for +burial; it was a thing never used till Popery began, and it is neither +comely nor wholesome." Interment in churches was, on sanitary grounds, +even more objectionable than in the grounds adjacent to them, and in 1576 +the General Assembly prohibited the practice, and ordered that those who +contravened the ordinance should be suspended from the privileges of the +Church. + +Long after that time, however, burials in churches continued to take +place, owing to the value attached by families of rank above that of the +commonalty to the privilege of having their relatives buried apart. In +1643, the Assembly again prohibited all persons, "of whatsoever quality, +to bury any deceased person within the body of the kirk, where the people +meet for hearing of the Word." But the ordinance was disregarded by all +who thought themselves powerful enough to do so, and as ministers had very +little to do with a matter which had been declared to be unministerial, +they usually found their will sufficient to serve their purpose. In 1695, +the Kirk Session of Kilmarnock recorded a minute that, the north aisle +being then filled with pews, "they shall, when required, cause lift six +pews, on each end, next to the north wall of the aisle, so oft as any of +the families of Rowallan, Craufordland, and Grange, shall have occasion to +bury their dead;... and, after burial, the said pews shall be set up +again in their places, at the expense of the session." Kirk Sessions seem +to have felt themselves powerless to enforce their ordinances in the face +of a long existing custom and a fancied right of the gentry to burial +within the church; and in one instance, which occurred in a Highland +parish in 1727, the Kirk Session petitioned the Presbytery to "put a stop +to such a bad practice." + +The custom of ringing a bell at funerals, which was a common one before +the Reformation, was continued afterwards. There is an entry in the +records of Glasgow, for 1577, of the sale of "the auld bell that yed +throw the toun of auld at the burial of the dead." In 1621, the Kirk +Session of Dumbarton ordained that "the beadle, John Tome, and his +successors, shall ring the mort-bell before all persons deceased within +town, for such prices as the minister and session shall set down." It may +be that the custom, like the ringing of church bells, originated in the +superstition that the sound of bells scared away evil spirits; for an +edict of the Town Council of Aberdeen, passed in 1643, includes the +tolling and ringing of bells among the "superstitious rites used at +funerals," which it prohibits. + +Towards the close of the seventeenth century, it seems to have been usual +for the church bell to be tolled at funerals, and that without any charge +being made, for, in 1696, the Kirk Session of Mauchline made a minute that +they "thought it reasonable that whoever desired the tolling of the bell +at the funeral of their relations, should pay some small quantity of money +to the kirk treasurer, to be disposed of for the poor's use." Similar +ordinances were passed about the same time by the Kirk Sessions of other +parishes in Ayrshire. It was decided, however, in the Civil Court, in +1730, that the money arising from fees for the ringing of bells and +burials within the church did not properly belong to the fund for the +relief of the poor, but might be used for the maintenance of the fabric of +the church. The poor, however, do not appear to have lost much by this +decision, for during the year ended October, 1732, the "big" bell at +Kilmarnock was tolled for funerals only seven times. It may be explained +that there were two bells in many churches, the larger one to be tolled at +the funerals of the rich, and the smaller at those of the poor. In the +register of burials at Inverness, the words "big bells" are added to the +entries of the funerals of "persons of quality." + +The burials register of the parish of Tough, in Aberdeenshire, record +that, in 1784, forty-two of the parishioners joined in the purchase of a +new bell for the church, stipulating that, when deaths occurred in their +families, "the bell be rung once before the day of interment, that is, +when the officer gets the first notice of a contributor's death, and then +upon the day of interment, from morning until the coffin be laid in the +ground, in the manner that bells ought to be rung at funerals, and that +by no other person than the officer allenarlie." + +Palls were, from a very early period, regarded as essential parts of the +funeral paraphernalia. In 1598, the Kirk Session of Glasgow ordered a +black cloth to be bought "to be laid on the corpses of the poor," and, for +at least two hundred years afterwards, it was the custom for the +"mort-cloth" to be taken to the house where a corpse awaited burial, and +laid over it. The reason for this may be found in the early custom of +burial without a coffin, and in the case of those who desired to show some +regard for appearances, in the proclamation of Council in 1684, that +coffins should not be covered with silk or decorated with fringes or +metal-work. The mort-cloths kept "to be laid on the corpses of the poor" +were probably of coarse black woollen cloth; but those used at the +funerals of well-to-do people were, as a rule, of richer and more handsome +material. In the sessional records of the parish of Mauchline for 1672 +there is an entry of the payment of a sum of no less than £10, 12s. 4d. as +completing the price of a new mort-cloth, which implies that some portion +of the total cost had been paid previously. Another new mort-cloth +provided for the same parish in the last quarter of the eighteenth century +is described as having been made of Genoa velvet, conformably fringed. + +The preaching of funeral sermons received little favour in Scotland during +the early period of the Reformed Church. "We have," says Baillie, writing +from London during the sitting of the Westminster Assembly, "with much +difficulty, passed a proposition for abolishing their ceremonies at +burials, but our difference about funeral sermons seems irreconcilable. As +it has been here and everywhere preached, it is nothing but an abuse of +preaching, to serve the humours only of rich people for a reward. Our +Church has expressly discharged them, on many good reasons; it's here a +good part of the minister's livelihood, therefore they will not quit it. +After three days' debate, we cannot yet find a way of agreeance." + +It was in consequence of this inability to agree on the subject that the +Scottish commissioners at Westminster declined to hear the sermon preached +on the occasion of the funeral of Pym. Baillie wrote:--"On Wednesday, Mr +Pym was carried from his house to Westminster on the shoulders, as the +fashion is, of the chief men of the Lower House, all the House going in +procession before him, and before them the Assembly of Divines. Marshall +had a most eloquent and pertinent funeral sermon--which we would not hear, +for funeral sermons we must have away, with the rest." + +The earliest registers of deaths are those of Aberdeen, which commence in +1560; Perth, beginning in 1561, and the Canongate, Edinburgh, in 1565. The +register of burials in the last-named parish commences in 1612, and that +of Greyfriars in 1658. Those of rural parishes generally commence in the +last century, and they are, as a rule, more or less imperfect. It appears +from the Edinburgh registers, in which the deaths are summarised annually, +that the mortality has greatly diminished during the last hundred and +fifty years. In the first four decades of the last century, nearly +two-thirds of the deaths were those of children, and the deaths of adult +females were double those of adult males. The dawn of a better state of +things appears in 1741, when the deaths of 276 men, 401 women, and 942 +children, were registered, which, if we accept the generally received +statement that the population of the city was then fifty thousand, gives +an annual average death-rate of 34 per thousand. The average mortality of +the ten years ending with 1878, as shown by the report of the Registrar +General, was 24 per thousand; and that of the week ending October 8, 1898, +was 20 per thousand; which was precisely that of the thirty-three largest +towns of the southern portion of the island. + +Contemporary events in other places were not unfrequently recorded in the +local registers of deaths in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. +Thus, in the Aberdeen register, we have the murder of Lord Darnley very +circumstantially recorded as follows, though under a wrong date:--"The +ninth [10th] day of February, the year of God 1566, Henry Stuart, Lord +Darnley, King of Scotland, who married Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland, +daughter to King James the Fifth, was cruelly murdered under night, in +Edinburgh, in the Cowgate, at the Kirk of Field, by James Hepburn, Earl of +Bothwell, and other his assisters, whose deed God revenge. So be it."[13] +The ascription of the crime to Bothwell does not appear in the Canongate +register, which merely records the fact of Darnley being blown up with +gunpowder. + +The assassination of the Earl of Murray is recorded in several parish +registers. The session clerk of Aberdeen recorded it, with much +particularity, as follows:--"The twenty-third day of January, the year of +God 1569, James, Earl of Murray, Lord Abernethy, Regent to the King and +realm of Scotland, was cruelly murdered and shot in the town of +Linlithgow, by a false traitor, James Hamilton of Bodywallhaucht, by the +conspiracy and treason of his own servant, William Kircaldy, and John +Hamilton, bloody Bishop of St. Andrew's, whose deed we pray God to +revenge. So be it." With equal circumstantiality the same clerk made an +entry in the register of the murder of Coligny, and the horrible massacre +of the Protestants of Paris, on St. Bartholomew's day, 1572, which event +he prays God to revenge. + +Some of the entries in the church registers of Edinburgh are of +considerable historical interest. In that of St. Giles is chronicled the +removal of the remains of the Marquis of Montrose from the Abbey Church of +Holyrood to St. Giles's Church, where they were honoured with a +magnificent and pompous funeral. The entry in the register of burials +records the final interment as follows:--"11 May 1661.--The Rt. Hon. +James, Marquis of Montrose, Earl of Kincardine, Lord Grahame and Mugdok, +His Majesty's late commissioner and Captain General for the kingdom of +Scotland, and knt. of most hon. order of the Garter, was conveyed from the +kirk of Holyrood House with great honour and solemnity to St. Giles's kirk +and buried." The corpse had been, in the first instance, interred at the +Burgh Muir, so that this was the third removal. + +The register of the Greyfriars' Church, Edinburgh, contains the following +record of another and more generally interesting translation:--"Robert +Garvock, Patrick Forman, James Stewart, David Fernie, Alexander Russell, +was executed in the Gallowlee, for owning the truth, upon the 10 day of +October 1681 years, and their heads fixed upon Bristo Port, taken down and +buried privately in Louristone Yards, now accidentally dug up upon the 15 +day of October 1726, and buried decently upon the 19 day of the said +month in the Greyfriars' churchyard, close to the Martyrs' Tomb." + +The grandeur of the final interment of the remains of the Marquis of +Montrose, followed later by the costly obsequies of Lord Roslin, induced +the Scottish Parliament, in 1681, to pass an Act which, besides +restricting the number of persons who might attend the funeral of a person +of rank to one hundred, prohibited "the using or carrying of any branches, +banners, and other honours at church, except only the eight branches to be +upon the pall, or upon the coffin where there is no pall." The Act seems, +however, to have had little effect in diminishing the excessive costliness +of funerals among all classes above the very poorest. The funeral of Sir +William Hamilton, who died in 1707, was attended with a display and an +amount of hospitality which cost a sum equal to two years of his salary as +a judge. The funeral of Lachlan Macintosh, chief of the Highland clan of +that name, in 1736, cost (including the customary festivities) a sum which +involved his successors in pecuniary embarrassments for a century +afterwards. The funerals of Highland chiefs were attended by all the clan, +sometimes numbering thousands of persons, and the procession to the place +of burial extending to more than a mile in length; the coronach--a hymn of +lamentation, an example of which may be found in Scott's "Lady of the +Lake"--being chanted by hundreds of voices, accompanied by the bagpipes. + + + + +The Story of a Stool. + + +James I. after the Reformation introduced into Scotland bishops, and his +son Charles I. attempted to force upon the Scottish church a book of +canons and a liturgy. Both actions were regarded with strong aversion, and +culminated in bitter strife. The king directed that on Sunday, July 23rd, +1637, the new service-book should be read in every parish church in +Scotland. Before the appointed day arrived, opposition was manifest in all +quarters, and few had the courage, even if they had the desire, to conduct +their services from the new prayer-book. + +On the eventful Sunday when the new order of service was to be formally +introduced, the chief church of the capital of Scotland, the old Cathedral +of St. Giles, was filled by an unusually large congregation. Among those +present were two archbishops, several bishops, the lords chancellor and +treasurer, privy council, judges, and magistrates. A large number of the +humble people, composed chiefly of the wives of citizens and their maids, +filled the body of the church. In those days no pews were in the church, +and the poor-folk brought clasp-stools. + +When Dean Hannay, attired in a surplice, commenced reading prayers from +the service-book a riot arose which has seldom been equalled in the house +of God. The Dean could not be heard for the clamour of many voices. The +voice of a female--that of Jenny Geddes--was heard above others. She +cried, "Out, out! does the false loon mean to say his black mass at my +lug?" and then threw her stool at the Dean's head. + +This was the signal for a riot: an attempt was made to tear from the Dean +his surplice, but he disengaged himself from it, and with difficulty made +his escape. Hand-clapping, hisses, curses, &c., put an end to any attempt +to conduct the service. The Bishop of Edinburgh attempted from the pulpit +to restore order, but a stool was thrown at him, and, had not a friendly +hand averted its course, doubtless he would have been seriously injured, +or even killed. Stones and other missiles were thrown at the pulpit. + +The Lord Chancellor, it is recorded, commanded the magistrates to call out +the town-guard to drive the ringleaders from the church. The church was +cleared of the rioters, but outside they battered the doors, broke the +windows, cried out, "A Pope! A Pope!" "Antichrist!" "Stone him! Stone +him!" The Dean tried to resume his reading, but the shouts of the +multitude without drowned his voice. + + +[Illustration: JENNY GEDDES' STOOL. + +_From the Antiquarian Museum, Edinburgh._] + + +The service in Greyfriars' Church had to be stopped on account of the +rioting without, and at the college, we are told in Stevenson's "Annals of +Edinburgh," the minister preferred the old extempore form of prayer, till +he learned how the liturgy had been received in other city churches. + +On leaving church the Bishop of Edinburgh was attacked by the mob, and +narrowly escaped death at their hands. Other rioting occurred, and for +many years the memorable day was known as "Stony Sabbath." + +The local authorities, it is recorded, desired to maintain order, and on +the Monday the local magistrates repaired to a meeting of the Privy +Council, and expressed their great regret at the outrage, and promised to +discover the ringleaders and have them punished. + +On one of the piers of St. Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, is a memorial +brass bearing the following inscription:-- + + TO + JAMES HANNAY, D.D., + DEAN OF THIS CATHEDRAL, + 1634-1639. + + _He was the first and last who read + the service-book in this church._ + + THIS MEMORIAL IS ERECTED IN HAPPIER TIMES + BY HIS DESCENDANT. + +In the Moray or south-west aisle is a memorial of gun-metal to Jenny +Geddes, with an inscription written by the late Lord President Inglis, +which reads as follows:-- + + CONSTANT ORAL TRADITION + AFFIRMS THAT NEAR THIS SPOT + A BRAVE SCOTCH WOMAN, JANET GEDDES, + ON THE 23 JULY 1637, + STRUCK THE FIRST BLOW IN THE GREAT STRUGGLE + FOR FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE, + WHICH AFTER A CONFLICT OF HALF-A-CENTURY + ENDED IN THE ESTABLISHMENT + OF CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. + + + + +The Martyrs' Monument, Edinburgh. + + +In the capital of Scotland are more imposing monuments than the +Covenanters' Memorial in Greyfriars' Churchyard, but not one more +historically interesting. It attracts the attention of visitors from all +parts of the world, and to the inhabitants of the city it must be a matter +of pride to have this memorial to the memory of the men who fought for +religious freedom. + +The early Scottish reformers were in earnest respecting their faith; a +bond was prepared, setting forth that they would stand unflinchingly by +the Calvinistic faith, and if necessary would fight in its defence. + +This was signed on December 3rd, 1557, by the Earls of Glencairn, Argyll, +and Morton, Lord Lorn, Erskine of Dun and many more, who assumed the title +of "Lords of the Congregation." + +A man in Scotland might do many indiscreet things and even be guilty of +crime, and be pardoned; but to flinch or fall from the Covenant was to +commit a sin that his countrymen could not forgive. + +Charles I., aided by Archbishop Laud, attempted to force upon the +Presbyterians of Scotland a liturgy, and in other ways to alter the mode +of divine worship in the country. The king's action was regarded with +alarm, and steps were taken to maintain the religious freedom of the +country. The Solemn League and Covenant of 1557 against Popery was renewed +and new articles added. A copy was sent to each town in Scotland. That +belonging to Edinburgh was, on March 1st, 1638, solemnly read aloud in +Greyfriars' churchyard. It was subscribed to by a large number of the +nobility, gentry and others of all ranks and conditions, ages and sexes. +It is impossible to count the signatures on the document, but it is +believed that over five thousand names occur, and the more zealous added +to their subscription such sentences as "till death." The size of the +parchment is four feet long and three feet eight inches broad, and it is +preserved in the Register Office, Edinburgh. It was spread upon a flat +stone in the churchyard for signature, and was signed by all who could get +near to it. + +Not a few who signed this document were amongst the many who suffered +death for their adherence to the faith they held. At the Battle of +Bothwell Bridge on June 22nd, 1679, it is recorded that 800 Covenanters +were slain on the field of battle, and about 1300 taken prisoners and +brought to Edinburgh, and later 200 were conveyed to Stirling. + +At Edinburgh the prisoners were kept in an enclosed piece of land (now +forming a part of the graveyard of Greyfriars), in a great measure without +shelter, for five months, and supported with a short supply of bread and +water. Guards watched them day and night. The condition of the prisoners +was most distressing and moved to pity the inhabitants of the city, but +they were not permitted to render the least assistance. + +The troubles of many of these brave men did not end with imprisonment. "On +the 15th of November," it is recorded, "256 were taken to Leith and put on +board a vessel to be carried to the plantations in America. The vessel +sailed on the 27th, but was wrecked on the coast of Orkney on December +10th, when upwards of 200 perished. Some of the remaining prisoners were +tried, condemned and executed; the remainder, upon signing bonds, +obtained their liberty." + +The monument is erected near the graves of the martyrs who were buried in +Greyfriars' churchyard. It was in that part of the burial-ground that +criminals were interred, and an allusion is made to this fact in the +inscription on the martyrs' monument. + +James Currie of Pentland obtained from the Town Council of Edinburgh, on +August 28th, 1706, permission to erect a stone in Greyfriars' churchyard +to the memory of the martyrs, on condition "there being no inscription to +be put upon the tomb but the sixth chapter of Revelation, verses 9, 10 and +11." + +A carved stone representing an open Bible, with the verses cut in full, +was erected, and this forms, we are told, the under part of the present +more stately monument, which was substituted in 1771, when the original +slab was removed. The old inscription with some slight alterations was +transferred to the present monument. The inscription is as follows:-- + + "Halt, passenger, take heed what you do see. + This tomb doth shew for what some men did die. + Here lies interr'd the dust of those who stood + 'Gainst perjury, resisting unto blood; + Adhering to the covenants and laws; + Establishing the same: which was the cause + Their lives were sacrific'd unto the lust + Of prelatists abjur'd; though here their dust + Lies mixt with murderers and other crew, + Whom justice justly did to death pursue. + But as for them, no cause was to be found + Worthy of death; but only they were found + Constant and steadfast, zealous, witnessing + For the prerogatives of Christ their King; + Which truths were seal'd by famous Guthrie's head, + And all along to Mr Renwick's blood: + They did endure the wrath of enemies: + Reproaches, torments, deaths and injuries. + But yet they're those, who from such troubles came, + And now triumph in glory with the Lamb. + + "From May 27th, 1661, that the most noble Marquis of Argyle was + beheaded, to the 17th February 1688, that Mr James Renwick suffered, + were one way or other murdered and destroyed for the same cause about + eighteen thousand, of whom were executed at Edinburgh about an + hundred of noblemen, gentlemen, ministers and others, noble martyrs + for JESUS CHRIST. The most of them lie here. + + Rev. vi. 9.--And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the + altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for + the testimony which they held: + + 10.--And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy + and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell + on the earth? + + 11.--And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was + said unto them that they should rest yet for a little season, + until their fellow-servants also and their brethren, that should be + killed as they were, should be fulfilled. + + Chap. vii. 14.--These are they which came out of great tribulation, + and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the + Lamb. + + Chap. ii. 10.--Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a + crown of life. + + "The above monument was first erected by JAMES CURRIE, merchant, + Pentland, and others, in 1706; renewed in 1771." + +(Added on the monument at a subsequent date):-- + + "Yes, though the sceptic's tongue deride + Those martyrs who for conscience died-- + Though modern history blight their fame, + And sneering courtiers hoot the name + Of men who dared alone be free, + Amidst a nation's slavery;-- + Yet long for them the poet's lyre + Shall wake its notes of heavenly fire; + Their names shall nerve the patriot's hand + Upraised to save a sinking land; + And piety shall learn to burn + With holier transports o'er their urn. + + JAMES GRAHAME. + + Peace to their mem'ry! let no impious breath + Sell their fair fame, or triumph o'er their death. + Let Scotia's grateful sons their tear-drops shed, + Where low they lie in honour's gory bed; + Rich with the spoil their glorious deeds had won, + And purchas'd freedom to a land undone-- + A land which owes its glory and its worth + To those whom tyrants banish'd from the earth." + + "For the accomplishment of this resolution, the three kingdoms lie + under no small debt of gratitude to the Covenanters. They suffered + and bled both in fields and on scaffolds for the cause of civil and + religious liberty; and shall we reap the fruit of their sufferings, + their prayers and their blood, and yet treat their memory either with + indifference or scorn? No! whatever minor faults may be laid to their + charge, whatever trivial accusations may be brought against them, it + cannot but be acknowledged that they were the men who, 'singly and + alone,' stood forward in defence of Scotland's dearest rights, and to + whom we at the present day owe everything that is valuable to us + either as men or as Christians." + + +[Illustration: THE MARTYRS' MONUMENT, EDINBURGH.] + + +It only remains for us to add that James Currie, who was the means of +raising the original monument, suffered much during the persecution and +more than once narrowly escaped capture. + + + + +INDEX + + + Alloway Kirk, witches in, 178 + + Antiquity of bells, 34 + + Assassins of James I., 6 + + Averting evil spirits at birth, 194 + + + Bag-pipes at funerals, 254 + + Banns, publication of, 213 + + Banquets at baptism, 207 + + Baptism of bells, 42 + + Beating bounds, 16 + + Begg, Dr, opposes the organ, 107 + + Behaviour at kirk, 119 + + Bell Lore, 34-45 + + Beltane superstitions, 46 + + Betrothals, 212, 213 + + Bible and witchcraft, 166 + + Bible thrown into the fire, 191 + + Biers, 241 + + Biggar, witchcraft at, 184 + + Birth and Baptism. Customs and Superstitions, 194-209 + + Black Rood, 29 + + Brank, 115 + + Brechin Cathedral, 66 + + Bristo Port, heads on, 252 + + Burghs, origin of, 64-66 + + Burning witches, 163, 168, 184, 191 + + + Calvinism, advent of, 164 + + Care of the poor, 149 + + Celtic crosses, 24, 28 + + Charter of St. Giles's Church, 6 + + Children, marriage of, 216 + + Christmas, punished for keeping, 117 + + Church, marriages to be celebrated in, 222 + + Church music, 98-107 + + Churches, interment in, 243 + + Clova jougs, 113 + + Coins, objection to foreign, 144 + + Compulsory attendance at kirk, 119, 137 + + Consent of parents to be given for marriage, 216 + + Covenanters slain, 262 + + Covenanters' flag, 27, 28 + + Craft-gilds, 128 + + Creeping to the cross, 27 + + Cripples assisted, 155 + + Cross, the, in Scotland, 1-33 + + Cross in baptism, 197 + + Culdees supplanted, 73 + + Currie, James, 263 + + Curiosities of Church Finance, 130-161 + + + Dead, tales about the, 166 + + Death and Burial. Customs and Superstitions, 237-254 + + Death hamper, 242 + + Denmark, Princess Anne and witchcraft, 175 + + Devil and minstrels, 170 + + Devil preaching a sermon, 177 + + Discipline of the Kirk, 108-129 + + Douglas, Lady Janet, suffered for witchcraft, 163 + + Dress of women condemned, 120 + + Drinking at funerals, 239 + + Drunkards punished, 124, 138 + + Duddingston jougs, 114 + + Dunblane Cathedral, 66 + + Dundee bells, 44 + + + Easter Sunday customs, 48 + + Eastwood, witchcraft at, 192 + + Edinburgh Market Cross, 5, 7, 11 + + Episcopacy and witchcraft, 173 + + Erskine, Lord Chief Justice, married at Gretna Green, 229 + + Excommunications, 110 + + + Farthings at collections, 146 + + Fishing on Sunday, 135 + + Flodden, 12 + + Foreign coins, objections to, 144 + + Forbidding the banns, 220 + + Forbidding marriage, 127 + + Frost, Thomas. Saints and holy wells, 46-63 + ---- Church music, 98-107 + + Funeral bells, 40-41, 44, 245-247 + + Funeral sermons, 248 + + + Geddes, Jenny, 256, 259 + + Gladstone, W. E., restores Edinburgh Cross, 10-11 + + Glasgow Cathedral, 67-85 + + Gifts of bells to churches, 35 + + Graveyard of Greyfriars, 260-266 + + Gretna Green gossip, 227-236 + + Gossips' wake, 195 + + + Haddington, witchcraft at, 184 + + Hamilton, Sir William, funeral of, 253 + + Hand-bells at funerals, 40-41 + + Handfasting, 210-212 + + Hannay, Dean, 256, 258 + + Harmonium, 106 + + Holyrood Abbey founded, 31 + + Holy Wells, 46, 63 + + Hospitality at funerals, 253 + + Hours of church service, 96 + + Howlett, E. Bell Lore, 34-45 + + Humours of the collection, 141 + + Hymns submitted, 102 + + + Ignorant persons' children not to be baptised, 205 + + Introduction of the organ at Glasgow, 105 + + Iona crosses, 18-22 + + + James VI. and witchcraft, 174 + + Jougs, 113 + + + Kilmarnock Cross, 16 + + Kirkcaldy, witchcraft at, 189 + + Kirkwall Cathedral, 67 + + Knox burned in effigy, 12 + ---- deemed a wizard, 171 + + + Lanark Cross, 16 + + Length of sermon, 121 + + Life in the pre-Reformation Cathedrals, 64-85 + + Linlithgow, 16 + + Liturgy used, 93 + + Long sermons, 95 + + + Macintosh, L., funeral of, 253 + + Manner of examining witches, 180 + + Mar, Earl of, suffered for witchcraft, 163 + + Market crosses, 4 + + Marriage laws and customs, 210-226 + + Marriage vow, punished for violating, 125 + + Martyrs' Monument, Edinburgh, 260-266 + + Mass, punished for saying, 13 + + Medical assistance, 155 + + Memorable marriage at Gretna Green, 232 + + Millar, A. H. Life in the pre-Reformation Cathedrals, 64-85 + + Mode of marrying at Gretna Green, 231 + + Money-box, church, 147 + + Montrose, Marquis, body removed, 251 + + Monuments, Destruction of, 3 + + Murray, Earl, assassination of, 251 + + + Observance of old church festivals forbidden, 121 + + Omens of death, 239 + + Opening doors for departing spirits, 238 + + Organs, 89, 98, 99, 102, 104, 106 + + Origin of Glasgow Cathedral, 71 + + Our Lady, wells dedicated to, 55 + + + Pagan rites at marriages, 224 + + Palls, 247 + + Parochial inquisitions, 178 + + Parsons at Gretna Green, 229-232 + + Peebles bells, 38 + + Perth bells, 39, 43 + + Pews, introduction of, 140 + + Pilgrimages to saints' wells, 60-62 + + Pillory, 116, 124, 125 + + Poor travellers' hospital, 54 + + Prayer-book, introduction of the, 100 + ---- objection to, 255 + + Precentor, 88, 104 + + Press guarded, 122 + + Priest pelted at the Cross, 13 + + Private baptism, 198-202 + + Proclamations published at crosses, 12 + + Psalmody, 100, 101, 102 + + Public Penance, 111 + + Public worship in olden times, 86-97 + + + Ransoms for sailors, 156 + + Reader, 87 + + Rees, Rev. R. Wilkins. Curiosities of Church Finance, 130-161 + ---- Witchcraft and the kirk, 162-193 + + Reformation, 1 + + Registers of baptisms, 201, 206, 208 + + Registers of deaths, 249 + + Riddle-turning, 124 + + Riding the marches, 16 + + Repentance stool, 111, 158 + + Roslin, Lord, funeral of, 253 + + Royal edicts proclaimed from crosses, 16 + + Ruthwell Cross, 26 + + + Sabbath-breaking, 136 + + Saints and holy wells, 46-63 + + Scandals and marriage, 217-218 + + Schoolmasters, 152 + + Scots money, 133 + + Scotchmen warned not to follow James VI. to England, 17 + + Sculptured tombstones, 23 + + Seal of Holyrood Abbey, 32 + + Sharp, Archbishop, assassinated, 173 + + Silver in bells, 41 + + Singing hymns, objections to, 92 + + Slanderers punished, 125 + + Solemn League of the Covenant, 261 + + Spurious money at collections, 146 + + Stirling, penance at, 196 + + Story of a stool, 255-259 + + St. Andrew's Cathedral, 66 + + St. Andrew's Well, 56 + + St. Bernard's Well, 53 + + St. Catherine's Well, 52 + + St. Columba's Wells, 48 + + St. Corbett's Well, 54 + + St. Fergus's Well, 48 + + St. Fillan's Well, 50 + + St. Giles's Cathedral, Edinburgh, 66 + + St. Helena's Wells, 49 + + St. Iten's Well, 49 + + St. Kentigern, 67 + + St. Maelrubha Well, 47 + + St. Margaret of Scotland, 29 + + St. Medan's Chapel and Well, 50-51 + + St. Mulvay's Well, 47 + + St. Mungo, 67 + + St. Olav's Well, 54 + + St. Querdon's Well, 59 + + St. Ronan's Well, 48 + + St. Thenew's Well, 59 + + St. Wallach's Bath, 57 + + Sunday observance, 117, 133-138 + + Superstitions, marriage, 221 + + Swearing, punished for, 124 + + + Taking snuff in the kirk, 128 + + Tokens of death, 237 + + Tyack, Rev. Geo. S. The Cross in Scotland, 1-33 + ---- Discipline of the Kirk, 108-129 + + Tyninghame, witchcraft at, 184 + + + Unbaptised children, burial of, 242 + + Uncoffined burials, 241 + + + Votive offerings, 57 + + + Watching the dead, 238 + + Waters, Rev. Alexander. Public worship in olden times, 86-97 + + Western Isles, crosses in, 22 + + Westminster Assembly of Divines, 87 + + Wine at Edinburgh Cross, 11 + + Witchcraft, 123 + + Witchcraft a capital offence, 164 + + Witchcraft and the Kirk, 162-193 + + + + +Footnotes: + +[1] "Iona: its History, Antiquities, etc.," by Rev. A. MacMillan and +Robert Brydall, 1898. + +[2] "Church and other Bells of Kincardineshire." + +[3] "Church and other Bells of Kincardineshire," Eeles. + +[4] Chambers' "History of Peebles." + +[5] "Bell Lore," North. + +[6] Hope's Reprint "Popish Kingdome." + +[7] "Bell Lore," North. + +[8] "Bell Lore," North. + +[9] Eeles. + +[10] "Bells of Exeter Cathedral," p. 7. + +[11] The Relief Church originated in 1752 in opposition to the system of +patronage, and received its name from its relief from that burden. In 1847 +it became, by union with the Secession Church, the United Presbyterian +Church. + +[12] For the accompanying illustrations of a repentance-stool, and of the +jagg or jougs, I am indebted to Mr Wm. Andrews, from whose work on "Bygone +Punishments" (London 1899) they are taken. + +[13] The spelling of this and the following extracts is modernised. + + + + +LIST OF PUBLICATIONS OF WILLIAM ANDREWS & CO., + +5 FARRINGDON AVENUE, LONDON. + + +"Valuable and interesting."--_The Times._ + +"Readable as well as instructive."--_The Globe._ + +"A valuable addition to any library."--_Derbyshire Times._ + + +The Bygone Series. + +In this series the following volumes are included, and issued at 7s. 6d. +each. Demy 8vo, cloth gilt. + +These books have been favourably reviewed in the leading critical journals +of England and America. + +Carefully written articles by recognised authorities are included on +history, castles, abbeys, biography, romantic episodes, legendary lore, +traditional stories, curious customs, folk-lore, etc., etc. + +The works are illustrated by eminent artists, and by the reproduction of +quaint pictures of the olden time. + + BYGONE BERKSHIRE, edited by Rev. P. H. Ditchfield, M.A., F.S.A. + BYGONE CHESHIRE, edited by William Andrews. + BYGONE DEVONSHIRE, by the Rev. Hilderic Friend. + BYGONE DURHAM, edited by William Andrews. + BYGONE GLOUCESTERSHIRE, edited by William Andrews. + BYGONE HERTFORDSHIRE, edited by William Andrews. + BYGONE LEICESTERSHIRE, edited by William Andrews. + BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE (2 vols), edited by William Andrews. + BYGONE MIDDLESEX, edited by William Andrews. + BYGONE NORFOLK, edited by William Andrews. + BYGONE NORTHUMBERLAND, edited by William Andrews. + BYGONE NOTTINGHAMSHIRE, by William Stevenson. + BYGONE SCOTLAND, by David Maxwell, C.E. + BYGONE SOMERSETSHIRE, edited by Cuming Walters. + BYGONE SOUTHWARK, by Mrs. E. Boger. + BYGONE SUFFOLK, edited by Cuming Walters. + BYGONE SURREY, edited by George Clinch and S. W. Kershaw, F.S.A. + BYGONE SUSSEX, by W. E. A. Axon. + BYGONE WARWICKSHIRE, edited by William Andrews. + BYGONE YORKSHIRE, edited by William Andrews. + +"Mr. Andrews' books are always interesting."--_Church Bells._ + +"No student of Mr. Andrews' books can be a dull after-dinner speaker, for +his writings are full of curious out-of-the-way information and good +stories."--_Birmingham Daily Gazette._ + + +England in the Days of Old. + +BY WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S. + +_Demy 8vo., 7s. 6d. Numerous Illustrations._ + +This volume is one of unusual interest and value to the lover of olden +days and ways, and can hardly fail to interest and instruct the reader. It +recalls many forgotten episodes, scenes, characters, manners, customs, +etc., in the social and domestic life of England. + +CONTENTS:--When Wigs were Worn--Powdering the Hair--Men Wearing +Muffs--Concerning Corporation Customs--Bribes for the Palate--Rebel Heads +on City Gates--Burial at Cross Roads--Detaining the Dead for Debt--A +Nobleman's Household in Tudor Times--Bread and Baking in Bygone +Days--Arise, Mistress, Arise!--The Turnspit--A Gossip about the +Goose--Bells as Time-Tellers--The Age of Snuffing--State +Lotteries--Bear-Baiting--Morris Dancers--The Folk-Lore of Midsummer +Eve--Harvest Home--Curious Charities--An Old-Time Chronicler. + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS:--The House of Commons in the time of Sir Robert +Walpole--Egyptian Wig--The Earl of Albemarle--Campaign Wig--Periwig with +Tail--Ramillie-Wig--Pig-tail Wig--Bag-Wig--Archbishop +Tilotson--Heart-Breakers--A Barber's Shop in the time of Queen +Elizabeth--With and Without a Wig--Stealing a Wig--Man with Muff, +1693--Burying the Mace at Nottingham--The Lord Mayor of York escorting +Princess Margaret--The Mayor of Wycombe going to the Guildhall--Woman +wearing a Scold's Bridle--The Brank--Andrew Marvell--Old London Bridge, +shewing heads of rebels on the gate--Axe, Block, and Executioner's +Mask--Margaret Roper taking leave of her father, Sir Thomas More--Rebel +Heads, from a print published in 1746--Temple Bar in Dr. Johnson's +time--Micklegate Bar, York--Clock, Hampton Court Palace--Drawing a Lottery +in the Guildhall, 1751--Advertising the Last State Lottery--Partaking of +the Pungent Pinch--Morris Dance, from a painted window at Betley--Morris +Dance, temp. James I.--A Whitsun Morris Dance--Bear Garden, or Hope +Theatre, 1647--The Globe Theatre, temp. Elizabeth--Plan of Bankside early +in the Seventeenth Century--John Stow's Monument. + +A carefully prepared Index enables the reader to refer to the varied and +interesting contents of the book. + +"A very attractive and informing book."--_Birmingham Daily Gazette._ + +"Mr. Andrews has the true art of narration, and contrives to give us the +results of his learning with considerable freshness of style, whilst his +subjects are always interesting and picturesque."--_Manchester Courier._ + +"The book is of unusual interest."--_Eastern Morning News._ + +"Of the many clever books which Mr. Andrews has written none does him +greater credit than "England in the Days of Old," and none will be read +with greater profit."--_Northern Gazette._ + + +Bygone Punishments. + +BY WILLIAM ANDREWS. + +_Demy 8vo, cloth gilt, 7s. 6d. Numerous Illustrations._ + +CONTENTS:--Hanging--Hanging in Chains--Hanging, Drawing, and +Quartering--Pressing to Death--Drowning--Burning to Death--Boiling to +Death--Beheading--The Halifax Gibbet--The Scottish +Maiden--Mutilation--Branding--The Pillory--Punishing Authors and Burning +Books--Finger Pillory--The Jougs--The Stocks--The Drunkard's +Cloak--Whipping and Whipping-Posts--Public Penance--The Repentance +Stool--The Ducking Stool--The Brank, or Scold's Bridle--Riding the +Stang--Index. + +"A book of great interest."--_Manchester Courier._ + +"Crowded with extraordinary facts."--_Birmingham Daily Gazette._ + +"Contains much that is curious and interesting both to the student of +history and social reformer."--_Lancashire Daily Express._ + +"Full of curious lore, sought out and arranged with much industry."--_The +Scotsman._ + +"Mr. Andrews' volume is admirably produced, and contains a collection of +curious illustrations, representative of many of the punishments he +describes, which contribute towards making it one of the most curious and +entertaining books that we have perused for a long time."--_Norfolk +Chronicle._ + +"Those who wish to obtain a good general idea on the subject of criminal +punishment in days long past, will obtain it in this well-printed and +stoutly-bound volume."--_Daily Mail._ + +"Mr. William Andrews, of Hull, is an indefatigable searcher amongst the +byways of ancient English history, and it would be difficult to name an +antiquary who, along his chosen lines, has made so thoroughly interesting +and instructive the mass of facts a painstaking industry has brought to +light. For twenty-five years he has been delving into the subject of +Bygone Punishments, and is now one of the best authorities upon obsolete +systems of jurisdiction and torture, for torture was, in various forms, +the main characteristic of punishment in the good old times. The +reformation of the person punished was a far more remote object of +retribution than it is with us, and even with us reform is very much a +matter of sentiment. Punishment was intended to be punishment to the +individual in the first place, and in the second a warning to the rest. It +is a gruesome study, but Mr. Andrews nowhere writes for mere effect. As an +antiquary ought to do, he has made the collection of facts and their +preservation for modern students of history in a clear, straightforward +narrative his main object, and in this volume he keeps to it consistently. +Every page is therefore full of curious, out-of-the-way facts, with +authorities and references amply quoted."--_Yorkshire Post._ + + +Literary Byways. + +BY WILLIAM ANDREWS. + +_Demy 8vo., cloth gilt, 7s. 6d._ + +CONTENTS:--Authors at Work--The Earnings of Authors--"Declined with +Thanks"--Epigrams on Authors--Poetical Graces--Poetry on Panes--English +Folk Rhymes--The Poetry of Toast Lists and Menu Cards--Toasts and +Toasting--Curious American Old-Time Gleanings--The Earliest American +Poetess: Anne Bradstreet--A Playful Poet: Miss Catherine Fanshawe--A +Popular Song Writer: Mrs. John Hunter--A Poet of the Poor: Mary Pyper--The +Poet of the Fisher-Folk: Mrs. Susan K. Phillips--A Poet and Novelist of +the People: Thomas Miller--The Cottage Countess--The Compiler of "Old +Moore's Almanack": Henry Andrews--James Nayler, the Mad Quaker, who +claimed to be the Messiah--A Biographical Romance: Swan's Strange +Story--Short Letters--Index. + +"An interesting volume."--_Church Bells._ + +"Turn where you will, there is information and entertainment in this +book."--_Birmingham Daily Gazette._ + +"The volume is most enjoyable."--_Perthshire Advertiser._ + +"The volume consists of entertaining chapters written in a chatty +style."--_Daily Advertiser._ + +"A readable volume about authors and books.... Like Mr. Andrews's other +works, the book shows wide out-of-the-way reading."--_Glasgow Herald._ + +"Dull after-dinner speakers should be compelled to peruse this volume, and +ornament their orations and per-orations with its gems."--_Sunday Times._ + +"An entertaining volume.... No matter where the book is opened, the reader +will find some amusing and instructive matter."--_Dundee Advertiser._ + +"Readable and entertaining."--_Notes and Queries._ + +"Mr. Andrews delights in the production of the pleasant, gossipy order of +books. He is well qualified, indeed, to do so, for he is painstaking in +the collection of interesting literary facts, methodical in setting them +forth, and he loves books with genuine ardour."--_Aberdeen Free Press._ + +"We heartily commend this volume to the attention of readers who are in +any way interested in literature."--_Scots Pictorial._ + + +The Church Treasury of History, Custom, Folk-Lore, etc. + +EDITED BY WILLIAM ANDREWS. + +_Demy 8vo., 7s. 6d. Numerous Illustrations._ + +CONTENTS:--Stave-Kirks--Curious Churches of Cornwall--Holy Wells--Hermits +and Hermit Cells--Church Wakes--Fortified Church Towers--The Knight +Templars: their Churches and their Privileges--English Mediæval +Pilgrimages--Pilgrims' Signs--Human Skin on Church Doors--Animals of the +Church in Wood, Stone, and Bronze--Queries in Stones--Pictures in +Churches--Flowers and the Rites of the Church--Ghost Layers and Ghost +Laying--Church Walks--Westminster Waxworks--Index. Numerous Illustrations. + +"It is a work that will prove interesting to the clergy and churchmen +generally, and to all others who have an antiquarian turn of mind, or like +to be regaled occasionally by reading old-world customs and +anecdotes."--_Church Family Newspaper._ + +"Mr. Andrews has given us some excellent volumes of Church lore, but none +quite so good as this. The subjects are well chosen. They are treated +brightly and with considerable detail, and they are well illustrated.... +Mr. Andrews is himself responsible for some of the most interesting +papers, but all his helpers have caught his own spirit, and the result is +a volume full of information well and pleasantly put."--_London Quarterly +Review._ + +"Those who seek information regarding curious and quaint relics or customs +will find much to interest them in this book. The illustrations are +good."--_Publishers' Circular._ + +"An excellent and entertaining book."--_Newcastle Daily Leader._ + +"The book will be welcome to every lover of archæological +lore."--_Liverpool Daily Post._ + +"The volume is of a most informing and suggestive character, abounding in +facts not easy of access to the ordinary reader, and enhanced with +illustrations of a high order of merit, and extremely +numerous."--_Birmingham Daily Gazette._ + +"The contents of the volume are very good."--_Leeds Mercury._ + +"The volume is sure to meet with a cordial reception."--_Manchester +Courier._ + +"A fascinating book."--_Stockport Advertiser._ + +"Mr. Andrews has brought together much curious matter."--_Manchester +Guardian._ + +"The book is a very readable one, and will receive a hearty +welcome."--_Herts. Advertiser._ + +"Mr. William Andrews has been able to give us a very acceptable and useful +addition to the books which deal with the curiosities of Church lore, and +for this deserves our hearty thanks. The manner in which the book is +printed and illustrated also commands our admiration."--_Norfolk +Chronicle._ + + +Historic Dress of the Clergy. + +BY THE REV. GEO. S. TYACK, B.A., + +Author of "The Cross in Ritual, Architecture, and Art." + +_Crown, cloth extra, 3s. 6d._ + +The work contains thirty-three illustrations from ancient monuments, rare +manuscripts, and other sources. + +"A very painstaking and very valuable volume on a subject which is just +now attracting much attention. Mr. Tyack has collected a large amount of +information from sources not available to the unlearned, and has put +together his materials in an attractive way. The book deserves and is sure +to meet with a wide circulation."--_Daily Chronicle._ + +"This book is written with great care, and with an evident knowledge of +history. It is well worth the study of all who wish to be better informed +upon a subject which the author states in his preface gives evident signs +of a lively and growing interest."--_Manchester Courier._ + +"Those who are interested in the Dress of the Clergy will find full +information gathered together here, and set forth in a lucid and scholarly +way."--_Glasgow Herald._ + +"We are glad to welcome yet another volume from the author of 'The Cross +in Ritual, Architecture, and Art.' His subject, chosen widely and carried +out comprehensively, makes this a valuable book of reference for all +classes. It is only the antiquary and the ecclesiologist who can devote +time and talents to research of this kind, and Mr. Tyack has done a real +and lasting service to the Church of England by collecting so much useful +and reliable information upon the dress of the clergy in all ages, and +offering it to the public in such a popular form. We do not hesitate to +recommend this volume as the most reliable and the most comprehensive +illustrated guide to the history and origin of the canonical vestments and +other dress worn by the clergy, whether ecclesiastical, academical, or +general, while the excellent work in typography and binding make it a +beautiful gift-book."--_Church Bells._ + +"A very lucid history of ecclesiastical vestments from Levitical times to +the present day."--_Pall Mall Gazette._ + +"The book can be recommended to the undoubtedly large class of persons who +are seeking information on this and kindred subjects."--_The Times._ + +"The work may be read either as pastime or for instruction, and is worthy +of a place in the permanent section of any library. The numerous +illustrations, extensive contents table and index, and beautiful +workmanship, both in typography and binding, are all features of +attraction and utility."--_Dundee Advertiser._ + + +The Miracle Play in England, + +An Account of the Early Religious Drama. + +BY SIDNEY W. CLARKE, BARRISTER-AT-LAW. + +_Crown 8vo., 3s. 6d. Illustrated._ + +In bygone times the Miracle Play formed an important feature in the +religious life of England. To those taking an interest in the history of +the Church of England, this volume will prove useful. The author has given +long and careful study to this subject, and produced a reliable and +readable book, which can hardly fail to interest and instruct the reader. +It is a volume for general reading, and for a permanent place in the +reference library. + +CONTENTS:--The Origin of Drama--The Beginnings of English Drama--The York +Plays--The Wakefield Plays--The Chester Plays--The Coventry Plays--Other +English Miracle Plays--The Production of a Miracle Play--The Scenery, +Properties, and Dresses--Appendix--The Order of the York Plays--Extract +from City Register of York, 1426--The Order of the Wakefield Plays--The +Order of the Chester Plays--The Order of the Grey Friars' Plays at +Coventry--A Miracle Play in a Puppet Show--Index. + +"Mr. Clarke has chosen a most interesting subject, one that is attractive +alike to the student, the historian, and the general reader.... A most +interesting volume, and a number of quaint illustrations add to its +value."--_Birmingham Daily Gazette._ + +"The book should be useful to many."--_Manchester Guardian._ + +"An admirable work."--_Eastern Morning News._ + +"Mr. Sidney Clarke's concise monograph in 'The Miracle Play in England' is +another of the long and interesting series of antiquarian volumes for +popular reading issued by the same publishing house. The author briefly +sketches the rise and growth of the 'Miracle' or 'Mystery' play in Europe +and in England; and gives an account of the series or cycle of these +curious religious dramas--the forerunners of the modern secular +play--performed at York, Wakefield, Chester, Coventry, and other towns in +the middle ages. But his chief efforts are devoted to giving a sketch of +the manner of production, and the scenery, properties, and dresses of the +old miracle play, as drawn from the minute account books of the craft and +trade guilds and other authentic records of the period. Mr. Clarke has +gone to the best sources for his information, and the volume, illustrated +by quaint cuts, is an excellent compendium of information on a curious +byeway of literature and art."--_The Scotsman._ + + +A Book About Bells. + +BY THE REV. GEO. S. TYACK, B.A., + +Author of the "Historic Dress of the Clergy," etc. + +_Crown, cloth extra, 6s._ + +CONTENTS:--Invention of Bells--Bell Founding and Bell Founders--Dates and +Names of Bells--The Decoration of Bells--Some Noteworthy Bells--The Loss +of Old Bells--Towers and Campaniles--Bell-Ringing and Bell-Ringers--The +Church-Going Bell--Bells at Christian Festivals and Fasts--The Epochs of +Man's Life Marked by the Bells--The Blessings and the Cursings of the +Bells--Bells as Time-Markers--Secular Uses of Church and other +Bells--Small Bells, Secular and Sacred--Carillons--Belfry Rhymes and +Legends--Index of Subjects, Index of Places. + +THIRTEEN FULL-PAGE PLATES. + +"A most useful and interesting book.... All who are interested in bells +will, we feel confident, read it with pleasure and profit."--_Church +Family Newspaper._ + +"A pleasing, graceful, and scholarly book.... A handsome volume which will +be prized by the antiquary, and can be perused with delight and advantage +by the general reader."--_Notes and Queries._ + +"'A Book About Bells' can be heartily commended."--_Pall Mall Gazette._ + +"An excellent and entertaining book, which we commend to the attention not +only of those who are specially interested in the subject of bells, but to +all lovers of quaint archæological lore."--_Glasgow Herald._ + +"The book is well printed and artistic in form."--_Manchester Courier._ + +"'A Book About Bells' is destined to be the work of reference on the +subject, and it ought to find a home on the shelves of every +library."--_Northern Gazette._ + +"The task Mr. Tyack has set himself, he has carried out admirably, and +throughout care and patient research are apparent."--_Lynn News._ + +"We heartily recommend our readers to procure this volume."--_The +Churchwoman._ + +"An entertaining work."--_Yorkshire Post._ + +"'A Book About Bells' will interest almost everyone. Antiquaries will find +in it an immense store of information: but the general reader will equally +feel that it is a book well worth reading from beginning to end."--_The +News_, Edited by the Rev. Charles Bullock, B.D. + +"An excellent work."--_Stockton Herald._ + +"It is a well-written work, and it is sure to be popular."--_Hull +Christian Voice._ + +"Covers the whole field of bell-lore."--_Scotsman._ + +"Most interesting and finely illustrated."--_Birmingham Daily Gazette._ + + +Legal Lore: Curiosities of Law and Lawyers. + +EDITED BY WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S. + +_Demy 8vo., Cloth extra, 7s. 6d._ + +CONTENTS:--Bible Law--Sanctuaries--Trials in Superstitious Ages--On +Symbols--Law Under the Feudal System--The Manor and Manor Law--Ancient +Tenures--Laws of the Forest--Trial by Jury in Old Times--Barbarous +Punishments--Trials of Animals--Devices of the Sixteenth Century +Debtors--Laws Relating to the Gipsies--Commonwealth Law and +Lawyers--Cock-Fighting in Scotland--Cockieleerie Law--Fatal +Links--Post-Mortem Trials--Island Laws--The Little Inns of Court--Obiter. + +"There are some very amusing and curious facts concerning law and lawyers. +We have read with much interest the articles on Sanctuaries, Trials in +Superstitious Ages, Ancient Tenures, Trials by Jury in Old Times, +Barbarous Punishments, and Trials of Animals, and can heartily recommend +the volume to those who wish for a few hours' profitable diversion in the +study of what may be called the light literature of the law."--_Daily +Mail._ + +"Most amusing and instructive reading."--_The Scotsman._ + +"The contents of the volume are extremely entertaining, and convey not a +little information on ancient ideas and habits of life. While members of +the legal profession will turn to the work for incidents with which to +illustrate an argument or point a joke, laymen will enjoy its vivid +descriptions of old-fashioned proceedings and often semi-barbaric ideas to +obligation and rectitude."--_Dundee Advertiser._ + +"The subjects chosen are extremely interesting, and contain a quantity of +out-of-the-way and not easily accessible information.... Very tastefully +printed and bound."--_Birmingham Daily Gazette._ + +"The book is handsomely got up; the style throughout is popular and clear, +and the variety of its contents, and the individuality of the writers gave +an added charm to the work."--_Daily Free Press._ + +"The book is interesting both to the general reader and the +student."--_Cheshire Notes and Queries._ + +"Those who care only to be amused will find plenty of entertainment in +this volume, while those who regard it as a work of reference will rejoice +at the variety of material, and appreciate the careful indexing."--_Dundee +Courier._ + +"Very interesting subjects, lucidly and charmingly written. The +versatility of the work assures for it a wide popularity."--_Northern +Gazette._ + +"A happy and useful addition to current literature."--_Norfolk Chronicle._ + +"The book is a very fascinating one, and it is specially interesting to +students of history as showing the vast changes which, by gradual course +of development have been brought about both in the principles and practice +of the law."--_The Evening Gazette._ + + +Antiquities and Curiosities of the Church. + +EDITED BY WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S. + +_Demy 8vo., 7s. 6d. Numerous Illustrations._ + +CONTENTS:--Church History and Historians--Supernatural Interference in +Church Building--Ecclesiastical Symbolism in Architecture--Acoustic +Jars--Crypts--Heathen Customs at Christian Feasts--Fish and +Fasting--Shrove-tide and Lenten Customs--Wearing Hats in Church--The Stool +of Repentance--Cursing by Bell, Book, and Candle--Pulpits--Church +Windows--Alms-Boxes and Alms-Dishes--Old Collecting +Boxes--Gargoyles--Curious Vanes--People and Steeple +Rhymes--Sun-Dials--Jack of the Clock-House--Games in Churchyards--Circular +Churchyards--Church and Churchyard Charms and Cures--Yew Trees in +Churchyards. + +"A very entertaining work."--_Leeds Mercury._ + +"A well-printed, handsome, and profusely illustrated work."--_Norfolk +Chronicle._ + +"There is much curious and interesting reading in this popular volume, +which moreover has a useful index."--_Glasgow Herald._ + +"The contents of the volume is exceptionally good reading, and crowded +with out-of-the way, useful, and well selected information on a subject +which has an undying interest."--_Birmingham Mercury._ + +"In concluding this notice it is only the merest justice to add that every +page of it abounds with rare and often amusing information, drawn from the +most accredited sources. It also abounds with illustrations of our old +English authors, and it is likely to prove welcome not only to the +Churchman, but to the student of folk-lore and of poetical +literature."--_Morning Post._ + +"We can recommend this volume to all who are interested in the notable and +curious things that relate to churches and public worship in this and +other countries."--_Newcastle Daily Journal._ + +"It is very handsomely got up and admirably printed, the letterpress being +beautifully clear."--_Lincoln Mercury._ + +"The book is well indexed."--_Daily Chronicle._ + +"By delegating certain topics to those most capable of treating them, the +editor has the satisfaction of presenting the best available information +in a very attractive manner."--_Dundee Advertiser._ + +"It must not be supposed that the book is of interest only to Churchmen, +although primarily so, for it treats in such a skilful and instructive +manner with ancient manners and customs as to make it an invaluable book +of reference to all who are concerned in the seductive study of +antiquarian subjects."--_Chester Courant._ + + +Curious Church Customs, + +AND COGNATE SUBJECTS. + +EDITED BY WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S. + +_Demy 8vo, price 7s. 6d._ + +CONTENTS:--Sports in Churches--Holy Day Customs--Church Bells: When and +Why They were Rung--Inscriptions on Bells--Laws of the Belfry--Ringers' +Jugs--Customs and Superstitions of Baptism--Marriage Customs--Burial +Customs--Concerning the Churchyard--Altars in Churches--The Rood Loft and +its Uses--Armour in Churches--Beating the Bounds--The Story of the +Croiser--Bishops in Battle--The Cloister and its Story--Shorthand in +Church--Reminiscences of our Village Church--Index. + +"The book is an interesting addition to antiquarian and popular +literature."--_The Scotsman._ + +"A highly interesting work.... There are in all nineteen chapters, +containing a large and varied amount of information on many subjects, +respecting which the general public are not too well informed."--_Somerset +County Herald._ + +"An extremely interesting work."--_The Bazaar._ + +"A distinctly valuable addition to the literature dealing with the +antiquities of the Church."--_The Evening Post._ + +"A varied and comprehensive volume, evidently the outcome of much patient +research."--_The World._ + +"The value of the book is greatly enhanced by an admirable index."--_North +Eastern Gazette._ + +"It is as interesting as a novel."--_Blackburn Standard._ + +"We are indebted to Mr. Andrews for an invaluable addition to our library +of folk-lore, and we do not think that many who take it up will skip a +single page."--_Dundee Advertiser._ + +"A thoroughly excellent volume."--_Publishers' Circular._ + +"Very interesting."--_To-Day._ + +"Mr. Andrews is too practised an historian not to have made the most of +his subject."--_Review of Reviews._ + +"A handsomely got up and interesting volume."--_The Fireside._ + + +The Prime Minister of Würtemburg. + +BY ELLER, + +Author of "Ingatherings." + +_Crown 8vo. Bound in cloth extra, 3s. 6d._ + +"This anonymously-written story is of much power, and presents to us a +picture of the Government in Würtemburg a hundred and sixty years ago, +when the reigning Duke Alexandra, in his indulgence and foolishly fond +treatment of his Cabinet Minister and Finance Director, the Jew Siece, has +placed his subjects at the mercy of a crafty and designing man. How his +object to overthrow the hero of the story, Gustave Lanbek, and his father, +by forcing him to take an office which would bring him the contempt of his +friends and the hatred of the people, was ultimately frustrated by the +encompassing of his own ruin, is a plot which is developed and completed +in a most dramatic manner. There is, too, a thread of love-making, the +course of which runs by no means smoothly, deftly introduced into the main +theme of the story, which lightens and relieves the plot. The book is one +which we have thoroughly enjoyed, and both author and publishers are to be +complimented upon the production of a volume effectively written and +attractively printed and bound."--_Norfolk Chronicle._ + +"The book has the great merit of soon interesting the reader. The get-up +of the book reflects credit upon the publishers."--_Daily Mail._ + +"A pretty story well told."--_Hull News._ + + +"Ingatherings." + +BY ELLER. + +_Crown 8vo. Elegantly bound in cloth extra, 3s 6d._ + +"This is an exceedingly interesting collection of writings in prose and +poetry. The book opens with a quaint story descriptive of the manner in +which a young German nobleman, by his purity and goodness, delivered an +old baron and his lovely daughter from the power of the evil one. Among +the other pieces of prose are 'The Voices of Nature,' 'A Dream,' 'A +Reverie,' each of which proves the author to possess considerable ability. +Their artistic style is delightfully refreshing. The poems are for the +most part original, but there are one or two gems from the pens of Goethe, +Schiller, and other master-minds. The publishers are to be congratulated +on the general get-up of the book."--_Chester Courant._ + + +The Church Bells of Holderness. + +By GODFREY RICHARD PARK. + +_Crown 8vo, cloth extra. Only 300 copies printed._ + +CONTENTS:--History--Legends--Marriage Bell--Passing Bell--Priest's +Bell--Litany Bell--Sermon Bell--Saunce Bell--Sanctus Bell--Sacring +Bell--Jesus Bell--Howslinge Bell--The Arc Bell--Curfew Bell--Harvest +Bell--Pancake Bell--Christmas Day--Good Friday--Easter Sunday--All +Hallows'--Royal Oak Day--Gowrie Plot--Gunpowder Plot--Change +Ringing--Dedication of Churches--Inscriptions on the Church Bells of +Holderness--Dedication of Church Bells--Index. + +"To all who are interested in church bells Mr. Park's book will afford +interesting reading."--_Hull Times._ + +"A capital volume includes much out-of-the-way information on the bell in +history, legend, and custom, and cannot fail to entertain all who take an +interest in the church bells."--_Leamington Advertiser._ + +"Mr. Park's volume makes a welcome contribution to antiquarian +literature."--_Hull Christian Voice._ + + +Essex in the Days of Old. + +EDITED BY JOHN T. PAGE. + +_Demy 8vo, cloth gilt, 7s. 6d. Numerous illustrations._ + +CONTENTS:--Witchcraft in Essex--Charles Dickens and Chigwell--Hadleigh +Castle--Daniel Defoe in Essex--Harbottle Grimston, Puritan and Patriot--In +the Reign of Terror--John Locke and Oates--The Homes and Haunts of +Elizabeth Fry--The Notorious Dean of Bocking and the "Eikon +Basilike"--Barking Abbey--The Round Church of Little Maplestead--Waltham +Holy Cross--Queen Elizabeth in Essex--The Salmons and Haddocks of +Leigh--The Dutch Refugees and the Bay and Say Trade--John Strype and +Leyton--The Brass of Archbishop Harsnett--Old Southend--The Bartlow +Hills--Index. + +"An extremely interesting and useful contribution to historic +literature."--_East Anglian Times._ + +"An attractive volume."--_Norfolk Chronicle._ + +"The volume is choicely illustrated, and should attract readers far beyond +the county of which it treats."--_Birmingham Daily Gazette._ + +"It is a readable and useful book."--_The Times._ + + +The Doomed Ship; or, The Wreck in the Arctic Regions. + +BY WILLIAM HURTON. + +_Crown 8vo., Elegantly Bound, Gilt extra, 3s. 6d._ + +"There is no lack of adventures, and the writer has a matter-of-fact way +of telling them."--_Spectator._ + +"'The Doomed Ship,' by William Hurton, is a spirited tale of adventures in +the old style of sea-stories. Mr. Hurton seems to enter fully into the +manliness of sea life."--_Idler._ + +"It is not surprising to learn that the Arctic boom has created a great +demand for books of this class, and that the volume before us in +particular is selling rapidly. It is entitled 'The Doomed Ship, or the +Wreck in the Arctic Regions.' By William Hurton. (London: William Andrews +and Co., 5, Farringdon Avenue, E.C. Three Shillings and Sixpence). It is +of general interest, but it is written in an attractive style, nicely +printed, and handsomely bound. Brimful of adventures in the ice-bound +regions of the North, it also gives a great deal of information which the +reading public are taking a great interest in since Dr. Nansen's exploits +have been brought before the world. The story is told in the form of a +narrative by the nephew of the captain of the 'good barque Lady Emily, +chartered from Hull to Tromso, in Holland.' The vessel sailed on a +Friday--an unlucky day in the eyes of superstitious sailors, and which to +their minds accounted for the dire experiences which afterwards befell the +vessel and the crew. The vessel was laden with coals and salt, and, after +leaving Tromso, was to proceed to St. Petersburg to ship timber and deals +for the return voyage. She had twenty-two hands, and at Tromso took on +board a passenger for Copenhagen, in the person of a young Danish lady, +Oriana Neilsen by name. Chepini, an Italian lad, in revenge for being +flogged by the captain's orders, so manipulated the compass that the ship +was taken hopelessly out of her course. Chepini is hung up to the yard +arm. The vessel is at the time surrounded by icebergs, a gale springs up, +and she is forced on to one of the bergs and remains fast by the bow, +while a mutiny occurs among the crew, which is not quelled till the +mutineers are killed, as well as the captain and cook. Oriana plays a +noble part in the affair, and the nephew of the captain and she take +command of the remainder of the crew, now consisting only of "Blackbird +Jim" and an Irishman and a Scotchman. As the ship's bows were stove in, +and it was evident that whenever she cleared the iceberg she would go +down, the longboat was cleared away, and all the provisions and other +necessaries put into it. The survivors landed on an ice-bound shore, and +the story of their adventures, discoveries, and subsequent rescue does not +contain a dull page. Oriana is the heroine throughout, and the late +captain's nephew of course falls in love with her. When they return to +civilisation the couple are, of course, married, and they, also of course, +live happily ever afterwards. All the same, the development of this state +of affairs comes naturally enough in the narrative, which is, as we have +already indicated, full of interest."--_Eastern Morning News._ + +"The interesting story ends in a satisfactory manner."--_Dundee +Advertiser._ + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + +Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_. + +Superscripted characters are indicated by {superscript}. + +"St." and "St" are used inconsistently throughout the original text. + +The misprint "usua" has been corrected to "usual" (page 224). + +Other than the correction listed above, inconsistencies in spelling and +hyphenation have been retained from the original. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Bygone Church Life in Scotland, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BYGONE CHURCH LIFE IN SCOTLAND *** + +***** This file should be named 34941-8.txt or 34941-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/9/4/34941/ + +Produced by Brian Foley and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Bygone Church Life in Scotland + +Author: Various + +Editor: William Andrews + +Release Date: January 13, 2011 [EBook #34941] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BYGONE CHURCH LIFE IN SCOTLAND *** + + + + +Produced by Brian Foley and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + +<h1>BYGONE CHURCH LIFE IN SCOTLAND.</h1> + +<p> </p><p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img01_tmb.jpg" alt="Glasgow Cathedral with Blacader's Aisle" /><br /> +<a href="images/img01.jpg"><small><span class="smcap">Larger Image</span></small></a></div> + +<p> </p><p> </p> + +<p class="center"><span class="huge">Bygone Church<br />Life in Scotland</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="large">Edited by<br />William Andrews</span></p> +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img02.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p> </p> +<p class="center">LONDON:<br />WILLIAM ANDREWS & CO., 5, FARRINGDON AVENUE, E.C.<br />1899.</p> + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img03.jpg" alt="William Andrews & Co. The Mull Press" /></div> + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<h2>Preface.</h2> + +<p> </p> +<div class="note"> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">I hope</span> the present collection of new studies on old themes will win a +welcome from Scotsmen at home and abroad.</p> + +<p>My contributors, who have kindly furnished me with articles, are +recognized authorities on the subjects they have written about, and I +think their efforts cannot fail to find favour with the reader.</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">William Andrews.</span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Hull Press</span>,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;"><i>Christmas Eve, 1898.</i></span></p></div> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<h2>Contents.</h2> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> </td><td align="right"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Cross in Scotland.</span> By the Rev. Geo. S. Tyack, <span class="smcaplc">B.A.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Bell Lore.</span> By England Howlett</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_34">34</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Saints and Holy Wells.</span> By Thomas Frost</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_46">46</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Life in the Pre-Reformation Cathedrals.</span> By A. H. Millar, <span class="smcap">F.S.A., Scot.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_64">64</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Public Worship in Olden Times.</span> By the Rev. Alexander Waters, <span class="smcaplc">M.A., B.D.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_86">86</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Church Music.</span> By Thomas Frost</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Discipline in the Kirk.</span> By the Rev. Geo. S. Tyack, <span class="smcaplc">B.A.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_108">108</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Curiosities of Church Finance.</span> By the Rev. R. Wilkins Rees</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_130">130</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Witchcraft and the Kirk.</span> By the Rev. R. Wilkins Rees</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_162">162</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Birth and Baptisms, Customs and Superstitions</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_194">194</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Marriage Laws and Customs</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_210">210</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Gretna Green Gossip</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_227">227</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Death and Burial Customs and Superstitions</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_237">237</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Story of a Stool</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_255">255</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Martyrs’ Monument, Edinburgh</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_260">260</a></td></tr></table> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<h2>Bygone Church Life in Scotland.</h2> +<p> </p><p> </p> +<h2>The Cross in Scotland.</h2> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By the Rev. Geo. S. Tyack, B.A.</span></p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">The</span> Reformation in Scotland was of a character more sweeping and +destructive than is easy of realisation by an Englishman at the present +day. In the southern kingdom much that as symbolism was valuable, and as +art was admirable, was wantonly given over to the hammer or the flames at +that time; but one learns to be thankful for the many works of glory and +of beauty that were nevertheless left to us, when one turns one’s eyes to +the northern realm. Carried away by the violence of the most extreme men, +the Reformation there became a veritable revolution, in which everything +that spoke of earlier times was condemned, and was treated as if it were a +sacrament of Satan; and the attempt was seriously made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> to render “the +King’s Daughter” yet more “glorious within” by stripping her of every +shred of her “clothing of wrought gold.” Religion, that it might be more +truly spiritual, was to be sent forth into the world absolutely naked of +every external sign or form. The furniture of the churches was torn out, +and sold or burnt; the statues of the saints were of course broken up; but +the organs were also pulled down, and even the carved stalls and screens +of the cathedrals were declared to be “idolatrous.” Nothing illustrates +more strongly, and more curiously, the indiscriminate frenzy of +destruction which for a time took possession of the people, than the fact +that monuments and tombstones were even condemned as superstitious and +sinful. Only a comparatively few of all the many memorials of Scottish +worthies of earlier centuries escaped demolition, and this not wrought by +the mere violence of a turbulent mob, but by formal resolutions of the +General Assembly in the seventeenth century. In 1640 the Kirk Session of +Aberdeen ordered the removal of a portrait of “Reid of Pitfoddels” from +the vestry of the church, on the ground of its “smelling somewhat of +Popery”; and in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> 1649 a similar authority at Kilmarnock condemned “a +graven image” on the tomb of Lord Boyd. This action was taken, no doubt, +in obedience to the summons issued by the General Assembly in 1640 to the +presbyteries to complete the removal and destruction of all monuments.</p> + +<p>Such being the state of feeling in Scotland, we are not surprised to find +that the sign of our salvation was found even more obnoxious by the +leaders of the movement there than it was among their brethren in England. +With the latter, when the interiors of the churches were swept bare of +crosses, the passion for destruction was stayed so far as that emblem was +concerned; on spire and gable, on tomb and tablet, in churchyard and +market-place, the stone crosses were for the most part left; and even +when, under the Puritan regime of the following century, an attempt was +made to pull down these by Parliamentary authority, the popular feeling +was so far from being strongly in its favour, that the work was by no +means done thoroughly and completely.</p> + +<p>In spite of all that was intended, and even attempted, Scotland has, +nevertheless, retained<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> some examples of the ancient crosses, which are +well worthy of our attention. In remote places the sacred sign has been +spared in scattered instances for more appreciative days; in more populous +centres the cross has been preserved in a secularised form, its symbol +gone, and with it its meaning; but amid the wreck of so much, we must +receive gratefully the fragments that remain.</p> + +<p>The strictly church crosses, those that once stood on altar or on +rood-screen, that led the stately procession, or cast their benign shadows +athwart the graves of the faithful—these were all swept away. The Synod +of Fife held, at the time of the Reformation, “visitations” from time to +time, to search out and remove “crosier staffes” and “divers crosses,” as +well as other ancient furniture, from the parish churches; and in so +doing, doubtless, it was but acting as the other Synods of the country +did. The old crosses in the churchyards, many of them of great age, and +probably most interesting pieces of sculpture, were almost all destroyed. +The market crosses, however, have in several cases survived, although the +national emblem, the unicorn, has usurped the place of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> Christian +symbol, the cross; and the attack upon mortuary memorials was not +altogether successful; in fact, it was hardly to be expected that any +people would consent to the entire obliteration of the grave-stones of +their ancestors.</p> + +<p>The most famous existing example is the High Cross, or Market Cross, of +the capital. The date of the foundation of this structure is unknown. Not +far from its site is an ancient well, known as the Cross Well, from which +some have conjectured that possibly the earliest cross was reared by some +unknown teacher of the faith, who, in a far distant age, established +himself in a cell beside this clear spring. Such a spot, we know, was +often chosen by these apostolic teachers, and not infrequently a rude +cross, erected hard by, served to mark the place as, in some sort, a +sanctuary. Our first authentic allusion to this Cross is, however, of a +date some centuries later than this. In 1175 William the Lion (1165-1214) +decreed that “all merchandisis salbe presentit at the mercat and mercat +croce of burghis.” From this, we may safely conclude that Edinburgh had a +recognised Market Cross by that date, since we can hardly imagine that the +capital was without a symbol that was <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>evidently usual in the burghs of +the country. A reference to the Cross is supposed to be contained in a +document of 1437. The assassins of the noble but unfortunate King James +I., who was barbarously slain in the February of that year, are said to +have suffered for their crime “mounted on a pillar in the market-place in +Edinburgh.” Ten years later we meet with a definite reference to this +structure; the Charter of St Giles’s Church, dated 1447, contains the +words “ex parte occidentali fori et crucis dicti burgi,” on the west side +of the market-place and of the Cross of the said burgh. King James III. +(1460-1488), in an epistle to the citizens of his capital written in +October 1477, ordains that “all pietricks, pluvaris, capones, conyngs, +checkins, and all other wyld foulis and tame to be usit and sald about the +Market Croce and in na other place.” At this time, therefore, we find the +Cross established as an acknowledged centre for commercial Edinburgh, such +as it was in the fifteenth century.</p> + +<p>The exact form of this early Market Cross is as doubtful as the date of +its foundation. The pillar of the present erection is the same as that in +the earliest historical notices which we have of it; but whether this +originally stood upon a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> simple pedestal, upon a pyramid of steps, or upon +an elevated platform like that of a later date, we cannot say. It has been +thought probable, however, that the Cross was raised to its dignified +altitude by the addition of the arcaded platform in the time of James III. +This monarch was indolent, and unfit for the rule of a somewhat turbulent +kingdom, but he was a patron of the arts, and a friend of the Church. +Several improvements were made in Edinburgh during his reign, including +the enlargement of St Giles’s Cathedral; hence it is possible that he also +took in hand the adornment of the neighbouring Cross. Under James VI., +previously to his becoming Sovereign of Great Britain, further alterations +were made. In 1555 we read of work at the Cross consisting of “bigging the +rowme thereof,” which is supposed to mean that at this time the open +arches which upheld the platform were filled in, so as to form an enclosed +“rowme” below. This room was entered by a door, which was secured with a +lock; so that thenceforward only those having some high and official duty +to perform, such as publishing a royal proclamation, could ascend to the +broad base of the Cross. In the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> City Treasurer’s accounts for 1560 are +two entries as follows: “Item for ane band to ye Croce dur,” and “Item for +mending of ye lok of ye Croce dur.” Once more, we read in the same records +for 1584, “5 Julii, Item, ye sam day given for ane lok to ye Croce dur, +and three keyis for it.” There is extant an old engraving giving a +bird’s-eye view of Edinburgh in 1647, from which we may see that in its +main outlines the Market Cross was then much as it is to-day; the summit +of the shaft (from which, doubtless, the cross had already been flung +down) having been surmounted by the heraldic symbol of Scotland at the +date of the last-quoted entry from the city accounts. The record +concerning it is of a sum “payit to David Williamson for making and +upputting of the Unicorn upon the head of the Croce.”</p> + +<p>Early in the next century the whole erection was moved to a new site. In +1617 it was “translated by the devise of certain mariners of Leith from +the place where it stood past the memory of man to a place beneath in the +High Street.” A new substructure was made for it, of stone “brocht from +the Deyne”; and the shaft was swung into “the new seat” on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> 25th +March, the cost of the entire work being £4486, 5s. 6d. (Scots).</p> + +<p>The republicans of the Commonwealth period defaced the Cross, tearing down +the royal arms, and hanging the crown from the head of the unicorn upon +the gallows. At the Restoration, therefore, certain repairs had to be +made; Robert Mylne was entrusted with the work, and a further contract was +made with George Porteous “for painting the Croce.”</p> + +<p>During the succeeding century frequent complaints were made that the Cross +was an obstruction to traffic; and at last in 1756 the complainants +obtained their wish. On the 13th March in that year the Market Cross of +Edinburgh was demolished. The pillar, which fell and broke during the +operation, was sold to Lord Somerville, who set it up in the vicinity of +his house at Drum; the medallions which had adorned the base came +eventually into the hands of Sir Walter Scott, who built them into a wall +at Abbotsford, where they remain; the site was marked out with stones, as +some small compensation for the loss to the lovers of antiquity; and +finally a plain stone pillar was erected beside the well hard by, and this +was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> officially declared to be from that day forward the Market Cross of +the city. Even this contemptible substitute was not, however, suffered +long to remain; but on the same plea of obstruction was presently removed +like the Cross itself.</p> + +<p>The citizens of the ancient city did not unanimously concur, by any means, +in this destruction of a time-honoured landmark in the history of the +country; and efforts were repeatedly made to obtain its restoration. After +a time the movement was so far successful as to gain the return of “the +pillar of the Cross” to Edinburgh, where it was set up on a pedestal +within the railings of St Giles’s Church. So matters stood until recent +times, when a complete restoration was effected by the generosity of the +late Rt. Hon. W. E. Gladstone, who built a new and imposing octagonal +base, on one of the faces of which the following inscription was placed in +Latin, “Thanks be to God, this ancient monument, the Cross of Edinburgh, +devoted of old to public functions—having been destroyed by evil hands in +the Year of our Salvation 1756, and having been avenged and lamented, in +song both noble and manly, by that man of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> highest renown, Walter +Scott—has now, by permission of the city magistrates, been rebuilt by +William E. Gladstone, who, through both parents claims a descent entirely +Scottish. November 23rd, in the Year of Grace 1885.” The date is that of +the day on which this noble present was formally given to the civic +authorities by Mr Gladstone, who was then member of Parliament for +Midlothian.</p> + +<p>So far of the history of the fabric of the Cross: to trace in detail the +great events in which it has been called to play a part, would be to +recount no small portion of the annals of the Scottish kingdom. This spot +has long been treated as the very centre and heart of the country. Here +Scottish sovereigns met the citizens of their capital; here proclamation +was made of peace and war, of the accession of kings, and of aught else of +prime and pressing interest to the people; here, too, many have suffered +for their devotion to causes, political or religious, which had—at any +rate for a time—fallen before superior force.</p> + +<p>A fountain near the old Cross ran red with wine when James IV. of Scotland +brought home his bride, Margaret of England, and the first link in the +golden chain was forged which should<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> shortly join the realms. Here in +1512 the royal summons was read for the mustering of that army, so many of +the gallant members of which were to fall at Flodden; and here—most +fateful of all proclamations published there—the death of Elizabeth was +announced, and the accession of James VI. to the double Crown of Great +Britain.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img04.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="smcaplc">EXECUTION OF THE EARL OF ARGYLE,<br />SHEWING THE OLD HIGH CROSS, EDINBURGH.</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>John Knox was burnt in effigy at the Cross in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> 1555, when he failed to +return from Geneva in answer to a summons from the bishops; and ten years +later a Roman Catholic Priest was “tyed to the Cross” and pelted because +he had dared to say Mass on Easter Day. The Earl of Morton was beheaded +here in 1581. Under James the Seventh of Scotland and Second of England +many a powerful head fell on the scaffold beneath the shadow of the Cross. +Those were stormy times in which religion and politics were curiously and +unhappily mingled, so that those who to one side seemed mere rebels, to +the other appeared as martyrs. Among others who suffered was the Earl of +Argyle, together with many of his clan who had been led by him to open +revolt.</p> + +<p>Edinburgh had another Cross, known as St John’s, situated in the +Canongate; it was similar in design to the High Cross, but smaller.</p> + +<p>The Crosses of the Metropolis seem to have been taken as models by other +Scottish burghs. Their plan was quite unlike any existing examples in +England. The base or pedestal was an elevated platform, supported either +by open arches, or by solid walls; on the top of this, the tall shaft of +the cross was placed, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> latterly it was crowned by a unicorn holding +the Scottish shield. Steps, within the base, led to the platform from +which proclamations and official notices were published by the city +heralds. Judging from the analogy of the Market Crosses in the southern +kingdom, it seems probable that the base was originally intended to be +open, so as to afford shade or shelter, as the weather might require, to +some at least of the market folk. Many English Crosses, the best known +example of all, for instance, that of Chichester, provide accommodation of +this sort, but none of them have a flat roof serving as a platform. +Subsequently, as the business of the country grew, this shelter would +prove so inadequate as not to be worth considering; and then the lower +structure was in some cases built in, so as to protect the access to the +platform, reserved now for formal and official purposes only.</p> + +<p>The city of Aberdeen boasts that her Market Cross is the finest in the +land. It was built in 1688 by a country mason named John Montgomery, and +was placed opposite the Tolbooth. In 1842 it was moved to the present site +in Castle Street, and was at the same time <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>somewhat altered. It is +hexagonal in plan, six wide arches supporting the upper platform, round +which runs a circular balustrade garnished with shields of arms and +medallions of Scottish kings. The pillar rising from the midst is +handsomely carved, and supports a unicorn in white marble holding the +national shield. All the British sovereigns since its erection have been +proclaimed from this Cross, as well as the two Pretenders in 1715 and +1745. Near the spot now occupied by this erection originally stood the +Flesh Cross, close to which were the shambles; lower down Castle Street +was the Fish Cross, or Laich Cross, indicating the position of the fish +market.</p> + +<p>Prestonpans possesses a Market Cross of the same type as those already +described, and still in good condition, as also does Elgin; similar +Crosses at Perth and Dundee have been unhappily destroyed. Amongst other +notices of the Town Cross at Linlithgow is a record of punishment +inflicted upon an unfortunate burgess, for “in his great raschness and +suddantie destroying the head of the Toun’s drum.” This unmusical citizen +was deprived of the freedom of the burgh, fined £50 Scots, and ordered to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +“sitt doune upon his knees at the Croce at ten houres before noone, and +crave the provost, baillies, and counsall pardone.” Drums were evidently +of more account in Scotland in the seventeenth century than crosses or +tombstones.</p> + +<p>The ceremony of beating the bounds, or as it is called in Scotland “riding +the marches,” is still observed in some burghs, and the procession usually +starts and terminates at the Cross if there be one. At Lanark before +separating the company sings “Scots wha hae” beneath the Cross, near which +stands what would two centuries since have been called “an idolatrous +statue” of William Wallace. At Linlithgow the function begins by drinking +the sovereign’s health at the Cross, and the procession returns thither +before breaking up. At Kilmarnock Fastern’s Eve (in English, Shrove +Tuesday) used to be celebrated by a large amount of horse-play round the +ancient Cross; the town fire-engines and their hose being called into +requisition for the drenching of the crowd with water, who probably +drenched themselves with something rather stronger later in the day.</p> + +<p>Of all the royal edicts proclaimed from these Crosses the following was +certainly one of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> most curious. It was ordered to be published from +every Town Cross in Scotland in 1619, and was issued by King James from +London, whither a host of adventurers from his northern dominions had +promptly followed him. The proclamation warns “all manner of persons from +resorting out of Scotland to this our kingdome, unlesse it be gentlemen of +good qualitie, merchands for traffiques, or such as shall have a generall +license from our Counselle of that Kingdome, with prohibitioun to all +masters of shippes that they transport no such persons;” it further goes +on to announce that “Sir William Alexander, Master of Requests, hath +received a commission to apprehend and send home, or to punish all vagrant +persons who came to England to cause trouble, or bring discredit on their +country.”</p> + +<p>Here and there throughout Scotland crosses of various kinds have no doubt +escaped destruction, when they happen to be in obscure places, or small +and scarcely noticeable in form or situation; thus the old Cathedral of +Brechin still preserves one of the consecration Crosses, cut in its walls +as part of the ceremony of its original dedication. But almost the only +examples of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> importance left to us, besides those town crosses which we +have considered, are several exceedingly interesting ancient memorial or +sepulchral crosses, of which those at Iona are by far the best known.</p> + +<p>An anonymous writer in 1688, speaking of this sacred isle, says, “that +M’Lean’s Cross is one of the 360 standing before the Reformation; the +others were thrown into the sea by order of the Synod of Argyle.” In the +absence of anything beyond the bare assertion, this statement must be +considered as at least doubtful. No earlier writers, including those who +had visited Iona, mention the fact; and if an organized attack of this +kind were made upon the monuments of the island, it is difficult to +explain why two were left untouched. That there were many more Crosses +here formerly may be taken for certain, and that the Synod of Argyle would +think them all idolatrous is equally clear; but it is not likely that it +ordered so great an undertaking as that of digging from their foundations +nearly four hundred massive blocks of stone, some, to judge by what is +left to us, of great size, and casting them into the sea. All such +monuments having been formally condemned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> throughout Scotland, it is fair +to assume that those of Iona met with a good deal of ill-usage. The “axes +and hammers” of the isle would be brought to bear upon “the carved work +thereof”; and it is more probable that the mode of destruction has been of +this kind, aided by time and storm, whose ravages nothing has been +attempted to stay or to repair, than that any definite scheme of +demolition has been carried out.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img05.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="smcaplc">ST. MARTIN’S CROSS, IONA.</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Two fine crosses yet remain in good preservation in Iona, known +respectively as St. Martin’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> Cross and the Cross of the Maclean. The +former of these is considerably the older, and stands in front of the +ruined cathedral. It is a monolith measuring fourteen feet in height above +ground, eighteen inches in breadth, and ten inches in thickness, and is +set in a block of granite three feet in height. It is elaborately carved, +figures of the Blessed Virgin-Mother and the Holy Child, of ecclesiastics +in vestments, of musicians with harps and wind instruments, occupying one +face, together with foliage and twining snakes; while the other has a more +conventional design. On the roadside, near the ancient nunnery, stands +Maclean’s Cross, which has been described as “one of the oldest Celtic +crosses in Scotland,” and even as “the oldest Christian monument” in that +country. This is to ascribe to an undoubtedly ancient relic an antiquity +to which it has no claim; it dates probably from the fifteenth century. It +is eleven feet high, and is carved with the figure of the crucified +Redeemer, attended by angels, and with much graceful scroll-work. The +claimants for the greater age of this fine cross assert that it marks the +spot where St. Columba rested on his last walk about the monastic lands.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>St. Oran’s Chapel, alleged to have been built by Queen Margaret some time +after 1072, contains one or two broken crosses. There is the shaft of one +erected in memory of the Abbot Mackinnon in 1489, a portion of another +known now as the “Flat stone of Oran,” and a fragment of yet a third. The +famous burial ground of Iona, the Reilig Orain, to which were brought the +remains of kings, not only from the mainland of Scotland, but from Ireland +and even from Norway, has several sepulchral slabs which still bear the +sacred sign. One, probably of the twelfth century, has a well-designed +interlaced cross stretching almost the whole length and breadth of the +stone, with a galley carved upon the one side of it and a sword upon the +other; another, alleged to commemorate Ranald, Lord of the Isles in the +early thirteenth century, has a small interlaced cross upon one side of a +sword, and two “disguised” crosses, somewhat of the fylfot shape, upon the +other. There is also a broken stone, with a portion of a cross of Irish +design, and a fragmentary inscription. It has been supposed to mark the +burial-place of Maol Patrick O’Banan, the saintly bishop of Conor and +Down, who died in Iona in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> 1174.<small><a name="f1.1" id="f1.1" href="#f1">[1]</a></small> Two boulders, measuring rather less +than two feet in length, have also been found in the island, each incised +with a cross. One, which has a well-proportioned figure of the type +commonly called “runic,” is supposed by some to have been the stone, +which, according to his biographer Adamnan, formed the pillow of St. +Columba.</p> + +<p>Some others of the Western Isles have preserved a few of their ancient +crosses. Boswell, in his “Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides” in 1773, +speaks thus of the approach to Rasay: “Just as we landed I observed a +cross, or rather the ruins of one, upon a rock, which had to me a pleasing +vestige of religion.” A few days later the traveller set out to explore +the island, and he made other discoveries of the same nature. “On one of +the rocks just where we landed,” he tells us, “there is rudely carved a +square, with a crucifix in the middle: here, it is said, the Lairds of +Rasay, in old times, used to offer up their devotions; I could not +approach the spot without a grateful recollection of the event +commemorated by this symbol.” A little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> further on he writes, “The eight +crosses, which Martin mentions as pyramids for deceased ladies, stood in a +semicircular line, which contained within it the chapel; they marked out +the boundaries of the sacred territory, within which an asylum was to be +had; one of them, which we observed upon our landing, made the first point +of the semicircle; there are few of them now remaining.” On the islet of +Oronsay, immediately to the south of Colonsay, is a Celtic cross with a +Latin inscription, erected in memory of a Prior who died in 1510. Some of +the crosses from Iona are said to have been carried to the neighbouring +island of Mull, and to the mainland of Argyle. At Campbelltown in that +county is a handsome cross, carved from a monolith of blue granite, and +now serving as a Market Cross, which is alleged to be one of the spoils of +St. Columba’s isle.</p> + +<p>Argyleshire has also preserved some interesting sculptured tombstones. The +churchyard of Kilfinan has two such; one is adorned with a wheel-headed +cross, the shaft of which is covered with scrolls, a wicker-pattern design +running down either side of it; the other has a cross with deep hollows at +the intersection<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> of the arms. At Nereabolls, in Islay, is the upper +portion of a crucifix, broken off beneath the arms of the figure; it is +roughly carved, but has nothing of the grotesqueness of some very early +attempts at the human form. All these stones date from the fourteenth or +following century.</p> + +<p>In certain districts several Celtic crosses have been suffered to survive, +or have been brought forth from the concealment into which the neglect, or +the violence, of past ages had thrown them; and they present perhaps the +most valuable examples of runic inscriptions and of contemporary carving +which we now have in Great Britain. Some of them are quadrilateral slabs +on which the sacred symbol is cut, others are carved into the shape of a +cross; most of them have a large amount of characteristic adornment. There +are men riding and hunting, animals conventional, if not actually +grotesque, interlaced chain designs, and intricate and often very graceful +scrolls. Among other figures cut on these ancient monuments we find +constantly repeated some of those Pictish symbols, the meaning of which is +one of the apparently insoluble problems of archæology.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> The twin circles +connected by three lines like a Z, or included within the arms of it, the +crescent crossed by two lines forming a V, a grotesque somewhat distantly +resembling an elephant; these and other forms constantly meet us. They are +characteristic of the carving of a time not more than eight or nine +centuries from our own, yet the very alphabet of the symbolic language +which they speak is lost. They have been described as the work of Cymric +Christians, as Gnostic, as magical, as derived from oriental Paganism, as +learned from Scandinavian heathenism; but even if we could agree as to +their origin, we should yet be in the dark as to their meaning. In +Wigtonshire are several crosses, including some of this type: we find them +at Kirkcolm, Kirkmadrine, Whithorn, Monreith, and St. Ninian’s cave. At +Kirkcolm is an exceedingly rudely carved crucifix; beneath the figure of +the Crucified is another human figure accompanied by two creatures meant +apparently for birds; the whole being of the roughest description. The +Monreith Cross stands seven and a quarter feet in height, and has a wheel +head, with a shaft whose sides curve slightly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> outwards from top and +bottom; an ingeniously contrived scroll covers the face. The Kirkmadrine +example has incised upon it the sacred monogram XP conjoined, and arranged +crosswise within a circle.</p> + +<p>In Kirkcudbright is the splendid Ruthwell Cross, standing over seventeen +feet in height. The shaft tapers gracefully towards the head, and has +within panels upon it the effigies of several saints; the sides have a +singularly fine scroll of conventional foliage with birds; and the head is +light and elegant. It is altogether a very beautiful structure.</p> + +<p>Other stones worthy of notice now are, or have been found, at St Madoes +and Dupplin, near Perth; at Kirriemuir, and elsewhere, in Forfar; and in +some other places, chiefly along the north-eastern coast of the country. +It must be remembered that the Reformation progressed much more slowly in +the Highlands than in the Lowlands, so that we might naturally expect that +the demolition of the crosses would not be carried out quite so thoroughly +in the north as in the south.</p> + +<p>It was, however, in a southern town that we read of the last use, until +recent times, of that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> ancient ceremony for Good Friday which our +forefathers called “Creeping to the Cross.” On May 8th, 1568, Grindal, +then bishop of London, writes to Sir William Cecil, afterwards Lord +Burleigh: “Evans, who is thought a man of more simplicity than the rest, +hath reported (as I am credibly informed) that at Dunbar, on Good Friday, +they saw certain persons go bare-foot and bare-legged to the church, to +creep to the cross; if it be so the Church of Scotland will not be pure +enough for our men.”</p> + +<p>In spite of the abolition of the sign of the cross in the ceremonial of +the church, and the destruction, so far as possible, of the material cross +in its buildings, even Presbyterian Scotland could not discard the emblem +of St. Andrew from among its national devices. The Covenanters marched +across the Border in the Great Civil War, under a flag which bore that +symbol; the white Cross of St. Andrew lay athwart its field, charged at +the centre with the thistle, while in the spaces between the four members +of the cross was the motto, “Covenants for Religion, Croune, and +Kingdoms.” Under the Commonwealth the royal arms, of course,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> dropt out of +use, their place being taken by a shield, the first and fourth quarters of +which were charged with St. George’s Cross (for England), the second with +St. Andrew’s Cross (for Scotland), and the third with the Irish harp.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img06.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="smcaplc">COVENANTER’S FLAG.</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Some few folk-customs, involving the use of this sign have also lived on +in the northern kingdom. At Borera, for instance, is a Celtic cross, now +overthrown; and whosoever wishes for rain has but to raise this, according +to the local belief at one time, and he will obtain his desire. It used +also to be customary in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> some parts of the country, when a bridegroom +arrived at the church door ready for his wedding, to unfasten the +shoe-string on his right foot and to draw a cross upon the doorpost. Such +usages, however, seem to have been rarer in Scotland than in England.</p> + +<p>St. Margaret of Scotland, a queen worthy of everlasting remembrance, who +died in the year 1093, gave to one of the churches in her husband’s +dominions a splendid crucifix, on which was a figure of the Redeemer in +pure gold. The one historic crucifix of the country, however, is the +famous Black Rood of Scotland, round which gathers much both of legend and +of history, and from which the royal palace and abbey in Edinburgh +received its name of Holy Rood. The story of this ancient cross is +recounted at length in the “Rites of Durham,” and is as follows.</p> + +<p>King David Bruce was hunting in a forest hard by Edinburgh one Holy Cross +Day, or Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (September 14th), and had +become separated from his companions, when a wondrous hart, of great +beauty and strength, suddenly appeared to him. The creature charged the +king’s horse, and so terrified it that it took to flight; but the hart +followed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> “so fiercely and swiftly” that it bore down both the horse and +its royal rider to the ground. Bruce, putting forth his hands to save +himself, was about to seize the antlers of his assailant, when, from the +head of the hart, “there most strangly slypped into the King’s hands the +said crosse most wonderously,” and forthwith the animal vanished. On the +following night Bruce was warned in his sleep to build an abbey at the +spot where this miracle had happened. Accordingly, he sent to France and +Flanders for workmen, built the abbey of the Holy Rood, which he gave to +the canons regular of St. Augustine, and “placed the said Cross most +sumptuously and richly in the said Abbey, ther to remayne in a most +renowned monument.” So it continued until “the said king” invaded England +previous to the Battle of Neville’s Cross; this sacred relic was then +brought forth, and carried to the war. Again the king received a vision +during his sleep, in which he was warned in no case to damage the +patrimony of St. Cuthbert; but, in spite of this, he proceeded to lay +waste and to destroy the domains of the great Abbey at Durham; and for +this disobedience divine vengeance fell upon him. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> himself was captured +at the ensuing fight, many of the flower of his nobility fell on the +field, his royal standard became a prize to the English, and the Holy Rood +was taken! All the trophies of the victory were solemnly offered by the +English as an act of thanksgiving at St. Cuthbert’s shrine at Durham, and +the Rood “was sett up most exactlie in the piller next St. Cuthbert’s +shrine in the south alley of the said Abbey.” The writer of the “Rites” +tells us in one place that “no man knew certenly what mettell or wood the +said crosse was mayd of;” at a later point in his story he implies that it +was of silver and was termed the “Black Rude of Scotland” from “being, as +yt weare, smoked all over,” doubtless from the tapers constantly burnt +before it both in Edinburgh and in Durham. At the Reformation this +valuable and historic cross was carried off with the other abbey +treasures, and no doubt found its way into the melting pot.</p> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/img07.jpg" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcaplc">SEAL OF HOLYROOD ABBEY.</span></div> +<p> </p> +<p>Our chronicler is not quite sound in his history. It was David I. who +founded Holyrood Abbey, about the year 1128; and to whom, therefore, the +first part of the story relates; but it was David II., son of Robert +Bruce, and thus<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> a descendant of the first Scottish King of that name, who +lost the relic at Neville’s Cross in 1346. There is another story to the +effect that St. Margaret brought the crucifix from the Holy Land in 1070; +and that both religious and filial devotion thus prompted David I., the +youngest of her sons, to raise and dedicate the abbey, which was to +enshrine it. The saintly queen may perhaps have received the rood from +Jerusalem, she can hardly have brought it thence herself, for it does not +seem that she ever undertook that pilgrimage.</p> + +<p>The seal of Holyrood Abbey, probably the most famous of all the many +foundations dedicated in honour of the Holy Cross, contains a memorial of +the legend above given. The centre is occupied by a crucifix beneath a +canopy, with the Blessed Virgin and St. John on either side; below this is +the Madonna enthroned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> and holding the Holy Child. A crosier, on one side +of these figures, marks the dignity of the abbey; a stag, on the other +side, with a cross rising from its forehead recalls the tradition of its +inception; while the royal shield of Scotland below informs us of the +sovereignty of the founder.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p> +<h2>Bell Lore.</h2> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By England Howlett.</span></p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">In</span> all Christian countries from the earliest ages the use of bells is +practically as old as Christianity itself. The bell in its original form +was nothing more or less than a piece of metal rolled into a wedge-like +form and riveted together, and it is a curious instance of survival that +the cattle bells in many countries are now practically of this primitive +pattern. In the early days of Christianity small portable handbells were +used for summoning the people to worship. It was not long, however, before +the bell founder’s art made great progress, and long before the year 1000 +the music of bells pealing from church towers could not have been by any +means a rare sound.</p> + +<p>We must remember that although bells are primarily connected with matters +ecclesiastical, still, more especially in the middle ages, they were used +in all cases where it was necessary to give a public notice or warning. +The commercial<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> transactions of a market were to a great extent regulated +by bells. In case of fire or danger the bells were sounded to arouse or +warn the people. In harvest time the gleaners’ bell was rung to limit the +time when the gleaners should set forth and return from their work. Before +the days of the telegraph and quick travelling, bells were found to be a +good medium for passing on intimation of any great national event or +danger; and perhaps no sound has carried the news of such great joy and +sorrow as the sound of the bell.</p> + +<p>Gifts of bells to churches, particularly in the earlier ages, were always +deemed the most acceptable of gifts, and during the middle ages these +bells were not uncommonly given as a memorial of some deceased friend or +relation. Kings and Queens may be found amongst the donors of bells, and +one of the earliest royal bell givers was probably Canute, who presented a +pair of bells to Winchester Cathedral in 1035.</p> + +<p>The art of bell founding was principally, if not entirely, carried out +under the direction of the ecclesiastics, prior to the thirteenth century. +This, of course, is not to be wondered at when we remember that at this +period the arts in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> general owed their preservation and development to the +zeal and industry of the church.</p> + +<p>In the early middle ages, not only in Scotland but also in England and on +the Continent, we are told by Mr F. C. Eeles<small><a name="f2.1" id="f2.1" href="#f2">[2]</a></small> that the richer churches +each possessed several bells, obtained usually at various times, and often +without regard to their respective sizes, or to the relations between +their notes. The great bell was often dedicated to the patron saint of the +church, and the smaller bells to the other saints who were commemorated in +the church below; each was used separately for the services at the +corresponding altar, while all were used for High Mass, and on great +occasions. A desire to ring the bells in a musical way made itself felt +very early. On the continent this took the form of adding a carillon to +the already existing collection of heavy bells, while here it showed +itself in a tendency to make the heavy bells themselves form a part of the +diatonic scale, and therefore suitable for ringing in succession. Shortly +before the Reformation the carillon developed very rapidly on the +continent, and reached its perfection in the seventeenth century. It +consisted of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> a large number of small light bells, fixed “dead,” and +sounded by hammers worked by wires from an arrangement of levers, +something like the keys of an organ.</p> + +<p>In Scotland, during the middle ages, the country churches as a rule had no +tower. This was one of the architectural peculiarities of the country at +this period, and as the use and appreciation of bells was steadily +progressing at the time, we find the architects gradually adapting +themselves to the requirements of the case. This they did, not by building +towers as in England, but by elaborating a type of belfry which became +almost peculiar to Scotland, a sort of architectural feature of the +country. It is curious and interesting to notice that this type of belfry +survived the destructive element of the Reformation, and lived on through +the re-actionary period when art and taste were practically dead. Thus we +often find in buildings otherwise devoid of all architectural pretensions, +these redeeming little belfries which were evolved simply to meet the +growing use of the bell.</p> + +<p>Most of these belfries come under the head of the open stonework class, +which, from their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> very formation give an air of lightness and freedom to +the building they surmount. When the Renaissance period came in the form +of the belfry was not altered, but the detail then became of classical +design.</p> + +<p>In Scotland we find that in some of the larger towns both the steeples and +the bells are the property of the municipality, the Church only having the +use of the bells on Sundays, while on week days they are used by the town +authorities. The origin of this curious sort of co-ownership would appear +to lie in the fact that in former times it was no uncommon thing for a +town to acquire a lien on the bells in exchange for helping to build the +steeple or undertaking to keep it in order.<small><a name="f3.1" id="f3.1" href="#f3">[3]</a></small></p> + +<p>The following extract from the Burgh Records<small><a name="f4.1" id="f4.1" href="#f4">[4]</a></small> of Peebles exhibits a good +instance of this:—</p> + +<p>“1778, December 29. The Council in conjunction with the heritors, agree to +the proposition of building a new church.... The town to be at the expense +of building the steeple and furnishing it with a clock and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>bells, for +which it is to be the property of the burgh.”</p> + +<p>From the Perth Session Records, October 6, 1578, we find that “The Session +ordains James Sym, uptaker of the casualities that intervenes in the kirk, +to buy a tow to the little skellit bell—the which bell shall only be rung +to the affairs of the kirk, also to the examinations, or to the +assemblies.”</p> + +<p>The same Session Records for Perth, under date February 6, 1586, tells us +that “The Session ordains Nicol Balmain to ring the curfew and workmen’s +bell in the morning and evening, the space of one quarter of an hour, at +the times appointed—viz., four hours in the morning and eight at even.”</p> + +<p>In many primitive parts of Scotland, where there was no belfry, it seems +to have been the custom to hang the solitary bell on a tree. A writer in +1679 protests against “that pitiful spectacle, bells hanging upon trees +for want of bell houses.” At Drumlithe the town bell used to hang on an +ash tree, and thus continued to do until 1777, when a small steeple was +provided for it.</p> + +<p>Among the Church ornaments to be provided<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> by the parishioners in the +fourteenth century was “a bell to carry before the body of Christ in the +visitation of the sick.” This was done in order that all, according to the +then teaching of the Church, might be warned of its approach and pay +reverence to it.<small><a name="f5.1" id="f5.1" href="#f5">[5]</a></small></p> + +<p class="poem">Saint John before the bread doth go, and poynting towards him<br /> +Doth show the same to be the Lambe that takes away our sinne,<br /> +On whome two clad in Angels’ shape do sundrie flowres fling,<br /> +A number great of sacring Belles with pleasant sound do ringe.<small><a name="f6.1" id="f6.1" href="#f6">[6]</a></small></p> + +<p>These hand-bells were also used in procession on the Rogation days, and +frequent notices of them are to be found in Church inventories.</p> + +<p>Small hand-bells were in general use in a variety of ways in +pre-Reformation times. At the burial of the dead we find them used for the +double purpose of clearing the way for the funeral procession, and also to +call for prayer for the deceased. The Bayeux Tapestry, which was worked by +Matilda, the Queen of William the Conqueror, depicts the burial of Edward +the Confessor, and in this a boy appears on each side of the bier carrying +a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> small bell. We find reference to the use of these hand-bells at +funerals by Chaucer:—</p> + +<p class="poem">... they heard a bell clink<br /> +Before a corse was carried to the grave.</p> + +<p>Hand-bells which were kept for this purpose were generally called “the +corse bell” or “the lych bell,” and by these names they are constantly +found mentioned in Church inventories. The custom of ringing these small +bells at funerals was sought to be stopped by the Bishops in the sixteenth +century. In 1571, Grindal directs that “at burials no ringing of +hand-bells,” and a few years later (1583), Middleton directs “that the +clerk nor his deputy do carry about the town a little bell called the +Sainctes bell before the burial.”<small><a name="f7.1" id="f7.1" href="#f7">[7]</a></small></p> + +<p>It is a very prevalent belief that a large quantity of silver was used in +the composition of the old bells, and that to this fact we owe much of the +beauty and purity of their tone. It is commonly stated that in the middle +ages it was the practice for our ancestors to throw in their silver +tankards and spoons when the parish church bells were cast. However, a +subsequent analysis of many bells of this period<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> which have since been +recast show the proportion of silver in them to have been exceedingly +small.</p> + +<p>The ancient bells, when cast, were set apart for their sacred uses by a +solemn benediction, often called, from a too close approximation to the +office of Holy Baptism, the Baptism of Bells. The office and the +ceremonies used, which can be found in the Pontificals of the Mediæval +Church, varied very little after the ninth century. The bell itself was +washed by the bishop with water, into which salt had been previously cast. +After it had been dried by the attendants, the bishop next dipped the +thumb of his right hand in the holy oil for the sick, and made the sign of +the cross on the top of the bell; after which he again marked it both with +the holy oil for the sick and with chrism, saying the words:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">“Sancti + ficetur, et conse + cretur, Domine, signumistud: in nomine +Pa + tris, et Fi + lii, et Spiritûs + sancti in honorem Sancti N. pax +tibi.”<small><a name="f8.1" id="f8.1" href="#f8">[8]</a></small></p></div> + +<p>It is interesting to notice that in many places the practice still remains +of ringing the bells at particular hours when no service is to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> held. +This is clearly a survival of the times when the bells were rung to call +people to the mediæval services. We are reminded in “The Bells of +Kincardineshire,”<small><a name="f9.1" id="f9.1" href="#f9">[9]</a></small> that at the present day various reasons, more or less +utilitarian, have been given in Scotland for these old service bells. The +country people say that the eight o’clock bell is to “let you ken it’s the +Sabbath,” or to “gar the hill folk mak’ theirsel ready or the kirk win +in.” This is very often called the “rousing bell,” and the later bell the +“dressing bell,” or the “get ready.”</p> + +<p>The Perth Session Records, July 10, 1560, provide that “The Session, after +the appointment of the order of communication, ordains that the first bell +should be rung at four in the morning; the second at half five o’clock; +the third at five. The second ministration, the first bell to be rung at +half nine o’clock; the second at nine; the third at half ten.” July 6, +1703, “The Session appoints that the church doors be opened at seven of +the clock in the morning, and <i>not</i> till then; as also that the first bell +be rung at eight of the clock; the second at half nine; and the third at +nine.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>The ringing of bells at funerals is a custom of ancient origin. It was a +popular belief that the sound of the bell had power to drive away evil +spirits. In England, Bishop Grandison of Exeter in 1339 found it necessary +to check the long ringings at burials, on the grounds that “they do no +good to the departed, are an annoyance to the living, and injurious to the +fabrick and the bells.”<small><a name="f10.1" id="f10.1" href="#f10">[10]</a></small></p> + +<p>Before the Reformation there were five bells at Dundee on which “six score +and nine straiks” were given three times a day, to call to “matins, mess, +and even-sang.”</p> + +<p>Presbyterianism has naturally had a great influence on the bells in +Scotland. Mr Eeles, who is an authority on the subject, tells us that the +passing bell is no longer rung, nor is there any ringing at burials beyond +tolling the bell for a few minutes as the procession approaches the +churchyard. In some parishes even this is said to be fast dying out. In +the Burgh Records of Dundee “it is statute that an ony person cause the +gret bells to be rung for either saul, mass or dirige, he sall pay forty +pence to the Kirk werk.”</p> + +<p>The ringing of the death-knell was universal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> after the Reformation, when +it seemed to have acquired a new meaning in the minds of the people, +having become degenerated, so to speak, into a mere notice to the public +that a death had taken place. Shakespeare refers to this ringing of the +death-knell in his seventy-first sonnet:—</p> + +<p class="poem">No longer mourn for me when I am dead,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Than ye shall hear the surly, sullen bell</span><br /> +Give warning to the world that I am fled<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">From this vile world, with vilest worms to dwell.</span></p> + +<p>The Reformation and the decline of Gothic architecture both combined to +put their impress upon bells. The Reformation naturally caused a great +change in the inscriptions, and the decline of Gothic led to a poverty of +design and an abandonment of the fine lettering, crosses, and other +ornaments. Figures of angels and saints no longer appeared, and soon the +artistic black letter gave place to the commonplace Roman capitals. With +these drastic changes much of the romance of the bell has been swept away.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p> +<h2>Saints and Holy Wells.</h2> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By Thomas Frost.</span></p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">Among</span> the results of the preaching of the Gospel to the ignorant and +superstitious in the early ages of the Church there must, unfortunately, +be included a considerable mixture of pagan beliefs and customs with the +new religion, some of which have survived even to our own time. The sacred +character ascribed to a great number of wells or springs both in England +and Scotland may be traced back, in numerous instances, to pagan rites +observed at them in pre-Christian ages. Some of these, as at Drumlanrig, +in Dumfries county, and at Tully Beltane, in the Highlands of Perthshire, +have near them a circle of stones, resembling those supposed to be +associated with Druidism; and of the latter, Jamieson says in his +“Scottish Dictionary,”—“On Beltane morning, superstitious people go to +this well and drink of it, then they make a procession round it, as I am +informed, nine times; after this, they, in like manner, go<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> round the +temple,” as he calls the circle of upright stones.</p> + +<p>In the little island in Loch Maree, in the county of Ross, is a well or +spring traditionally associated with St. Maelrubha, who is said to have +been a monk of the monastery of Bangor, in Ireland, and to have founded a +church at Applecross, in the same county, in 673. Pennant, who visited +Innis Maree in 1772, says:—“In the midst is a circular dike of stones,... +I suspect the dike to have been originally Druidical, and that the ancient +superstition of paganism had been taken up by the saint, as the readiest +method of making a conquest over the minds of the inhabitants.” The +probability of this appears from old Kirk Session records of an annual +custom in Applecross of sacrificing a bull to “Mourie” on the saint’s day. +This custom survived until the latter half of the seventeenth century, +when it was denounced as idolatrous.</p> + +<p>In the island of Lewis, one of the Hebrides, are the ruins of a chapel +formerly dedicated to St. Mulvay, near which is a spring, the water of +which was supposed to be of singular efficacy in curing diseases of the +brain. The patient<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> was made to walk seven times round the ruins, and was +then sprinkled with water from the spring. In others of the Hebrides, and +along the west coast, there are many wells named after St. Columba. Almost +every well in Scotland is, indeed, named after some mediæval saint, many +of them of only local fame, and very few having a place in the +ecclesiastical kalendar. St. Ronan’s Well, from the association with it of +Scott’s novel of that name, is the best known to the general reader. It +has been identified with the mineral well at Innerleithen, in the county +of Peebles, which long enjoyed good repute as a curative agent in diseases +of the eye and the skin, and also in dyspepsia.</p> + +<p>The church of St. Fergus, in Buchan, commemorates an Irish missionary of +the eighth century, in whose memory a well in the parish of Kirkmichael, +in Banffshire, is named. Concerning this spring, Dr Gregor, in his “Folk +Lore of the North-east of Scotland,” says:—“Easter Sunday and the first +Sunday in May were the principal Sundays for visiting it, and many from +the surrounding parishes, who were affected with skin diseases or running +sores, came to drink of its water, and to wash in it.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> The hour of arrival +was twelve o’clock at night, and the drinking of the water and the washing +of the diseased part took place before or at sunrise. A quantity of the +water was carried home for future use. Pilgrimages were made up to the end +of September, by which time the healing virtues of the water had become +less. Such after-visits seem to have begun in later times.”</p> + +<p>The best known of several wells named after St. Helena, the mother of +Constantine, is beside the road from Maybole to Ayr, and about two miles +and a half from the former place. It used formerly to be much resorted to +on the 1st of May, for the benefit of sickly children. St. Iten’s Well, at +Cambusnethan, in Lanarkshire, at one time was held in good repute as a +cure for asthma and skin diseases. Martin, in a description of the +Hebrides, written about 1695, mentions a well named after the same saint +in the Isle of Eigg, which was regarded by the natives as a panacea for +“all the ills that flesh is heir to.” He gives a curious, and in view of +the connection of holy wells with pagan beliefs and customs, an +interesting account of the dedication of this well by a priest called +Father Hugh.</p> + +<p>“He obliged all the people to come to this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> well,” he says, “and then +employed them to bring together a great heap of stones at the head of the +spring by way of penance. This being done, he said mass at the well, and +then consecrated it; he gave each of the inhabitants a piece of wax +candle, which they lighted, and all of them made the Dessil,—going round +the well sun-ways, the priest leading them; and from that time it was +accounted unlawful to boil any meat with the water of this well.”</p> + +<p>St. Fillan’s Well, at the foot of a green hill in the parish of Comrie, +was formerly much frequented on the 1st of May and the 1st of August by +persons in quest of health, who walked or were carried three times round +it, from east to west, following the course of the sun. This done, they +drank of the water of the spring, deposited a white stone on the saint’s +cairn, and departed, leaving some rag of linen or woollen as an offering.</p> + +<p>Half-way between the bays of Portankill and East Tarbet, on the coast of +Wigtonshire, are the ruins of St. Medan’s chapel, within which are three +natural cavities in the rock, which at high water are filled by the tide. +Sickly children used to be brought to the larger hole to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> bathed, and +this is still done occasionally, though faith in such matters, as in so +many others, seems to be lessening. Dr Trotter, who visited the place in +1870, had the ceremony described to him by an eye-witness as +follows:—“The child was stripped naked, taken by one of the legs, and +plunged head-foremost into the big well until completely submerged; it was +then pulled out, and the part held on by was dipped in the middle well, +and then the whole body was finished by washing the eyes in the smallest +one, altogether very like the Achilles and Styx business, only much more +thorough. An offering was then left in the old chapel, on a projecting +stone inside the cave behind the west door, and the cure was complete.”</p> + +<p>There is nothing certain known about this St. Medan, though there are +wonderful legends concerning her in the Aberdeen Breviary and elsewhere. +Concerning the chapel in Wigtonshire, Dr Trotter thinks that “the well was +the original institution; the cave a shelter or dwelling for the genius +who discovered the miraculous virtues of the water, and his successors; +and the chapel a later edition for the benefit of the clergy, who +supplanted the old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> religion by grafting Christianity upon it; St. Medana +being a still later institution.”</p> + +<p>St. Catherine’s Well, at Liberton, near Edinburgh, has been regarded for +centuries as a remedy for diseases of the skin, and is still frequented by +persons suffering from them. It derives its name from a tradition, +preserved by Boece, in his chronicle of Scotland, that the spring rose +miraculously from a drop of oil brought from the tomb of St. Catherine of +Alexandria on Mount Sinai, and this story was considered to be +countenanced by the fact that drops of oil are often observable on the +surface, a phenomenon now regarded as due to the decomposition of coal, or +bituminous shale, in seams below. Boece says that Queen Margaret, the wife +of Malcolm III., built a chapel near the spring, and dedicated it to St. +Catherine; but this chapel, some remains of which were still standing at +the close of the last century, was dedicated to St. Catherine of Sienna, +not to her sister saint of Alexandria. Before the Reformation, the nuns +made an annual visit to the well, three miles from their convent, in +solemn procession, a ceremony due perhaps to the coincidence of name.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>James IV. made an offering in this chapel in 1504, and when James VI. +returned to Scotland in 1617, he visited the well, and, as Sir Daniel +Wilson relates in his “Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Time,” he +“commanded it to be enclosed with an ornamental building, with a flight of +steps to afford easy access to the healing waters; but this was demolished +by the soldiers of Cromwell, and the well now remains enclosed with plain +stone-work, as it was partially repaired at the Restoration.”</p> + +<p>St. Bernard’s Well, a sulphurous spring in the valley below Dean Bridge, +Edinburgh, is traditionally associated with the sainted Abbot of +Clairvaux. Its medicinal virtues appear to have escaped notice, however, +until 1789, when the property on which it is situated came into the +possession of Lord Gardenstone, who erected a handsome Grecian edifice +over the spring, set up within it a statue of Hygeia, and appointed an +attendant to dispense the water at a very trifling charge. The place then +became a popular resort for the purpose of drinking the water, and in 1889 +the statue of the Roman goddess, having become decayed, was replaced by +one in marble,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> by the generosity of the late William Nelson, who also +restored the temple and made the surroundings more attractive.</p> + +<p>On Soutra Hill, the westernmost point of the Lammermoor range, there once +stood a hospital founded by Malcolm IV., for the reception of poor +travellers, and dedicated to the Trinity. Only a small portion of the +building now remains, but near it is a spring known as Trinity Well, which +in former times was much frequented on account of the healing virtues +attributed to it. A similar reputation was enjoyed for a long time by St. +Mungo’s Well, on the west side of the hill named after that famous +Scottish saint, in the parish of Huntley, Aberdeenshire.</p> + +<p>There were springs also which were reputed to preserve from disease those +who partook of their water. The virtues of St. Olav’s Well, in the parish +of Cruden, in Aberdeenshire, are recorded in the couplet—</p> + +<p class="poem">St. Olav’s Well, low by the sea,<br /> +Where pest nor plague shall never be.</p> + +<p>Of St. Corbet’s Well, on the top of the Touch Hills, in Stirlingshire, it +was formerly believed that whoever drank its water before sunrise on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> the +first Sunday in May was sure of another year of life, and crowds of +persons resorted to the spot at that time, in the hope of thereby +prolonging their lives. Water for the font was often taken from holy +wells, and it was believed in the middle ages that persons baptised with +water from Trinity Well, at Gask, in Perthshire, would never be attacked +by the plague. Baptisms in St. Machar’s Cathedral, Aberdeen, were at one +time performed with water taken from the saint’s spring; and, before the +Reformation, the font at Airth, in Stirlingshire, is said to have been +supplied from a well dedicated to the mother of Christ, near Abbeyton +bridge.</p> + +<p>Passing over a number of springs with reputed medicinal properties, but +not associated with any hagiological tradition, we find it stated by Mr J. +R. Walker, in a communication to the Scottish Society of Antiquaries, that +“many of the wells dedicated to ‘Our Lady’ and to St. Brigid, the Mary of +Ireland, were famous for the cure of female sterility, which, in the days +when a man’s power and influence in the land depended on the number of his +clan or tribe, was looked upon as a token of the divine displeasure, and +was viewed by the unfortunate spouses with anxious <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>apprehension, dread, +doubt, jealousy and pain. Prayer and supplication were obviously the +methods pursued by the devout for obtaining the coveted gift of fertility, +looked upon, by females especially, as the most valuable of heavenly +dispensations; and making pilgrimages to wells under the patronage of the +mother of our Lord would naturally be one of the most common expedients.”</p> + +<p>Some saints’ wells were believed to have the power of foretelling whether +the patients on whose behalf they were invoked would recover,—a +superstition which may be traced to Greek paganism of a time thousands of +years before the Christian era. St. Andrew’s Well, at Shadar, in the +island of Lewis, was reputed to possess this power. A vessel filled with +water from the spring was taken to the patient’s abode, and a small wooden +dish placed on the surface. If this turned towards the east, it was held +to denote that the patient would recover; but if in the opposite direction +that he would die. “I am inclined,” says Mr Gomme, “to connect this with +the vessel or cauldron so frequently occurring in Celtic tradition, and +which Mr Nutt has marked as ‘a part of the gear of the oldest Celtic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +divinities,’ perhaps of divinities older than the Celts.” The Virgin’s +Well, near the ancient church of Kilmorie, in Wigtonshire, was also +reputed to possess this power. If the patient on behalf of whom the +prophetic power of the well was sought would recover, the water flowed +freely; but in the contrary case it failed to well up.</p> + +<p>Votive offerings have been mentioned as made to the saints to whom wells +were dedicated, and thus became holy. At Montblairie, in Banffshire, +shreds of linen and woollen were hung on the bushes beside a consecrated +well, and farthings and halfpence were thrown into the water. Miller, in +his “Scenes and Legends of the North of Scotland,” notices a similar +custom as practised in the vicinity of Cromarty, his native town. He says, +“It is not yet twenty years since a thorn, which formed a little canopy +over the spring of St. Bennet, used to be covered anew every season with +little pieces of rag, left on it as offerings to the saint by sick people +who came to drink of the water.”</p> + +<p>St. Wallach’s Bath, in Strathdeveron, is a cavity in the rock, about three +feet in depth, into which water flows from a spring several yards<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> higher +up, the overflow trickling over the edge into the stream, about four feet +below. Down to the beginning of the present century, large numbers of +weakly children used to be brought to this bath to be strengthened by +immersion in it, and some small article of the child’s clothing was hung +on a neighbouring tree. The spring was resorted to for the cure of sore +eyes, and pins were offered to the Saint, being left in a hollow of a +stone beside the well. At the end of May, which was the season for the +visit, the hollow was often full of pins. Sir Arthur Mitchell, describing +the holy well on Innis Maree in a communication to the Scottish Society of +Antiquaries, says, “Near it stands an oak tree, which is studded with +nails. To each of these was originally attached a piece of the clothing of +some patient who had visited the spot. There are hundreds of nails, and +one has still fastened to it a faded ribbon. Two bone buttons and two +buckles we also found nailed to the tree. Countless pennies and +halfpennies are driven edgeways into the wood.” A more recent visitor, +surprised at finding what appeared to be a silver coin fixed in the tree, +took the trouble to examine it, and found it spurious.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>Coins were more usually, however, thrown into the well, and Mr Patrick +Dudgeon, who in 1870 had the well of St. Querdon, in Troqueer parish, +Kirkcudbrightshire, cleaned out, observes in an article contributed to the +transactions of the Dumfries and Galloway Natural History Society, that +several hundreds of coins were found at the bottom—nearly all being the +smallest copper coins, dating from the reign of Elizabeth to that of +George III., but chiefly Scottish issues of James VI., Charles I., and +Charles II. He mentions also having been told by old residents that they +remembered seeing rags and ribbons hung on the bushes around the well.</p> + +<p>Dr Macgeorge, describing St. Thenew’s Well, in his “Old Glasgow,” states, +“It was shaded by an old tree, which drooped over the well, and which +remained until the end of the last century. On this tree the devotees who +frequented the well were accustomed to nail, as thank-offerings, small +bits of tin-iron—probably manufactured for that purpose by a craftsman in +the neighbourhood—representing the parts of the body supposed to have +been cured by the virtues of the sacred spring, such as eyes, hands, feet, +ears, and others.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>Pilgrimages to saints’ wells were a well-observed custom until they were, +after the Reformation, prohibited both by the Church and Parliament. In an +Act of 1581, allusion is made to the perverse inclination to superstition, +“through which the dregs of idolatry yet remain in divers parts of the +realm by using of pilgrimage to some chapels, wells, crosses, and such +other monuments of idolatry, as also by observing of the festal days of +the Saints sometime named their patrons in setting forth of bon-fires, +singing of carols within and about kirks at certain seasons of the year.” +In accordance with this enactment, the Kirk Session of Falkirk, in 1628, +ordered several persons who had made a pilgrimage to a holy well to appear +in church on three appointed Sundays, clad in the garb of penitents. A +warning was also issued that persons doing the like in future would be +fined in addition to the penance, and in default, would be put in ward and +fed on bread and water only for eight days.</p> + +<p>In the following year, the Privy Council made an order “that commissioners +cause diligent search at all such parts and places where this idolatrous +superstition is used, and to take<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> and apprehend all such persons of +whatsomever rank and quality whom they shall deprehend going in pilgrimage +to chapels and wells, or whom they shall know themselves to be guilty of +that crime, and to commit them to ward, until measures be adopted for +their trial and punishment.” But though pilgrimages in bodies were +checked, individual visits to holy wells continued. In 1630, the Kirk +Session of Aberdeen fined a woman for sending her child to be washed in +St. Fittack’s Well, in the parish of Nigg, on the opposite side of the +Dee, and she and her nurse were ordered to acknowledge the offence before +the session.</p> + +<p>In course of time, such “offences” came to be regarded more leniently. +Fines gradually ceased to be inflicted, and penance to be enjoined. In +three cases entered in the Kirk Session records of Airth, in +Stirlingshire, in 1757, the persons cited were merely admonished. But old +customs have wonderful vitality, and holy wells are still frequented. Sir +Arthur Mitchell remarks, in “The Past in the Present,” that he has seen at +least a dozen wells “which have not ceased to be worshipped,” though he +adds that the visitors are now comparatively<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> few. Mr Campbell of Islay +says, in his “Tales of the West Highlands,” “Holy healing wells are common +all over the Highlands, and people still leave offerings of pins and nails +and bits of rag, though few would confess it. There is a well in Islay +where I myself have, after drinking, deposited copper caps amongst a hoard +of pins and buttons and similar gear placed in chinks in the rocks.”</p> + +<p>Some of the wells once resorted to by great numbers of persons have +disappeared in consequence of changes of the surface. The growth of towns, +railways, agricultural improvements, have each had their part in the +obliteration of spots formerly deemed sacred. The Pilgrims’ Well, at +Aberdour, in Fifeshire, which for centuries attracted crowds, is now +filled up. The like end has come to the Abbot’s Well at Urquhart, in +Elginshire. St. Mary’s Well at Whitekirk, in Haddingtonshire, has also +ceased to exist, the water having been drained off. Near Drumakill, in the +parish of Drymen, Dumbartonshire, there was once a famous spring dedicated +to St. Vildrin, and near it was a cross, with a figure of the Saint upon +it in relief. Between thirty and forty years ago the cross<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> was broken up, +and the fragments used in the construction of a farm-house; and shortly +afterwards the spring was drained into a stream.</p> + +<p>There was formerly a holy well beside the lonely cross-road from Abbeyhill +to Restalrig, near Edinburgh, and in the middle ages it attracted a great +number of pilgrims. It appears to have been originally dedicated to the +Holy Rood, but it afterwards became known as St. Margaret’s Well, and Mr +Walker thinks that the dedication may have been changed in connection with +the translation of Queen Margaret’s remains in 1251, on the occasion of +her canonisation. There was a small Gothic building over the spring until +the North British Railway Company acquired possession of the site and +built a station upon it. The covering was then taken down, stone by stone, +and rebuilt above St. David’s spring, on the northern slope of Salisbury +Crags. The water of St. Margaret’s Well found another channel, and thus +one more of Scotland’s holy wells ceased to exist.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> +<h2>Life in the Pre-Reformation Cathedrals.</h2> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By A. H. Millar, F.S.A.Scot.</span></p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">The</span> history of every Scottish city or burgh of importance is intimately +connected with one of two possible originals. Each burgh has taken its +origin either from a feudal castle or from a cathedral or abbey. This +statement may seem very sweeping in its character, but a close examination +will prove that it is founded on fact. Edinburgh, for instance, grew up +around the ancient Castle—Eadwin’s burh—while the Cathedral of St. Giles +and all the subordinate churches were adjuncts of the secular centre. The +true ecclesiastical point of origin in Edinburgh was St. Margaret’s +Chapel, and it still stands within the Castle walls. Glasgow, on the other +hand, took its origin from the Cathedral. That building formed the nucleus +of the original city, and the first houses in Glasgow were the Bishop’s +Castle beside the Cathedral, and the dwellings and manses of the +ecclesiastics in its immediate vicinity. It was as a “Bishop’s burgh,”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> or +community under ecclesiastical control, that Glasgow first had a corporate +existence. The Bishop or Archbishop nominated the civic rulers, and though +an attempt was made shortly after the Reformation to abrogate priestly +control, and to transfer the power of the election of the Provost to the +Guildry, the Protestant Archbishops strove to retain this right up till +the early years of the seventeenth century. In 1639 the Town Council for +the first time elected the Provost and Bailies, but even then the consent +of the Duke of Lennox—who had received the secularised property of the +Archbishopric—had to be obtained; and it was not until 1690 that the +citizens of Glasgow obtained the right to choose municipal governors.</p> + +<p>These two forms of origin may be traced in all the important Scottish +burghs. Stirling found its centre in the Royal Castle; Dunfermline owed +its existence to the Abbey. Perth originated from the ancient Church of +St. John, and was long known as “Saint John’s toun”; Inverness clustered +around its baronial Castle. The Round Tower and the Cathedral of Brechin +were the starting points of that burgh; and Paisley dates its history from +the foundation of its Abbey. St. Andrews and Arbroath bear still +unmistakable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> evidences of their ecclesiastical origin; while Dundee found +its first nucleus in its Castle, and after the destruction of that +fortress the centre was shifted to the magnificent church of St. Mary, one +of the largest parish churches in Scotland in the fifteenth century. It is +clear, therefore, that life in the pre-Reformation Cathedrals and +ecclesiastical buildings had an important influence in forming and +fashioning the history of the people. This fact is too frequently +overlooked by modern historians.</p> + +<p>Only two of the pre-Reformation Cathedrals in Scotland have survived +unimpaired the iconoclastic zeal of the Reformers. St. Andrews Cathedral, +the seat of the Primate of Scotland, was partially devastated by the +Protestant mob, and weather and storm completed the ruin thus begun. +Dunblane Cathedral has recently been restored and rescued from the wrecked +condition in which it lay for centuries. The restoration of Brechin +Cathedral is now (1898) in progress; and the Cathedral of St. Giles, +Edinburgh, has only been brought back to some of its pristine magnificence +within the last quarter of a century. The two Cathedrals which escaped the +fury of the Reformers are, the fanes dedicated to St.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> Mungo (St. +Kentigern) at Glasgow, and to St. Magnus at Kirkwall, Orkney. Both these +Cathedrals had Episcopal Palaces adjoining the main structures, and from +the history of these it might be possible to spell out the conditions of +life during their palmy days. As Glasgow Cathedral shows in a remarkable +manner the gradual development of a great commercial city from a small +ecclesiastical burgh, and thus supplies a connecting link between remote +times and the present day, it will be most convenient to treat it as a +typical example of the far-reaching influence of early ecclesiastical +modes of life.</p> + +<p>Glasgow Cathedral occupies a very peculiar site. It is built on ground +that slopes rapidly down from the level of the floor of the nave towards +the bed of the Molendinar Burn. So steep is the declivity that a Lower +Church—wrongly called the Crypt, but really an <i>Ecclesia Inferior</i>—is +built under the floor of the Choir, only a few steps being necessary in +passing from the Nave to the Choir, so as to give the requisite height to +the roof of the “Laigh Kirk.” Such a site would not have been chosen by a +modern architect for a building of the same magnitude, because of the +structural difficulties it presented;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> yet it has been asserted by Mr John +Honeyman, an experienced architect who has made a special study of Glasgow +Cathedral, that the whole design of this magnificent structure “was +carefully thought out and settled before a stone was laid. It is a skilful +and homogeneous design, which could only be produced by a man of +exceptional ability and of great experience. Nothing has been left to +chance or the sweet will of the co-operating craftsmen, but the one +master-mind has dictated every moulding and every combination, and has +left the impress of his genius upon it all.” (“Book of Glasgow Cathedral,” +p. 274.) It is a remarkable fact that the name of this gifted architect is +quite unknown, though a theory has been advanced that seeks to identify +him with a certain John Morvo or Moray, a man of Scottish descent, born +and trained in Paris, who was also architect of Melrose Abbey. But nothing +absolutely certain is known as to the architect who planned Glasgow +Cathedral; and this is no unusual circumstance in the history of other +ecclesiastical buildings. Referring to this fact Mr Gladstone once wrote +thus:—“It has been observed as a circumstance full of meaning, that no +man knows the names of the architects of our Cathedrals.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> They left no +record of themselves upon the fabrics, as if they would have nothing there +that could suggest any other idea than the glory of God, to whom the +edifices were devoted for perpetual and solemn worship; nothing to mingle +a meaner association with the profound sense of His presence; or as if in +the joy of having built Him a house there was no want left unfulfilled, no +room for the question whether it is good for a man to live in posthumous +renown.”</p> + +<p>Though the name of not one of the great architects who designed the +Scottish Cathedrals has been preserved—unless we accept the doubtful +theory as to John Morvo already mentioned—it is evident that the +ecclesiastical designer must have been an important personage in every +religious community from the beginning of the twelfth century until the +Reformation. In those remote days it was not given to any architect to +witness the completion of his design. That unique experience was reserved +for Sir Christopher Wren, who superintended the building of St. Paul’s +Cathedral from its foundation till the last stone was laid. Many +circumstances prevented the early architects from witnessing the end of +their labours.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> The poverty of the country, the perpetual warfare which +ravaged Scotland, the impossibility of employing the wandering Lodges of +Masons from the Continent so continuously as to ensure the rapid execution +of the work, and the frequent changes in the Bishop or Archbishop who had +the control of the building, necessarily spread the labour over centuries. +Glasgow Cathedral was begun by Bishop John Achaius during his episcopate, +which extended from 1115 to 1147. It was not completed till the time of +Archbishop Blacader, who died in 1508. During these four centuries the +original designs by the nameless first architect must have been carefully +preserved, and handed down through a succession of equally unknown +architects, until the whole work was finished. Yet all these men, whose +brilliant ideas and excellent workmanship are at once the admiration and +the despair of modern architects, will ever remain anonymous. The Kings +and Princes who contributed towards the cost of the structure, the Bishops +who added various portions to the building at long intervals, and the +Archbishops who consecrated these additions are all carefully recorded; +but the architects from whose fertile<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> brains the ideas sprang, and the +workmen who laboriously realised their dreams, are alike unknown.</p> + +<p>The Cathedral of Glasgow took its origin from a <i>cella</i> erected on the +bank of the Molendinar Burn, by the pious St. Kentigern. This early +Christian Apostle was the natural son of Eugenius or Ewen III., King of +Reged. His mother was Thanew, daughter of Loth, King of Lothian. Her name +survives in a corrupted form as “St. Enoch,” there being now several +Scottish churches so designated, though she is distinctly denominated “St. +Thanew” in pre-Reformation documents. The life of Kentigern is very fully +detailed in the biography written by Jocelyn, a monk of Furness, at the +request of Herbert, Bishop of Glasgow (died 1164), and is included in the +“Lives of the Scottish Saints.” The careful examination of this biography +by Skene gives the probable date of Kentigern’s birth as 518, his +consecration as Bishop of Glasgow at 543; his foundation of Llanelwy (now +St. Asaphs) in Wales at 553; his return to Glasgow at 581; and his death +at 603. Kentigern was visited by St. Columba at Glasgow before 597, and +his popular<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> name of St. Mungo (<i>mon gah</i> == my friend) was then conferred +upon him by Columba. From the time of Kentigern’s death until the twelfth +century nothing definite is known regarding the history of Glasgow. Within +the present Cathedral the site of “St. Mungo’s tomb” is pointed out; and +it is not improbable that the magnificent pile was erected on this spot to +commemorate the founder of Glasgow. During the bishopric of Kentigern it +is not likely that there was any building on the present site of the +Cathedral save the little <i>cella</i> or chapel of the Bishop, and possibly a +few of the houses inhabited by the Culdee priests. It should be remembered +that the Culdees were not celibates, but lived with their families in +these rude dwellings, which thus formed the nucleus of modern Glasgow. +When the ground beside the Cathedral was turned into a grave-yard every +trace of these houses must have been removed. It is possible that St. +Kentigern was buried within his chapel; and if so, the tomb of St. Mungo, +in the crypt of the Cathedral, will mark the place where that primitive +structure stood.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img08_tmb.jpg" alt="The Duke's Lodging, Drygait. Bishop Cameron's Tower Episcopal Palace of Glasgow. Town Residence of the Rector of Renfrew." /><br /> +<a href="images/img08.jpg"><small><span class="smcap">Larger Image</span></small></a></div> +<p> </p> + +<p>The history of the See of Glasgow for five <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>centuries after the death of +St. Kentigern is almost a total blank; save for some dubious references to +certain ecclesiastics supposed to have been the successors of the Saint, +there is nothing to show the progress of the church in those days. The +reforming zeal of Malcolm Canmore and Queen Margaret led to a revival of +religion, as remarkable in its own way as the Protestant Reformation. The +Culdees were supplanted by the Romanists, and the foundations were laid of +a hierarchy that attained to vast power in Scotland. The reforms of the +Queen were principally confined to the east coast—Dunfermline and St. +Andrews—and it was not until her sixth and youngest son, David, Prince of +Cumberland (afterwards David I.), ordered an “Inquisitio” as to the +property belonging to the See of Glasgow in 1120, that any documentary +evidence was made available on this point. Prince David had already +procured the appointment of his chancellor and tutor John Eochey or +Achaius to the bishopric of Glasgow, and with the installation of that +prelate a new era began in the history of the city. The Inquisitio or +Notitia showed that the lands possessed by the Bishop of Glasgow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> were +co-extensive with the kingdom of Strathclyde, and were in the upper ward +of Lanarkshire, and the counties of Peebles, Roxburgh, and Dumfries. +Bishop John Achaius was consecrated in 1115; Prince David came to the +throne in 1124; and shortly after this accession the Bishop began the +building of the Cathedral, which was dedicated to St. Kentigern on the +nones of July, 1136. Bishop John Achaius died in 1147, and the Cathedral +which he built did not long survive him. It is probable that it was a +wooden structure, for it was destroyed by fire in 1176, and in that year +Bishop Jocelin (1175-1199) began to rebuild it with stone. The next +“building Bishop” was William de Bondington (1233-1258), who completed the +Lower Church (or Crypt) and the Choir. Bishop William Lauder (1408-1425) +began the erection of the present tower, and partly built the +Chapter-house. These portions were completed by his successor Bishop John +Cameron (1426-1446). Robert Blacader (1484-1508), the first Archbishop of +Glasgow, erected the crypt at the south transept known as “Blacader’s +Aisle,” built the splendid rood-screen and the stairs leading from the +Nave to the Choir and Lower<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> Church, and put the finishing touches to the +Cathedral, which had thus taken nearly four hundred years to reach +completion.</p> + +<p>The gradual development of the Cathedral necessarily led to the increase +of the ecclesiastics connected with it. The elaborate ceremonial of the +Romish Church required a staff of officials far out-numbering that of the +simple Culdee <i>cella</i> of St. Kentigern’s time. No definite information is +available as to the method adopted for supplying these officials in the +early years of the Cathedral’s existence. It is reasonable to suppose, +however, that the Rectors and Parsons who had charges in the +widely-scattered parishes under the control of the Bishop, would have +stated periods when they would take their turns of officiating. These +clergymen would likely reside temporarily in the Bishop’s Palace, to which +reference will be made presently. At a later date, as the grandeur of the +Cathedral increased and its ceremonial became more ornate, houses were +provided for them near the building, and thus a return was made to the +social system of the Culdees, though with a celibate clergy. Even so +recently as the middle of the present century, about twenty of the manses<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +belonging to different prebends connected with the Cathedral could be +identified in its immediate vicinity. It has been credibly conjectured +that the remains of a building outside the north wall of the Cathedral +mark the site of the Hall of the Vicars Choral, and a narrow lane between +the Cathedral and the Bishop’s Castle was known as the Vicar’s Alley, +probably because it gave access to the building. A consideration of some +of these clerical homes will give an idea of the social life in a +pre-Reformation Cathedral.</p> + +<p>The Bishop’s Castle was for centuries a central point around which the +burghal and national life crystallised. The date of its erection is not +known. The earliest reference to it is found in a charter of 1258, in +which the Bishop alludes to <i>palacium suum quod est extra castrum +Glasguense</i>. This phrase proves that in the middle of the thirteenth +century there was not only a Castle in existence, but also a <i>palacium</i> or +minor dwelling—not a “Palace” as the word has been absurdly translated, +but a “place,” equivalent to the old Scots word “ludging”—which stood +outside the wall of the Castle. It is reasonable to suppose that Bishop +Jocelin, who rebuilt the Cathedral with stone towards the close of the +twelfth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> century, had caused the erection of the Castle to be begun, and +that Bishop William de Bondington, who completed a large part of the +Cathedral, also finished the Castle and the <i>palacium</i> referred to in his +charter. The Castle would be constructed for defence in those lawless +times as well as for residence, and would probably be a square keep +surrounded by a moat. There was a Bishop’s Garden in 1268, and the +Bishop’s Castle is mentioned in a document dated 1290. At the latter date +Robert Wishart (1272-1316) was Bishop, and as he built rural mansions at +Castellstarris (Carstairs) and Ancrum, it is probable that he extended the +Castle at Glasgow beside the Cathedral. During the War of Independence +this Castle became a stronghold coveted by both belligerents. In 1297 it +was captured for Edward I., by Anthony Bek, the famous “fighting Bishop of +Durham,” and re-taken by Sir William Wallace. After Bishop Wishart’s time +references to additions made to the Castle are more distinct. Before the +middle of the fifteenth century the moat had been partially replaced by a +high wall. In 1438 Bishop John Cameron built “a great tower,” at the +south-western corner of this wall, and his arms with episcopal insignia +were visible<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> on this tower in 1752. Archbishop James Beaton (1508-1522) +enlarged the tower and completed a wall 15 feet high, which enclosed the +grounds of the Castle. In the time of Archbishop Gavin Dunbar (1524-1547) +a gate-house or port was erected on the line of the wall to form the main +entrance to the Castle. From the fact that a sculptured stone, still in +existence, which was taken from this port bears the arms of James Houston, +Sub-Dean of Glasgow, it has been conjectured that the gate-way was erected +at his expense; and as he had workmen building the Church of the B. V. M. +and St Anne (now the Tron Church) which he founded in 1530, he probably +employed them upon this other piece of work at that date. After the +Reformation the Bishop’s Castle fell into disrepair. It was partly +occupied by several of the Protestant Archbishops, but they had not +incomes sufficient for its up-keep, and after the abolition of episcopacy +by the Revolution of 1688 the Castle degenerated into a prison for rebels +and petty offenders. Public executions took place in the Castle-yard so +late as 1784—a curious survival of the power of the early Bishops over +the lives of their vassals, for it is said that the gallows of modern<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> +times was erected on the site of the old “heading-stone” of former days. +In 1755 the Magistrates gave permission to Robert Tennant to use the +stones of the ruined Castle for the erection of the Saracen’s Head Inn, a +building which still exists though now divided into tenements.</p> + +<p>During the stormy period of the sixteenth century, when Scotland was +constantly in turmoil, through foes within and without the realm, the +Bishop’s Castle was frequently besieged. The legal proceedings that +followed one of these incidents affords a glimpse of life within the +Castle at that time. John Mure of Caldwell, acting under the orders of the +Earl of Lennox, laid siege to the Castle on 20th February 1515, and +captured it. He was soon compelled, by the Duke of Albany, to evacuate +this stronghold, but before he retired his followers had sacked and +pillaged the Castle. Two years afterwards Archbishop James Beaton claimed +damages for the goods destroyed, and obtained a decree in his favour from +the Lords of Council. The following articles were specially detailed in +this decree, and are of interest as showing the furnishing and contents of +an episcopal dwelling of that period:—“xiii feddir bedds furnist, price +of ilka bedd<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> v marks; xviii verdour bedds, price of the pere xl<sup>s</sup>.; xii +buird claiths, xii tyn quarts, xii tyn pynts, v dusane of peuder +veschellis, tua kists, xv swyne, iv dakyr of salt hyds, vi dusane of +salmond, ane last of salt herring, xii tunnes of wyne, ane hingand +chandlar, ane goun of scarlett lynit with mertricks, vi barrels of +gunpulder, ix gunnis, xiv halberks, xiv steill bonnets, vi halberts, iv +crossbowis, vi rufs and courtings of say, and iv of lynning, with mony +uther insight guds, claithing, jewells, silkes, precius stanes, veschell, +harness, vittales, and uther guds.” From this list it will be seen that +the luxuries of peace in which the prelates indulged had to be defended by +the weapons of war.</p> + +<p>While the Bishop’s Castle was the centre of ecclesiastical influence, the +first extension of Glasgow was due to the erection of manses for the minor +officials of the Cathedral. To any one acquainted with the topography of +Glasgow, the city may be thus “skeletonised” to show the manner of its +evolution. The Cathedral stands on an eminence rising gradually from the +north bank of the Clyde, and is distant about a mile from the river. The +main route from the Cathedral to the Clyde is by an almost straight<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> +succession of streets—High Street and Saltmarket—which, unquestionably, +follow the line of an ancient footpath. The origin of secular Glasgow was +a small collection of huts inhabited by salmon-fishers on the bank of the +river. A pathway was formed in course of time between this primitive +village and the Cathedral, but for centuries there were no continuous +buildings between these two points. In the time of Bishop Jocelin +(1175-1199) the village had extended so far along the river-side and up +the line of the present Saltmarket that the Bishop deemed it advisable to +obtain from William the Lion the grant of a weekly market and an annual +fair. About this time also, arrangements were made for the erection of +manses for the ecclesiastics near the Cathedral. These houses were built +on a road running at right angles with the footpath to the river, the part +going westward being called the Rottenrow (Ratoun Raw), while the eastward +route was called the Drygait. There was thus a sacerdotal burgh in process +of formation on the summit of the hill beside the Cathedral, while a +secular burgh was gradually developing on the bank of the river. In the +course of centuries these two burghs were <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>conjoined, and thus the +“backbone” of Glasgow was formed. The ecclesiastical houses were, of +course, more elaborate than those used by the fishermen and tradesmen who +were soon attracted to the place by the wealth of the Cathedral; and thus +it has happened that the greatest commercial city in Scotland—the second +in the United Kingdom—took its rise from the houses of the ecclesiastics +by whom the burgh was ruled for a very long period.</p> + +<p>No record exists as to the time when the prebendal manses were first +erected, but it is certain that Bishop Cameron (1426-1446) increased the +number of canons from twenty-five to thirty-two, and caused all of them to +build manses within the burgh and near the Cathedral. The sites of many of +these manses can be identified from descriptions in old charters, and some +of them have only been removed within the past thirty years. The Dean of +the Cathedral, who was Parson of Cadzow (now Hamilton), had his manse in +the Rottenrow. The Archdeacon of Glasgow was Rector of Menar (now +Peebles), and his house stood in the Drygait. Long after the Reformation +it came into the possession of the Duke of Montrose, and was known as “the +Duke’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> lodging.” It was removed about 1880, to make way for an extension +of the North Prison. The Rector of Morebattle, Archdeacon of Teviotdale, +had a manse in the Kirkgait, now also absorbed in the grounds of the North +Prison. The Sub-Dean was Rector of Monkland, and his house was on the bank +of the Molendinar Burn, south-east of the Cathedral. The Chancellor, +Rector of Campsie, lived in the Drygait at the place called “the +Limmerfield” to which reference is made in Scott’s “Rob Roy.” The +Precentor of the Cathedral, Rector of East Kilbride, had a manse near the +Castle, the approach being by the Vicar’s Alley. The Treasurer, Rector of +Carnwath, also had a manse, though its site has not been identified. The +Sacristan of the Cathedral, Rector of Cambuslang, lived in the Drygait, +near the house of the Archdeacon. The Bishop’s Vicar, Parson of Glasgow, +had a manse beside the Castle. The Sub-Precentor, Prebendary of Ancrum, +had a parsonage in the Vicar’s Alley, north of the Cathedral. The Parson +of Eaglesham lived in the Drygait, beside the Archdeacon; and the Rector +of Cardross had his manse on the south side of the same street. The manse +of the “Canon of Barlanark and Lord of Provan,”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> in Castle Street, is the +only remaining house supposed to have been occupied by him, though it +seems more likely to have been erected after the Reformation. The Rector +of Carstairs resided in a manse in Rottenrow, beside the houses of the +Prebendary of Erskine and the Rector of Renfrew. Other officials who lived +in the immediate vicinity of the Cathedral were the Rector of Govan, the +Vicar of Kirkmahoe, Dumfriesshire, the Rector of Tarbolton, Ayrshire, the +Rector of Killearn, Dumbartonshire, the Prebendary of Douglas, +Lanarkshire, the Rector of Eddleston, Peeblesshire, the Rector of Stobo, +Peeblesshire, and the Rector of Luss, Dumbartonshire. The houses of six of +the Prebendaries—Durisdeer, Roxburgh, Ashkirk, Sanquhar, Cumnock, and +Ayr—have not been identified, though it is extremely probable that they +had to comply with Bishop Cameron’s command, and to erect manses in the +burgh. The Hall of the Vicars Choral, with accommodation for eighteen +officials, was built on the north side of the Cathedral, by Bishop Andrew +Muirhead (1455-1473).</p> + +<p>From this list it will be seen how great must have been the influence of +this Levite village upon the development of the burgh. The <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>comparatively +luxurious style of living among the ecclesiastics would attract craftsmen, +artificers of various kinds, and merchants trading with other countries to +supply the rich garments, the expensive wines, and the numerous delicacies +which were deemed necessaries by ecclesiastical dignitaries of high +degree. With the Reformation all this grandeur was swept away, but before +that epoch Glasgow had been made the favourite residence of many of the +Lowland noblemen; and when the sacerdotal burgh disappeared, the secular +and commercial city was ready to take its place. The domination of the +Church passed, but not before it had prepared the way for its successor. +In other Cathedral cities in Scotland a similar process of development may +be traced, though not in so distinct a manner as exhibited in the +evolution of Glasgow. Verily, that city owes much of its prosperity to the +foresight and patriotism of those who ruled in its pre-Reformation +Cathedral!</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p> +<h2>Public Worship in Olden Times.</h2> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By Rev. Alexander Waters</span>, M.A., B.D.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">Many</span> changes in the form of Church service have been witnessed in the +Church of Scotland since the Reformation. In the first book of discipline, +compiled by Knox and others in 1560, it is stated that “to the churches +where no ministers can be had presentlie must be appointed the most apt +men that distinctly can read the common prayers and the Scriptures to +exercise both themselves and the church till they grow to greater +perfection.” In accordance with this recommendation there were, in +parishes where ministers could not be procured to preach and administer +the sacraments, a class of men employed in the Church under the name of +“readers,” whose office was to read the Scriptures and a liturgy of +printed prayers such as is used in the public service of the Church of +England. After the Church became more fully plenished with ministers, +readers were still in many places continued. In parishes supplied<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> with +both a reader and a minister there were two distinct services in the +church on Sundays. There was, first of all, a preliminary service +conducted by the reader. The service consisted of reading the public +prayers and portions of Scripture. It usually lasted an hour, and when it +ended the minister entered the church and conducted his service of +extempore prayer and preaching. In the year 1580 the General Assembly +declared that “the office of a reader is not an ordinary office in the +Kirk of God;” and the following year it was expressly ordained that +readers should not be appointed in any church. It is evident, however, +that readers continued to be employed in the Church of Scotland long after +that date, both during the episcopacy that subsisted from 1606 to 1637, +and during the ascendency of Presbytery from 1637 to 1645.</p> + +<p>The Westminster Assembly of Divines ignored the office of reader, and when +the Westminster Directory for Public Worship was adopted by the Church of +Scotland in 1645, it may be said that the service of the reader was +ostensibly and almost practically brought to an end in Scotland. It has to +be stated, however, that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> readers were, nevertheless, employed in some +parishes long after their office had ceased to be recognised in the +constitutions of the church. Mr More, in his account of Scotland in 1715, +describes the Sunday service in Scottish churches as follows:—“First the +precentor, about half an hour before the preacher comes, reads two or +three chapters to the congregation of what part of Scripture he pleases, +or as the minister gives him directions. As soon as the preacher gets into +the pulpit the precentor leaves reading, and sets a psalm-singing with the +people, till the minister by some sign orders him to give over. The psalm +over, the preacher begins confessing sins and begging pardon ... then he +goes to sermon, delivered always by heart, and, therefore, sometimes +spoiled by battologies, little impertinences, and incoherence.”</p> + +<p>The reader was usually also precentor, and it will be a natural +transition, therefore, to pass on now to an account of that part of the +Sunday service which the precentor conducted. In the Reformed Church of +Scotland a very limited space was originally allotted to the service of +praise in public worship. “There is perhaps no country in Christendom,” +says Dr Cunningham,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> “in which psalmody has been as little cultivated as +in Scotland. Wherever the Church of Rome reared her altars, music grew up +under her shadow, and gave a new charm to her sensuous services. But +Presbytery gave little countenance to such a hand-maid.” The use of +instruments in the service of praise was repudiated or almost abjured. +Organs were not even allowed standing room in church. In 1574 the Kirk +Session of Aberdeen gave orders “that the organis with all expedition be +removit out of the kirk and made profeit of to the use and support of the +puir.” On his visit to Scotland in 1617 King James endeavoured to +inaugurate a more æsthetic and cultured form of worship in Scotland, after +the manner of what he had seen in England. Among other innovations he set +up an organ in the Chapel Royal at Holyrood. “Upon Satterday, the 17th +May,” says Calderwood, “the English service was begun in the Chapel Royal +with singing of quirristers, surplices, and playing on organes.” The +popular feeling, however, that in 1637 was aroused against the service +book was turned against the organ also, and among the outbreaks of 1638 +Spalding records that “the glorious organes of the Chapell Royall were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> +maisterfullie broken doune, nor no service usit thair bot the haill +chaplains, choristis, and musicians dischargeit, and the costlie organes +altogether destroyit and unusefull.”</p> + +<p>The old doctrine of the Church of Scotland in regard to psalmody is +tersely expressed in the first book of discipline. “There be two sorts of +policie,” it is said in that book; “the one of these sorts is utterlie +necessary, as, that the word be preached, the sacraments ministered, and +common prayers publicly made. The other sort of policy is profitable, but +not necessarie, as, that psalms should be sung and certain places of +Scripture read when there is no sermon.” And in accordance with this +doctrine there is very little singing of psalms prescribed as part of +public worship in either Knox’s Liturgy or the Westminster Directory. In +each of these manuals of worship there are only two psalms appointed or + +supposed to be sung during the minister’s service—one before the sermon +and another before the benediction. It is possible, however, that there +was, from an early period, a third psalm sung in the church by the +congregation, although that psalm was not included in the service. Just as +in modern churches where instrumental music has been <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>introduced, there is +a voluntary played on the organ during the time that the congregation are +assembling, so in very ancient times, long before the Reformation, it was +customary over a large part of Christendom for the people “to entertain +the time with singing of psalms” till the congregation had gathered. And +in Scotland within quite recent times the epithet of the “gathering psalm” +was commonly applied to what is now called the first psalm.</p> + +<p>Pasdoran states that, “It was the ancient practice of the Church of +Scotland, as it is yet of some Reformed Churches abroad, for the minister +or precentor to read over as much of the psalm in metre as was intended to +be sung at once, and then the harmony and melody followed without +interruption, and people did either learn to read or got most of the +psalms by heart.” What is here called the ancient practice of the Church +of Scotland in the rendering of praise is just the practice that is +observed at the present day. But soon after 1645 a different practice +arose and continued long in the church. The Westminster Directory for +Public Worship recommends that, “for the present, where many in the +congregation cannot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> read, it is convenient that the minister or some +other fit person appointed by him and the other ruling elders, do read the +psalm line by line before the singing thereof.” The practice was +accordingly introduced into the Church of Scotland soon after of giving +out the psalms in instalments of one line at a time, and so popular did +the practice become, and so essential a part of revered use and wont, that +very great difficulty was found long afterwards in getting it +discontinued. Indeed, the practice of reading the line was pretty general +until the beginning of this century.</p> + +<p>Loud objections were raised to the singing of hymns and what, in Scotland, +are commonly called paraphrases; and even within living memory this +innovation gave rise to bitter controversy. Not a few persons maintained +that the only proper subjects for divine praise in public worship are the +metrical versions of the Old Testament Psalms. But from the date of the +Reformation down to the sitting of the Westminster Assembly, not only were +metrical versions of the psalms, but hymns and doxologies also, generally +sung in the public worship of the church. The year 1650,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> however, +witnessed a change in that respect. The present version of the psalms was +that year printed for use in public worship, and no hymns nor paraphrases +were appended. It was not until 1781 that a Committee appointed by the +General Assembly submitted “such a collection of sacred poems as they +thought might be submitted to the judgment of the church.” It is this 1781 +collection of paraphrases that is still, after the lapse of more than a +hundred years, bound in Scottish Bibles along with the metrical version of +the Psalms of David. The paraphrases have established a secure place in +the psalmody of all the Presbyterian Churches in Scotland. But it was not +without contention and controversy, strife and bitterness, that the +paraphrases made their way into use in the services of public worship. The +writer has seen a worthy elder violently close his Bible on the giving out +of a paraphrase, and remain seated while it was being sung.</p> + +<p>Having described the reader’s and precentor’s service, there remains the +service that specially devolved on the minister. It is well known that a +liturgy was at one time, and for a long<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> time, used in the Church of +Scotland. Knox’s liturgy continued to be used by some ministers and +readers down to the year 1637 at least. Its use was by no means universal, +however, during that period. Extempore prayers were always popular with +the general public, but when young and raw readers, however sparely gifted +and not more than half-educated, took on themselves, as they often did, to +treat congregations to extempore prayers, the guardians of public manners +were shocked. It was a shame to all religion, said King Charles I., to +have the majesty of God so barbarously spoken to; and, as a remedy for +this deformity, as he termed it, in the public worship of the Church of +Scotland, Charles issued a new service book to be used as a liturgy by all +preachers and readers. But neither minister nor people would take the +king’s liturgy, and extempore prayers became more established in use and +favour than ever.</p> + +<div class="figright"><img src="images/img09.jpg" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcaplc">PREACHER’S HOUR GLASS.</span></div> +<p> </p> + +<p>It is well known that in Protestant churches generally, and in the Church +of Scotland particularly, the preaching of the word has always been +reckoned the chief part of the service of the sanctuary. The quantity of +preaching that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> ministers had to give and people had to take in olden +times was enormous. There were commonly two diets of worship on the +Sabbath and very often what was termed a week-day sermon besides. It was +customary for ministers to take up a subject or text and on that subject +or text to preach for six or eight Sabbaths consecutively. It seems not to +have been uncommon for ministers to take an hour to their sermon. And to +keep preachers right in this matter, it was customary to set up a sand +glass in the church.</p> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/img10.jpg" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcaplc">HOUR GLASS STAND.</span></div> +<p> </p> + +<p>It is doubtful if in olden times there was as much good order observed in +church during divine service as there is now. In some of the old +ecclesiastical records, we find curious regulations<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> for the preservation +of order in church. In the Kirk Session records of Perth we find an +instruction minuted that the kirk-officer “have his red staff in the Kirk +on the Sabbath days wherewith to waken sleepers and remove greeting +bairns.” In 1593 complaint was made at Perth of boys in time of preaching +running through the church clattering and fighting.</p> + +<p>The hours of church service on Sundays were much earlier long ago than +they are now. In 1615 the Kirk Session of Lasswade appointed nine o’clock +as the hour on which service should begin in the summer months, and +half-past nine as the hour of service in winter.</p> + +<p>The neglect of public ordinances has at all times been a subject of +lamentation. In olden days many devices are said to have been tried to +remedy or abate these evils. Those resorted to by the Covenanters in +Aberdeen in 1642 were perhaps as ingenious as any that have ever been +adopted. “Our minister,” says Spalding, “teaches powerfullie and plainlie +the word to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> gryte comfort of his auditores. He takes strait count of +those who cumis not to the communion, nor keepis not the kirk, callis out +the absentis out of pulpit, quhilk drew in sic a fair auditorie that the +seatis of the kirk was not abill to hold thame, for remeid quhair of he +causit big up ane loft athwart the body of the kirk.”</p> + +<p>Mr Cant did not go quite so far, but being annoyed that his afternoon +diets were sparsely attended, he naïvely dismissed his forenoon audience +without a benediction, and reserved his blessing for those that returned +to the second sermon.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p> +<h2>Church Music.</h2> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By Thomas Frost.</span></p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">Though</span> the use of instrumental music in the services of the Church fell +into disfavour after the Reformation, the existence of a sculptured +representation of an organ in Melrose Abbey shows that instrument to have +been known as early as the fourteenth century. That “regals,” as they were +then called, were placed in some of the principal churches, and used in +worship, is also evidenced by documents still in existence. That these, +however inferior they may have been to similar instruments of the present +day, were carefully constructed, and at considerable cost, appears from +the payments made to William Calderwood for “a pair of organs” for the +Chapel Royal at Stirling in 1537, and for “a set of organs” for the King’s +Chapel at Holyrood in 1542. But the Reformation led to these instruments +being everywhere discarded as partaking too much of Romanism to be +acceptable to the followers of Knox.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>The organs of the royal chapels kept their places for a time, but +elsewhere the “kists of whistles,” as they then came to be called, were +broken up and the materials sold in aid of the fund for the poor. But no +long time elapsed before the Earl of Mar, as captain of Stirling Castle, +caused the organ in the Royal Chapel to be removed and broken up; and in +1571 the Scottish Parliament expressed approval of the act. The prevailing +feeling against the organ was intensified when, in 1617, orders were given +by James VI. that carved figures of the Apostles should be affixed to the +seats of the choir in the Chapel at Holyrood, where the organ was then +being repaired, after a long period of disuse and neglect. Instrumental +music thus became associated in the public mind with what was regarded as +idolatry, and so much excitement prevailed that the bishops advised that +the restoration of the organ and the choir stalls should be delayed until +it subsided.</p> + +<p>In 1631 Charles issued an order for the erection of an organ in every +cathedral and principal church, and thereby renewed the agitation against +the instrument. The order was disregarded, and in 1638, when popular +opposition to the introduction<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> of the Anglican prayer-book was being +strongly manifested, the General Assembly ruled that the attempt to +introduce instrumental music into the services of the Church should be +resisted. Spalding, speaking of the agitation of that period, says that +“the glorious organs of the Chapel Royal were masterfully broken down, nor +no service used there, but the whole chaplains, choristers, and musicians +discharged, and the costly organs altogether destroyed and unuseful.” Six +years later, the General Assembly recorded in their minutes the gladness +with which that body had received the news from their commissioners at +Westminster of the taking down of the great organs of St. Paul’s Cathedral +and Westminster Abbey.</p> + +<p>Psalmody was little more in favour than the gilded pipes of the organ. The +Westminster Directory for Public Worship, adopted by the General Assembly +in 1645, recommends that “for the present, where many in the congregation +cannot read, it is convenient that the minister, or some other fit person +appointed by him and the other ruling officers, do read the psalm, line by +line, before the singing thereof.” Before this time, in 1642, there had +been much<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> controversy in the western Lowlands concerning the singing of +the doxology at the end of a psalm, a practice which was popularly +regarded as a commandment of men, not to be accepted as a divine +ordinance. The General Assembly, in 1643, took the matter into +consideration, and ordered the dispute to be dropped. In 1649, however, +the subject was again before the Assembly, which then resolved that the +singing of the doxology should be discontinued.</p> + +<p>In 1647, a committee was named by the General Assembly to examine and +revise Rous’s paraphrase of the Psalms, and Zachary Boyd was requested to +make a metrical version of the other Biblical songs; but nothing was done +in the latter direction, probably due to the desire for uniformity with +the Presbyterian Church in England, and in 1650 the present metrical +version was printed for use in public worship, without the addition of any +hymns or paraphrases. Nothing further was done for the improvement of +congregational singing for more than half a century.</p> + +<p>The question of instrumental music was revived in 1687, by the erection in +the Royal Chapel at Holyrood, by order of James II., of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> large and +magnificent organ, which was regarded as a step towards the introduction +of the Romish service. So convinced were the people of this that the +clergy of even the Episcopal churches discontinued the use of the organ in +public worship. In the following year, when James had abdicated, and the +fear of Popish devices had become allayed, the mob of Edinburgh testified +to the national joy, and at the same time indulged their latent propensity +to mischief by breaking down the organ and burning the materials.</p> + +<p>As in England down to a much later period, so also in Scotland, a metrical +version of the Psalms was alone in use in worship, though several attempts +were made at different times in the last century to introduce hymns of a +more distinctively Christian character, as well as more poetical than the +old paraphrases of Hebrew psalmody. The matter was before the General +Assembly in 1707, and again in 1742, when a committee was appointed to +prepare some paraphrases of passages in the Bible, “to be joined with the +Psalms of David, so as to enlarge the Psalmody.” Three years afterwards, +some examples of religious poetry were <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>submitted by the committee for the +judgment of the Assembly; but, as before, nothing was done, and the matter +remained in abeyance until 1775, when it was suggested by the Synod of +Glasgow and Ayr that the Assembly should take such measures as might be +judged necessary to introduce the paraphrases of 1751 into the Psalter of +the Church. These were, in consequence, again examined and revised by a +committee, but it was not until 1781 that the committee made their report +and the Assembly ordered copies of the collection (which had been printed +in 1751) to be submitted to the Presbyteries. Pending the Presbyterial +judgment, the Assembly allowed the collection to be used in public worship +“where the minister finds it for edification.”</p> + +<p>The permission to use this collection of Biblical paraphrases was never +recalled by the Assembly, but it has also never been made a permanent act. +It appears to have been given reluctantly, and only as a measure of +policy, in concession to popular feeling in favour of the collection; for +it appears to have been previously used in several churches. “Use and +wont,” says Dr Edgar, in his “Old Church Life in Scotland,” “have now +given as valid an authority for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> singing of the paraphrases in church +as a special Act of Assembly could do. The paraphrases have, on the +strength of their own merits, established a secure place in the psalmody +of all the Presbyterian churches in Scotland.”</p> + +<p>Instrumental music had, in the meantime, continued to be banished from +public worship. The psalm to be sung was announced by the minister, and +the precentor, who occupied a smaller pulpit below him, placed in a slit +in a lyre-shaped brass frame in front of him a card bearing the name of +the tune in large letters, so as to be visible to all the congregation. +The minister then repeated the first two lines of the verses to be sung, +and the precentor struck his tuning-fork on the desk. It was a custom of +long standing, probably dating from a time when few of the congregation +could read, for the precentor to read and sing a line alternately, which +must, to persons unaccustomed to it, have sounded strange, and certainly +have destroyed what little harmony there might have been if the psalm had +been sung differently.</p> + +<p>It was not until the first decade of the present century that the organ +was called to the aid of the volume of praise in the Scottish Church.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> To +Dr Ritchie, minister of St. Andrew’s Church, Glasgow, belongs the honour +of this innovation. With the approval of the congregation, he introduced +an organ, which was played for the first time on the 23rd of August, 1807, +not without producing a sensation and a protest. The Presbytery was +convened, and the Lord Provost appeared before that grave body, at the +head of a deputation of influential citizens, to protest against the +minister’s innovation on long established custom. The Presbytery ruled, +“that the use of organs in the public worship of God is contrary to the +law of the land, and to the law and constitution of our Established +Church.” The organ was summarily silenced, therefore, and the grand tones +of that instrument were not again heard in accompaniment of sacred song in +the Presbyterian churches of Scotland for more than twenty years.</p> + +<p>The ineffective character of unaccompanied congregational singing was very +slowly recognised. In 1829, however, the congregation of the Relief +Church,<small><a name="f11.1" id="f11.1" href="#f11">[11]</a></small> at Roxburgh Place, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>Edinburgh, with the approval of their +minister, had an organ erected in their place of worship. The act was +clamorously opposed outside his own following, and the Relief Presbytery +called upon the minister, John Johnston, to remove the offending +instrument, under pain of deprivation. The response of minister and +congregation to this command was the severance of their connection with +the Synod. In 1845, a Congregational Church in Edinburgh set up an organ +in their place of worship, and as each congregation in that denomination +is an independent body, no outside opposition or interference was in that +case possible.</p> + +<p>The progress of the movement continued, however, to be very slow. A large +proportion of the older men in the ministry still regarded instrumental +music in churches as associated with Romanism, and when Dr Lee, the +minister of the Old Greyfriars’ Church, in Edinburgh, ventured, in 1863, +to introduce a harmonium there, it was rumoured that he was a disguised +Jesuit, seeking to Romanise the Reformed Church. He was well able to +defend himself, however, and he did so with such ability and power that, +in the following year, the General<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> Assembly ruled that “such innovations +should be put down only when they interfered with the peace of the Church +and the harmony of congregations.” The cause was won. The Old Greyfriars’ +congregation subscribed four hundred and fifty pounds for an organ, which +replaced the harmonium in 1865.</p> + +<p>The Free Church lingered long in the rear of the movement, mainly owing to +the opposition of Dr Begg, but in 1883 the General Assembly recorded a +resolution similar to that adopted by the Assembly of the Established +Church of Scotland in 1864, and opposition to instrumental music is now +practically at an end. The prejudice against it still lingers, however, in +some districts remote from the life and light of the larger towns. A story +is told of a lady of the old school of religious thought, that, having +been induced by some friends to attend an Episcopalian service, and being +asked on her return how she liked the music, she replied, “It was verra +fine, but waes me! yon’s an awfu’ way of spending the Sawbath.”</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p> +<h2>Discipline in the Kirk.</h2> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By the Rev. Geo. S. Tyack, B.A.</span></p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">In</span> no country and at no time has a more searching system of ecclesiastical +discipline been attempted than in Scotland in the first century after the +Reformation. Not only was the teaching or the practice of the unreformed +faith punished with the severest penalties, not only was attendance at +church and the learning of religion, as the reformers understood it, +rigidly enforced; but even the private life of the people was watched and +scrutinized. The behaviour of the congregation on the way home from divine +service, the amusements which formed the relaxation of the people, the +dress of the women in the street as well as at kirk, the snuff-taking of +the men, domestic broils and filial misbehaviour in the various +households,—these and other such matters were discussed by ecclesiastical +tribunals and visited with pains and penalties, as much as offences +against human or divine laws. The country was overspread with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> a network +of church authorities claiming disciplinary powers, there was quite an +arsenal of punitive machines in every district, and the whole system was +kept in motion by the free use of espionage. Verily, in Scotland “new +presbyter was,” as Milton said, “but old priest writ large,” larger in +fact than the original by far. Even the soldiery of the Commonwealth, +sufficiently used to the methods of Puritanism in England, were astonished +and disgusted with the ways and means of Scottish discipline; so much so +that during their stay in the country in 1650 they destroyed many of the +weapons of this intolerable tyranny; and it is indeed surprising that the +people themselves accepted it so long with submission. That the Church has +authority to use discipline over its members is admitted; and that at the +present time this authority is too little recognised is, in the opinion of +very many, equally true; but in the day of its supremest power the +Scottish Kirk Sessions seem to have usurped a universal authority. The +punitive rights of the State, the proper control which a man has within +his own house, even that discipline which every one should learn to +exercise over himself, all these,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> as well as that influence which more +strictly is the province of the Church, the Kirk endeavoured to control +and enforce by means of its own ecclesiastical courts.</p> + +<p>Of these courts the first was the “Exercise,” as it was at first quaintly +called, from the custom of “making exercise,” or critically examining a +given passage of Scripture; more properly described as the Presbytery. +Next to this came the authority of the Synod, or district court, and the +final appeal lay to the General Assembly. Of these the higher courts not +infrequently did much more than exercise appellant jurisdiction, issuing +orders to spur on the zeal of the inferior ones.</p> + +<p>The methods of punishment employed by the Kirk were various. +Excommunications were freely launched against offenders, especially +against those who did not accept in their fulness the teaching and +practices of the reformers. Public penance was also resorted to, often in +addition to some other form of punishment; the penance usually involving +the use of the “repentance-stool,” or the jaggs, or jougs. The former of +these was a wooden structure formed in two tiers or steps, the lower of +which, used<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> for less heinous offences, was named the “cock-stool.” An +offender, judged to perform a public penance on this stool, was first +clothed in an appropriate habit, the Scottish representative of the +traditional white sheet, which consisted of a cloak of coarse linen, known +as the “harden goun,” the “harn goun,” or the “sack goun.” Thus arrayed, +he (or she) stood at the kirk door while the congregation assembled and +during the opening prayer of the service; just before the sermon the +penitent was led in by the sexton and placed, according to the terms of +the sentence, either upon “the highest degree of the penitent stuill” or +upon, “the cock-stool”;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> where he stood barefoot and bare-headed during +the discourse, in which his sins and offences were not forgotten. The +congregation generally wore their hats during the sermon.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img11.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="smcaplc">REPENTANCE STOOL, FROM OLD GREYFRIARS, EDINBURGH.</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>The minutes and accounts of the Presbyteries have frequent allusions to +this stool and its accompanying “goun.” Thus at Perth mention is made of +the provision of both cock-stool and repentance-stool, and in 1617 the +Kirk Session of the same place ordered a stool of stone to be built. The +Synods specially enjoined on all parishes the procuring of a +repentance-gown; in 1655 as much as £4, 4s. 6d. was spent in one for +Lesmahago, and in 1693 Kirkmichael, Ayrshire, ordered one of a special +fashion, “like unto that which they have in Straitoun,” to be made. The +repentance-stool has maintained its place in scattered instances down to +modern times, one of the latest instances of its use being in 1884, when a +man stood on the stool to be publicly rebuked in the Free Kirk at +Lochcarron. The Museum of the Society of Antiquaries at Edinburgh contains +the old repentance-stool, formerly used in the Old Greyfriars’ Church of +that city; the repentance-gown of Kinross parish is also preserved in the +same<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> museum. It does not always follow that penance implies repentance, +and the strong arm of the Scottish Kirk sometimes compelled a man to +submit to the former without his experiencing the latter; such was +evidently the case with three reprobates who were excommunicated in 1675 +by the Kirk Session of Mauchline, Ayrshire, because of “their breaking the +stool of repentance on which they had been sentenced to stand in presence +of the congregation.”</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img12.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="smcaplc">JOUGS FROM THE OLD CHURCH OF CLOVA, FORFARSHIRE.</span></p> +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img13.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="smcaplc">THE JOUGS AT DUDDINGSTON.</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>The jagg or jougs consisted of an iron collar fastened by a padlock, which +hung from a chain secured in the church wall near the principal entrance. +An offender sentenced to the jagg<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> was compelled to stand locked within +this collar for an hour or more before the morning service on one or more +Sundays. About the time of the Revolution this dropt out of use, chiefly +from the fact that the State no longer suffered the powers of the Kirk to +be carried with so high a hand; several of the old jaggs, however, yet +remain. At Merton, Berwickshire, at Clova, in Forfarshire, and at +Duddingston, Midlothian, the instrument may still be seen attached to the +kirk wall; the jaggs of Stirling and of Galashiels have also been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> +preserved, though removed from their original places.<small><a name="f12.1" id="f12.1" href="#f12">[12]</a></small></p> + +<p>Besides the repentance-stool and the jagg, which were specially the +weapons of the kirk, there were other instruments of punishment employed +by the State, to which the Kirk also did not hesitate at times to have +recourse. Just as the Spanish Inquisition handed over those whom it +condemned to the “secular arm” for punishment, so the Scottish Kirk passed +resolutions desiring the bailies to put this or that offender in gyves; +magistrates were requested to imprison others, “their fude to be bread and +watter;” employers were instructed to fine or chastise servants who used +profane language; and town authorities were solicited to procure +appliances for “ducking” certain classes of sinners. The brank or scold’s +bridle, the stocks, and the pillory, were used by the ecclesiastical, no +less than by the civil, authorities; the Kirk also imposed fines, decreed +banishment, used the steeples as prisons, and inflicted mutilation, and +even death, upon offenders; its power<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> to enforce these sentences being +largely due to the fact that civil disabilities followed the pronouncement +of excommunication. The excommunicated person was an outlaw; he could hold +no land, might be imprisoned by any magistrate to whom he was denounced, +and was to be “boycotted” by friends, followers, and tradesmen; any one +showing him the smallest consideration, or affording him the least +assistance, was liable to a similar punishment. These large powers were +only abrogated in 1690.</p> + +<p>Among the offences dealt with by the Kirk, a prominent place was given to +adherence to the unreformed faith, and to any apparent lack of zeal for +presbyterianism. Saying mass according to the ancient rite, or even +hearing it, or giving any countenance to such as did so, was severely +dealt with. Hamilton, Archbishop of St. Andrews, was summoned, with nearly +fifty others, before the High Court in 1563, charged with saying mass; and +although he was liberated at that time, he was subsequently hanged. For a +similar “crime,” John Carvet was put in the pillory at Edinburgh, in 1565; +other priests were banished in 1613; and another (John Ogilvie) was +sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> in 1615. For hearing mass, +John Logane was fined a thousand pounds in 1613, and many persons were +from time to time imprisoned, or otherwise punished. The Church festivals +were also put under a ban. The General Assembly in 1645 prohibited +schoolmasters from granting a holiday at Christmas; the Kirk Session of +St. Andrews punished several persons for keeping that festival in 1573; +and in 1605 the same authority at Dundonald summoned a man for not +ploughing on “Zuile day” (Yule). To harbour a priest, to possess books of +Catholic devotion, to paint a crucifix, all these were recognised +offences, which were visited with fines and imprisonment. In 1631 Sir John +Ogilvy of Craig was committed to jail for “daily conversing” with +supporters of the old faith.</p> + +<p>The means adopted to promote reformed opinions among the people were +equally drastic.</p> + +<p>The most rigid observance of Sunday as a Sabbath was enforced. In 1627 +nine millers at Stow, in Midlothian, had to do public penance and pay +forty shillings for that “their milnes did gang on the Sabbath;” and in +1644 another miller, in Fifeshire, was sentenced to a fine of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> thirty +shillings, with the same addition, for a similar offence. The uncertainty +of the weather was not admitted as any excuse for Sunday harvesting, as is +shown by a fine inflicted (together with the usual penance) upon one +Alexander Russell and his servant for “leading corn on the Sabbath +evening,” at Wester Balrymont. There are records of the stool of +repentance being called into use for the correction of fishermen who +mended their nets, of sundry people who gathered nuts, of a woman who +“watered her kaill,” and of another who “seethed bark,” on a Sunday. The +last named had to stand in the jagg for three Sundays as well. Lads who +were found playing on Sunday were sometimes whipt, as in a case dealt with +by the Kirk Session of St. Andrews in 1649, and others at Dunfermline in +1685. In 1664 it was enacted at Dumfries that “persons walking idly from +house to house and gossipping on Sabbath” should be fined thirty shillings +for their evil conduct; and in 1652 the Kirk Session of Stow actually +compelled one William Howatson to do public penance for having, on a +Sunday, “walked a short distance to see his seik mother.”</p> + +<p>But mere abstinence from work and play was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> not sufficient; attendance at +the kirk was compulsory. The amount of the fine exacted in different +districts varied, but everywhere even a single absence was noted, and had +to be paid for. At Aberdeen, in 1568, the penalty was 6d. for every +service missed; at Lasswade, in 1615, it was 6s. 8d. from a gentleman, and +3s. 4d. from a servant; at Dunino, in 1643, sum was 2s. for a first +offence, 4s. for the second, and a like proportion for others. Paupers who +failed in this duty were to be deprived of all relief, by order of the +Kirk Session of St. Andrews in 1570.</p> + +<p>The almost omniscient eyes of the Kirk Sessions kept watch, moreover, on +the behaviour of the congregation while at the services. The Kirk Session +of Ayr summoned Andrew Garvine before it and reproved him in 1606, because +he was late at kirk; and at Saltoun, in 1641, a fine of 6s. 8d. was +decreed against everyone who ventured to “take snuff in tyme of divine +service”; at Perth the Session’s officer was instructed “to have his red +staff in the kirk on Sabbath days, therewith to wauken sleepers, and to +remove greeting bairns forth of the kirk.” The congregation was divided +according to the sexes,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> the men (most ungallantly) being allowed to +occupy forms, while the women sat upon the floor; and any departure from +this arrangement was gravely censured. The dress of the women also +occupied the attention of the Sessions, their habit of wearing their +plaids about their heads being especially condemned. At St. Andrews, the +beadle was commanded to go about the kirk during the service “with ane +long rod to tak down their plaidis” from the women’s heads; while the +authorities at Monifieth took very extreme measures, ordering the +expenditure of five shillings in tar “to put upon the women that held +plaids about their heads.” Women condemned to do public penance upon the +penitence-stool were deprived of their plaids before ascending that +ecclesiastical pillory.</p> + +<p>The instruction which the people were to receive was also regulated by the +Kirk Sessions. Before the morning service, and between that and the +afternoon service, the children were publicly to recite their catechism, +both for their own edification and that of the people present. So it was +ordained at Stow in 1656, and at Dunfermline in 1652, on the ground that +it was “usit in uthyre kirks.” But the passages of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> Scripture to be +treated by the preachers were also settled by the same authorities; the +custom being, apparently, for the minister to go systematically through +some complete book of the Bible. The Kirk Session of the “Kirk of the +Canongait,” Edinburgh, desired the minister, who had just entered upon the +Book of Isaiah, “to begyne the Actes of the Apostles,” after completing +the first chapter of the prophet; and Mr George Gladstanes, at St. +Andrews, was requested to take up the Second Book of Samuel. The length of +the sermon was fixed also by the Session, as is illustrated by a +resolution passed at Elgin, to the effect that Mr David Philips do “turn +his glass when he preaches, and that the whole be finished within an +hour.”</p> + +<p>All these regulations, moreover, did not apply exclusively to Sunday; for +although the Kirk forbade the observance of old Church festivals, it +rigidly enforced its own fasts and days of thanksgiving. There was public +service in the towns usually every Wednesday and Friday, and work was as +absolutely forbidden during service time on those days, and attendance at +kirk as strictly enjoined, as on Sundays. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>Moreover, the non-observance of +an appointed fast was visited with a heavy fine.</p> + +<p>For the further protection of the people from any teaching contrary to the +received standard, the Press was carefully guarded, and the publication of +any work bearing on religion forbidden, unless it had first received the +<i>imprimatur</i> of the Kirk’s official “superintendent”; and publishers who +issued books which proved to be obnoxious to the ecclesiastical +authorities were compelled to withdraw them. The purchase of Bibles, +moreover, was not left to the zeal or discretion of the people; but by an +act of 1576, every householder worth 300 marks annual rent, and every +yeoman or burgess having stock valued at £500, was compelled to procure a +Bible and a Psalm-book, under a penalty of £10 (Scots).</p> + +<p>Next to importance in the guidance of religious teaching and worship, and +indeed closely connected with it, in the estimation of the Scottish +ecclesiastical courts, came the question of witchcraft and sorcery. The +annals of the country throughout the seventeenth century, together with +the closing years of the preceding one, are full of stories of the trial, +torture, and punishment<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> of alleged witches; and even in the early years +of the eighteenth century there are occasional instances of persons +proceeded against in the Kirk Sessions for using charms, and similar +superstitious practices. The unfortunate women charged with selling their +souls to Satan in exchange for occult powers seldom succeeded in +establishing their innocence, and juries which ventured to acquit them +were themselves occasionally charged with “wilful error” for so doing. +Under these circumstances it would seem that the accused, abandoning all +hope of escape, frequently took pleasure in exciting the wonder and the +horror of the court by the weird and marvellous tales which they invented +of their evil deeds; and no tale could be too marvellous for belief. It +made no difference in the enormity of the crime whether the supernatural +powers ascribed to the prisoner were used for good objects or for evil; +Isabel Haldane, who “cured Andrew Duncan’s bairn, by bringing water from +the burn at Turret Port,” Margaret Hornscleugh, who restored Alexander +Mason’s wife to health and renewed the milking powers of Robert Christie’s +cow, were burnt equally with Agnes Simpson, who had raised a storm to +drown King<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> James, and Catherine Campbell, who had struck her young +mistress with convulsions. Foremost in hunting down these poor deluded, or +maligned creatures, were the ministers of the Kirk; and practically the +only lawful excuse for absence from a public service on Sunday, or even +for the omission of the service altogether, was attendance at a +witch-burning.</p> + +<p>Much time of various Kirk Sessions was also occupied, now and again, in +considering cases of pilgrimage to holy wells, “turning the riddle” to +discover the name of a thief, and similar matters, and in reprimanding the +offenders. So late as 1709, the Kirk Session of Kilmorie summoned before +it a woman accused of “the horrid sin of the hellish art of +riddle-turning,” and sentenced her to public penance on three several +Sundays.</p> + +<p>More useful were the efforts, directed by the disciplinary authorities of +the Kirk, to prevent such sins as drunkenness, profanity, slander, and +sexual immorality. At Stirling, in 1612, a man was fined 20s. for being +intoxicated; and Dunino had, in 1645, a regular scale of fines for such +cases, 6s. for the first offence, 12s. for the second, and so forth. +Cursing and swearing were openly punished at the market crosses, by the +shame of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> the pillory, and by fines. Slander was met with the use of the +brank, the pillory, compulsory shaving of the head, or, in extreme cases, +with banishment from the district. In all these cases, a public reprimand +on Sunday at the stool of repentance was usually inflicted, in addition to +whatever other penalty there was imposed.</p> + +<p>The violation of the marriage vow was made a capital crime in Scotland in +1563; but the death sentence was not actually carried out very frequently. +At Glasgow, in 1586, it was considered sufficient to send the offenders to +the pillory, barefoot and in sackcloth, and then to cart them through the +town; but in 1643, the punishment was made more severe—the jagg, a public +whipping, committal to the common jail, and, finally, expulsion from the +town, being the satisfaction demanded by local justice. In the case of a +minister who had admitted that he was guilty of adultery, the utmost +humiliation was demanded. He had first to prostrate himself before the +General Assembly, and implore their pardon in the most abject manner; he +was then required to do public penance in sackcloth at the kirk door, and +on the repentance-stool for two Sundays each, in three several towns, +which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> were chosen so as to complete his degradation. Edinburgh, the +capital, Dundee, his native town, and Jedburgh, the place of his ministry, +were all to witness his shame. For other sins of impurity, fines, +imprisonment in the kirk steeple, standing in irons at the market cross, +and having the head shaved, were, one or more of them, adjudged.</p> + +<p>Some of the cases in which the Kirk exercised its discipline were such as, +it would appear to us, might have been dealt with more effectually in less +formal or more private ways. When a lad failed in proper respect to his +father, like the Glasgow youth who did not “lift his bonnet” on meeting +him, or even like him of St. Andrews, who struck his parent, it would +hardly seem to have been needful to report the matter to the Kirk, for it +to deal with it; yet the Sessions at those places solemnly considered +these misdemeanours, in 1598 and in 1574 respectively. Again, few +husbands, now, would probably care so far to confess themselves unable to +control their wives as to call in the authority of the Kirk to prevent the +“weaker vessels” from abusing their lords; yet such cases frequently +occupied the attention of Kirk Sessions. The brank, or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> imprisonment, or +the pillory, was the sentence usually pronounced on these rebellious +wives.</p> + +<p>The interference of the Kirk Sessions in some matters, which they once +claimed as within their sphere, would now certainly be resented. Thus, the +presbytery of Glasgow forbade a marriage between James Armour and Helen +Bar, in 1594, on the ground that the prospective bridegroom was “in greit +debt”; and at St. Andrews, in 1579, all persons who could not recite the +Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Commandments were debarred from +matrimony. Moreover, the Kirk undertook the regulation of the wedding +festivities. At Stirling, in 1599, the Kirk Session decreed that no +marriage dinner or supper should cost above 5s.; and this was an advance +upon the rule passed at Glasgow, in 1583, which limited the cost to +“eighteen pennies Scots.” At Cambusnethan, in 1649, the presence of a +piper at a wedding was forbidden; and at Dumfries, in 1657, the number of +guests was limited to twenty-four.</p> + +<p>In too many instances the Kirk procured the information on which it acted +in enforcing these decrees through spies of one kind or another. The +informants, through whom cases were got up<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> against the adherents of the +unreformed rites, were often men of the worst characters, such as Robert +Drummond, a twice-convicted adulterer, who finally died by his own hand. +The wretches who hunted down and tested those accused of witchcraft were +scarcely more respectable agents. Officers both of the kirks and of the +municipalities were required to watch for and report those who did not +attend divine service regularly; an espionage of the most dangerous and +objectionable kind being introduced when, as at Glasgow in 1600, it was +decreed that, on the “deacons” of craft-gilds informing of any remissness +in kirk-attendance of their members, half the fine imposed should be given +to the gild. Bailies were desired to traverse the houses on “preaching +dayes” to see that the people did not stay at home; beadles were “to tak +notice of those who tak ye sneising tobacco in tyme of divine service, and +to inform concerning them;” others were appointed to take the names of +such as were in the alehouses after eight o’clock at night; midwives and +doctors were threatened with discipline if they failed to report any +illegitimate birth which they attended; “searchers” were appointed to find +out those who did not buy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> Bibles and Psalm-books; in a word the lives of +the people were constantly under observation. It is perhaps the strongest +proof of the strength of the Scotsman’s character that, after a century or +more of such interference with his responsibility, his sturdy independence +survived. Much of this disciplinary system died away when, in 1690, it +ceased to have behind it the civil disabilities attendant on +excommunication.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span></p> +<h2>Curiosities of Church Finance.</h2> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By the Rev. R. Wilkins Rees.</span></p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">“The</span> plate for collections is inside the church, so that the whole +congregation can give a guess at what you give. If it is something very +stingy or very liberal, all Thrums knows of it within a few hours; indeed, +this holds good of all the churches, especially, perhaps, of the Free one, +which has been called the bawbee kirk, because so many half-pennies find +their way into the plate. On Saturday nights the Thrums shops are besieged +for coppers by housewives of all denominations, who would as soon think of +dropping a threepenny bit into the plate as of giving nothing. Tammy Todd +had a curious way of tipping his penny into the Auld Licht plate while +still keeping his hand to his side. He did it much as a boy fires a +marble, and there was quite a talk in the congregation the first time he +missed. A devout plan was to carry your penny in your hand all the way to +church, but to appear to take it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> out of your pocket on entering, and some +plumped it down noisily like men paying their way. I believe old Snecky +Hobart, who was a canty stock but obstinate, once dropped a penny into the +plate and took out a half-penny as change; but the only untoward thing +that happened to the plate was once when the lassie from the farm of Curly +Bog capsized it in passing. Mr Dishart, who was always a ready man, +introduced something into his sermon that day about women’s dress, which +everyone hoped Christy Lundy, the lassie in question, would remember.”</p> + +<p>This, from Mr J. M. Barrie’s “Auld Licht Idylls,” will ever be a classic +passage on Scottish church finance, so far as it is represented by the +collection. It is not, however, in such pages that the material for such +an article as this must be sought, but rather in such fruitful fields as +those afforded by, chiefly, the Kirk Session Records preserved in various +parts of the country.</p> + +<p>It has been pointed out, I think by Buckle in his “History of Civilisation +in England,” in comparing Spain and Scotland in point of superstition and +religious intolerance, that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> latter country has denied to political +what it has conceded to priestly government, and hence its superior +material progress and prosperity. The general influence of the Kirk +Session, especially as exemplified in its disciplinary powers, was +unquestionably large and far-reaching, surpassing even that of magisterial +authority. Hence we may find records of fines levied by and paid to the +Kirk Session which we should have thought would have been solely within +civil jurisdiction. The church revenue derived from fines must have been +in some instances quite considerable, and as indicating their nature many +entries derived from old church records are of peculiar interest and +value. What the Church forbad <i>was</i> forbidden, and when her laws were +broken or her wishes not complied with, the culprit had to pay the +penalty. When the minister and the session anathematized it was generally +discovered that it was not as with the Highland laird, who “did not swear +at anybody in particular: he jist stood in tae middle o’ tae road and +swore at lairge.” The anathemas were directed at a definite object, and of +the luckless individual thus aimed at it could not be said, as in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> +“Ingoldsby Legends,” “Nobody seemed one penny the worse.”</p> + +<p>The manner in which these fines were determined is sufficiently indicated +by an extract from the Records of Session of Tyninghame, under date May +12, 1616:—“Maister Johne (the minister, by name John Lauder) heavilie +compleinit yt ye last Lord’s Day the Sabbothe was prophanit be sundrie +pepill, as he was informit, by yoking thair cairts about 10 or 11 houris +at evene, and led wair fra the see, to ye dishonour of God and evill +example of utheris. For redress heirof in tyme coming, it is ordainit be +the said Maister Johne and elderis present, that quhaevir sall yok to leid +wair on ye Sabbothe, befor ane hour efter midnight, or until 12 houris at +even be past, sall make publik satisfaction in the kirk, and pay 20s. +<i>toties quoties</i>; and also ordains publik intimation heirof to be maid.”</p> + +<p>The following may be taken as supplying a commentary on this. It will, of +course, be remembered that in the days here referred to Scots money was +only one-twelfth part the value of what it is now:—“August 12 +(1621).—The minister shew to the elderis that he had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> causit wairn Robert +Skugall, servitor to James Neilsone, befor the session. Callit on, +compeirit, and accusit of carying netis to the sea in ane cairt, be yoking +hors efter the efternoone sermon, confessit the samin, bot did it, as he +alledgit, with his maister his directions. James Neilsone, present, +answerit yt he bade him not yoke ane cairt, bot cary the netis on ane +horseback. Ordainis the said Robert to satisfie publicklie the nixt Lordis +Day. Item: Thomas Airthe compleinit on ane man quha brocht salt from the +Panis to this towne this day, befor sermon, to sell to qm presentlie the +minister past; and George Shortus, the officer, with him, arrestit the +salt, and put it in Rot. Quhyte his barn, that nain of it micht be sold +that day. Takin fra him 12s. to the pure.” “August 26.—James Neilsone, +accusit for comanding his man to pass to the sea with netis in ane cairt, +the said James denyit he comandit him except only to carie them on +horseback; to qm the minister answerit that the last day he confessit he +bade him yok the cairt, qlk some of the elderis testifeit; the brethren +present ordainit the said James to remove, to be censured, and ordainis +him to sit down on his kneis befor the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> elderis and ask God forgiveness, +and to pay twentie s. to the box, qlk bothe he did, and the session was +qtentit.”</p> + +<p>Other extracts from the same records are worthy of note in this +connection. On September 25, 1631, Alex. Jackson was ordered to give to +the box what he received for the herrings which he brought in on the +Sabbath day. He affirmed that he got but thirty shillings, which was +produced before the session and put into the box. On April 3, 1642, John +Nicolson was accused for hauling some lines in the water one Sabbath day, +but the minister and elders, seeing him penitent, and submitting himself +humbly, alleging that he did not get four shillings’ worth of fish, +ordered him to pay penalty, four shillings, and to make satisfaction on +his knees before the session. The fishermen were, however, allowed to set +their nets on Sunday, though not to haul them, as Dunbar records +testify:—“8 September 1639, Sunday.—Gude order keipit be the seamen at +the draife; no herring brocht in, nor nets hauled, but only nets set at +efternoon.” “30 August 1635.—The session appoints some of the elders to +go to the seaside at efternoon, to see that there be no mercat in herring; +and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> minister to be with them efter the efternoon, to see guid order +keepit.”</p> + +<p>Sabbath-breaking was, unquestionably, a fruitful source of church income. +On December 26, 1619, it was shown to the minister that Robert Barrie, +hind to the Lady Bass, had thus offended by carrying peat; and on February +4, 1621, the said Lady Bass had to pay 18s. for a servant who again broke +the Sabbath. “Profanation of the Sabbath,” with its attendant fine, was +again and again reported. Sometimes it was football on the links after the +afternoon sermon, and drinking after the pastime, which had to be atoned +for by a money payment, or again, it might be that “for not being in the +kirk in time in the afternoon” the offender had to pay ten shillings, even +though he might have “come to the kirk shortly after the third bell.” +Occasionally, it would seem, the fines were imposed with drastic +severity:—January 21 (1644).—“James Kirkwood gave to the session, to be +put in the box, in name and behalf of George Hay, in Scougall, tasker to +said James, 7s., because he came not with his companie tymeouslie to the +kirk that Lord’s Day his wyffe was buryed, as he aucht to have done.... He +said that the days were short,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> and they had few to carry hir corpes, and +the pepill did not conveine so tymeouslie as he expectit, and this was the +caus.”</p> + +<p>Absence from worship caused many a shilling to fall into the coffers of +the kirk. “Advertise them that they come to the kirk every Sabbath and +that they that were convicted of absence, without lawful excuse, should +pay six shillings every person, seeing they might now, the farthest of +them, the days being long and the weather fair, come every day.” This was +in 1619. What a significant entry is the following:—“October 14, +1621.—The minister exhortit the peple to repentance. George Shortus +searchit the towne.” Or this:—“This day Alexander Davidson seairchit ye +towne, and delatit some persons absent fra ye kirk in tyme of preiching.” +Absentees were followed and fined with an almost relentless pertinacity. +Elders were ordered by the minister to search the town and “to delate the +absentees.” As soon as public worship began, the elder started on his +quest, and the luckless delinquents were hunted in home and alehouse. A +few days after, their names, with penalties attached, appeared in the +session books. Sometimes no excuse was taken. An<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> elder, even though he +pleaded headache as reason for his absence, had to pay a fine; so had a +deacon with like adequate excuse; each exaction tending to increase the +income of the kirk.</p> + +<p>But not only had Sabbath-day offences thus to be acknowledged. On January +2, 1625, Alex. Johnson, Patrick Wood, George Foster and Patrick Bassenden +were called on and accused before the session “for troubling James +Neilsone’s house, singing at the door, being drunk.” The two former had to +pay, “ilk ane of them, 3 lib. for thair dronkenness, if they be able, and +to seik the concurrence of the civile magistrat for payment thairof; and +if they suld refuse, being unable, to speik the civile magistrat that they +micht be utherwayis punishit.” And in the same year it was found necessary +to intimate “out of the pulpitt, to absteine from drunkenes, utherwayis if +any suld be fund giltie thairof suld be ordainit to pay thre punds.” On +October 28, 1630, appeared an item of forty shillings, Alex. Jackson’s +penalty for fighting, “sent down by my Lord of Haddington to the box, to +be employed <i>ad pios usus</i>.” In 1659 the Kirk Session of Dunbar rebuked +and fined in £20 Scots a woman who had sinned when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> Cromwell’s army was in +the neighbourhood eight years before! Such a sin-penalty was, as far as +possible, applied to a secular purpose, and the <i>godly</i> poor were not +supposed to benefit therefrom. In 1620 James Neilson complained of his +wife’s misbehaviour, and she was warned that should she disagree again she +would be “inactit to pay 10 lib., <i>toties quoties</i>, and suld pay for this +tyme also if she did disagree againe.” And in 1642 “John Bryson’s wife, in +Scougall, is to be warned next day to the session for flyting with her +husband, and abusing him by her unreverent speeches.” The penalty for such +speeches was “20s. <i>toties quoties</i>.” Whether these ladies had private +means, or the husbands had to endure the further hardship of providing the +fine, history does not record. It should, however, be mentioned that cases +sometimes occurred in which the fair sex were not to blame, as when a man +was brought before the session for having assaulted his wife with a spade, +and was fined a dollar, beside having to express his regret and to satisfy +the session of his sincerity!</p> + +<p>A few other curious sources of income may be mentioned. On May 29, 1625, +it is reported in the Records of Session of Tyninghame that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> “John Jakson +was not to proceid in mariadge wt Helen Bassenden, bot that the mariadge +was given over, and thairfor qfiscats to the use of the pure, and uther +pious uses, the 40s. qsigned be him, according to the order maid +thairanent.” In the old Records of Innerwick, during 1608, it is stated +that the minister having reported that the greatest part of the people +were ignorant of the “Comands and very many of the Beliefs,” the session +ordained that if such knowledge were not acquired within a given time, a +penalty should be paid; also that no marriage shall be “maid or parteis +proclaimit until baith the parteis also recite ye Lord’s Prayer, ye +Belief, and ye Comands, or ells pay five libs. that they sall have them +before the accomplishment of the mariage, qlk, if it be not done they sall +forfeit.” And in 1620, when a man excused himself for not having come to +the examination, because he was ignorant, he was “ordained to heir the +Word diligentlie and attentivelie, and to keip the examination; and in +caise of absence againe, he suld mak publik satisfaction, and pay one +merk.”</p> + +<p>The introduction of pews at the commencement of the eighteenth century was +a means<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> of obtaining additional revenue. As a return for the privilege of +placing these seats in the previously open area of the kirk, “half-a-crown +for the use of the poor,” was demanded as a rent, and it was further +required “that the same be payd before the seats be set up.” The pew was +also a source of indirect income, as when, in 1735, one John Porter was +rebuked before the pulpit and heavily fined for pushing James Cobbam out +of a seat in church, wringing his nose, and thumping him on the back. +Bitter jealousy and anger were often occasioned by the pew, and hence free +fights with accompanying fines not seldom occurred.</p> + +<p>But the humours of the collection must not be altogether omitted. Burns, +in giving his experience in “The Holy Fair,” has immortalised the elder +(Black Bonnet—so called from a peculiarly shaped black hat worn by him) +who stood by the plate as the people passed into the kirk—</p> + +<p class="poem">“When by the plate we set our nose,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Weel heapit up wi’ ha’pence,</span><br /> +A greedy glower Black Bonnet throws,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And we maun draw our tippence.”</span></p> + +<p>And R. L. Stevenson refers to these elders, “sentinels over the brazen +heap,” when he says<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> of a countryman whom he met out West—“He had a +pursing of the mouth that might have been envied by our elders of the +Kirk. He had just such a face as I have seen a dozen times behind the +plate.” The elder, at any rate, magnified his office and closely watched +each gift and giver. When a certain titled lady once made a profound and +formal bow only, in passing, the elder followed her as she marched in +state towards her seat, and in tones distinct enough to reach the whole +congregation, said, “Gie us less o’ yer manners, my lady, and mair o’ yer +siller.” When in later days one of the elders passed from pew to pew with +outstretched ladle, he touched the people with it, and with unmistakable +directness would say, “Wife, sittin’ next the wee lassie there, mind the +puir,” or “Lass, wi’ the braw plaid, mind the puir.”</p> + +<p>The obligations of the congregation in regard to the collection were also +frequently enforced from the pulpit. Of “Wee Scotty o’ the Coogate Kirk” +the following is related: “One Sunday, when there was a great noise o’ +folk gaun into their seats, Scotty got up in the pu’pit and cried out, ‘Oh +that I could hear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> the pennies birlin’ in the plate at the door wi’ half +the noise ye mak’ wi’ yer cheepin’ shoon! Oh that Paul had been here wi’ a +lang wooden ladle, for yer coppers are strangers in a far country, an’ as +for yer silver an’ yer goold—let us pray!’” And of Dr Dabster, “an unco +bitter body when there was a sma’ collection,” to whom, before the sermon +began, the beadle used to hand a slip of paper with the amount collected, +we are told that one day when the whole collection only reached two +shillings and ninepence, he stopped suddenly in his discourse and said, +with biting sarcasm, “It’s the land o’ Canawn ye’re thrang strivin’ after; +the land o’ Canawn, eh? Twa an’ ninepence! Yes, ye’re sure to gang there! +I think I see ye! Nae doot ye think yersel’s on the richt road for’t. Ask +yer consciences an’ see what <i>they’ll</i> say. Ask them an’ see what they +<i>wull</i> say. I’ll tell ye. Twa miserable shillin’s an’ ninepence is puir +passage money for sic a lang journey. What! Twa an’ ninepence! As well +micht a coo gang up a tree tail foremost, an’ whustle like a superannuated +mavis as get to Canawn for <i>that</i>!” After this we cannot wonder at the old +farmer’s advice to the young minister,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> “When ye get a kirk o’ yer ain, +dinna expeck big collections. Ye see, I was for twal’ year an elder, and +had to stand at the plate. I mind fine the first Sabbath after the +Disruption, though our twa worthy ministers didna gang out, and the +strange feelin’ about me as I took my place at the plate for the first +time. It was at ane o’ the doors o’ St Andrew’s Parish Kirk, in Edinburgh. +Noo, hoo muckle d’ye think I got that day?” “Oh, well, I know the church +nicely,” was the answer—“seated for at least two thousand—you might get +two pounds.” “Wad ye believ’t?” responded the elder, “I only got five +bawbees, stannin’ i’ the dracht for twenty minutes, too! If I had only +kent, I wad rather hae pit in the collection mysel’ an’ covered up the +plate. Mind, dinna expeck big collections.”</p> + +<p>The coins of other countries were strongly objected to. As far back as +1640, “The minister dischairget the people to give ill curreners,” or the +treasurer writes, “Collect 8s. 4d., whereof much ill cureners.” And in the +Records of Whitekirk, August 18, 1730, we find that “The minister and +elders did receive from John Lermond, son to the deceased William +Lermond,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> who was kirk-treasurer, the poor’s box; and the poor’s money +therein was compted, and there was in the box of good current money, at +the present rates, ane hundred and ten pounds of whit-money. In turners +there was of current coin 15lb., 10s. 10d.; in Scots half merks, 12lb.; in +doyts and ill copper money, 2lb., 4s. 2d.” This doyt (“not worth a doyt”) +was “a Dutch coin of debased metal, and equivalent in value to the twelfth +part of a penny only.” Its use in Scotland seems to have been confined +solely to collection purposes. In Paul’s “Past and Present in +Aberdeenshire” is mentioned a rebuke once given by a Mr Wilkie, a minister +of the parish of Fetteresso, whose income was chiefly obtained from the +kirk door collections. One Sunday morning he thus delivered himself: “When +ye gang to Aberdeen to sell your butter, and your eggs, and your cheese, +and get a bawbee that ye’re dootfu’ about, I’m tell’t that ye’ll gie’t a +toss up atween ye’r finger an’ ye’r thoom, an’ say, ‘It’s nae muckle +worth, but it’ll dae well eneuch for Wilkie.’” In the “Statistical Account +of Scotland” the minister of Nairn expressively states that “the weekly +collection at the church on Sundays amounted to about three shillings in +<i>good</i> copper.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>This spurious money often accumulated. Sometimes a box of such coins was +given to the minister “to see what he could mak’ of them” when in +Edinburgh. “Sometimes,” we are told, “a man would turn up in a district +with a horse and cart, making offers for the bad copper or pewter that had +been laid aside. At other times it would be sent to an open market, and +there sold to the highest bidder. In 1774 there were over seven stones’ +weight of this truly ‘filthy lucre’ sold in the market-place of Keith, and +its price was £2, 18s. 6d., less 4s. for carriage from Banff.... In order +to counteract as far as possible the practice of putting spurious money +into the plate, the various presbyteries under one synod used occasionally +to combine and send as much as £100 sterling to the mint in London, and +ask that the amount be exchanged for farthings, and returned with ‘the +first sure messenger.’”</p> + +<p>But the use of the farthing has not been confined to the collections of +bygone days. The Rev. John Russell, in his comparatively recent book, +“Three Years in Shetland,” thus writes of the collections in the parish of +Whalsay: “The coin usually put into the ladle was a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> farthing. As the +collections were exchanged at the shop for silver, and as it was at the +shop where my hearers provided themselves with those farthings, I thought +that if the Session hoarded up the farthings and so stopped the supply of +them, we might get halfpence put into the ladle instead.” This ingenious +plan was not, however, put into practice, for the minister was assured +that for the popular farthing would be substituted no gift at all. As to +that perennial favourite, the bawbee or halfpenny, nothing need be said.</p> + +<p>A few words must be given to the box that held the money—an important +piece of Scottish ecclesiastical furniture that was jealously guarded. +“Given to George Cuming, smith in Peffersyd, 32 pence for mending the lock +of the box, and causing it to open and steek,” is an entry under date, +June 30, 1639. Innerwick looked well after the box:—“23 April 1609.—The +quilk day ye sessioune ordains George Wallace to keip the key of the box.” +But there are not a few entries in the Records of Dunbar which show that +the box had been tampered with by the elder in charge; and for a +considerable period one of the civil magistrates there took<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> his place by +the side of the elder at the plate on Sunday. The beadle also fell +occasionally under suspicion, well merited at times, it is feared. In a +certain Highland parish the money, after being counted, was placed in a +box which was consigned to the care of the minister, who secreted it, with +the key, in a part of the session-house press known only to himself and +the beadle. Small sums were regularly extracted, and one Sunday when the +minister discovered that the usual small amount had disappeared, he +summoned the beadle. “David,” said he, “there’s something wrong here. Some +one has been abstracting the church money from the box; and you know there +is no one has access to it but you and myself.” Thinking he had the beadle +thoroughly cornered, the minister fixed him with his eye and paused for an +answer. But David dumfounded the minister by this cool proposal: “Weel, +minister, if there’s a defeeshency, it’s for you and me to make it up +atween us, an’ say naething about it!”</p> + +<p>But if on the side of revenue we find much curious reading we find it none +the less surely on the side of disbursements. When poor law and poor rate +alike were unknown in Scotland<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> the Church took care of the poor, and +that, oftentimes, in most thorough and effective fashion. Even when other +urgent claims asserted themselves the poor were by no means neglected. A +proclamation of the Privy Council, August 29, 1693, decreed that one-half +the sums collected at the church door was to be given to the poor as +before, while the other half might be retained for the relief of other +distress, or for any matters that might come under the consideration of +each individual Kirk Session throughout the country. In the Kirk Session +Records of Falkirk, under date July 1696, it is stated that “the number of +the poor within the parish church does daily abound,” and the session +recommends to the minister “to intimate to the congregation the next +Lord’s Day that they would be pleased to consider ye present strait and be +more charitable.” The response to such appeals may not always have been +adequate, and in some records we find it stated again and again that “the +raininess of the day” caused the collection to be so small that the +treasurer, instead of transferring it to the box, handed it to the beadle.</p> + +<p>The manner in which the poor were relieved is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> sufficiently indicated by +the following selected passages from the Kirk Session Records of +Tyninghame, which, for our purpose, may here be considered typical:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>“November 2, 1617.—Given to ane pure honest man, quha had ane sair +hand, 6s.”</p> + +<p>“May 23, 1619.—Given to ane pure man, lying sik in Patrik Jaksonis, +being ane coupper in Tranent, 10s. His wyfe came befor ye session and +earnestlie desyrit it, being in great necessitie.”</p> + +<p>“August 26, 1621.—Given to ane pure man, being ane scollar, 6s.”</p> + +<p>“January 26, 1623.—Collect 4s., given all to Thomas Harvie in +Tyninghame, being ane ald honest man tailyeour.”</p> + +<p>“September 18, 1625.—To ane pure young man, being ane minister’s +son, 6s. 8d.”</p> + +<p>“September 7, 1628.—Given to ane stranger, being ane Transelvanian, +18s. He was supportit be all the kirks of the presbiteries.”</p> + +<p>“April 24, 1631.—Given to a man with a testimonial, robbed by +pyratis, 9s.”</p> + +<p>“December 3, 1637.—Given to ane poore woman at the Knowis, callit +the Daft Lady, 5s.”</p> + +<p>“September 5, 1641.—Given to ane poor scholar (being a minister’s +dochter), 5 dollars.”</p></div> + +<p>These extracts are also instructive:—“January 2, 1620.—Reportit that +Andrew Law, being ane agit man grieve to ye Ladie Bass, was lying deidlie +sik in ane hous. Ordainis to adverteis ane of the hostlairis to furnish +him in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> drink and breid for a tyme, and out of ye box they suld gett +payment, seing he was in great necessitie, being ane honest man. Ordainis +also the Ladie to be adverteisit heirof.” “January 30.—The said day given +to them that furnishit drink to Andrew Law, being in great necessitie, +14s. 4d.”</p> + +<p>In the treasurers’ books of the time, entries frequently occur of sums +paid to “twa hirpling women, sairly needing something out of the box,” or +to “a lass wi’ a cruikit back-bane,” or to “a laddie wi’ black een and a +white face.” Space will not permit any treatment of the interesting +subject of badges for the poor.</p> + +<p>One ludicrous incident in connection with a collection for the poor should +be related. In Mr Sinclair’s “Scenes and Stories of the North of Scotland” +we read of a Highland minister who, notwithstanding an imperfect knowledge +of the tongue, dared to make some announcements in Gaelic. He intimated +that “on the following Lord’s day there would be a collection for the poor +of the congregation. But, alas, for him! he forgot how nearly alike in +sound are the words ‘bochd,’ signifying poor, and ‘boc,’ which means a +buck. The word he uttered was the latter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> instead of the former, so that +he startled his audience by solemnly intimating a collection for the bucks +of the congregation!”</p> + +<p>It seems that among the many and diverse poor none needed help more sorely +or frequently than the schoolmaster. A flood of light is thrown upon his +condition by such extracts as these:—“February 1, 1618.—The session +ordainis that Mr James Macqueine, schoolmaister, sal have of everie +baptisme 40d., and for everie mariadge half ane merk—viz., for ye +proclamation 40d. and of ye mariadge 40d.—for his better help.” “March +8.—Ordainis ye wemenis penalties that commits fornication to be given to +Mr James Macqueine, schoolmaister.” “August 1, 1619.—Given to Maister +James Macqueine, schoolmaister, 4s., seing thar was verie few bairnis at +the school.” “August 29.—The qlk day given to Maister James Macqueine, +schoolmaister, 24s., and 10s., being Cristen Stories penaltie, according +to contract maid with him.” “September 26.—Given to Maister James +Macqueine, 25s., in regaird of his povertie, and in respect he was to go +hame to ye Northe; in respect, also, of his reading in the kirk.” “October +17.—The quilk day Mr James Macqueine, schoolmaister, desyrit<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> earnestlie +some support, that he micht pass to ye Northe, seing thair was few or na +bairns at the schoole. The session heirwith advysit. Ordainis thre lib. to +be given to him.”</p> + +<p>“Maister James Macqueine’s” successor suffered still more acutely from the +eternal lack of pence. “October 22, 1620.—Given to George Davidsone, +scholm<sup>r.</sup>, for reiding and singing in the kirk, at his request, 40s.” +“November 19.—Lent to Mr George Davidsone, scholm<sup>r.</sup>, out of the box, +18s.” “July 15, 1621.—The said day George Foster his penaltie given to +George Davidsone, schoolmaister and reiddar, becaus of his povertie.” +“September 16.—George Davidsone, schoolmaister, earnestlie desyrit somqt +for his support out of the penalties, seing he had few bairnis in the +school. Given to him 20s.” “October 7.—Given to George Davidson 20s. of +Thomas Greivis penaltie, the uther twentie given befor in respect of his +reiding and singing in the kirk, he being verie puir, having ane familie.” +Soon the minister addresses plaintive appeals to the church in behalf of +the said schoolmaster, and at last the climax comes. “December 1, +1622.—The minister earnestlie desyrit the elderis to have ane<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> cair of +George Davidsone, schoolmaister, now in great distress, being somqt +distract in his witt, and desyrit that George Shortus, officer, wald cause +some ane waik ilka nicht with him, and that the minister and he wald go +from hous to hous for his support. The elderis promeisit to help, and to +caus utheris to help.” “December 8.—The minister desyrit bothe the +elderis themselfs to help George Davidsone, and to caus utheris, he being +almost now weill againe, seing he wald go over to Fyff againe. They +promeisit to do the same. Maister Johne (the minister) reportit that he +hyrit ane man on his owin expenss to go to Fyff for his father and brother +to come to him—viz., Patrick Watson—and that he gave him 20s., and that +his father has now come.” “December 15.—The minister desyrit the elderis +to help George Davidsone, being now well, praised be God! Given be the +minister and elderis out of their purss, 45s.” The schoolmaster’s +departure is, however, delayed, for in the following year, 1623, his name +appears again. “March 9.—Given to George Davidson, 20 lib.” “November +23.—This day collect at the kirk doore, for George Davidsone, being to +depairt, 50s. 8d.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>Assistance to cripples constituted a repeated charge on the church funds. +“May 28, 1615.—Collect 4s., qlk was given to ane crepill.” “Mairch 31, +1616.—Given to the belman for carrying ane puir cripple man off the +toune, 6 lib.” “June 21, 1618.—Given to Jhone Finla 3s. for carrying away +ane crepill.” “February 11, 1638.—Given to Alexander Storie, wricht, for +ane pair of stelts to Henrie Caning, crepill, 4s.” “September 23.—Four +shillings given to carray away a crepill. We could get nane in the toune +to carray away this crepill the morn, becaus of their business.”</p> + +<p>Payments for medical help were also frequently made. “May 28, +1615.—Gathered at the kirk door to give ane physician—viz., George +Adamson, in Dunbar—for curing Agnes Tailzeour, in Peffersyd, 40s., qrof +28s. given to the pottingar, and the rest to the said Agnes Tailzeour, +dauchter to Marion Peacock, in Peffersyde.” “Januarii 3, 1641.—Given to +Agnes Richisone (hir bairne being still vehementlie diseast, and hir +husband at the camp), 20s. to buy cures.” “Januarii 7, 1644.—Ane merk to +Elspethe Duns sonne, lyklie to be crepill. 20 shillings given to his +mother, to be given to the man wha<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> promeised to do diligence to cure the +said; to be given for drogis.” “July 20, 1645.—Given to Robert Ewart, in +Tyninghame, for curing James Brown, his leg, 3 lib. 4s. 4d.” All this +links the church finance of the Scotland of that day with that of the +early Christians, for in the <i>Apologia</i> of Justin Martyr and of Tertullus +we read that the early Christians contributed or collected, on the first +day of the week, money for widows, orphans, and others in distress, and +particularly for the relatives of poor slaves condemned to work in the +mines.</p> + +<p>From the Kirk also was drawn much money that eventually found its way into +the pockets of the sea-robbers of the Mediterranean. The collections made +at the church door largely supplied the amounts necessary for effecting +the ransom of those luckless sailors who fell into the clutches of the +pirates. Hence we find:—“May 11, 1617.—Intimation maid to ye peple out +of pulpite to provyde something againe ye nixt Sabbothe according to thair +powar, for the relieving of Jhone Mure, in Dunbar, and some utheris, wha +was takin be ye Turkis on the sea, and deteinit be them in prison, seing +thair was ane collection to be maid throughout all ye kirks<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> in the qtrie +to this effect.” “May 18.—Collect at ye kirk doore for relief of them +that wer takin be ye Turkis, 5 lib. 18s. 4d.; the speciallis, or richest +of ye peple, being absent, quhas portionis were also to be socht fra +them;” and “May 7, 1620.—Collect at the kirk doore for the Scottishmen +lying in Algiers, taken by the Turkis, 3 lb. 17s. 4d.”</p> + +<p>Again and again we find in the pages of the Kirk Session Records +reflections of the history of the time. Thus on December 5, 1641, +“Intimation maid of collect the nixt Lord’s day for ane pure honest woman, +spous to umquhile James Freeman. He was slain in Ireland, and quarteret, +as is allegit, for mainteining the Scottis Covenant.” On February 29, +1622, “Earnest exhortations maid to the pepill anent ye contributions to +the Kirk of God in France. Collect this day efter the sermon threttie +pund, 8s. 2d.;” and on March 3, “Qtribut this day at ye kirk door to the +Kirk of France 3 punds, 11s. 10d.” On August 28, 1646, a collection was +made in the parish church of Auchterhouse for the people of Cullen, who +had suffered much from the burning of their town by the Marquis of +Montrose on his march northward; and in 1746<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> the Falkirk beadle begged +the Kirk Session to lend him five shillings because of harsh treatment he +had endured at the hands of Prince Charlie’s soldiers on their retreat +from England.</p> + +<p>Among the miscellanea of church finance as concerning expenditure the +following should, undoubtedly, have place. The stool of +repentance—imposing and certainly not cheap—deserves some prominence. +“Given to Andrew Stone, wricht, 22s., and 2s. to his man, for mending and +repairing the stoole of repentance;” and “David Nimmo, wricht in Lintoun, +compeirit, and desyrit payment for making and repairing the stoole for +repentance. The minister and elders herewith advysit; deliverit to him, +out of the box, aucht pounds, and sax shillings to his sonne, and twentie +s. to James Paterson, mason,” are two suggestive items. Alexander Sherrie +receives six shillings on April 19, 1635, “to buy poudder with to shett +the dowes in the kirk, becaus they filet the seitts.” At Cullen Parish +Church, in the session records for 1703, the treasurer writes:—“For a +calf’s skinn to be a cover to ye Kirke bible, 7s. For dressing ye skinn +bought to cover ye Kirke bible, and alm’d leither to fasten ye cover to ye +brods, and for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> sowing thereof, 10s. For keepers to ye clasps, brass nails +putting on ye stoods, and gluing loose leaves, 14s.” Dr Russell, writing +in his “Reminiscences of Yarrow,” about his father’s pastorate in the Vale +of Ettrick, says, “At the first Martinmas of my father’s incumbency, Robin +(Robert Hogg, the father of the Ettrick Shepherd) came to him and said, +‘Sir, Mr Potts (the predecessor of Dr Russell’s father) used always to +allow me five shillings of the collections in the kirk at this time, for +gathering the bawbees, in order to buy a pair of shoon!’ But to his +disappointment, my father replied that he could not take it on him to make +this application of the public money.” The beadle, however, sometimes got +the price of a pair of shoes; and in one book, in 1615, we have “<i>Nota</i> (a +word scarcely ever used) That in all the gatherings for the poor there is +the price of ane pint of ale, that collect which is set doun in the +session-books, because of the pains which the clerk of the kirkmen taks in +going thrice aboot the toune, and ance efternoon. This custom of giving +sae mickle to the beadle has been ust of ald in this parish.”</p> + +<p>In February, 1733, a certain Jean Hall, a pauper in the parish of +Morebattle, dies, and on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> the 16th of the month James Robson, in Kirk +Yetholm, receives £3, 14s. 3d. for “cheese, tobacco, and pipes” provided +at the funeral. “The digging of the grave, the crying of deceased’s +effects at the roup, and the ringing of the ‘passing-bell’ are all +provided for by the treasurer, out of his continually replenishing and +inexhaustible kirk-box.” At one time thirty shillings is given for a +winding sheet for a “dead corpse” which came in on the sands of Aldhame, +and, at another, twenty-five shillings is given for one for a man “quha +came in Peffersand and was buryed the last week.” Sometimes twelve +shillings is given to a man for reading and singing at the communion, and, +occasionally, as much as twenty pounds is given to buy a horse, “seing he +had ane horse deid latly, and fallen abak in meins;” or there is given out +of the penalties to Alexander Sherrie, “for mending and translating the +pulpitt, ane dollar.” (In the writer’s article, “Witchcraft and the Kirk,” +in the present volume, reference is made to expenditure occasioned by the +imprisonment and execution of witches.)</p> + +<p>Help is given to Dundee for a new harbour, to North Esk for a bridge, and +to Glasgow because of a disastrous fire. Even “a collection<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> for the +Northern Infirmity” is mentioned, but this is an obvious reference to the +Northern Infirmary.</p> + +<p>One closing quotation must suffice:—“May 2.—The minister also shew to +the elderis that the bishop, at the last Provinciall Assemblie, haldin at +Edinburghe, the twentie of April 1619, ordainis everie minister to bring +ye contribution for ye students of ye new colledge in Saint Androis, and +everie minister to give it to ye moderator of the presbiterie quhair he +dwellis, that it micht be sent to Saint Androis. The minister shew to ye +elderis that ye kirk of Tyninghame was ordainit to pay thre lib. yerlie. +The elderis wer unwilling to grant thairto. The minister shew them that +everie kirk was appointit to pay, and that he wald give 20s. out of his +awin purse to that effect, seing thair was little in the box, and many +puir in the parishe. They grantit thairto, bot with some regraits.” “May +9.—The said day takin out of the box 34s., and 6s. of Jhone Walker’s +penaltie; and Maister Jhone (the minister) gave 20s. out of his awin purse +to make out thre lib. to be given for ye qtribution to ye studentis in the +new colledge at St. Androis.” This is but one among many contributions +made by the minister to fulfil obligations resting on the kirk.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p> +<h2>Witchcraft and the Kirk.</h2> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By the Rev. R. Wilkins Rees.</span></p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">For</span> centuries belief in witchcraft was an article of faith with dour and +brooding Scots. The Scot was made by Scotland; the country stamped an +indelible impress on every characteristic of its inhabitants. With much +truth it has been said, “From the cradle to the grave the Scotch peasant +went his way attended by the phantoms of this mysterious world; always +recognising its warnings, always seeing the shadows which it cast of +coming events, and so burdening himself with a weight of grim and eëry +superstition, that we marvel he did not stumble and grow faint, seeing +that his dreary Calvinistic creed could have brought him little hope or +comfort. Nay, it is a question whether his superstition did not partly +grow out of, or was fostered by, his hard, cold religion. Superstition is +the shadow of Religion, and from the shadow we may infer the nature of the +substance or object that casts it.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>There are traditions concerning witchcraft, even earlier than that of the +fourth century which credits his Satanic Majesty with such a hatred of St. +Patrick’s sterling piety that he roused the whole tribe of witches against +him. St. Patrick fled from the determined assault, and finding, near the +mouth of the Clyde, a boat, set off in haste for Ireland. But running +water being ever an insuperable barrier in the path of a witch’s progress, +these emissaries of Satan tore up a huge rock and hurled it after the +departing saint. With the proverbial inaccuracy of feminine aim they +missed their mark, but the mass itself ultimately became the fortress of +Dumbarton. In those early days the marvels of witchcraft were great and +many—Holinshed, among others, has chronicled the same—and, at the close +of the seventh century, King Kenneth, fearful of his own safety and the +stability of his throne, decreed that jugglers, wizards, necromancers, and +such as call up spirits, “and use to seek upon them for helpe, let them be +burnt to death.”</p> + +<p>That persons accused of witchcraft suffered death is unquestionably true, +as in the cases of the Earl of Mar in 1479, and Lady Janet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> Douglas in +1537, the executions of whom are foul blots on the pages of history. But +it can hardly be said that it was witchcraft as an offence against +religion or as mere superstition that was so punished. It was rather +witchcraft in its political bearings—generally, in fact, as connected +with treason and not with sorcery—that received condemnation.</p> + +<p>But with the advent of Calvinism—the natural turn of the Scottish nation +for metaphysical discussion induced them to receive the doctrines of the +Reformation with general interest and favour—it would seem that the +“crime” of witchcraft was looked upon in a somewhat different light. In +1563 the Scottish Parliament by statute, for which John Knox was a chief +agitator, formally constituted witchcraft and dealing with witches a +capital offence. “That all who used witchcraft, sorcery, necromancy, or +pretended skill therein, and all consulters of witches and sorcerers, +should be punished capitally” (Erskine’s “Institutes,” p. 706). And +henceforth the irreligion of witchcraft caused it to be regarded as an +offence against the law of the country, and the Kirk and its connections +played an important part in the stern measures<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> adopted for its +suppression, doing their work with resolute determination and fanatical +zeal. The authority of the ministry was great; its influence +preponderated. Its friends were the allies, its opponents the enemies, of +heaven. The theocracy which the clergy asserted on behalf of the Kirk was +not so distinctly understood, or so prudently regulated, but that its +administrators too often interfered with the civil rule. Old Mellvin’s +words were suggestive of much when, grasping King James the Sixth’s +sleeve, he told him that in Scotland there were two kingdoms—that in +which he was acknowledged monarch, and that in which kings and nobles were +but God’s silly vassals; and the clergy were but too apt to assert the +superiority of the latter, which was visibly governed by the assembly of +the Kirk in the name of their unseen and omnipotent Head. To disobey the +king might be high treason, but to disobey the kirk, acting in the name of +the Deity, was a yet deeper crime, and was to be feared as incurring the +wrath which is fatal both to body and soul. With severity the Presbyterian +teachers inflicted church penances, and with rigour they assumed dominion +over the laity in all cases in which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> religion could be possibly alleged +as a motive or pretext, that is to say, in almost all cases whatever.</p> + +<p>Led by their clergy, and believing fully as they did in the literal +interpretation of all Biblical imagery and the personal appearances of the +devil, the people of Scotland waged a fierce unresting war against a great +number of ill-fated individuals, whose only ground for being attacked was +some physical or mental peculiarity, or who suffered simply because of the +malice or ignorance of their accusers. At one time, stupid justices, +instigated by foolish clergymen, consigned to torture and the stake almost +every old woman dragged before them, even though brought only by the spite +of malicious neighbours. In his preface to the <i>Bibliotheque de Carabas</i> +edition of Robert Kirk’s “Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns, and +Fairies,” Mr Andrew Lang says: “Some of the witches who suffered at +Presbyterian hands were merely narrators of popular tales about the state +of the dead. That she trafficked with the dead, and from a ghost won a +medical recipe for the cure of Archbishop Adamson of St. Andrews, was the +charge against Alison <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>Pearson.... ‘She was execut in Edinbruche for a +witch.’” On several occasions, commissions were issued by King James for +the purpose of “haulding Justice Courtis on Witches and Sorceraris.” The +commissioners gave warrants in their turn to the minister and elders of +each parish in the shire to examine suspected parties and to frame an +indictment against them. And as a rule the accused were overwhelmed by a +huge heap of rumoured or concocted evidence, composed of exaggeration, +prejudice, and credulity, wellnigh incredible. Even Sir George Mackenzie, +Lord Advocate of Scotland during the time of the greatest fury, admitted +the indiscretion of ministerial zeal, and recommended that the wisest +ministers should be chosen, and that those selected should proceed with +caution. “I own,” says the Rev. John Bell, Minister of the Gospel at +Gladsmuir, in his MS., “Discourse of Witchcraft,” 1705, “there has been +much harm done to worthy and innocent persons in the common way of finding +out witches, and in the means made use of for promoting the discovery of +such wretches, and bringing them to justice; that oftentimes old age, +poverty, features, and ill fame, with such like grounds, not worthy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> to be +represented to a magistrate, have yet moved many to suspect and defame +their neighbours, to the unspeakable prejudice of Christian charity; a +late instance whereof we had in the west, in the business of the sorceries +exercised upon the Laird of Bargarran’s daughter, anno 1697, a time when +persons of more goodness and esteem than most of their calumniators were +defamed for witches, and which was occasioned mostly by the forwardness +and absurd credulity of diverse otherwise worthy ministers of the gospel, +and some topping professors in and about the city of Glasgow.”</p> + +<p>In the last forty years of the sixteenth century, we have the astounding +aggregate of no less than eight thousand persons who suffered, almost +invariably by burning, for witchcraft. For about the first decade, not +more, perhaps, than forty were so punished in a year, but towards the +close of the period alluded to, the annual death-roll probably reached +five hundred. The total number of victims, strange to say, represented +even a larger proportion than those of the Holy Office, during a +corresponding space of time. That during one period the Kirk should have +been more disposed to kindle the pile than was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> the Inquisition, is, +without doubt, a startling fact.</p> + +<p>For a time, at any rate, the population seemed divided into only two great +classes, witches and witchfinders. The dark tales of witchcraft were not +even relieved by fairy folk-lore. There was, perhaps, no little truth in +what Cleland said in his “Effigies Clericorum,” when he attributed the +disappearance of Scottish fairies to the Reformation. In writing of +Parnassus, he proceeds:—</p> + +<p class="poem">“There’s als much virtue, sense, and pith,<br /> +In Annan, or the Water of Nith,<br /> +Which quietly slips by Dumfries,<br /> +Als any water in all Greece.<br /> +For there, and several other places,<br /> +About mill-dams, and green brae faces,<br /> +Both Elrich elfs and brownies stayed,<br /> +And green-gown’d fairies daunc’d and played:<br /> +When old John Knox, and other some,<br /> +Began to plott the Haggs of Rome;<br /> +Then suddenly took to their heels,<br /> +And did no more frequent these fields;<br /> +But if Rome’s pipes perhaps they hear,<br /> +Sure, for their interest they’ll compear<br /> +Again, and play their old hell’s tricks.”</p> + +<p>As far as fairydom survived, however, it was regarded as under the same +guilt as witchcraft.</p> + +<p>The harsh forbidding creed of the Kirk had its influence in every +direction; and music,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> instrumental at any rate, fell under its ban. +During the sway of the Covenant, indeed, the Scottish minstrels were +popularly supposed to be under the special care and protection of the +devil. The Reverend Robert Kirk, author of the “Secret Commonwealth,” +attributed certain impressions produced by music to diabolical influence. +“Irishmen,” says he, “our northern Scottish, and our Athole men are so +much addicted to, and delighted with harps and musick, as if, like King +Saul, they were possessed with a forrein sport; only with this difference, +that musick did put Saul’s play-fellow asleep, but roused and awaked our +men, vanquishing their own spirits at pleasure as if they were impotent of +its powers, and unable to command it; for wee have seen some poor beggars +of them chattering their teeth for cold, that how soon they saw the fire, +and heard the harp, leap thorow the house like goats and satyrs.” Without +enlarging on the subject, may we not conclude that such an estimate of +instrumental music as became common, especially in Covenanting days, had +much to do with the prolonged antipathy of the Kirk to its introduction in +worship?</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>But the Presbyterians went even further than this. At one time they +declared that the bishops were cloven-footed and had no shadows, and that +the curates themselves were, many of them, little better than wizards. The +Episcopalians seem to have been regarded by the Presbyterians with little +more favour than the Red Indians were by the early Puritan settlers in +America. The extraordinary story of Salem witchcraft shows us that the +Puritan clergy assured their people that the Red Indians were worshippers +and agents of Satan; and we can but faintly imagine the effect of this +belief on the minds and tempers of those who were thinking of the Indians +at every turn of daily life. The common people, always susceptible to +exaggeration, had been preached into such a holy hatred of popery that +they saw its type and shadow in everything which approached even to +decency in worship; so that, as a satirist expressed it, they thought it +impossible they could ever lose their way to heaven, provided they left +Rome behind them.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, John Knox was deemed a skilful wizard by the Catholics +in Scotland; it was even said that in the churchyard of St. Andrews he +raised Satan himself, wearing a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> huge pair of horns on his head, at which +blood-curdling sight Knox’s secretary became insane and died. And in old +Kirkton’s “Secret and True History,” in his picturesque account of the +curious scene which was witnessed in Lithgow upon the anniversary of the +King’s restoration, we see that the Episcopal party lost no favourable +opportunity of turning the tables on their opponents. In the pageant they +had an arch, in the midst of which was a litany:</p> + +<p class="poem">“‘From Covenants with uplifted hands,<br /> +From Remonstrators with associate bands,<br /> +From such Committees as govern’d this nation,<br /> +From Church Commissioners and their protestation,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Good Lord deliver us.’</span></p> + +<p>“They hade also the picture of Rebellion in religious habit, with the book +Lex Rex in one hand, and the causes of God’s wrath in the other, and this +in midst of rocks, and reels, and kirk stools, logs of wood, and spurs, +and covenants, acts of assembly, protestations, with this inscription, +‘<span class="smcap">Rebellion is the Mother of Witchcraft</span>.’”</p> + +<p>But Episcopacy was abhorrent to the people generally. A contemporary +writer—a Presbyterian—candidly remarks, “I have known some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> profane +people that, if they committed an error over night, thought affronting a +curate to-morrow a testimony of their repentance.” This religious +animosity had no doubt much to do with the belief that witchcraft was +common among the Episcopalian clergy. The Reverend James Kirkton (before +alluded to), a true son of the Kirk, writing at that time gravely relates, +amongst several similar accusations, that one Gideen Penman said grace at +the devil’s table as his chaplain; that one Thomson, the curate of +Anstruther, was a “diabolic man,” the wench who bore a lantern in front, +as he returned from a visit, “affirming that she saw something like a +black beast pass the bridge before him;” and that the hated Archbishop +Sharp, when assassinated, had “several strange things,” and, in +particular, “parings of nails,” about his person. Archbishop Sharp was +also charged with entertaining “the muckle black Deil” in his study at +midnight, and of being “levitated” and dancing in the air; and of +Archbishop Adamson, men of learning like James, nephew and companion of +Andrew Melville, believed that, as in the case of other witches, he had a +familiar in the form of a hare, which once ran before him down the +street.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>It is a curious circumstance, as Pitcairn in his “Criminal Trials” points +out, that in almost all the confessions of Scottish witches, their +initiation and many of their gatherings were said to have taken place +within churches, or at least the surrounding ground, and a certain +derisive form of service was carried out. James VI. of Scotland and I. of +England was, in the matter of witches, undoubtedly the greatest royal +expert that ever lived. His famous dialogue, “Dæmonologie,” in which he +carefully classifies witches, describes their ceremonials, and details +their various characteristics, did much to encourage popular credulity and +the spirit of persecution. “Witches,” he affirms, “ought to be put to +death, according to the laws of God, the civil and imperial law, and the +municipal law of all Christian nations; yea, to spare the life, and not +strike whom God bids strike, and so severely punish so odious a treason +against God, is not only unlawful, but, doubtless, as great a sin as was +Saul’s sparing Agag.” He even contended that, because the crime was +generally abominable, evidence in proof might be received which would be +rejected in other offences, and that the only means of escape to be +offered was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> through the ordeal. If we only remember that Luther said he +would burn every one of them, urging that there must be witches because +the Bible says, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,” we shall wonder +less at the credulity of the witch-hunting king.</p> + +<p>The principal witch cases and trials in Scotland may be said to date from +the conspiracy of devils to prevent James’s union with the Princess Anne +of Denmark. “An overwhelming tempest at sea during the voyage of these +anti-papal, anti-diabolic, royal personages was the appointed means of +their destruction.” To describe the trial of those who were implicated as +the human agents, even though it may be one of the most extraordinary and +weirdly fascinating stories in the annals of Scottish witchcraft, would be +beyond the scope of this article; it is fully related in an exceedingly +scarce black-letter pamphlet—“Newes from Scotland, declaring the damnable +Life of Doctor Fian, a notable Sorcerer, who was burned at Edenbrough in +Januarie last, 1591; which Doctor was Register to the Devill, that sundry +times preached at North-Baricke Kirke to a number of notorious Witches, +&c.” It may be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> noted, however, that “Agnis Sampson, which was the elder +witch,” at last confessed, “before the king’s majestie and his councell,” +“that upon the night of Allhollon-Even, shee was accompanied, as well with +the persons aforesaide, as also with a great many other witches, to the +number of two hundreth, and that all they together went to sea, each one +in a riddle, or cive, and went in the same very substantially, with +flaggons of wine, making merrie and drinking by the way in the same +riddles, or cives, to the kirke of North-Barrick, in Lowthian, and that +after they had landed, tooke handes on the lande, and daunced this reill, +or short daunce, singing all with one voice:—</p> + +<p class="poem">‘Commer, goe ye before, commer, goe ye;<br /> +Gif ye will not goe before, commer, let me!’</p> + +<p>At which time shee confessed, that this Geillis Duncane (another of those +charged) did goe before them, playing this reill or daunce uppon a small +trumpe, called a Jewe’s trumpe, untill they entered into the Kerk of +North-Barrick.</p> + +<p>“These confessions made the king in a wonderful admiration, and sent for +the saide Geillis Duncane, who, upon the like trumpe, did play the saide +daunce before the kinges majestie,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> who, in respect of the strangeness of +these matters, tooke great delight to be present at their examinations. +Item, the said Agnis Sampson confessed that the divell being then at North +Barrick Kirke, attending their comming, in the habit or likenesse of a +man, and seeing that they tarried over long, hee at their comming enjoyned +them all to a penance ... and having made his ungodly exhortations, +wherein he did greatly inveigh against the King of Scotland, he received +their oathes for their good and true service towards him, and departed; +which done, they returned to sea and so home again.</p> + +<p>“At which time the witches demanded of the divell, why he did beare such +hatred to the king? who answered, by reason the king is the greatest +enemie hee hath in the world.”</p> + +<p>Spottiswoode also tells a fantastic story in connection with this Agnes +Sampson, Dr John Fian, Geillie Duncan, and others, meeting the devil at +North Berwick kirk, of black candles round about the pulpit, of the devil +calling the roll and preaching a sermon, and of the rifling of three +graves for magical cookery. Of Francis, Earl of Bothwell, who was accused +of being associated with Dr Fian in his magical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> conspiracy against the +king, and who was also imprisoned for having conspired the king’s death by +sorcery, we have this note attached to a curious discourse, from Mr Robert +Bruce’s Sermons, preached at Edinburgh, November 9th, 1589—“At the which +time the Earle Bothwell made his publicke repentance in the church.” It +will not be forgotten that, in “Tam o’ Shanter,” Burns depicts a witches’ +meeting in Alloway Kirk:—</p> + +<p class="poem">“A winnock-bunker in the east,<br /> +There sat auld Nick, in shape o’ beast;<br /> +A towzie tyke, black, grim, and large,<br /> +To gie them music was his charge:<br /> +He screw’d the pipes and gart them skirl,<br /> +Till roof and rafters a’ did dirl.—<br /> +Coffins stood round like open presses,<br /> +That show’d the dead in their last dresses;<br /> +And by some devilish cantraip sleight<br /> +Each in its cauld hand held a light.”</p> + +<p>As typical of the evidence afforded by parochial inquisitions, and on +which death sentences were based, the following may be taken:—</p> + +<p>“Isabel Roby.—She is indicted to have bidden her gudeman, when he went to +St. Fergus to buy cattle, that if he bought any before his home-coming, he +should go three times ‘woodersonis’ about them, and then take three +‘ruggis’ off a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> dry hillock, and fetch home to her. Also, that dwelling at +Ardmair, there came in a poor man craving alms, to whom she offered milk, +but he refused it, because, as he then presently said, she had three +folks’ milk and her own in the pan; and when Elspet Mackay, then present, +wondered at it, he said, ‘Marvel not, for she has thy farrow kye’s milk +also in her pan.’ Also, she is commonly seen in the form of a hare, +passing through the town, for as soon as the hare vanishes out of sight, +she appears.”</p> + +<p>“Margaret Rianch, in Green Cottis, was seen in the dawn of the day by +James Stevens embracing every nook of John Donaldson’s house three times, +who continually thereafter was diseased, and at last died. She said to +John Ritchie, when he took a tack (a piece of ground) in the Green Cottis, +that his gear from that day forth should continually decay, and so it came +to pass. Also, she cast a number of stones in a tub, amongst water, which +thereafter was seen dancing. When she clips her sheep, she turns the bowl +of the shears three times in her mouth. Also, James Stevens saw her +meeting John Donaldson’s ‘hoggs’ (sheep a year old) in the burn of the +Green Cottis, and casting the water out between<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> her feet backward, in the +sheep’s face, and so they all died.”</p> + +<p>These charges were considered sufficient by the Presbytery of Kincardine, +and were duly signed by “Mr Jhone Ros, Minister at Lumphanan.”</p> + +<p>The following, under date February 8th, 1719, will, however, more clearly +illustrate the manner in which an accused person was examined by Kirk +authority:—</p> + +<p>“The said day, Mr William Innes, minister of Thurso, having interrogat +Margaret Nin-Gilbert, who was apprehended Fryday last, on suspicion of +witchcraft, as follows:—1<i>mo</i>, Being interrogat, If ever there was any +compact between her and the devil? Confessed, That as she was travelling +some time bygone, in ane evening, the devill met with her in the way in +the likeness of a man, and engaged her to take on with him, which she +consented to; and that she said she knew him to be the devil or he parted +with her. 2<i>do</i>, Being interrogat, If ever the devil appeared afterwards +to her? Confessed, That sometimes he appeared in the likeness of a great +black horse, and other times riding on a black horse, and that he appeared +sometimes in the likeness of a black<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> cloud, and sometimes like a black +henn. 3<i>to</i>, Being interrogat, If she was in the house of William +Montgomerie, mason in the Burnside of Scrabster, especially on that night +when that house was dreadfully infested with severall catts, to that +degree that W. M. foresaid was obliged to use sword, durk, and ax in +beating and fraying away these catts? Confessed, That she was bodily +present yr, and that the said M. had broke her legg either by the durk or +ax, which legg since has fallen off from the other part of her body; and +that she was in the likeness of a feltered cat, night forsaid, in the said +house; and that Margaret Olsone was there in the likeness of a catt also, +who, being stronger than she, did cast her on Montgomerie’s durk when her +legg was broken. 4<i>to</i>, Being interrogat, How she could be bodily present +and yet invisible? Declares, She might have been seene, but could give no +account by what means her body was rendered invisible. She declares, that +severall other women were present there that night in the other end of the +house. Being interrogat, How they came not to be seene, seeing they were +not there in the likeness of catts, as were others condescended on? +Declares, The devil<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> did hide and conceall them by raising a dark mist or +fog to skreen them from being seen.... 6<i>to</i>, Being interrogat, What +brought her and her accomplices to Montgomerie’s house? Answered, They +were doing no harm there. To which Mr Innes replyed, that the disturbing +and infesting a man’s house with hideous noises, and cryes of catts, was a +great wrong done to him, having a natural tendency to fright the family +and children. The premisses are attested to be the ingenuous confession of +Margaret Nin-Gilbert, <i>alias</i> Gilbertson, by William Innes, minister of +Thurso.... <i>Nota</i>, That upon a vulgar report of witches having the devil’s +marks in their bodies, Margaret Olsone being tryed in the shoulders, where +there were severall small spots, some read, some blewish, after a needle +was driven in with great force almost to the eye, she felt it not. Mr +Innes and Mr Oswald, ministers, were witnesses to this.” In another case +it is recorded that “Mr John Aird, minister, put a prin in the accused’s +shoulder (where she carries the devill’s mark) up to the heid, and no +bluid followed theiron, nor she shrinking thereat.”</p> + +<p>The foregoing “dittay,” conjointly with the confessions of so many of the +accused, inevitably<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> prompts the anxious question—how could it be that +these persons declared themselves guilty of an impossible offence when the +admission must have sealed their doom? The assumption that the victim +preferred being killed at once to living on, subject to suspicion, insult, +and ill-will, under the imputation of having dealt with the devil, cannot +here, any more than in the astounding cases recorded in connection with +Salem witchcraft, cover anything like the whole ground. There can be +little doubt now that the sufferers under nervous disturbances, the +subjects of abnormal conditions, found themselves in possession of strange +faculties, and thought themselves able to do new and wonderful things. +When urged to explain how it was, they perhaps could only suppose that it +was by some “evil spirit,” and except where there was an intervening +agency to be named, the only supposition was that the intercourse between +the Evil Spirit and themselves was direct. It is impossible, as an +Edinburgh Reviewer has remarked, even now to witness the curious phenomena +of somnambulism and catalepsy without a keen sense of how natural and even +inevitable it was for similar subjects of the middle ages and in Puritan<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> +times to believe themselves ensnared by Satan, and actually endowed with +his gifts, and to confess their calamity, as the only relief to their +scared and miserable minds. It would also seem as though some of these +unfortunate women credited themselves with certain powers because others +so credited them, and believed that they could perform deeds of witchcraft +because their neighbours declared they could.</p> + +<p>But let us turn again to the Kirk Session Records, than which we can find +no better sources of information. During the years 1649-1650, for +instance, the witch fires seemed never to have ceased burning. In the +Lowlands one, John Kincaid, and another, George Cathie, were expert +searchers. In 1650 the Presbytery of Biggar called on the Presbytery of +Haddington, as well as the civil power, to secure Cathie’s services +whenever they were required. In 1649 John Kincaid received from the +minister and elders of Stowe for the “broding of Margret Durham, 6lb.” His +colleage Cathie once condemned as witches twelve people in +Crauford-Douglas on the evidence of a lunatic.</p> + +<p>And here are a few significant extracts from the Tyninghame Kirk Session +Records:—“January<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> 11, 1629.—This day James Fairlie preichit, the +minister being at Edinr., at comand of the presbiterie, to assist Mr Js. +Home, minister at Dunbar, anent the tryall of ane woman suspect of +witchcraft in the parish of Dunbar—viz., Issbell Yong, in Eist Barns.” +She was accused of both inflicting and curing diseases, and was burnt for +witchcraft. “17 September 1649.—Janet Nicolson execut and brunt at Hails +for witchcraft. 25 November.—Item: According to the ordinance, he +intimate out of the pulpit if any had any delations against Agnes Raleigh, +in East Barns, suspect of witchcraft, and apprehendit there for that, they +come to the session of Dunbar upon Tysday, or the presbyterie on Thursday +next. On Monday the witches at Wittinghame brunt, being three in number. 9 +December.—Intimation maid from the pulpit anent Patrick Yorston and +Christian Yorston, in Wittinghame, if any in this parish either knew or +have any delations against both or either of them, that they show it to +the kirk-session. 6 January 1650.—Some of our pepell confronted with some +witches in Prestonkirk parish. 13 January.—The minister demandit the +elders if they knew of any suspect of witchcraft, and shew them that they +were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> to search diligentlie such as are delated be the witches at +Prestonkirk parish, when the searchers cam. Upon Tysday ane man in +Wittinghame brunt for witchcraft. Upon Wednesday, the 23 of January, six +people at Staintoune parish brunt. 3 February.—Item: Reported that the +searchers of the witches were not yet returned from the southe, and in the +meantime that Agnes Kirkland and David Stewart shall be apprehendit. On +Thursday Agnes Kirkland and David Stewart, bothe of this parish, were +imprisoned. Wednesday.—I (the minister) went to Dunbar, being ordained +thairto, whair ten witches were execut.</p> + +<p>“10 February.—This day the session sett doon orders aboot the watching of +those that are apprehendit for witchcraft nichtlie, appointing ane roll of +all the parishe to be taken up and six to watch everie nicht, and twa +everie day thair, tyme aboot in order, qlk accordinglie was done. Upon the +20 of February the searcher in Tranent cam and found the mark on those +that were suspect of witchcraft, and shortlie thairafter they confessit. 3 +Mairch.—Item: Ordains the watch to be keipit preceisely, and ane elder to +watch everie nicht in turn with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> them, qlk they did, and promeisit to +continue. The minister shew his diligence in going to those suspect of +witchcraft, both in the day and nicht-time, in examining of them, and in +praying for them, both privatelie and publiklie, and performing all the +other duties recognisit or practised in such cases, qlk the session +heartilie and unanimouslie acknowledge and approved. Upon Tysday, the 1st +Mairch, the pepell given up be Agnes Kirkland and David Stewart, both in +this parish and Prestonkirk parish, confronted with them, and did pass +from some and stand by others. 29 Mairch.—Appoints the watch to be better +keipit, qlk they promeisit to do. 31 Mairch.—Item: Because the commission +anent the witches was not as yet come, it was thocht gude to have ane cair +of them still. The elders shew it was hard to get pepell to watch all the +day, albeit the watch was preceisly keipit all the nicht; and thairfor it +behoved them to tak something out of the box, or rather to borrow it, to +give to some wha had watched this eight days byegane—viz., Robert Nisbet +and George Ker, given to them 3lbs., and efter the burning of the witches. +7 April.—Item: The minister shew to the elders anent David<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> Stewart and +Agnes Kirkland, that now the commission to put them to assize had come +eist to our hands, and that some that were appointed and put in the same +did meet heir on Setterday, and appointed all things to be done, and in +what manner; and Tysday next to be the day wherin to put them to an +assize; and thairfor to appoint the watch to be well observed this twa +nichts to come, and all the elders and honest men to be present on Tysday, +wherunto they consentit. 9, Tysday, 1650.—David Stewart and Agnes +Kirkland were execut. 14 April.—George Shorthous intromits with what +belongs to Agnes Kirkland; promeisit to the session 12lbs. out of Agnes +Kirkland’s readiest gudes and gear, and find the box lykwys, if by any +means he culd.” There is no necessity to add anything to the ghastly +simplicity of such sentences as these.</p> + +<p>The expenses incurred in these matters by the Kirk cannot be considered +trifling. There are significant entries like the following: “21 July +1661.—Given for candle to watch the witch, 11s.;” but much fuller +statements are also given. In 1633 two poor victims, “William Coke and +Alison Dick, witches,” were burned, as the Kirk<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> Session Records testify, +on the sands at Kirkcaldy. And in connection with that event these were +the “Extraordinary Disbursements”:—</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="table"> +<tr><td align="right"><i>In primus</i>—</td><td>To Mr John Millar when he went to Prestoun for a man to try them,</td><td><span class="spacer"> </span></td> + <td align="right">£2</td><td><span class="spacer"> </span></td> + <td align="right">7</td><td><span class="spacer"> </span></td> + <td align="right">0</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td>To the man of Culross when he went away the first time,</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">0</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">12</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">0</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Item—</td><td>For cales for the witches,</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">1</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">4</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">0</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Item—</td><td>For purchasing the commission,</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">0</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">3</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">0</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Item—</td><td>For one to go to Finmouth for the Laird to sit upon their assize as judge,</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">0</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">6</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">0</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Item—</td><td>For harden to be jumps to them,</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">3</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">10</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">0</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Item—</td><td>For making of them,</td><td> </td> + <td class="botbor" align="right">0</td><td class="botbor"> </td> + <td class="botbor" align="right">6</td><td class="botbor"> </td> + <td class="botbor" align="right">0</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="right">Summa, Kirk’s part,</td><td> </td> + <td class="botbor2" align="right">£17</td><td class="botbor2"> </td> + <td class="botbor2" align="right">10</td><td class="botbor2"> </td> + <td class="botbor2" align="right">0</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><i>In primus</i>—</td><td>For 10 loads of coal to burn them,</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">£3</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">6</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">8</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Item—</td><td>For a tar barrel,</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">0</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">14</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">0</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Item—</td><td>For towes,</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">0</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">6</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">0</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Item—</td><td>To him that brought the executioner,</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">2</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">18</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">0</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Item—</td><td>To the executioner for his pains,</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">8</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">14</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">0</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Item—</td><td>For his expenses here,</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">0</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">16</td><td> </td> + <td align="right">4</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Item—</td><td>For one to go to Finmouth for the Laird,</td><td> </td> + <td class="botbor" align="right">0</td><td> </td> + <td class="botbor" align="right">6</td><td> </td> + <td class="botbor" align="right">0</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="right">Summa, Toun’s part,</td><td> </td> + <td class="botbor2" align="right">£17</td><td class="botbor2"> </td> + <td class="botbor2" align="right">1 </td><td class="botbor2"> </td> + <td class="botbor2" align="right">0</td></tr></table> + +<p>The other items, the cost of which would bring the “Summa, Kirk’s part,” +to £17, 10s., are not supplied.</p> + +<p>The severity with which the witches were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> sometimes treated during +imprisonment is sufficiently indicated by the following entries, 1597:—</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td><i>Item.</i></td><td class="dent">To Alexander Reid, smyth, for twa pair of scheckellis to the Witches in the Stepill,</td> + <td align="right">xxxii<i>sh.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td><i>Item.</i></td><td class="dent">To John Justice, for burning upon the cheik of four seurerall personis suspect of witchcraft and baneschit,</td> + <td align="right">xxvi<i>sh.</i> viii<i>d.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td><i>Item.</i></td><td class="dent">Givin to Alexander Home, for macking of joggis, stapillis, and lockis to the witches, during the haill tyme forsaid,</td> + <td align="right">xlvi<i>sh.</i> viii<i>d.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td class="dent">Expense on witches, aucht-score,</td><td align="right">xlii<i>li.</i> xvii<i>sh.</i> iiii<i>d.</i></td></tr></table> + +<p>It could not be supposed that ministers, who were so zealous in attacking +witchcraft, would be permitted by the supernatural powers to go scot-free. +In the evidence given in the Mohra witch commission, held in Sweden in +1670, the minister of the district testified that having been suffering +from a painful headache, he could account for the unusual severity of the +attack only by supposing that the witches had celebrated one of their +infernal dances upon his head while asleep in bed; and one of them, in +accordance with this conjecture, acknowledged that the devil had sent her +with a sledgehammer to drive a nail into the temples of the obnoxious +clergyman, but the hardness of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> skull mercifully saved him. And in +Scotland the Renfrewshire witches were charged with roasting the effigy of +a Rev. Mr Hardy, after having dipped it into a decoction composed of ale +and water; while, in 1622, one of the accusations against Margaret +Wallace, burnt for witchcraft, was “that being conveined before the Kirk +Session of Glasco 5 or 6 years since, by Mr Archibald Glen, minister at +Carmunnock, for killing Robert Muir, his good brother, by witchcraft; she, +to be revenged, laid on him ane uncouth sickness, whereof the said Mr +Archibald, sweating, died; to which it was answered, that in truth the +said Mr Archibald died of a consumption of his lights.” In a curious +sheet, “Endorism, or a strange Relation of Dreamers or Spirits that +trouble the Minister’s House of Kinross,” we read how a minister was +molested in 1718. For some time “they could eat no meat but what was full +of pins”; “a stone thrown down the chimney wambled a space in the floor, +and then took a flight out at the window. Also there was thrown in the +fire the minister’s Bible, which would not burn; but a plate and two +silver spoons thrown in, melted immediately; also what bread is fired, +were the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> meal never so fine, it’s all made useless; and many other +things, which are both needless and sinful to mention. Now, is it not very +sad that such a good and godly family should be so molested, that employ +their time no other way but by praying, reading, and serious meditation, +while others, who are wicked livers all their lifetime, and avowedly serve +that wicked one, are never troubled.”</p> + +<p>And let it not be inferred that Kirk Sessions were, without exception, +quick to condemn. We find in the records of the Kirk Session at Eastwood +that a woman, who was delated for using charms at Hallow-even and who +confessed, was sentenced to be rebuked before the congregation; and in the +records of Lanark Presbytery (1630), that another woman, charged with +consulting with charmers and “burying a child’s clothes betwixt three +lairds’ lands for health,” was saved by penitence from punishment. And +sometimes the consideration of cases, far more serious than these in the +eyes of the grave Kirk Session, was wisely postponed, and postponed for +ever, for we hear no more of the matter.</p> + +<p>But in 1735 the reaction, which had long made itself felt, found something +like adequate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> expression in the repeal of the statutes against +witchcraft, and, notwithstanding the action of such as the Seceders from +the Established Church of Scotland, who inveighed against this repeal as +iniquitous, prosecutions for witchcraft entirely ceased. These “Seceders,” +who claimed to be the real representatives of the Church’s teaching, were +so offended that, in the annual Confession of National and Personal Sins, +printed in an act of their Associate Presbytery at Edinburgh, 1743, the +Penal Statutes against witches are specially mentioned as having been +repealed by Parliament, contrary to the express Law of God!</p> + +<p>And with this reference the consideration of witchcraft and the Kirk may +conveniently and appropriately end.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<h2>Birth and Baptisms, Customs and Superstitions.</h2> + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">Some</span> strange customs, the origin of which does not appear to have been +traced, but which probably came down from the dark ages of Celtic +paganism, were performed in bygone times on the birth of a child. When +such an important event in family history was expected, a rich cheese was +made, which, when the anticipation was realised, was divided among the +women who, on such occasions, were injudiciously allowed to crowd the +chamber. A lighted slip of fir-wood was whirled three times round the bed, +with the superstitious idea of averting evil influences. The new-born babe +was next dipped into a vessel of cold water, tempered in a very slight +degree by dropping a burning coal into it. This may have been done with +the Spartan idea of rendering the child hardy. If a boy, it was afterwards +wrapped in a woman’s chemise; if a girl, in a man’s shirt. The idea +underlying this custom is not clear. Women were not allowed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> to touch the +child without first crossing themselves. The tiny creature was not to be +referred to in terms of admiration, lest it should be “forespoken,” which +implied consequences prejudicial to its future welfare.</p> + +<p>After the mother’s recovery, friends and neighbours assembled to +congratulate the parents, and drink to the child’s future prosperity. This +gathering was known as the <i>cummer-fealls</i>, or the gossips’ wake, +concerning which custom the Kirk Session of Dunfermline made, in 1645, one +of the most sensible enactments to be found on the minutes of those +bodies. Considering, it is recorded, “the inconveniences arising +therefrom, as mainly the loss and abusing of so much time, which may be +better employed in attending to business at home, by such as frequent the +occasions thereof, and the prejudice which persons lying in child-bed +receive, both in health and means, being forced, not only to bear company +to such as come to visit, but also to provide for their coming more than +is either necessary or their estate may bear,” the Session inhibited “all +visits of this kind, and for the end foresaid, under the pain of being, +for the first fault, censured by the Session, and there to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> obliged to +acknowledge their fault, and, for the next, to make public confession of +their fault before the whole congregation.”</p> + +<p>Other singular practices were observed in connection with the baptism of a +child. It was placed in a basket, on which a white cloth was spread, with +some bread and cheese, and the basket was suspended by a crook over the +fireplace, and swung round three times. This was said to be done to +counteract the evil influence of fairies and other malignant spirits. The +bread and cheese were offered to the first person met on the way to the +church, and rejection of it was thought to presage future evil to the +babe. When several children were baptised at the same time, the boys were +presented for the rite first, for it was thought that, if a girl obtained +priority, she would in after time be disfigured by a beard.</p> + +<p>Baptism was at one time refused to the children of persons outside the +communion of the Reformed Church. In 1567, the Countess of Argyle was +ordered by the Assembly to “make public repentance in the chapel royal of +Stirling, one Sunday, in time of preaching,” for assisting at the baptism +of the royal infant, afterwards<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> James VI., “in a papistical manner.” And +even in 1716, registration of baptism was refused to the child of Harry +Foulis, son of Sir James Foulis, on the ground that it had been baptised +by a minister of the Episcopal Church. Thereupon the father procured the +baptismal register from the session clerk, and made the entry himself, +appending a statement of the circumstances.</p> + +<p>The sacrament of baptism has been the subject of much controversy in the +Scottish church, especially in the seventeenth century, when everyone born +north of the Tweed seems to have been, more or less, a theological +disputant. In the First Book of Discipline, in the framing of which Knox +had much to do, it was laid down that, “In baptism, we acknowledge nothing +to be used except the element of water only; wherefore, whosoever +presumeth to use oil, salt, wax, spittle, conjuration, and crossing, +accuseth the perfect institution of Jesus Christ of imperfection, for it +was void of all such inventions devised by men.” The abjuring of +conjuration seems to refer to a formula of exorcism prescribed by the +first Prayer Book of Edward VI., to be used in the rite of baptism.</p> + +<p>Concerning the use of the cross in baptism<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> there has been an enormous +amount of controversy, and very opposite views are still held. Dr Renaud, +who wrote a ponderous volume on the subject in 1607, says: “It is as unfit +to make a cross a memorial of Christ as for a child to make much of the +halter or gallows wherewith his father was hanged.” The Service Book of +1637 enjoined the use of the cross in baptism, and as that book is said, +by Spalding, to have been introduced in many parts of the country, it may +be concluded that the practice existed thereafter in some Scotch churches. +As to other baptismal ceremonies, Dr Edgar observes, in his “Old Church +Life in Scotland,” that the principles laid down by Knox “are the +principles on which the Church of Scotland has always acted. She has +uniformly endeavoured, except during a brief interlude of Anglican +innovation prior to 1638, to make her sacramental forms square with the +pattern and precepts set before her in Scripture.”</p> + +<p>Another question concerning which there has been much controversy, is the +lawfulness or otherwise of private baptism. In 1618, when the historically +famous “five articles,” framed by James I., as king of both England and +Scotland,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> were sent to the General Assembly for sanction and approval, +their adoption by that body raised a storm of indignation and opposition +which was not allayed until they were abjured by the General Assembly in +1638, and the proceedings of the Assembly held at Perth in 1618 were +declared null and void.</p> + +<p>One of the articles objected to was that which pronounced “that baptism +might be administered at home when the infant could not conveniently be +brought to church.” This was objected to as papistical, and denounced as +introducing a new and false doctrine of baptism, calculated to create a +superstitious belief that there was some spiritual efficacy in the act of +sprinkling a few drops of water on an infant’s face, in the name of the +Trinity, thereby giving ground for the belief that baptism is essential to +salvation. This doctrine, though taught by the Church of England, has not +been accepted by the Church of Scotland since the Reformation.</p> + +<p>Moreover, as non-attendance at the services of the Church was regarded as +contrary to good order, it was objected that the administration of baptism +in private houses would allow Christian privileges to be enjoyed without +compliance with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> Christian duty. If a child was to be accepted and +declared a member of the Church, the act should be performed by the whole +congregation, and not by the minister alone. For at least a hundred years +this was strongly and firmly insisted upon. Some doubt seems to have been +felt in 1643, as to whether the Westminster Assembly would adopt the +Scottish view of the question, as baptisms were very commonly performed in +private houses by ministers of the English Presbyterian Church. It was +with much satisfaction, therefore, that the news was received in Scotland +that the Assembly had affirmed the necessity of public baptism.</p> + +<p>The Directory for Public Worship in the Presbyterian Church states, +accordingly, that baptism “is not to be administered in private places, or +privately, but in the place of public worship, and in the face of the +congregation, where the people may most conveniently see and hear; and not +in the places where fonts, in the time of Popery, were unfitly and +superstitiously placed,” that is, near the church door, and behind the +backs of the congregation. The view held by Presbyterians since the +Reformation thus became the law of the Church; and the General<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> Assembly, +in 1690, strictly enjoined that baptism should not be administered +elsewhere than in church, and before the congregation. But in this matter, +as in some others, there appears to have been a laxity in enforcing the +rule of the church, which has gone on increasing. Wodrow stated, in 1718, +that private baptisms were unknown in the Church of Scotland, except in +Edinburgh and Glasgow; and only two years later the Synod of Glasgow and +Ayr had to repeat the injunction of 1690. What the state of things in this +respect is at the present day we are told by Dr Edgar, who, as minister of +Mauchline, must be considered to speak from experience. He says that, “in +some parishes there are ten private baptisms for every one public baptism; +and these private baptisms are never challenged as irregular, unlawful, or +deserving of censure.”</p> + +<p>Registers of baptisms have been kept, with more or less regularity, from +the time of the Reformation; and these show that, in some parishes at +least, private baptisms had become very frequent about the middle of the +eighteenth century. In referring to the evidence of the parish register of +Mauchline on this matter,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> the writer just quoted says: “Although such +baptisms were a violation of Church order, I cannot help remarking that +Church order was not, in this instance, clearly founded on the evangelical +principle professed by our forefathers, that all procedure in Church +ritual should be conform to the precept or example of Scripture. It seems +quite certain that, in the days of the Apostles, baptism was not always, +if ever, administered in the place of public worship and in the face of +the congregation. The eunuch of Ethiopia, Cornelius the centurion, St. +Paul himself, and the gaoler at Philippi were each baptised privately.”</p> + +<p>The Church of Scotland has been more strict in upholding the rule of the +Westminster Directory, that baptism “is not to be administered, in any +case, by any private person.” This also, it may be remarked, is not in +strict accordance with the principle of the Christian Church in its early +ages, as set forth by some of the Fathers; and down even to the present +day the Church of England, while discountenancing lay baptism as a rule, +has recognised its validity in cases of necessity. The recorded instances +of refusal to admit evidence of lay<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> baptism in the Church of Scotland +are, however, chiefly cases in which the rite had been performed by +deposed ministers. In 1708, a Kilmarnock man was cited to appear before +the Kirk Session for having had a child irregularly baptised by a deposed +minister, namely, Macmillan, the founder of the Reformed Presbyterian +Church. No further proceedings appear, however, to have been taken. +Similar cases occurred in 1715 and 1721, the General Assembly in the +former case, and the Presbytery of Ayr in the latter, merely pronouncing +the baptisms null and void.</p> + +<p>Some differences have to be noted between the Churches of Scotland and +England with regard to the forms and customs connected with baptisms. The +former is the more strict with regard to the sponsors of the children to +be baptised. The Westminster Directory states that the child is to be +presented at the font by its father, or in the case of his unavoidable +absence, by some Christian friend in his place; and in 1712 the General +Assembly enacted that no other sponsor than a parent should be received at +a baptism, “unless the parents be dead, or absent, or grossly ignorant, or +under<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> scandal, or contumacious to discipline; in which cases, some fit +person (and if it can be, one related to the child,) should be sponsor.”</p> + +<p>Not only was the Church more strict in this matter in Scotland than in +England, but the nature of the sponsion was different. In Knox’s Liturgy, +the sponsors are not regarded as proxies for the child, but are required +to make a declaration of their own faith, in which they engage to instruct +the child. As the matter is well put by Dr Hill, “the parents do not make +any promise for the child, but they promise for themselves that nothing +shall be wanting, on their part, to engage the child to undertake, at some +future time, that obligation which he cannot then understand.”</p> + +<p>In the latter half of the seventeenth and the first of the eighteenth +century, the Kirk Sessions had as much to do in repressing undue +gatherings at the font as on the occasion of wedding festivities. In 1622 +the Kirk Session of Aberdeen, considering “that it is come in custom that +every base servile man in the town, when he has a bairn to be baptised, +invites twelve or sixteen persons to be his gossips and god-fathers to his +bairn,” whereas the old custom was not to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> invite more than two, ordered +that in future only two or at most four persons should be allowed to +appear in that capacity. In 1681 an Act of Parliament prohibited the +attendance at baptisms of more than four witnesses, in addition to parents +and children, brothers and sisters; and in 1720 the Kirk Session of +Kilmarnock made an ordinance that “only so many women as are necessary +attend infants that are carried to the church to be baptised, and the +Session think three sufficient.”</p> + +<p>Down to the time of the Westminster Assembly, it seems to have been the +custom in Scotland for parents, at the baptism of a child, to repeat the +Creed. But in the Westminster Directory the father is merely required to +promise that he will bring up the child “in the nurture and admonition of +the Lord.” Nevertheless, many Kirk Sessions overlaid this requirement with +regulations of their own devising. In 1615, the Kirk Session of Lasswade +ordained that “no children of ignorant persons be baptised, except the +father first lay one poynd of ten shillings, and a month shall be granted +to learn the Lord’s Prayer, Belief, and Ten Commandments, with some +competent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> knowledge of the sacraments and catechism, which he performing, +his poynd shall be returned, otherwise forfeited.” In 1700 an application +to the Kirk Session of Galston for the baptism of a child was refused, on +the ground that the father “did not attend diets of catechising.” On his +promising to attend in future, and submitting to rebuke for his previous +non-attendance, the child was allowed to be baptised. More than +three-quarters of a century later, that is, in 1779, a man who had applied +to the Kirk Session of Mauchline for the baptism of a child was subjected +to a theological examination much too stiff for him; but on promising to +study the knotty points propounded to him, and signing an undertaking to +that effect in the minute-book, he was allowed to present the child for +baptism, though the permission seems to have been regarded as a great +favour.</p> + +<p>As in England, so also in Scotland, the registration of baptisms was +required at a period long antecedent to the statutary obligation to +register births. Old sessional records show that fees were paid, but it is +a disputed question whether these were for baptism or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> for registration. +Dunlop, in his “Parochial Law,” quotes a legal opinion to the effect that +“as to baptisms, what is paid on that account is for obtaining the Kirk +Session’s order for baptism, and recording that order.” But an entry in +the records of the Kirk Session of Galston, in 1640, after prescribing the +fee to be paid for baptism, adds—“and there shall be no more exacted of +any that come to this kirk for all time coming, except they desire the +baptism registered, and in that case to satisfy the reader therefore, +which is hereby declared to be other four shillings Scottish.”</p> + +<p>There are several curious entries in Kirk Sessional Records, showing that +those parochial bodies were as zealous in restricting the customary +festivities at christening parties as they have, in another paper, been +shown to have been in repressing undue feasting at weddings. With respect +of the former, the interference of Kirk Sessions was preceded by that of +the Scottish Parliament, by which assembly it was enacted, in 1581, “that +no banquets shall be at any upsitting after baptising of bairns in time +coming, under the pain of twenty pounds, to be paid by every person doing +the contrary.” In<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> 1621 it was further enacted that, “no person use any +manner of dessert of wet and dry confections at marriage banqueting, +baptism feasting, or any meals, except the fruits growing in Scotland, as +also figs, raisins, plum dames, almonds and other unconfected fruits, +under the pain of a thousand marks <i>toties quoties</i>.”</p> + +<p>These enactments appear, however, to have had little effect. In 1695 the +Kirk Session of Greenock ordained that “persons having their children +baptised on the Sabbath day abstain from keeping banquets and convening +people at such occasions on that day, whereby much idle discourse and sin +may be evited.” In 1701 it was very seriously complained by the Kirk +Session of Kilmarnock that feasts continued to be held on Sundays after +baptisms, and it was ordered that children should be baptised on the +weekly sermon day (Thursday), except in case of necessity. But, either +through attachment to old customs, or want of inclination to attend the +week-day sermon, children continued to be presented for baptism on Sunday, +and in 1720 the Session again ordered “that none make or hold feasts at +baptising their children on the Lord’s day.”</p> + +<p>In conformity with the Registration Act for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> Scotland, passed in 1854, all +parish registers are deposited in the Registry Office then established in +Edinburgh. Most of the registers of births commence about the middle of +the seventeenth century, those of only fifteen parishes, out of about nine +hundred, dating from the preceding century. The register of baptisms of +Errol, Perthshire, commences in 1553, but the entries for the years +preceding 1573 are transcribed from an older register which has been lost. +Many of the older registers have been injured by damp, others by fire, and +not a few have suffered from the negligence of their custodians. In many +of them blanks occur. In some instances session clerks of the sixteenth +century recorded in their registers events unconnected with their own +parishes. The clerk of the Kirk Session of Aberdeen made an entry in the +register of the birth of James VI., who was born at Edinburgh, loyally and +piously adding, in the curious spelling of the period (which in previous +extracts in this paper, has been modernised,) “quhame God preserve in guid +helth and in the feir of God, to do justice in punishing of wrayng and in +manttinyen the trewht all the dais of his lyfe. So be itt.”</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span></p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<h2>Marriage Laws and Customs.</h2> + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">The</span> laws relating to marriage differ so much in Scotland from those under +which dwellers south of the Tweed live, that no comparison of social and +religious life in the two countries can be made without knowledge of them. +In no part of Christendom have the ecclesiastical laws relating to the +relations of the sexes been more strict, or more strictly enforced, than +in Scotland, and in no other have there been more irregularities. It was +not until more than twenty years after the Reformation that the custom of +“handfasting,” which had come down from old Celtic times, fell into +disrepute and consequent disuse. By this term was understood cohabitation +for a year, the couple being then free to separate, unless they agreed to +make the union permanent. Lindsay, the chronicler, says of Alexander +Dunbar, son of the sixth Earl of Moray, and Isobel Innes,—“This Isobel +was but handfast with him, and deceased before the marriage.” When<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> +Margaret, widow of James IV., sued for a divorce from the Earl of Angus, +she pleaded that he had been handfasted to Jane Douglas, “and by reason of +that pre-contract could not be her lawful husband.” How such marriages +were regarded at that time is shown by the fact that the marriage was +dissolved by the Pope, though the issue of the Queen’s marriage with Angus +was pronounced legitimate.</p> + +<p>Sir John Sinclair’s “Statistical Account of Scotland” contains a report +from the minister of Eskdale Muir, referring to the practice of +handfasting as existing in that parish, under ecclesiastical sanction, at +a period anterior to the Reformation. At a fair held there, unmarried men +chose women to be handfasted with them, and a monk from Melrose Abbey +visited the place annually, to marry those couples who wished the union to +be made permanent. The first check given to the practice appears to have +been the decree of the Kirk Session of Aberdeen, in 1562, that persons +cohabiting under the sanction of a handfast contract of marriage should be +united in lawful wedlock. But though this practice was discontinued, and +those who wished to be thought respectable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> obtained the blessing of the +Church on their marriage, irregularities continued to exist, and even to +be permitted. An acknowledgment by a couple that they were husband and +wife, either orally or in writing, followed or preceded by cohabitation, +was regarded as a valid marriage, both by the Church and by society. In +1563, however, the General Assembly of the Church ruled that no contract +of marriage so made should be recognised until the parties had submitted +themselves to the discipline of the Church, and the contract had been +verified by witnesses of good repute.</p> + +<p>The custom of betrothal was very general, but it varied in form in +different parts of the kingdom. The presentation of an “engagement ring,” +as in England, is not found among these forms, nor does it appear that the +sanction of parents was thought necessary; but after the contract was made +it was usual for them to be informed and their sanction sought. Among the +upper and middle classes there was usually a betrothal feast, but among +the classes living by manual labour this was dispensed with. Dr Rogers +says, in his “Social Life in Scotland,” that—“In betrothal, the parties +usually moistened<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> with the tongue the thumbs of their right hands, and +then pressed them together. The violation of a contract so consecrated was +considered tantamount to an act of perjury.” Another form of betrothal was +the clasping of hands across a stream. In this way Burns, the laureate of +the Scottish peasantry, and Mary Campbell vowed fidelity. In some counties +silver coins were exchanged by plighted lovers, or a worn one was broken +between them, each retaining one of the halves.</p> + +<p>Marriages regarded by the ecclesiastical courts and Kirk Sessions as +“regular” have always, from a long period anterior to the Reformation, +been preceded by the publication of banns. In 1569 a case came before the +General Assembly which shows the successive steps taken at that time +before the solemnisation of a marriage. It is recorded that “ane promise +of marriage made, before the readers and elders, in ane reformit church, +the parties contractit compeirs before the minister and session, and +requires their banns to be proclaimit.” In 1575 the question came before +the General Assembly, whether the form of mutual declaration prior to the +publication of banns should be longer continued; and it was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> ruled that it +should be considered sufficient for the names of the parties desiring +proclamation of banns to be given to the session clerk. Banns were ordered +to be published, as in England, on three successive Sundays; but, after +the Reformation, it was ruled that, on payment of a larger fee, one public +announcement should be held sufficient, the words “for the first, second, +and third time” being used.</p> + +<p>It became customary towards the close of the sixteenth century for +security to be given, with the notice of banns, for the solemnisation of +the marriage, two friends of the parties depositing with the clerk a sum +of money as a guarantee, and that for more than one purpose. In 1570 the +Assembly ordered that “promise of marriage shall be made according to the +order of the reformed Kirk to the minister, exhorter, or reader, taking +caution for abstinence till the marriage be solemnised.” The minutes of +Kirk Sessions show that, in numerous instances, during the latter half of +the seventeenth century, such deposits were retained for the space of nine +calendar months after the marriage. The Kilmarnock Kirk Session was not so +strict. It was there ordered, in 1670, that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> deposit should be +returned to the parties on the expiration of half a year. Whatever the +term was, if scandal arose before it expired, the deposit became +forfeited.</p> + +<p>Kirk Sessions in some cases accepted personal security in lieu of cash, +the bondsmen in such cases becoming liable in the event of scandal +arising, or the non-solemnisation of the marriage. But this system, so +convenient for those who could not raise the caution money, or “pawn,” as +it was commonly called, was in course of time abandoned. The Kirk Session +of Mauchline instructed the clerk, in 1691, “to take neither bond nor +cautioner for consignation money, but to require that the money be laid +down, to remain in his hand for the space of three-quarters of a year.” +The example was followed by other Kirk Sessions, but the custom continued +for a long time afterwards, and was never formally abolished, falling into +abeyance gradually. Dr Edgar, in his “Old Church Life in Scotland,” states +that “on a page at the end of a small volume of scroll minutes still +extant there is a writing, under date 23rd November, 1771, which has all +the appearance of being a genuine matrimonial consignation bond.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>The First Book of Discipline makes it peremptory that no persons should be +married without the consent of the parents, unless it should appear that +there was no reasonable ground for the refusal of their consent. The +Westminster Directory qualifies this by ruling that the consent of parents +should be obtained to first marriages, especially if the parties were +under age. It is not clear whether non-age means under the age of +twenty-one, or is to be interpreted by the decree of the General Assembly +of 1600 that, “considering that there is no statute of the kirk,... +defining the age of persons which are to be married, ordain that no +minister within this realm presume to join in matrimony any persons in +time coming, except the man be fourteen years of age, and the woman twelve +complete.” The same ages are given in the First Book of Discipline.</p> + +<p>Deviations from even this rule sometimes occurred, and may be classed +among the permitted irregularities referred to at the beginning of this +paper. The marriage of heiresses under the age of twelve was not +infrequent, the plea of the guardians, that they feared the abduction of +their wards if longer unmarried, being admitted.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> There is a record of the +marriage of a girl in her eleventh year to a boy of fourteen in 1659; and +no longer ago than 1859 a girl was married at Edinburgh, who was entered +by the registrar as in her eleventh year. The official inspector thought +there must have been an error in the registration, but inquiry proved that +the entry was correct.</p> + +<p>There was no laxity, however, in the matter of prohibited degrees of +relationship. In 1731, an irregular marriage came before the Presbytery of +Ayr. The banns had been forbidden on the ground that the woman’s first +husband had been grand-uncle to the second bridegroom. The lovers +thereupon proceeded to Carlisle, and were there united in marriage. The +Presbytery pronounced them guilty of incest, prohibited them from +cohabitation, and the interdict being disregarded, passed sentence of +excommunication.</p> + +<p>Marriage might be refused in former times when either of the parties was +found to be “under scandal.” In 1565, the General Assembly enacted that +“such as lie in sin under promise of marriage, deferring the +solemnisation, should satisfy publicly, in the place of repentance, upon +the Lord’s day before they be married.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> Many instances are recorded of +persons appearing before the Kirk Session, and denying upon oath that they +had committed the sin of which they were accused. The Kirk Sessions were +equally diligent in their endeavours to prevent scandals. In 1621, it was +reported to the Kirk Session of Perth “that Janet Watson holds house by +herself, where she may give occasion of slander,” wherefore an elder was +directed “to admonish her in the Session’s name either to marry or to pass +to service.”</p> + +<p>But while the Church authorities were so zealous for the morals of the +nation and the prevention of scandal, they appear to have sometimes thrown +impediments in the way of lawful marriage. In the early years following +the Reformation, it was a very frequent ordinance of Kirk Sessions that no +persons should be allowed to marry until they were able to repeat to the +minister or reader the Lord’s Prayer, the Apostles’ Creed, and the Ten +Commandments. Either a “pawn” was required for the fulfilment of this +condition or a fine was exacted in case of failure. In some parishes the +Kirk Sessions went beyond this requirement, and insisted on regular +attendance at public worship. In 1700, the Kirk<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> Session of Galston, +“considering that there were some who lived within the parish who did not +join with the congregation in public worship, nor submit themselves to +discipline, and yet craved common privileges of members of this +congregation, such as proclamation in order to marriage, concluded that +none such should have privileges, until they should engage to live orderly +for the time to come.” And a further entry, of the same date, states that +one of the persons referred to applied for proclamation of banns, and, on +the resolution being communicated to him, he “engaged, through God’s +grace, to live orderly, and to wait upon gospel ordinances more +particularly, and was then allowed to be proclaimed.”</p> + +<p>There was some difference of opinion in the early days of the Reformed +Church as to whether a pre-contract should be an impediment to marriage +with another person. The minutes of the Westminster Assembly show that +some of the divines maintained that a promise of marriage was a “covenant +of God,” and could not be broken, even by mutual consent. The Church of +Scotland did not adopt this view. In 1570, the General Assembly directed +that persons desiring to withdraw from a contract of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> marriage should, if +nothing had followed, be allowed to do so. In the same year, an appeal was +made to the Assembly from the decision of a Kirk Session that a man should +not be allowed to marry any woman other than a former servant of the +appellant, whom he had seduced. He had applied to the Kirk Session for +proclamation of banns, putting in the document known as a “discharge of +marriage,” signed by the woman he had wronged, for three or four +successive years, but it was persistently refused recognition. The +Assembly sustained his appeal, gave him the liberty he sought, and added, +“yea, and there is injury done to him already.”</p> + +<p>Sometimes, however, contracted persons declined to set each other free, +and forbade the publication of banns with any other person. In 1689, one +John Meikle was cited to appear before the Presbytery of Ayr, to show +cause why he forbade the banns of Janet Campbell. He pleaded that Janet +had been engaged to him, and on that ground he objected to her becoming +the wife of any other man. The Presbytery decided that Janet was free to +do so. In 1777, a woman applied to the Kirk Session of Mauchline to have +her banns stopped, on the ground<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> that she had changed her mind, and had +become engaged to another man. The first lover opposed the application, +pleading that she was his “by the covenant of God.” The Kirk Session did +not admit his plea. The publication of banns was stopped, and a minute of +the Session justifies this decision, on the ground that “there would be an +obvious impropriety in proceeding further in the proclamation, after being +certified by the woman of her resolution not to marry the petitioner.”</p> + +<p>There were some superstitions connected with marriage as to lucky and +unlucky days and seasons. Perthshire couples refrained from wedlock in +January, and everywhere it was declined in May. In the Lowlands, Friday +was considered an unlucky day for weddings, but in the Highlands, it was +the day generally chosen for the ceremony. These notions had no weight +with the compilers of the First Book of Discipline, who expressed their +opinion that Sunday was the day “most expedient.” On the other hand, the +Westminster Assembly advised that marriages should not be solemnised on +the Lord’s day. The latter may have been influenced by the same reason +that moved the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> Kirk Session of Perth to adopt, in 1584, a resolution that +“forasmuch as sundry poor desire to, because they have not to buy clothes, +nor to make bridals, marriages should be as well celebrated on Thursday, +within our Parish Kirk in time of sermon, as on Sunday.” The former, on +the other hand, probably had in view the disorderly scenes to which a +wedding was often the prelude. The General Assembly, in 1645, adopted the +view of the Westminster Directory, and marriages from that date were +generally solemnised on the day of the weekly lecture.</p> + +<p>In former times, and down to the first quarter of the present century, the +celebration of a marriage otherwise than in church was regarded as +irregular and clandestine. In 1581, the General Assembly “concluded by +common consent of the whole brethren, that in times coming no marriage be +celebrated, nor sacraments administered, in private houses.” At that time, +and long afterwards, ministers were liable to deposition, and were +actually deposed, for marrying persons in private houses. It is a fact, +nevertheless, that though the law of the Church remains as settled in +1581, marriages celebrated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> in private houses have not been regarded as +irregular since the beginning of the last century; and the records of the +General Sessions of Edinburgh show that, as long ago as 1643, private +marriages were not infrequent in that city, where, however, they were +restricted to the well-to-do classes by a fine of twenty marks.</p> + +<p>Weddings were usually followed by great festivities, which were generally +on a scale so extensive, and carried to so great an excess, that the +records of Kirk Sessions during the seventeenth century show numerous +regulations for their restriction. They fixed the number of guests who +might be lawfully entertained on such occasions, and the hour at which the +festivities should cease. Many of the customs observed were peculiar to +the country, or to certain parts of it. In the Highlands, until about a +century ago, the bride walked round the wedding party at the close of the +ceremony, saluting each with a kiss. A dish was then passed round, in +which each deposited a coin, the amount collected being given to the +bride. The term “penny wedding” appears to have arisen from this custom. +Owing to the large number of guests entertained, which Kirk<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> Sessions did +not venture to reduce to less than forty, it was <ins class="correction" title="original: usua">usual</ins> for the neighbours +to assist in providing for them. Landowners gave beef, mutton and venison; +farmers, poultry and dairy produce; and the minister and the schoolmaster +lent cooking utensils. The bridal feast was followed by a dance.</p> + +<p>Some peculiar rites, of ancient and pagan origin, were practised at the +home-coming of the bride. The guests assembled at the door, on the +threshold of which a sieve containing bread and cheese was held over her +head, and, as she entered the house, a cake of shortbread was broken over +her head, the young folk present scrambling for the fragments. The +ceremony was completed by the bride sweeping the hearth with a broom.</p> + +<p>This paper would not be complete without some notice of an aspect of the +matter with which it deals, which has not received the attention to which +it is certainly entitled. The law relating to marriage remains unsettled. +It has been so constantly regarded as a matter for ecclesiastical +regulation, that it has been practically left to be dealt with by +Presbyteries and Kirk Sessions. “As far back as any living<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> man +remembers,” says Dr Edgar, “it has taken very few formalities to +constitute in Scotland a marriage that is binding in law. A man and a +woman have only had to take up house together, and declare themselves +husband and wife. The law thereupon pronounced them married persons. But +this was not always understood to be the law of the land in Scotland, and +the Church of Scotland did not always recognise such unions as marriages.” +But while writing of what was or was not <i>understood</i> to be the law, he +tells us nothing as to what the law really was or is.</p> + +<p>It seems to have been the practice of the Church, in former times, to +pronounce her own judgment, and then to ask the State to confirm it. In +the first General Assembly held in Scotland, that of 1560, there was a +declaration made concerning marriages within certain degrees of +relationship, and “the authority of the Estates was craved to be +interposed to that finding as the law.” There were many of the ministers +of the Reformed Church who held that a religious ceremony was not +necessary to constitute a valid marriage. One of the members of the +Westminster Assembly, in 1644, expressed the opinion, previously given by +Luther, that only<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> the consent of the parties was necessary. This view +appears to have prevailed very generally among the laity, notwithstanding +the action taken so frequently by Kirk Sessions in opposition to it.</p> + +<p>The question continued to be disputed throughout the last century. Writers +on legal questions held one view, and judges on the bench pronounced +contrariwise. Erskine argued that, in Scotland, the consent of the parties +was all that was necessary to constitute a valid marriage. Lord Braxfield +affirmed the opposite in 1796. Lord Fraser, on a later occasion, said that +the view set forth by Erskine was never judicially pronounced to be the +law of Scotland until 1811. Can we wonder, therefore, when lawyers and +judges disagree, at the haziness of mental vision displayed by Kirk +Sessions, and the frequent want of uniformity in their decisions?</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p> +<h2>Gretna Green Gossip.</h2> + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">Gretna Green</span> is the name of an insignificant village in the Border country +between England and Scotland. It is situated in Dumfriesshire, near the +mouth of the Esk, nine miles north-west of Carlisle, and consequently +within a mile of the English border. Probably no place of such absence of +pretension to size and population has attained the notoriety which +attaches to the name of Gretna Green, a distinction it has obtained merely +through its being the first place suitable for stoppage after the English +border was once passed. This close proximity was utilised by runaway +couples, who, dispensing, for various reasons, with the preliminaries of +anyone’s consent to their union, or the publication of banns requisite by +the English Marriage Laws, could, when once on Scottish ground, accomplish +their wedding by simply declaring before witnesses their mutual +willingness to undertake the contract. To the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> facility, then, which the +Marriage Laws of Scotland offered to amorous and impatient couples (minors +or not), the fisher-village of Gretna Green owes its repute as a chosen +altar of Hymen. A marriage once declared here was henceforward considered +valid, and after exchanging before any witness the mutual promises, the +pair might return to England at once, the knot being tied beyond all +chance of dispute. As might be expected, haste was a great factor in these +summary pairings, and consequently postillions were largely employed to +get over the distance between Carlisle and Gretna, a course upon which, no +doubt, many a tough race has been run between prudent parent or guardian +and ardent runaways.</p> + +<p>The “parsons” of Gretna were the ordinary inhabitants, who were weavers, +fishermen (Gretna being at the head of the Solway), blacksmiths, &c., and +their fees were entirely arbitrary, being fixed on the spot, according to +the private information of the postillions, or according to the appearance +and simplicity of the young couple. Marriages have been contracted here +for a glass of whisky, while on the other hand a fee of twenty pounds has +been paid, as in the case of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> Lord Chief Justice Erskine, who availed +himself of the easy ceremony, and even much larger sums, as in the cases +of the Earl of Westmoreland, Lord Deerhurst, and others, who paid to the +officiating “cleric” upwards of one hundred guineas. In the absence of any +local person to receive the attestations to the contract, the postillions +themselves have been known to assume the sacerdotal functions.</p> + +<p>The first broker in Gretna Green marriages was one Scott, who lived at a +point called the Rigg, a few miles from the village. It is said that he +commenced his infamous profession about the year 1750, but beyond the fact +that he was a crafty fellow, who could turn the emergencies of the time to +his own advantage, little is known of him. The next who undertook the +remunerative duties of high priest was George Gordon, an old soldier, who +invariably wore as canonicals a full military uniform of a by-gone type—a +tremendous cocked-hat, scarlet coat, and jackboots, with a ponderous sword +dangling from his belt. His “church,” which had the appearance of a barn, +stood a little to the left of the public road; his altar was an ale cask +upon which was placed an open Bible. Following Gordon, Joseph Paisley<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> +(sometimes called Pasley) became the recognised parson. He was a +fisherman, who agreeably united with the duties of that position the +pursuits of smuggler and tobacconist. He has been also called a +blacksmith, but this was simply a fanciful allusion to the part he took in +the Gretna Green marriages, Vulcan being the marriage maker of the gods as +well as their smith. He commenced the matrimonial business in 1789, and +from being retiring in his manner of dealing, became audaciously +unscrupulous, going so far even as to supply fictitious signatures to the +certificates, instead of, as at first, resorting to the less culpable +proceeding of signing his own name as a witness. It is said of this man +that at his death, about 1811, he weighed twenty-five stones. He was a +coarse, blatant individual, and habitually appeared in a sort of priestly +dress, even in his constant dissipations. At his death the priesthood was +taken by his son-in-law, Robert Elliott, who kept an account of his +transactions, and afterwards published them under the title of “The Gretna +Green Memoirs.” In this he states that between 1811 and 1839, not less +than 7744 persons were united by him at Gretna. The <i>Times</i>, in a review +of the book, doubted the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> accuracy of the assertion, which drew from him a +reply in the form of a letter to that paper. He said, “I can show +registers for that number from my commencement, and which either you or +any respectable individual may inspect here, and which I can substantiate +on oath.”</p> + +<p>We give here an extract from the “Memoirs” of Elliott. He says:—“As the +marriage ceremony performed by me and my predecessors may be interesting +to many of my readers, I give it verbatim: The parties are first asked +their names and places of abode; they are then asked to stand up, and +inquired of if they are both single persons; if the answer be in the +affirmative, the ceremony proceeds. Each is next asked, ‘Did you come here +of your own free will and accord?’ Upon receiving an affirmative answer, +the priest commences filling in the printed form of the certificate. The +man is then asked, ‘Do you take this woman to be your lawful wedded wife, +forsaking all others, and keep to her as long as you both shall live?’ He +answers, ‘I will.’ The woman is asked the same question, when, being +answered the same, the woman then produces a ring, which she gives to the +man, who hands it to the priest; the priest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> then returns it to the man, +and orders him to put it on the fourth finger of the woman’s left hand, +repeating these words, ‘With this ring I thee wed, with my body I thee +worship, with all my goods I thee endow, in the name of the Father, Son, +and Holy Ghost. Amen.’ They then take hold of each other’s right hand, and +the woman says, ‘What God joins together let no man put asunder.’ Then the +priest says, ‘Forasmuch as this man and this woman have come together by +giving and receiving a ring, I therefore declare them to be man and wife +before God and these witnesses, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy +Ghost. Amen.’”</p> + +<p>The following are among the memorable matches effected through the agency +of Robert Elliott, and recorded in his Memoirs:—</p> + +<p>1812.—Rev. Wm. Freemantle, an English clergyman. C. Ewen Law, son of Lord +Ellenborough, to Miss Nightingale.</p> + +<p>1815.—A “droll gaberlunzie without legs or arms, to a comely damsel, both +appearing anxious for the ceremony,” to the disgust of the not too +fastidious parson himself.</p> + +<p>1816.—Lord Chief Justice Erskine. Within a year, however, his lordship +unsuccessfully tried<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> to loosen his matrimonial chains by a divorce by the +Scottish law.</p> + +<p>1826.—E. Gibbon Wakefield, with Miss Turner. Of the trial which ensued +upon this union we give particulars below.</p> + +<p>During the latter part of Elliott’s “ministration” competition in the +marrying business became brisk, and he had numerous rivals, the most +powerful of these candidates for clerical emolument being another son of +Mars, named David Laing. The competition became so pronounced that the +rival parsons canvassed for the assistance and co-operation of the +postillions, who, commencing by receiving a commission per runaway pair, +at last ended by working upon a system of equal shares with their priestly +co-partners.</p> + +<p>In 1827, at the Kent Assizes, a Gretna Green marriage was the subject of a +curious trial before Mr Baron Hullock. The action was taken against one +Mrs Wakefield and her two sons, for conspiring “to take away by subtle +stratagems” a young lady named Turner, who had not yet left school. The +David Laing above mentioned was called as a witness on behalf of the +defendants, and he affirmed that the couple<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> were married lawfully +according to the Scottish fashion—namely, by putting on the lady’s finger +a ring. The witness said he was seventy-five years old, and had spent more +than half of his life in the performance of marriages. In +cross-examination by Mr Brougham, he admitted obtaining £30 for this +particular ceremony, or even £50, but could not remember exactly, “being +somewhat hard of hearing.” The accused was found guilty of causing this +young lady to “contract matrimony without the consent of her father, and +to the great disparagement of the King’s peace.” The chief prisoner, E. +Gibbon Wakefield, was convicted of abduction, and the marriage, which +excited considerable public attention, was afterwards rendered invalid, +and annulled by an Act of Parliament specially obtained. After this +flagrant case Gretna Green marriages fell into disrepute, and the business +showed a steady decline, though cases of the employment of pseudo-parsons +are on much later record. In 1853, a person named Thomas Blythe, a witness +before the Court of Probate at Westminster, stated that he lived at +Springfield, Gretna Green, and that he obtained his livelihood by means of +agriculture, but that he not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> unfrequently took advantage of opportunities +to increase his income by small strokes of business in the “joining” line. +Again, the demise of another “joiner” was announced so late as 1872, when +the obituary of Simon Laing appeared in the <i>Glasgow Herald</i>. It is +probable, however, that the pursuit of his “clerical” profession ceased +long before the date of his death, for, in 1856, the old law by which the +mere verbal declaration of consent before witnesses was sufficient to +constitute a Scottish legal marriage became effete through the passing of +the Act of Parliament, 19 and 20 Victoria, cap. 96. By this Act the laws +of Scotland and England were brought into assimilation, and in that year +the occupation of the northern hedge-parsons was virtually gone.</p> + +<p>It may be said such marriages as those we have described were considered +as clandestine and ill-advised in Scotland, as in more southern parts, the +Church of Scotland doing all that lay in its power to discourage and +prevent them. The only punishment, however, which it had for transgressors +being excommunication, the restraint by the Kirk was very slight, its +injunctions and fulminary condemnations being treated with contempt.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>Probably the best known of the notable marriages which have taken place at +Gretna is that of the Earl of Westmoreland with the daughter of Child, the +banker, whose counting-house was at the sign of the Marygold, in the +Strand. The romantic but determined couple had the advantage of an early +start, one starlight night in May, but the pursuit was not less hot than +the departure had been well arranged, and when within a few miles of the +Border the coach was nearly overtaken by Mr Child’s carriage. The Earl, +however, not to be baulked when so near the end of the journey, shot down +one of the pursuing horses, while one of the servants cut the carriage +straps behind. The crown of firs which mark Gretna from the surrounding +country came quickly into view, the bridge was crossed, and the village +was reached by the reckless couple. A parson was found, and quickly the +Earl and Miss Child were made one. Within a year Mr Child died, it is +said, of the mortification and disappointment connected with this affair. +The elder daughter of the match, Lady Sophia Fane, afterwards married Lord +Jersey, and inherited his immense fortune, including Child’s Bank at +Temple Bar.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p> +<h2>Death and Burial Customs and Superstitions.</h2> + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">Among</span> the many pagan beliefs and observances which were adhered to during +many centuries of Christian creed and worship, and some of which have +survived among the less enlightened even to the present day, a large place +is held by those connected with death and burial. In Scotland, many +trivial things were regarded as omens of death. In the northern Highlands, +an itching of the nose was believed to prognosticate the death of a +neighbour. In the southern parts, a humming in the ear was held to prelude +the death of a relative. The crowing of a cock at an unusual hour was +regarded as a token of the death of some person in the parish. In the +Lowlands, the howling of a strange dog was accepted as a warning of the +approaching death of some inmate of the house near which the melancholy +wail was raised. The “death candle,” as the phosphoric light sometimes +seen flickering over<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> burial-grounds was called, was similarly regarded in +the Hebrides.</p> + +<p>In some parts of the Highlands it is still believed that the last moments +of a dying person are prolonged by the door of the death-chamber being +closed. It is usual, therefore, for it to be left ajar, so that there may +be room for the departing spirit to take its flight, and yet the intrusion +of any evil thing be prevented. When a death occurred, the clock was +stopped, and its face covered, as were all the mirrors in the house. A +bell was laid under the head of the corpse, and a vessel containing earth +and salt placed upon the breast.</p> + +<p>From the moment of death until the departure of the funeral procession to +the place of burial, the corpse was watched night and day by parties of +friends and neighbours, who relieved each other. Silence was observed, but +this did not prevent the consumption of much ale and whisky. Among the +poorer classes the interment took place soon after death, in order to +lessen the cost of watching, but the well-to-do deferred the funeral for +at least a week, and sometimes a fortnight, in order that the hospitality +of the house might be more extensively<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> offered and enjoyed. Among these a +feast was given on the evening preceding the funeral.</p> + +<p>There were many superstitious beliefs and customs connected with funerals. +As in England, the proverb was accepted that “happy is the corpse that the +rain falls on.” If the funeral party, on the way to the burial-ground, +walked in a straggling manner, it was regarded as an omen that another +death would soon occur under the same roof. In the Hebrides, if one of the +party stumbled and fell, the incident was held to indicate that he would +be the next to die.</p> + +<p>In the last century, there was a lamentable amount of ale and whisky +drinking before and after funerals. The company began to assemble two +hours before the time appointed for the corpse to be carried from the +house. If the deceased was a farmer, each of the guests was offered a +glass of whisky at the gate of the farm-yard, and another on crossing the +threshold. On entering the guest-room, a portion of shortbread and another +glass of whisky were handed to him, a reverential silence being observed +for a time, after which conversation was carried on in whispers. When all +the guests were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> assembled, the minister commenced a religious service, +which lasted about three-quarters of an hour. This was followed by the +handing round of oatcake, cheese, and whisky, and afterwards shortbread +and more whisky. Then the coffin was carried out, and followed to the +grave by all those who were sufficiently sober to walk straight.</p> + +<p>Religious ceremonies at burials have never found favour in the Church of +Scotland. They were discouraged both by the First Book of Discipline and +the Westminster Directory, the compilers of the former saying, “for +avoiding all inconveniences, we judge it best that neither singing nor +reading be at the burial,... yea, without all kind of ceremony heretofore +used, other than that the dead be committed to the grave with such gravity +and sobriety as those that be present may seem to fear the judgment of +God, and to hate sin, which is the cause of death.” The Westminster +Directory deals with the matter in much the same way, the Assembly +maintaining that the burial of the dead is not a part of the work of the +ministry, as baptisms and marriages are.</p> + +<p>It appears to have been customary in the early<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> centuries of the Church in +Scotland, to bury the dead uncoffined; and this custom prevailed among the +poor for some time after the Reformation. It lingered in rural districts +longer than in towns, and in some later than in others; but the Kirk +Session records of some parishes refer to the provision of coffins for the +interment of persons who were practically paupers in the last quarter of +the seventeenth century. As to the mode of burial before the use of +coffins became general, the General Assembly ordained, in 1563, “that a +bier should be made in every country parish, to carry the dead corpse of +the poor to the burial-place, and that those of the villages or houses +next adjacent to the house where the dead corpse lieth, or a certain +number out of every house, shall convey the dead corpse to the +burial-place, and bury it six feet under the earth.”</p> + +<p>The biers appear to have been of more than one kind. Some of them were +mere rails upon which the corpse was laid, covered only with a pall, +called in Scotland a mort-cloth. Others were wooden boxes, with the lid on +one side furnished with a hinge, so that the corpse could be taken out, +and lowered into the grave by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> ropes. In some parts of the Highlands, a +long basket, made of twisted rushes, was used, and called the “death +hamper.” There were three pairs of loop handles, through which short iron +bars were passed for convenience of carriage; and on the grave being +reached, it was lowered by ropes, so arranged that it could be turned over +and recovered for future use.</p> + +<p>Before the Reformation, it was the custom to bury unbaptised children +apart from members of the Church, the north side of the churchyard being +reserved for that purpose. This was afterwards regarded as contrary to the +true principles of Protestantism, and in 1641 the Synod of Fife ordained +that “all these who superstitiously carries the dead about the kirk before +burial, also these who bury unbaptised bairns apart, be taken notice of +and censured.” Suicides and excommunicated persons were also, at one time, +buried apart, and at night. In 1582, the Kirk Session of Perth refused to +allow the corpse of a man who had committed suicide by drowning to be +“brought through the town in daylight, neither yet to be buried among the +faithful,... but in the little Inch within the water.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>With regard to interment within the churches, the Scottish Reformers seem +to have been in advance of those south of the Border. The Brownists were +as much in advance of the former, for in 1590 one of the leaders of that +denomination wrote:—“Where learned you to bury in hallowed churches and +churchyards, as though you had no fields to bury in? Methinks the +churchyards, of all other places, should be not the convenientest for +burial; it was a thing never used till Popery began, and it is neither +comely nor wholesome.” Interment in churches was, on sanitary grounds, +even more objectionable than in the grounds adjacent to them, and in 1576 +the General Assembly prohibited the practice, and ordered that those who +contravened the ordinance should be suspended from the privileges of the +Church.</p> + +<p>Long after that time, however, burials in churches continued to take +place, owing to the value attached by families of rank above that of the +commonalty to the privilege of having their relatives buried apart. In +1643, the Assembly again prohibited all persons, “of whatsoever quality, +to bury any deceased person within the body of the kirk, where the people<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> +meet for hearing of the Word.” But the ordinance was disregarded by all +who thought themselves powerful enough to do so, and as ministers had very +little to do with a matter which had been declared to be unministerial, +they usually found their will sufficient to serve their purpose. In 1695, +the Kirk Session of Kilmarnock recorded a minute that, the north aisle +being then filled with pews, “they shall, when required, cause lift six +pews, on each end, next to the north wall of the aisle, so oft as any of +the families of Rowallan, Craufordland, and Grange, shall have occasion to +bury their dead;... and, after burial, the said pews shall be set up +again in their places, at the expense of the session.” Kirk Sessions seem +to have felt themselves powerless to enforce their ordinances in the face +of a long existing custom and a fancied right of the gentry to burial +within the church; and in one instance, which occurred in a Highland +parish in 1727, the Kirk Session petitioned the Presbytery to “put a stop +to such a bad practice.”</p> + +<p>The custom of ringing a bell at funerals, which was a common one before +the Reformation, was continued afterwards. There is an entry in the +records of Glasgow, for 1577, of the sale of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> “the auld bell that yed +throw the toun of auld at the burial of the dead.” In 1621, the Kirk +Session of Dumbarton ordained that “the beadle, John Tome, and his +successors, shall ring the mort-bell before all persons deceased within +town, for such prices as the minister and session shall set down.” It may +be that the custom, like the ringing of church bells, originated in the +superstition that the sound of bells scared away evil spirits; for an +edict of the Town Council of Aberdeen, passed in 1643, includes the +tolling and ringing of bells among the “superstitious rites used at +funerals,” which it prohibits.</p> + +<p>Towards the close of the seventeenth century, it seems to have been usual +for the church bell to be tolled at funerals, and that without any charge +being made, for, in 1696, the Kirk Session of Mauchline made a minute that +they “thought it reasonable that whoever desired the tolling of the bell +at the funeral of their relations, should pay some small quantity of money +to the kirk treasurer, to be disposed of for the poor’s use.” Similar +ordinances were passed about the same time by the Kirk Sessions of other +parishes in Ayrshire. It was decided, however, in the Civil Court, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> +1730, that the money arising from fees for the ringing of bells and +burials within the church did not properly belong to the fund for the +relief of the poor, but might be used for the maintenance of the fabric of +the church. The poor, however, do not appear to have lost much by this +decision, for during the year ended October, 1732, the “big” bell at +Kilmarnock was tolled for funerals only seven times. It may be explained +that there were two bells in many churches, the larger one to be tolled at +the funerals of the rich, and the smaller at those of the poor. In the +register of burials at Inverness, the words “big bells” are added to the +entries of the funerals of “persons of quality.”</p> + +<p>The burials register of the parish of Tough, in Aberdeenshire, record +that, in 1784, forty-two of the parishioners joined in the purchase of a +new bell for the church, stipulating that, when deaths occurred in their +families, “the bell be rung once before the day of interment, that is, +when the officer gets the first notice of a contributor’s death, and then +upon the day of interment, from morning until the coffin be laid in the +ground, in the manner that bells ought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> to be rung at funerals, and that +by no other person than the officer allenarlie.”</p> + +<p>Palls were, from a very early period, regarded as essential parts of the +funeral paraphernalia. In 1598, the Kirk Session of Glasgow ordered a +black cloth to be bought “to be laid on the corpses of the poor,” and, for +at least two hundred years afterwards, it was the custom for the +“mort-cloth” to be taken to the house where a corpse awaited burial, and +laid over it. The reason for this may be found in the early custom of +burial without a coffin, and in the case of those who desired to show some +regard for appearances, in the proclamation of Council in 1684, that +coffins should not be covered with silk or decorated with fringes or +metal-work. The mort-cloths kept “to be laid on the corpses of the poor” +were probably of coarse black woollen cloth; but those used at the +funerals of well-to-do people were, as a rule, of richer and more handsome +material. In the sessional records of the parish of Mauchline for 1672 +there is an entry of the payment of a sum of no less than £10, 12s. 4d. as +completing the price of a new mort-cloth, which implies that some portion +of the total cost had been paid previously. Another new mort-cloth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> +provided for the same parish in the last quarter of the eighteenth century +is described as having been made of Genoa velvet, conformably fringed.</p> + +<p>The preaching of funeral sermons received little favour in Scotland during +the early period of the Reformed Church. “We have,” says Baillie, writing +from London during the sitting of the Westminster Assembly, “with much +difficulty, passed a proposition for abolishing their ceremonies at +burials, but our difference about funeral sermons seems irreconcilable. As +it has been here and everywhere preached, it is nothing but an abuse of +preaching, to serve the humours only of rich people for a reward. Our +Church has expressly discharged them, on many good reasons; it’s here a +good part of the minister’s livelihood, therefore they will not quit it. +After three days’ debate, we cannot yet find a way of agreeance.”</p> + +<p>It was in consequence of this inability to agree on the subject that the +Scottish commissioners at Westminster declined to hear the sermon preached +on the occasion of the funeral of Pym. Baillie wrote:—“On Wednesday, Mr +Pym was carried from his house to Westminster on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> shoulders, as the +fashion is, of the chief men of the Lower House, all the House going in +procession before him, and before them the Assembly of Divines. Marshall +had a most eloquent and pertinent funeral sermon—which we would not hear, +for funeral sermons we must have away, with the rest.”</p> + +<p>The earliest registers of deaths are those of Aberdeen, which commence in +1560; Perth, beginning in 1561, and the Canongate, Edinburgh, in 1565. The +register of burials in the last-named parish commences in 1612, and that +of Greyfriars in 1658. Those of rural parishes generally commence in the +last century, and they are, as a rule, more or less imperfect. It appears +from the Edinburgh registers, in which the deaths are summarised annually, +that the mortality has greatly diminished during the last hundred and +fifty years. In the first four decades of the last century, nearly +two-thirds of the deaths were those of children, and the deaths of adult +females were double those of adult males. The dawn of a better state of +things appears in 1741, when the deaths of 276 men, 401 women, and 942 +children, were registered, which, if we accept the generally<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> received +statement that the population of the city was then fifty thousand, gives +an annual average death-rate of 34 per thousand. The average mortality of +the ten years ending with 1878, as shown by the report of the Registrar +General, was 24 per thousand; and that of the week ending October 8, 1898, +was 20 per thousand; which was precisely that of the thirty-three largest +towns of the southern portion of the island.</p> + +<p>Contemporary events in other places were not unfrequently recorded in the +local registers of deaths in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. +Thus, in the Aberdeen register, we have the murder of Lord Darnley very +circumstantially recorded as follows, though under a wrong date:—“The +ninth [10th] day of February, the year of God 1566, Henry Stuart, Lord +Darnley, King of Scotland, who married Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland, +daughter to King James the Fifth, was cruelly murdered under night, in +Edinburgh, in the Cowgate, at the Kirk of Field, by James Hepburn, Earl of +Bothwell, and other his assisters, whose deed God revenge. So be it.”<small><a name="f13.1" id="f13.1" href="#f13">[13]</a></small> +The ascription of the crime to Bothwell<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> does not appear in the Canongate +register, which merely records the fact of Darnley being blown up with +gunpowder.</p> + +<p>The assassination of the Earl of Murray is recorded in several parish +registers. The session clerk of Aberdeen recorded it, with much +particularity, as follows:—“The twenty-third day of January, the year of +God 1569, James, Earl of Murray, Lord Abernethy, Regent to the King and +realm of Scotland, was cruelly murdered and shot in the town of +Linlithgow, by a false traitor, James Hamilton of Bodywallhaucht, by the +conspiracy and treason of his own servant, William Kircaldy, and John +Hamilton, bloody Bishop of St. Andrew’s, whose deed we pray God to +revenge. So be it.” With equal circumstantiality the same clerk made an +entry in the register of the murder of Coligny, and the horrible massacre +of the Protestants of Paris, on St. Bartholomew’s day, 1572, which event +he prays God to revenge.</p> + +<p>Some of the entries in the church registers of Edinburgh are of +considerable historical interest. In that of St. Giles is chronicled the +removal of the remains of the Marquis of Montrose from the Abbey Church of +Holyrood to St. Giles’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> Church, where they were honoured with a +magnificent and pompous funeral. The entry in the register of burials +records the final interment as follows:—“11 May 1661.—The Rt. Hon. +James, Marquis of Montrose, Earl of Kincardine, Lord Grahame and Mugdok, +His Majesty’s late commissioner and Captain General for the kingdom of +Scotland, and knt. of most hon. order of the Garter, was conveyed from the +kirk of Holyrood House with great honour and solemnity to St. Giles’s kirk +and buried.” The corpse had been, in the first instance, interred at the +Burgh Muir, so that this was the third removal.</p> + +<p>The register of the Greyfriars’ Church, Edinburgh, contains the following +record of another and more generally interesting translation:—“Robert +Garvock, Patrick Forman, James Stewart, David Fernie, Alexander Russell, +was executed in the Gallowlee, for owning the truth, upon the 10 day of +October 1681 years, and their heads fixed upon Bristo Port, taken down and +buried privately in Louristone Yards, now accidentally dug up upon the 15 +day of October 1726, and buried decently upon the 19 day of the said +month<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> in the Greyfriars’ churchyard, close to the Martyrs’ Tomb.”</p> + +<p>The grandeur of the final interment of the remains of the Marquis of +Montrose, followed later by the costly obsequies of Lord Roslin, induced +the Scottish Parliament, in 1681, to pass an Act which, besides +restricting the number of persons who might attend the funeral of a person +of rank to one hundred, prohibited “the using or carrying of any branches, +banners, and other honours at church, except only the eight branches to be +upon the pall, or upon the coffin where there is no pall.” The Act seems, +however, to have had little effect in diminishing the excessive costliness +of funerals among all classes above the very poorest. The funeral of Sir +William Hamilton, who died in 1707, was attended with a display and an +amount of hospitality which cost a sum equal to two years of his salary as +a judge. The funeral of Lachlan Macintosh, chief of the Highland clan of +that name, in 1736, cost (including the customary festivities) a sum which +involved his successors in pecuniary embarrassments for a century +afterwards. The funerals of Highland chiefs were attended by all the clan, +sometimes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> numbering thousands of persons, and the procession to the place +of burial extending to more than a mile in length; the coronach—a hymn of +lamentation, an example of which may be found in Scott’s “Lady of the +Lake”—being chanted by hundreds of voices, accompanied by the bagpipes.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span></p> +<h2>The Story of a Stool.</h2> + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">James I.</span> after the Reformation introduced into Scotland bishops, and his +son Charles I. attempted to force upon the Scottish church a book of +canons and a liturgy. Both actions were regarded with strong aversion, and +culminated in bitter strife. The king directed that on Sunday, July 23rd, +1637, the new service-book should be read in every parish church in +Scotland. Before the appointed day arrived, opposition was manifest in all +quarters, and few had the courage, even if they had the desire, to conduct +their services from the new prayer-book.</p> + +<p>On the eventful Sunday when the new order of service was to be formally +introduced, the chief church of the capital of Scotland, the old Cathedral +of St. Giles, was filled by an unusually large congregation. Among those +present were two archbishops, several bishops, the lords chancellor and +treasurer, privy council, judges, and magistrates. A large number of the +humble<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> people, composed chiefly of the wives of citizens and their maids, +filled the body of the church. In those days no pews were in the church, +and the poor-folk brought clasp-stools.</p> + +<p>When Dean Hannay, attired in a surplice, commenced reading prayers from +the service-book a riot arose which has seldom been equalled in the house +of God. The Dean could not be heard for the clamour of many voices. The +voice of a female—that of Jenny Geddes—was heard above others. She +cried, “Out, out! does the false loon mean to say his black mass at my +lug?” and then threw her stool at the Dean’s head.</p> + +<p>This was the signal for a riot: an attempt was made to tear from the Dean +his surplice, but he disengaged himself from it, and with difficulty made +his escape. Hand-clapping, hisses, curses, &c., put an end to any attempt +to conduct the service. The Bishop of Edinburgh attempted from the pulpit +to restore order, but a stool was thrown at him, and, had not a friendly +hand averted its course, doubtless he would have been seriously injured, +or even killed. Stones and other missiles were thrown at the pulpit.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>The Lord Chancellor, it is recorded, commanded the magistrates to call out +the town-guard to drive the ringleaders from the church. The church was +cleared of the rioters, but outside they battered the doors, broke the +windows, cried out, “A Pope! A Pope!” “Antichrist!” “Stone him! Stone +him!” The Dean tried to resume his reading, but the shouts of the +multitude without drowned his voice.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img14.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"><span class="smcaplc">JENNY GEDDES’ STOOL.</span><br /><i>From the Antiquarian Museum, Edinburgh.</i></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>The service in Greyfriars’ Church had to be stopped on account of the +rioting without, and at the college, we are told in Stevenson’s “Annals of +Edinburgh,” the minister preferred the old extempore form of prayer, till +he learned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> how the liturgy had been received in other city churches.</p> + +<p>On leaving church the Bishop of Edinburgh was attacked by the mob, and +narrowly escaped death at their hands. Other rioting occurred, and for +many years the memorable day was known as “Stony Sabbath.”</p> + +<p>The local authorities, it is recorded, desired to maintain order, and on +the Monday the local magistrates repaired to a meeting of the Privy +Council, and expressed their great regret at the outrage, and promised to +discover the ringleaders and have them punished.</p> + +<p>On one of the piers of St. Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh, is a memorial +brass bearing the following inscription:—</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcaplc">TO<br /> +JAMES HANNAY, D.D.,<br /> +DEAN OF THIS CATHEDRAL,</span><br /> +1634-1639.<br /> +<br /> +<i>He was the first and last who read<br /> +the service-book in this church.</i><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcaplc">THIS MEMORIAL IS ERECTED IN HAPPIER TIMES<br /> +BY HIS DESCENDANT.</span></p> + +<p>In the Moray or south-west aisle is a memorial of gun-metal to Jenny +Geddes, with an inscription<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> written by the late Lord President Inglis, +which reads as follows:—</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcaplc">CONSTANT ORAL TRADITION<br /> +AFFIRMS THAT NEAR THIS SPOT<br /> +A BRAVE SCOTCH WOMAN, JANET GEDDES,<br /> +ON THE 23 JULY 1637,<br /> +STRUCK THE FIRST BLOW IN THE GREAT STRUGGLE<br /> +FOR FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE,<br /> +WHICH AFTER A CONFLICT OF HALF-A-CENTURY<br /> +ENDED IN THE ESTABLISHMENT<br /> +OF CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY.</span></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span></p> +<h2>The Martyrs’ Monument, Edinburgh.</h2> + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">In</span> the capital of Scotland are more imposing monuments than the +Covenanters’ Memorial in Greyfriars’ Churchyard, but not one more +historically interesting. It attracts the attention of visitors from all +parts of the world, and to the inhabitants of the city it must be a matter +of pride to have this memorial to the memory of the men who fought for +religious freedom.</p> + +<p>The early Scottish reformers were in earnest respecting their faith; a +bond was prepared, setting forth that they would stand unflinchingly by +the Calvinistic faith, and if necessary would fight in its defence.</p> + +<p>This was signed on December 3rd, 1557, by the Earls of Glencairn, Argyll, +and Morton, Lord Lorn, Erskine of Dun and many more, who assumed the title +of “Lords of the Congregation.”</p> + +<p>A man in Scotland might do many indiscreet things and even be guilty of +crime, and be pardoned; but to flinch or fall from the Covenant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> was to +commit a sin that his countrymen could not forgive.</p> + +<p>Charles I., aided by Archbishop Laud, attempted to force upon the +Presbyterians of Scotland a liturgy, and in other ways to alter the mode +of divine worship in the country. The king’s action was regarded with +alarm, and steps were taken to maintain the religious freedom of the +country. The Solemn League and Covenant of 1557 against Popery was renewed +and new articles added. A copy was sent to each town in Scotland. That +belonging to Edinburgh was, on March 1st, 1638, solemnly read aloud in +Greyfriars’ churchyard. It was subscribed to by a large number of the +nobility, gentry and others of all ranks and conditions, ages and sexes. +It is impossible to count the signatures on the document, but it is +believed that over five thousand names occur, and the more zealous added +to their subscription such sentences as “till death.” The size of the +parchment is four feet long and three feet eight inches broad, and it is +preserved in the Register Office, Edinburgh. It was spread upon a flat +stone in the churchyard for signature, and was signed by all who could get +near to it.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>Not a few who signed this document were amongst the many who suffered +death for their adherence to the faith they held. At the Battle of +Bothwell Bridge on June 22nd, 1679, it is recorded that 800 Covenanters +were slain on the field of battle, and about 1300 taken prisoners and +brought to Edinburgh, and later 200 were conveyed to Stirling.</p> + +<p>At Edinburgh the prisoners were kept in an enclosed piece of land (now +forming a part of the graveyard of Greyfriars), in a great measure without +shelter, for five months, and supported with a short supply of bread and +water. Guards watched them day and night. The condition of the prisoners +was most distressing and moved to pity the inhabitants of the city, but +they were not permitted to render the least assistance.</p> + +<p>The troubles of many of these brave men did not end with imprisonment. “On +the 15th of November,” it is recorded, “256 were taken to Leith and put on +board a vessel to be carried to the plantations in America. The vessel +sailed on the 27th, but was wrecked on the coast of Orkney on December +10th, when upwards of 200 perished. Some of the remaining prisoners were +tried, condemned and executed; the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> remainder, upon signing bonds, +obtained their liberty.”</p> + +<p>The monument is erected near the graves of the martyrs who were buried in +Greyfriars’ churchyard. It was in that part of the burial-ground that +criminals were interred, and an allusion is made to this fact in the +inscription on the martyrs’ monument.</p> + +<p>James Currie of Pentland obtained from the Town Council of Edinburgh, on +August 28th, 1706, permission to erect a stone in Greyfriars’ churchyard +to the memory of the martyrs, on condition “there being no inscription to +be put upon the tomb but the sixth chapter of Revelation, verses 9, 10 and +11.”</p> + +<p>A carved stone representing an open Bible, with the verses cut in full, +was erected, and this forms, we are told, the under part of the present +more stately monument, which was substituted in 1771, when the original +slab was removed. The old inscription with some slight alterations was +transferred to the present monument. The inscription is as follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="poem"> +“Halt, passenger, take heed what you do see.<br /> +This tomb doth shew for what some men did die.<br /> +Here lies interr’d the dust of those who stood<br /> +’Gainst perjury, resisting unto blood;<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>Adhering to the covenants and laws;<br /> +Establishing the same: which was the cause<br /> +Their lives were sacrific’d unto the lust<br /> +Of prelatists abjur’d; though here their dust<br /> +Lies mixt with murderers and other crew,<br /> +Whom justice justly did to death pursue.<br /> +But as for them, no cause was to be found<br /> +Worthy of death; but only they were found<br /> +Constant and steadfast, zealous, witnessing<br /> +For the prerogatives of Christ their King;<br /> +Which truths were seal’d by famous Guthrie’s head,<br /> +And all along to Mr Renwick’s blood:<br /> +They did endure the wrath of enemies:<br /> +Reproaches, torments, deaths and injuries.<br /> +But yet they’re those, who from such troubles came,<br /> +And now triumph in glory with the Lamb.</p> + +<p>“From May 27th, 1661, that the most noble Marquis of Argyle was +beheaded, to the 17th February 1688, that Mr James Renwick suffered, +were one way or other murdered and destroyed for the same cause about +eighteen thousand, of whom were executed at Edinburgh about an +hundred of noblemen, gentlemen, ministers and others, noble martyrs +for <span class="smcap">Jesus Christ</span>. The most of them lie here.</p> + +<p class="hang">Rev. vi. 9.—And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the +altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for +the testimony which they held:</p> + +<p class="hangdent">10.—And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy +and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell +on the earth?</p> + +<p class="hangdent">11.—And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was +said unto them that they should <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span>rest yet for a little season, +until their fellow-servants also and their brethren, that should be +killed as they were, should be fulfilled.</p> + +<p class="hang">Chap. vii. 14.—These are they which came out of great tribulation, +and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the +Lamb.</p> + +<p class="hang">Chap. ii. 10.—Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a +crown of life.</p> + +<p>“The above monument was first erected by <span class="smcap">James Currie</span>, merchant, +Pentland, and others, in 1706; renewed in 1771.”</p></div> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img15_tmb.jpg" alt="" /><br /> +<a href="images/img15.jpg"><small><span class="smcap">Larger Image</span></small></a></div> +<p class="center"><span class="smcaplc">THE MARTYRS’ MONUMENT, EDINBURGH.</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>(Added on the monument at a subsequent date):—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="poem">“Yes, though the sceptic’s tongue deride<br /> +Those martyrs who for conscience died—<br /> +Though modern history blight their fame,<br /> +And sneering courtiers hoot the name<br /> +Of men who dared alone be free,<br /> +Amidst a nation’s slavery;—<br /> +Yet long for them the poet’s lyre<br /> +Shall wake its notes of heavenly fire;<br /> +Their names shall nerve the patriot’s hand<br /> +Upraised to save a sinking land;<br /> +And piety shall learn to burn<br /> +With holier transports o’er their urn.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 14em;"><span class="smcap">James Grahame.</span></span><br /> +<br /> +Peace to their mem’ry! let no impious breath<br /> +Sell their fair fame, or triumph o’er their death.<br /> +Let Scotia’s grateful sons their tear-drops shed,<br /> +Where low they lie in honour’s gory bed;<br /> +Rich with the spoil their glorious deeds had won,<br /> +And purchas’d freedom to a land undone—<br /> +A land which owes its glory and its worth<br /> +To those whom tyrants banish’d from the earth.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>“For the accomplishment of this resolution, the three kingdoms lie +under no small debt of gratitude to the Covenanters. They suffered +and bled both in fields and on scaffolds for the cause of civil and +religious liberty; and shall we reap the fruit of their sufferings, +their prayers and their blood, and yet treat their memory either with +indifference or scorn? No! whatever minor faults may be laid to their +charge, whatever trivial accusations may be brought against them, it +cannot but be acknowledged that they were the men who, ‘singly and +alone,’ stood forward in defence of Scotland’s dearest rights, and to +whom we at the present day owe everything that is valuable to us +either as men or as Christians.”</p></div> + +<p>It only remains for us to add that James Currie, who was the means of +raising the original monument, suffered much during the persecution and +more than once narrowly escaped capture.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span></p> +<h2>INDEX</h2> + +<div class="index"> +<p> +Alloway Kirk, witches in, <a href="#Page_178">178</a><br /> +<br /> +Antiquity of bells, <a href="#Page_34">34</a><br /> +<br /> +Assassins of James I., <a href="#Page_6">6</a><br /> +<br /> +Averting evil spirits at birth, <a href="#Page_194">194</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Bag-pipes at funerals, <a href="#Page_254">254</a><br /> +<br /> +Banns, publication of, <a href="#Page_213">213</a><br /> +<br /> +Banquets at baptism, <a href="#Page_207">207</a><br /> +<br /> +Baptism of bells, <a href="#Page_42">42</a><br /> +<br /> +Beating bounds, <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br /> +<br /> +Begg, Dr, opposes the organ, <a href="#Page_107">107</a><br /> +<br /> +Behaviour at kirk, <a href="#Page_119">119</a><br /> +<br /> +Bell Lore, <a href="#Page_34">34-45</a><br /> +<br /> +Beltane superstitions, <a href="#Page_46">46</a><br /> +<br /> +Betrothals, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a><br /> +<br /> +Bible and witchcraft, <a href="#Page_166">166</a><br /> +<br /> +Bible thrown into the fire, <a href="#Page_191">191</a><br /> +<br /> +Biers, <a href="#Page_241">241</a><br /> +<br /> +Biggar, witchcraft at, <a href="#Page_184">184</a><br /> +<br /> +Birth and Baptism. Customs and Superstitions, <a href="#Page_194">194-209</a><br /> +<br /> +Black Rood, <a href="#Page_29">29</a><br /> +<br /> +Brank, <a href="#Page_115">115</a><br /> +<br /> +Brechin Cathedral, <a href="#Page_66">66</a><br /> +<br /> +Bristo Port, heads on, <a href="#Page_252">252</a><br /> +<br /> +Burghs, origin of, <a href="#Page_64">64-66</a><br /> +<br /> +Burning witches, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Calvinism, advent of, <a href="#Page_164">164</a><br /> +<br /> +Care of the poor, <a href="#Page_149">149</a><br /> +<br /> +Celtic crosses, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a><br /> +<br /> +Charter of St. Giles’s Church, <a href="#Page_6">6</a><br /> +<br /> +Children, marriage of, <a href="#Page_216">216</a><br /> +<br /> +Christmas, punished for keeping, <a href="#Page_117">117</a><br /> +<br /> +Church, marriages to be celebrated in, <a href="#Page_222">222</a><br /> +<br /> +Church music, <a href="#Page_98">98-107</a><br /> +<br /> +Churches, interment in, <a href="#Page_243">243</a><br /> +<br /> +Clova jougs, <a href="#Page_113">113</a><br /> +<br /> +Coins, objection to foreign, <a href="#Page_144">144</a><br /> +<br /> +Compulsory attendance at kirk, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a><br /> +<br /> +Consent of parents to be given for marriage, <a href="#Page_216">216</a><br /> +<br /> +Covenanters slain, <a href="#Page_262">262</a><br /> +<br /> +Covenanters’ flag, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a><br /> +<br /> +Craft-gilds, <a href="#Page_128">128</a><br /> +<br /> +Creeping to the cross, <a href="#Page_27">27</a><br /> +<br /> +Cripples assisted, <a href="#Page_155">155</a><br /> +<br /> +Cross, the, in Scotland, <a href="#Page_1">1-33</a><br /> +<br /> +Cross in baptism, <a href="#Page_197">197</a><br /> +<br /> +Culdees supplanted, <a href="#Page_73">73</a><br /> +<br /> +Currie, James, <a href="#Page_263">263</a><br /> +<br /> +Curiosities of Church Finance, <a href="#Page_130">130-161</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Dead, tales about the, <a href="#Page_166">166</a><br /> +<br /> +Death and Burial. Customs and Superstitions, <a href="#Page_237">237-254</a><br /> +<br /> +Death hamper, <a href="#Page_242">242</a><br /> +<br /> +Denmark, Princess Anne and witchcraft, <a href="#Page_175">175</a><br /> +<br /> +Devil and minstrels, <a href="#Page_170">170</a><br /> +<br /> +Devil preaching a sermon, <a href="#Page_177">177</a><br /> +<br /> +Discipline of the Kirk, <a href="#Page_108">108-129</a><br /> +<br /> +Douglas, Lady Janet, suffered for witchcraft, <a href="#Page_163">163</a><br /> +<br /> +Dress of women condemned, <a href="#Page_120">120</a><br /> +<br /> +Drinking at funerals, <a href="#Page_239">239</a><br /> +<br /> +Drunkards punished, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a><br /> +<br /> +Duddingston jougs, <a href="#Page_114">114</a><br /> +<br /> +Dunblane Cathedral, <a href="#Page_66">66</a><br /> +<br /> +Dundee bells, <a href="#Page_44">44</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Easter Sunday customs, <a href="#Page_48">48</a><br /> +<br /> +Eastwood, witchcraft at, <a href="#Page_192">192</a><br /> +<br /> +Edinburgh Market Cross, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a><br /> +<br /> +Episcopacy and witchcraft, <a href="#Page_173">173</a><br /> +<br /> +Erskine, Lord Chief Justice, married at Gretna Green, <a href="#Page_229">229</a><br /> +<br /> +Excommunications, <a href="#Page_110">110</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Farthings at collections, <a href="#Page_146">146</a><br /> +<br /> +Fishing on Sunday, <a href="#Page_135">135</a><br /> +<br /> +Flodden, <a href="#Page_12">12</a><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span><br /> +Foreign coins, objections to, <a href="#Page_144">144</a><br /> +<br /> +Forbidding the banns, <a href="#Page_220">220</a><br /> +<br /> +Forbidding marriage, <a href="#Page_127">127</a><br /> +<br /> +Frost, Thomas. Saints and holy wells, <a href="#Page_46">46-63</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—— Church music, <a href="#Page_98">98-107</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Funeral bells, <a href="#Page_40">40-41</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245-247</a><br /> +<br /> +Funeral sermons, <a href="#Page_248">248</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Geddes, Jenny, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a><br /> +<br /> +Gladstone, W. E., restores Edinburgh Cross, <a href="#Page_10">10-11</a><br /> +<br /> +Glasgow Cathedral, <a href="#Page_67">67-85</a><br /> +<br /> +Gifts of bells to churches, <a href="#Page_35">35</a><br /> +<br /> +Graveyard of Greyfriars, <a href="#Page_260">260-266</a><br /> +<br /> +Gretna Green gossip, <a href="#Page_227">227-236</a><br /> +<br /> +Gossips’ wake, <a href="#Page_195">195</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Haddington, witchcraft at, <a href="#Page_184">184</a><br /> +<br /> +Hamilton, Sir William, funeral of, <a href="#Page_253">253</a><br /> +<br /> +Hand-bells at funerals, <a href="#Page_40">40-41</a><br /> +<br /> +Handfasting, <a href="#Page_210">210-212</a><br /> +<br /> +Hannay, Dean, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a><br /> +<br /> +Harmonium, <a href="#Page_106">106</a><br /> +<br /> +Holyrood Abbey founded, <a href="#Page_31">31</a><br /> +<br /> +Holy Wells, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a><br /> +<br /> +Hospitality at funerals, <a href="#Page_253">253</a><br /> +<br /> +Hours of church service, <a href="#Page_96">96</a><br /> +<br /> +Howlett, E. Bell Lore, <a href="#Page_34">34-45</a><br /> +<br /> +Humours of the collection, <a href="#Page_141">141</a><br /> +<br /> +Hymns submitted, <a href="#Page_102">102</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Ignorant persons’ children not to be baptised, <a href="#Page_205">205</a><br /> +<br /> +Introduction of the organ at Glasgow, <a href="#Page_105">105</a><br /> +<br /> +Iona crosses, <a href="#Page_18">18-22</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +James VI. and witchcraft, <a href="#Page_174">174</a><br /> +<br /> +Jougs, <a href="#Page_113">113</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Kilmarnock Cross, <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br /> +<br /> +Kirkcaldy, witchcraft at, <a href="#Page_189">189</a><br /> +<br /> +Kirkwall Cathedral, <a href="#Page_67">67</a><br /> +<br /> +Knox burned in effigy, <a href="#Page_12">12</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—— deemed a wizard, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Lanark Cross, <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br /> +<br /> +Length of sermon, <a href="#Page_121">121</a><br /> +<br /> +Life in the pre-Reformation Cathedrals, <a href="#Page_64">64-85</a><br /> +<br /> +Linlithgow, <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br /> +<br /> +Liturgy used, <a href="#Page_93">93</a><br /> +<br /> +Long sermons, <a href="#Page_95">95</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Macintosh, L., funeral of, <a href="#Page_253">253</a><br /> +<br /> +Manner of examining witches, <a href="#Page_180">180</a><br /> +<br /> +Mar, Earl of, suffered for witchcraft, <a href="#Page_163">163</a><br /> +<br /> +Market crosses, <a href="#Page_4">4</a><br /> +<br /> +Marriage laws and customs, <a href="#Page_210">210-226</a><br /> +<br /> +Marriage vow, punished for violating, <a href="#Page_125">125</a><br /> +<br /> +Martyrs’ Monument, Edinburgh, <a href="#Page_260">260-266</a><br /> +<br /> +Mass, punished for saying, <a href="#Page_13">13</a><br /> +<br /> +Medical assistance, <a href="#Page_155">155</a><br /> +<br /> +Memorable marriage at Gretna Green, <a href="#Page_232">232</a><br /> +<br /> +Millar, A. H. Life in the pre-Reformation Cathedrals, <a href="#Page_64">64-85</a><br /> +<br /> +Mode of marrying at Gretna Green, <a href="#Page_231">231</a><br /> +<br /> +Money-box, church, <a href="#Page_147">147</a><br /> +<br /> +Montrose, Marquis, body removed, <a href="#Page_251">251</a><br /> +<br /> +Monuments, Destruction of, <a href="#Page_3">3</a><br /> +<br /> +Murray, Earl, assassination of, <a href="#Page_251">251</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Observance of old church festivals forbidden, <a href="#Page_121">121</a><br /> +<br /> +Omens of death, <a href="#Page_239">239</a><br /> +<br /> +Opening doors for departing spirits, <a href="#Page_238">238</a><br /> +<br /> +Organs, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a><br /> +<br /> +Origin of Glasgow Cathedral, <a href="#Page_71">71</a><br /> +<br /> +Our Lady, wells dedicated to, <a href="#Page_55">55</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Pagan rites at marriages, <a href="#Page_224">224</a><br /> +<br /> +Palls, <a href="#Page_247">247</a><br /> +<br /> +Parochial inquisitions, <a href="#Page_178">178</a><br /> +<br /> +Parsons at Gretna Green, <a href="#Page_229">229-232</a><br /> +<br /> +Peebles bells, <a href="#Page_38">38</a><br /> +<br /> +Perth bells, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a><br /> +<br /> +Pews, introduction of, <a href="#Page_140">140</a><br /> +<br /> +Pilgrimages to saints’ wells, <a href="#Page_60">60-62</a><br /> +<br /> +Pillory, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a><br /> +<br /> +Poor travellers’ hospital, <a href="#Page_54">54</a><br /> +<br /> +Prayer-book, introduction of the, <a href="#Page_100">100</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—— objection to, <a href="#Page_255">255</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Precentor, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a><br /> +<br /> +Press guarded, <a href="#Page_122">122</a><br /> +<br /> +Priest pelted at the Cross, <a href="#Page_13">13</a><br /> +<br /> +Private baptism, <a href="#Page_198">198-202</a><br /> +<br /> +Proclamations published at crosses, <a href="#Page_12">12</a><br /> +<br /> +Psalmody, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a><br /> +<br /> +Public Penance, <a href="#Page_111">111</a><br /> +<br /> +Public worship in olden times, <a href="#Page_86">86-97</a><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Ransoms for sailors, <a href="#Page_156">156</a><br /> +<br /> +Reader, <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br /> +<br /> +Rees, Rev. R. Wilkins. Curiosities of Church Finance, <a href="#Page_130">130-161</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—— Witchcraft and the kirk, <a href="#Page_162">162-193</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Reformation, <a href="#Page_1">1</a><br /> +<br /> +Registers of baptisms, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a><br /> +<br /> +Registers of deaths, <a href="#Page_249">249</a><br /> +<br /> +Riddle-turning, <a href="#Page_124">124</a><br /> +<br /> +Riding the marches, <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br /> +<br /> +Repentance stool, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a><br /> +<br /> +Roslin, Lord, funeral of, <a href="#Page_253">253</a><br /> +<br /> +Royal edicts proclaimed from crosses, <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br /> +<br /> +Ruthwell Cross, <a href="#Page_26">26</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Sabbath-breaking, <a href="#Page_136">136</a><br /> +<br /> +Saints and holy wells, <a href="#Page_46">46-63</a><br /> +<br /> +Scandals and marriage, <a href="#Page_217">217-218</a><br /> +<br /> +Schoolmasters, <a href="#Page_152">152</a><br /> +<br /> +Scots money, <a href="#Page_133">133</a><br /> +<br /> +Scotchmen warned not to follow James VI. to England, <a href="#Page_17">17</a><br /> +<br /> +Sculptured tombstones, <a href="#Page_23">23</a><br /> +<br /> +Seal of Holyrood Abbey, <a href="#Page_32">32</a><br /> +<br /> +Sharp, Archbishop, assassinated, <a href="#Page_173">173</a><br /> +<br /> +Silver in bells, <a href="#Page_41">41</a><br /> +<br /> +Singing hymns, objections to, <a href="#Page_92">92</a><br /> +<br /> +Slanderers punished, <a href="#Page_125">125</a><br /> +<br /> +Solemn League of the Covenant, <a href="#Page_261">261</a><br /> +<br /> +Spurious money at collections, <a href="#Page_146">146</a><br /> +<br /> +Stirling, penance at, <a href="#Page_196">196</a><br /> +<br /> +Story of a stool, <a href="#Page_255">255-259</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Andrew’s Cathedral, <a href="#Page_66">66</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Andrew’s Well, <a href="#Page_56">56</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Bernard’s Well, <a href="#Page_53">53</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Catherine’s Well, <a href="#Page_52">52</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Columba’s Wells, <a href="#Page_48">48</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Corbett’s Well, <a href="#Page_54">54</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Fergus’s Well, <a href="#Page_48">48</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Fillan’s Well, <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Giles’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, <a href="#Page_66">66</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Helena’s Wells, <a href="#Page_49">49</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Iten’s Well, <a href="#Page_49">49</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Kentigern, <a href="#Page_67">67</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Maelrubha Well, <a href="#Page_47">47</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Margaret of Scotland, <a href="#Page_29">29</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Medan’s Chapel and Well, <a href="#Page_50">50-51</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Mulvay’s Well, <a href="#Page_47">47</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Mungo, <a href="#Page_67">67</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Olav’s Well, <a href="#Page_54">54</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Querdon’s Well, <a href="#Page_59">59</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Ronan’s Well, <a href="#Page_48">48</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Thenew’s Well, <a href="#Page_59">59</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Wallach’s Bath, <a href="#Page_57">57</a><br /> +<br /> +Sunday observance, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133-138</a><br /> +<br /> +Superstitions, marriage, <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br /> +<br /> +Swearing, punished for, <a href="#Page_124">124</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Taking snuff in the kirk, <a href="#Page_128">128</a><br /> +<br /> +Tokens of death, <a href="#Page_237">237</a><br /> +<br /> +Tyack, Rev. Geo. S. The Cross in Scotland, <a href="#Page_1">1-33</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">—— Discipline of the Kirk, <a href="#Page_108">108-129</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Tyninghame, witchcraft at, <a href="#Page_184">184</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Unbaptised children, burial of, <a href="#Page_242">242</a><br /> +<br /> +Uncoffined burials, <a href="#Page_241">241</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Votive offerings, <a href="#Page_57">57</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Watching the dead, <a href="#Page_238">238</a><br /> +<br /> +Waters, Rev. Alexander. Public worship in olden times, <a href="#Page_86">86-97</a><br /> +<br /> +Western Isles, crosses in, <a href="#Page_22">22</a><br /> +<br /> +Westminster Assembly of Divines, <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br /> +<br /> +Wine at Edinburgh Cross, <a href="#Page_11">11</a><br /> +<br /> +Witchcraft, <a href="#Page_123">123</a><br /> +<br /> +Witchcraft a capital offence, <a href="#Page_164">164</a><br /> +<br /> +Witchcraft and the Kirk, <a href="#Page_162">162-193</a></p></div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<div class="verts"> +<p class="center"><span class="large">LIST OF PUBLICATIONS</span><br />OF<br /> +<span class="smcap"><span class="huge">William Andrews & Co.</span>,</span><br /><br /> +<span class="big">5 FARRINGDON AVENUE, LONDON.</span></p> + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">“Valuable and interesting.”—<i>The Times.</i></p> + +<p class="center">“Readable as well as instructive.”—<i>The Globe.</i></p> + +<p class="center">“A valuable addition to any library.”—<i>Derbyshire Times.</i></p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="large">The Bygone Series.</span></p> + +<p>In this series the following volumes are included, and issued at 7s. 6d. +each. Demy 8vo, cloth gilt.</p> + +<p>These books have been favourably reviewed in the leading critical journals +of England and America.</p> + +<p>Carefully written articles by recognised authorities are included on +history, castles, abbeys, biography, romantic episodes, legendary lore, +traditional stories, curious customs, folk-lore, etc., etc.</p> + +<p>The works are illustrated by eminent artists, and by the reproduction of +quaint pictures of the olden time.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>BYGONE BERKSHIRE, edited by Rev. P. H. Ditchfield, M.A., F.S.A.<br /> +BYGONE CHESHIRE, edited by William Andrews.<br /> +BYGONE DEVONSHIRE, by the Rev. Hilderic Friend.<br /> +BYGONE DURHAM, edited by William Andrews.<br /> +BYGONE GLOUCESTERSHIRE, edited by William Andrews.<br /> +BYGONE HERTFORDSHIRE, edited by William Andrews.<br /> +BYGONE LEICESTERSHIRE, edited by William Andrews.<br /> +BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE (2 vols), edited by William Andrews.<br /> +BYGONE MIDDLESEX, edited by William Andrews.<br /> +BYGONE NORFOLK, edited by William Andrews.<br /> +BYGONE NORTHUMBERLAND, edited by William Andrews.<br /> +BYGONE NOTTINGHAMSHIRE, by William Stevenson.<br /> +BYGONE SCOTLAND, by David Maxwell, C.E.<br /> +BYGONE SOMERSETSHIRE, edited by Cuming Walters.<br /> +BYGONE SOUTHWARK, by Mrs. E. Boger.<br /> +BYGONE SUFFOLK, edited by Cuming Walters.<br /> +BYGONE SURREY, edited by George Clinch and S. W. Kershaw, F.S.A.<br /> +BYGONE SUSSEX, by W. E. A. Axon.<br /> +BYGONE WARWICKSHIRE, edited by William Andrews.<br /> +BYGONE YORKSHIRE, edited by William Andrews.</td></tr></table> + +<p>“Mr. Andrews’ books are always interesting.”—<i>Church Bells.</i></p> + +<p>“No student of Mr. Andrews’ books can be a dull after-dinner speaker, for +his writings are full of curious out-of-the-way information and good +stories.”—<i>Birmingham Daily Gazette.</i></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="large">England in the Days of Old.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By</span> WILLIAM ANDREWS, <span class="smcaplc">F.R.H.S.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><i>Demy 8vo., 7s. 6d. Numerous Illustrations.</i></p> + +<p>This volume is one of unusual interest and value to the lover of olden +days and ways, and can hardly fail to interest and instruct the reader. It +recalls many forgotten episodes, scenes, characters, manners, customs, +etc., in the social and domestic life of England.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Contents</span>:—When Wigs were Worn—Powdering the Hair—Men Wearing +Muffs—Concerning Corporation Customs—Bribes for the Palate—Rebel Heads +on City Gates—Burial at Cross Roads—Detaining the Dead for Debt—A +Nobleman’s Household in Tudor Times—Bread and Baking in Bygone +Days—Arise, Mistress, Arise!—The Turnspit—A Gossip about the +Goose—Bells as Time-Tellers—The Age of Snuffing—State +Lotteries—Bear-Baiting—Morris Dancers—The Folk-Lore of Midsummer +Eve—Harvest Home—Curious Charities—An Old-Time Chronicler.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">List of Illustrations</span>:—The House of Commons in the time of Sir Robert +Walpole—Egyptian Wig—The Earl of Albemarle—Campaign Wig—Periwig with +Tail—Ramillie-Wig—Pig-tail Wig—Bag-Wig—Archbishop +Tilotson—Heart-Breakers—A Barber’s Shop in the time of Queen +Elizabeth—With and Without a Wig—Stealing a Wig—Man with Muff, +1693—Burying the Mace at Nottingham—The Lord Mayor of York escorting +Princess Margaret—The Mayor of Wycombe going to the Guildhall—Woman +wearing a Scold’s Bridle—The Brank—Andrew Marvell—Old London Bridge, +shewing heads of rebels on the gate—Axe, Block, and Executioner’s +Mask—Margaret Roper taking leave of her father, Sir Thomas More—Rebel +Heads, from a print published in 1746—Temple Bar in Dr. Johnson’s +time—Micklegate Bar, York—Clock, Hampton Court Palace—Drawing a Lottery +in the Guildhall, 1751—Advertising the Last State Lottery—Partaking of +the Pungent Pinch—Morris Dance, from a painted window at Betley—Morris +Dance, temp. James I.—A Whitsun Morris Dance—Bear Garden, or Hope +Theatre, 1647—The Globe Theatre, temp. Elizabeth—Plan of Bankside early +in the Seventeenth Century—John Stow’s Monument.</p> + +<p>A carefully prepared Index enables the reader to refer to the varied and +interesting contents of the book.</p> + +<p>“A very attractive and informing book.”—<i>Birmingham Daily Gazette.</i></p> + +<p>“Mr. Andrews has the true art of narration, and contrives to give us the +results of his learning with considerable freshness of style, whilst his +subjects are always interesting and picturesque.”—<i>Manchester Courier.</i></p> + +<p>“The book is of unusual interest.”—<i>Eastern Morning News.</i></p> + +<p>“Of the many clever books which Mr. Andrews has written none does him +greater credit than “England in the Days of Old,” and none will be read +with greater profit.”—<i>Northern Gazette.</i></p> + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="large">Bygone Punishments.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By William Andrews.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><i>Demy 8vo, cloth gilt, 7s. 6d. Numerous Illustrations.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Contents</span>:—Hanging—Hanging in Chains—Hanging, Drawing, and +Quartering—Pressing to Death—Drowning—Burning to Death—Boiling to +Death—Beheading—The Halifax Gibbet—The Scottish +Maiden—Mutilation—Branding—The Pillory—Punishing Authors and Burning +Books—Finger Pillory—The Jougs—The Stocks—The Drunkard’s +Cloak—Whipping and Whipping-Posts—Public Penance—The Repentance +Stool—The Ducking Stool—The Brank, or Scold’s Bridle—Riding the +Stang—Index.</p> + +<p>“A book of great interest.”—<i>Manchester Courier.</i></p> + +<p>“Crowded with extraordinary facts.”—<i>Birmingham Daily Gazette.</i></p> + +<p>“Contains much that is curious and interesting both to the student of +history and social reformer.”—<i>Lancashire Daily Express.</i></p> + +<p>“Full of curious lore, sought out and arranged with much industry.”—<i>The +Scotsman.</i></p> + +<p>“Mr. Andrews’ volume is admirably produced, and contains a collection of +curious illustrations, representative of many of the punishments he +describes, which contribute towards making it one of the most curious and +entertaining books that we have perused for a long time.”—<i>Norfolk +Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p>“Those who wish to obtain a good general idea on the subject of criminal +punishment in days long past, will obtain it in this well-printed and +stoutly-bound volume.”—<i>Daily Mail.</i></p> + +<p>“Mr. William Andrews, of Hull, is an indefatigable searcher amongst the +byways of ancient English history, and it would be difficult to name an +antiquary who, along his chosen lines, has made so thoroughly interesting +and instructive the mass of facts a painstaking industry has brought to +light. For twenty-five years he has been delving into the subject of +Bygone Punishments, and is now one of the best authorities upon obsolete +systems of jurisdiction and torture, for torture was, in various forms, +the main characteristic of punishment in the good old times. The +reformation of the person punished was a far more remote object of +retribution than it is with us, and even with us reform is very much a +matter of sentiment. Punishment was intended to be punishment to the +individual in the first place, and in the second a warning to the rest. It +is a gruesome study, but Mr. Andrews nowhere writes for mere effect. As an +antiquary ought to do, he has made the collection of facts and their +preservation for modern students of history in a clear, straightforward +narrative his main object, and in this volume he keeps to it consistently. +Every page is therefore full of curious, out-of-the-way facts, with +authorities and references amply quoted.”—<i>Yorkshire Post.</i></p> + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="large">Literary Byways.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By</span> WILLIAM ANDREWS.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Demy 8vo., cloth gilt, 7s. 6d.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Contents</span>:—Authors at Work—The Earnings of Authors—“Declined with +Thanks”—Epigrams on Authors—Poetical Graces—Poetry on Panes—English +Folk Rhymes—The Poetry of Toast Lists and Menu Cards—Toasts and +Toasting—Curious American Old-Time Gleanings—The Earliest American +Poetess: Anne Bradstreet—A Playful Poet: Miss Catherine Fanshawe—A +Popular Song Writer: Mrs. John Hunter—A Poet of the Poor: Mary Pyper—The +Poet of the Fisher-Folk: Mrs. Susan K. Phillips—A Poet and Novelist of +the People: Thomas Miller—The Cottage Countess—The Compiler of “Old +Moore’s Almanack”: Henry Andrews—James Nayler, the Mad Quaker, who +claimed to be the Messiah—A Biographical Romance: Swan’s Strange +Story—Short Letters—Index.</p> + +<p>“An interesting volume.”—<i>Church Bells.</i></p> + +<p>“Turn where you will, there is information and entertainment in this +book.”—<i>Birmingham Daily Gazette.</i></p> + +<p>“The volume is most enjoyable.”—<i>Perthshire Advertiser.</i></p> + +<p>“The volume consists of entertaining chapters written in a chatty +style.”—<i>Daily Advertiser.</i></p> + +<p>“A readable volume about authors and books.... Like Mr. Andrews’s other +works, the book shows wide out-of-the-way reading.”—<i>Glasgow Herald.</i></p> + +<p>“Dull after-dinner speakers should be compelled to peruse this volume, and +ornament their orations and per-orations with its gems.”—<i>Sunday Times.</i></p> + +<p>“An entertaining volume.... No matter where the book is opened, the reader +will find some amusing and instructive matter.”—<i>Dundee Advertiser.</i></p> + +<p>“Readable and entertaining.”—<i>Notes and Queries.</i></p> + +<p>“Mr. Andrews delights in the production of the pleasant, gossipy order of +books. He is well qualified, indeed, to do so, for he is painstaking in +the collection of interesting literary facts, methodical in setting them +forth, and he loves books with genuine ardour.”—<i>Aberdeen Free Press.</i></p> + +<p>“We heartily commend this volume to the attention of readers who are in +any way interested in literature.”—<i>Scots Pictorial.</i></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="large">The Church Treasury of History, Custom, Folk-Lore, etc.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Edited by</span> WILLIAM ANDREWS.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Demy 8vo., 7s. 6d. Numerous Illustrations.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Contents</span>:—Stave-Kirks—Curious Churches of Cornwall—Holy Wells—Hermits +and Hermit Cells—Church Wakes—Fortified Church Towers—The Knight +Templars: their Churches and their Privileges—English Mediæval +Pilgrimages—Pilgrims’ Signs—Human Skin on Church Doors—Animals of the +Church in Wood, Stone, and Bronze—Queries in Stones—Pictures in +Churches—Flowers and the Rites of the Church—Ghost Layers and Ghost +Laying—Church Walks—Westminster Waxworks—Index. Numerous Illustrations.</p> + +<p>“It is a work that will prove interesting to the clergy and churchmen +generally, and to all others who have an antiquarian turn of mind, or like +to be regaled occasionally by reading old-world customs and +anecdotes.”—<i>Church Family Newspaper.</i></p> + +<p>“Mr. Andrews has given us some excellent volumes of Church lore, but none +quite so good as this. The subjects are well chosen. They are treated +brightly and with considerable detail, and they are well illustrated.... +Mr. Andrews is himself responsible for some of the most interesting +papers, but all his helpers have caught his own spirit, and the result is +a volume full of information well and pleasantly put.”—<i>London Quarterly +Review.</i></p> + +<p>“Those who seek information regarding curious and quaint relics or customs +will find much to interest them in this book. The illustrations are +good.”—<i>Publishers’ Circular.</i></p> + +<p>“An excellent and entertaining book.”—<i>Newcastle Daily Leader.</i></p> + +<p>“The book will be welcome to every lover of archæological +lore.”—<i>Liverpool Daily Post.</i></p> + +<p>“The volume is of a most informing and suggestive character, abounding in +facts not easy of access to the ordinary reader, and enhanced with +illustrations of a high order of merit, and extremely +numerous.”—<i>Birmingham Daily Gazette.</i></p> + +<p>“The contents of the volume are very good.”—<i>Leeds Mercury.</i></p> + +<p>“The volume is sure to meet with a cordial reception.”—<i>Manchester +Courier.</i></p> + +<p>“A fascinating book.”—<i>Stockport Advertiser.</i></p> + +<p>“Mr. Andrews has brought together much curious matter.”—<i>Manchester +Guardian.</i></p> + +<p>“The book is a very readable one, and will receive a hearty +welcome.”—<i>Herts. Advertiser.</i></p> + +<p>“Mr. William Andrews has been able to give us a very acceptable and useful +addition to the books which deal with the curiosities of Church lore, and +for this deserves our hearty thanks. The manner in which the book is +printed and illustrated also commands our admiration.”—<i>Norfolk +Chronicle.</i></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="large">Historic Dress of the Clergy.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By the Rev.</span> GEO. S. TYACK, <span class="smcaplc">B.A.</span>,<br /> +Author of “The Cross in Ritual, Architecture, and Art.”</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Crown, cloth extra, 3s. 6d.</i></p> + +<p>The work contains thirty-three illustrations from ancient monuments, rare +manuscripts, and other sources.</p> + +<p>“A very painstaking and very valuable volume on a subject which is just +now attracting much attention. Mr. Tyack has collected a large amount of +information from sources not available to the unlearned, and has put +together his materials in an attractive way. The book deserves and is sure +to meet with a wide circulation.”—<i>Daily Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p>“This book is written with great care, and with an evident knowledge of +history. It is well worth the study of all who wish to be better informed +upon a subject which the author states in his preface gives evident signs +of a lively and growing interest.”—<i>Manchester Courier.</i></p> + +<p>“Those who are interested in the Dress of the Clergy will find full +information gathered together here, and set forth in a lucid and scholarly +way.”—<i>Glasgow Herald.</i></p> + +<p>“We are glad to welcome yet another volume from the author of ‘The Cross +in Ritual, Architecture, and Art.’ His subject, chosen widely and carried +out comprehensively, makes this a valuable book of reference for all +classes. It is only the antiquary and the ecclesiologist who can devote +time and talents to research of this kind, and Mr. Tyack has done a real +and lasting service to the Church of England by collecting so much useful +and reliable information upon the dress of the clergy in all ages, and +offering it to the public in such a popular form. We do not hesitate to +recommend this volume as the most reliable and the most comprehensive +illustrated guide to the history and origin of the canonical vestments and +other dress worn by the clergy, whether ecclesiastical, academical, or +general, while the excellent work in typography and binding make it a +beautiful gift-book.”—<i>Church Bells.</i></p> + +<p>“A very lucid history of ecclesiastical vestments from Levitical times to +the present day.”—<i>Pall Mall Gazette.</i></p> + +<p>“The book can be recommended to the undoubtedly large class of persons who +are seeking information on this and kindred subjects.”—<i>The Times.</i></p> + +<p>“The work may be read either as pastime or for instruction, and is worthy +of a place in the permanent section of any library. The numerous +illustrations, extensive contents table and index, and beautiful +workmanship, both in typography and binding, are all features of +attraction and utility.”—<i>Dundee Advertiser.</i></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="large">The Miracle Play in England,</span><br /> +An Account of the Early Religious Drama.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By</span> SIDNEY W. CLARKE, <span class="smcap">Barrister-at-Law</span>.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Crown 8vo., 3s. 6d. Illustrated.</i></p> + +<p>In bygone times the Miracle Play formed an important feature in the +religious life of England. To those taking an interest in the history of +the Church of England, this volume will prove useful. The author has given +long and careful study to this subject, and produced a reliable and +readable book, which can hardly fail to interest and instruct the reader. +It is a volume for general reading, and for a permanent place in the +reference library.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Contents</span>:—The Origin of Drama—The Beginnings of English Drama—The York +Plays—The Wakefield Plays—The Chester Plays—The Coventry Plays—Other +English Miracle Plays—The Production of a Miracle Play—The Scenery, +Properties, and Dresses—Appendix—The Order of the York Plays—Extract +from City Register of York, 1426—The Order of the Wakefield Plays—The +Order of the Chester Plays—The Order of the Grey Friars’ Plays at +Coventry—A Miracle Play in a Puppet Show—Index.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Clarke has chosen a most interesting subject, one that is attractive +alike to the student, the historian, and the general reader.... A most +interesting volume, and a number of quaint illustrations add to its +value.”—<i>Birmingham Daily Gazette.</i></p> + +<p>“The book should be useful to many.”—<i>Manchester Guardian.</i></p> + +<p>“An admirable work.”—<i>Eastern Morning News.</i></p> + +<p>“Mr. Sidney Clarke’s concise monograph in ‘The Miracle Play in England’ is +another of the long and interesting series of antiquarian volumes for +popular reading issued by the same publishing house. The author briefly +sketches the rise and growth of the ‘Miracle’ or ‘Mystery’ play in Europe +and in England; and gives an account of the series or cycle of these +curious religious dramas—the forerunners of the modern secular +play—performed at York, Wakefield, Chester, Coventry, and other towns in +the middle ages. But his chief efforts are devoted to giving a sketch of +the manner of production, and the scenery, properties, and dresses of the +old miracle play, as drawn from the minute account books of the craft and +trade guilds and other authentic records of the period. Mr. Clarke has +gone to the best sources for his information, and the volume, illustrated +by quaint cuts, is an excellent compendium of information on a curious +byeway of literature and art.”—<i>The Scotsman.</i></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="large">A Book About Bells.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By the Rev.</span> GEO. S. TYACK, <span class="smcaplc">B.A.</span>,<br /> +Author of the “Historic Dress of the Clergy,” etc.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Crown, cloth extra, 6s.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Contents</span>:—Invention of Bells—Bell Founding and Bell Founders—Dates and +Names of Bells—The Decoration of Bells—Some Noteworthy Bells—The Loss +of Old Bells—Towers and Campaniles—Bell-Ringing and Bell-Ringers—The +Church-Going Bell—Bells at Christian Festivals and Fasts—The Epochs of +Man’s Life Marked by the Bells—The Blessings and the Cursings of the +Bells—Bells as Time-Markers—Secular Uses of Church and other +Bells—Small Bells, Secular and Sacred—Carillons—Belfry Rhymes and +Legends—Index of Subjects, Index of Places.</p> + +<p class="center">THIRTEEN FULL-PAGE PLATES.</p> + +<p>“A most useful and interesting book.... All who are interested in bells +will, we feel confident, read it with pleasure and profit.”—<i>Church +Family Newspaper.</i></p> + +<p>“A pleasing, graceful, and scholarly book.... A handsome volume which will +be prized by the antiquary, and can be perused with delight and advantage +by the general reader.”—<i>Notes and Queries.</i></p> + +<p>“‘A Book About Bells’ can be heartily commended.”—<i>Pall Mall Gazette.</i></p> + +<p>“An excellent and entertaining book, which we commend to the attention not +only of those who are specially interested in the subject of bells, but to +all lovers of quaint archæological lore.”—<i>Glasgow Herald.</i></p> + +<p>“The book is well printed and artistic in form.”—<i>Manchester Courier.</i></p> + +<p>“‘A Book About Bells’ is destined to be the work of reference on the +subject, and it ought to find a home on the shelves of every +library.”—<i>Northern Gazette.</i></p> + +<p>“The task Mr. Tyack has set himself, he has carried out admirably, and +throughout care and patient research are apparent.”—<i>Lynn News.</i></p> + +<p>“We heartily recommend our readers to procure this volume.”—<i>The +Churchwoman.</i></p> + +<p>“An entertaining work.”—<i>Yorkshire Post.</i></p> + +<p>“‘A Book About Bells’ will interest almost everyone. Antiquaries will find +in it an immense store of information: but the general reader will equally +feel that it is a book well worth reading from beginning to end.”—<i>The +News</i>, Edited by the Rev. Charles Bullock, <span class="smcaplc">B.D.</span></p> + +<p>“An excellent work.”—<i>Stockton Herald.</i></p> + +<p>“It is a well-written work, and it is sure to be popular.”—<i>Hull +Christian Voice.</i></p> + +<p>“Covers the whole field of bell-lore.”—<i>Scotsman.</i></p> + +<p>“Most interesting and finely illustrated.”—<i>Birmingham Daily Gazette.</i></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="large">Legal Lore: Curiosities of Law and Lawyers.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Edited by</span> WILLIAM ANDREWS, <span class="smcaplc">F.R.H.S.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><i>Demy 8vo., Cloth extra, 7s. 6d.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Contents</span>:—Bible Law—Sanctuaries—Trials in Superstitious Ages—On +Symbols—Law Under the Feudal System—The Manor and Manor Law—Ancient +Tenures—Laws of the Forest—Trial by Jury in Old Times—Barbarous +Punishments—Trials of Animals—Devices of the Sixteenth Century +Debtors—Laws Relating to the Gipsies—Commonwealth Law and +Lawyers—Cock-Fighting in Scotland—Cockieleerie Law—Fatal +Links—Post-Mortem Trials—Island Laws—The Little Inns of Court—Obiter.</p> + +<p>“There are some very amusing and curious facts concerning law and lawyers. +We have read with much interest the articles on Sanctuaries, Trials in +Superstitious Ages, Ancient Tenures, Trials by Jury in Old Times, +Barbarous Punishments, and Trials of Animals, and can heartily recommend +the volume to those who wish for a few hours’ profitable diversion in the +study of what may be called the light literature of the law.”—<i>Daily +Mail.</i></p> + +<p>“Most amusing and instructive reading.”—<i>The Scotsman.</i></p> + +<p>“The contents of the volume are extremely entertaining, and convey not a +little information on ancient ideas and habits of life. While members of +the legal profession will turn to the work for incidents with which to +illustrate an argument or point a joke, laymen will enjoy its vivid +descriptions of old-fashioned proceedings and often semi-barbaric ideas to +obligation and rectitude.”—<i>Dundee Advertiser.</i></p> + +<p>“The subjects chosen are extremely interesting, and contain a quantity of +out-of-the-way and not easily accessible information.... Very tastefully +printed and bound.”—<i>Birmingham Daily Gazette.</i></p> + +<p>“The book is handsomely got up; the style throughout is popular and clear, +and the variety of its contents, and the individuality of the writers gave +an added charm to the work.”—<i>Daily Free Press.</i></p> + +<p>“The book is interesting both to the general reader and the +student.”—<i>Cheshire Notes and Queries.</i></p> + +<p>“Those who care only to be amused will find plenty of entertainment in +this volume, while those who regard it as a work of reference will rejoice +at the variety of material, and appreciate the careful indexing.”—<i>Dundee +Courier.</i></p> + +<p>“Very interesting subjects, lucidly and charmingly written. The +versatility of the work assures for it a wide popularity.”—<i>Northern +Gazette.</i></p> + +<p>“A happy and useful addition to current literature.”—<i>Norfolk Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p>“The book is a very fascinating one, and it is specially interesting to +students of history as showing the vast changes which, by gradual course +of development have been brought about both in the principles and practice +of the law.”—<i>The Evening Gazette.</i></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="large">Antiquities and Curiosities of the Church.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Edited by</span> WILLIAM ANDREWS, <span class="smcaplc">F.R.H.S.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><i>Demy 8vo., 7s. 6d. Numerous Illustrations.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Contents</span>:—Church History and Historians—Supernatural Interference in +Church Building—Ecclesiastical Symbolism in Architecture—Acoustic +Jars—Crypts—Heathen Customs at Christian Feasts—Fish and +Fasting—Shrove-tide and Lenten Customs—Wearing Hats in Church—The Stool +of Repentance—Cursing by Bell, Book, and Candle—Pulpits—Church +Windows—Alms-Boxes and Alms-Dishes—Old Collecting +Boxes—Gargoyles—Curious Vanes—People and Steeple +Rhymes—Sun-Dials—Jack of the Clock-House—Games in Churchyards—Circular +Churchyards—Church and Churchyard Charms and Cures—Yew Trees in +Churchyards.</p> + +<p>“A very entertaining work.”—<i>Leeds Mercury.</i></p> + +<p>“A well-printed, handsome, and profusely illustrated work.”—<i>Norfolk +Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p>“There is much curious and interesting reading in this popular volume, +which moreover has a useful index.”—<i>Glasgow Herald.</i></p> + +<p>“The contents of the volume is exceptionally good reading, and crowded +with out-of-the way, useful, and well selected information on a subject +which has an undying interest.”—<i>Birmingham Mercury.</i></p> + +<p>“In concluding this notice it is only the merest justice to add that every +page of it abounds with rare and often amusing information, drawn from the +most accredited sources. It also abounds with illustrations of our old +English authors, and it is likely to prove welcome not only to the +Churchman, but to the student of folk-lore and of poetical +literature.”—<i>Morning Post.</i></p> + +<p>“We can recommend this volume to all who are interested in the notable and +curious things that relate to churches and public worship in this and +other countries.”—<i>Newcastle Daily Journal.</i></p> + +<p>“It is very handsomely got up and admirably printed, the letterpress being +beautifully clear.”—<i>Lincoln Mercury.</i></p> + +<p>“The book is well indexed.”—<i>Daily Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p>“By delegating certain topics to those most capable of treating them, the +editor has the satisfaction of presenting the best available information +in a very attractive manner.”—<i>Dundee Advertiser.</i></p> + +<p>“It must not be supposed that the book is of interest only to Churchmen, +although primarily so, for it treats in such a skilful and instructive +manner with ancient manners and customs as to make it an invaluable book +of reference to all who are concerned in the seductive study of +antiquarian subjects.”—<i>Chester Courant.</i></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="large">Curious Church Customs,</span><br /> +<span class="smcaplc">AND COGNATE SUBJECTS.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Edited by William Andrews, F.R.H.S.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><i>Demy 8vo, price 7s. 6d.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Contents</span>:—Sports in Churches—Holy Day Customs—Church Bells: When and +Why They were Rung—Inscriptions on Bells—Laws of the Belfry—Ringers’ +Jugs—Customs and Superstitions of Baptism—Marriage Customs—Burial +Customs—Concerning the Churchyard—Altars in Churches—The Rood Loft and +its Uses—Armour in Churches—Beating the Bounds—The Story of the +Croiser—Bishops in Battle—The Cloister and its Story—Shorthand in +Church—Reminiscences of our Village Church—Index.</p> + +<p>“The book is an interesting addition to antiquarian and popular +literature.”—<i>The Scotsman.</i></p> + +<p>“A highly interesting work.... There are in all nineteen chapters, +containing a large and varied amount of information on many subjects, +respecting which the general public are not too well informed.”—<i>Somerset +County Herald.</i></p> + +<p>“An extremely interesting work.”—<i>The Bazaar.</i></p> + +<p>“A distinctly valuable addition to the literature dealing with the +antiquities of the Church.”—<i>The Evening Post.</i></p> + +<p>“A varied and comprehensive volume, evidently the outcome of much patient +research.”—<i>The World.</i></p> + +<p>“The value of the book is greatly enhanced by an admirable index.”—<i>North +Eastern Gazette.</i></p> + +<p>“It is as interesting as a novel.”—<i>Blackburn Standard.</i></p> + +<p>“We are indebted to Mr. Andrews for an invaluable addition to our library +of folk-lore, and we do not think that many who take it up will skip a +single page.”—<i>Dundee Advertiser.</i></p> + +<p>“A thoroughly excellent volume.”—<i>Publishers’ Circular.</i></p> + +<p>“Very interesting.”—<i>To-Day.</i></p> + +<p>“Mr. Andrews is too practised an historian not to have made the most of +his subject.”—<i>Review of Reviews.</i></p> + +<p>“A handsomely got up and interesting volume.”—<i>The Fireside.</i></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="large">The Prime Minister of Würtemburg.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By</span> ELLER,<br /> +Author of “Ingatherings.”</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Crown 8vo. Bound in cloth extra, 3s. 6d.</i></p> + +<p>“This anonymously-written story is of much power, and presents to us a +picture of the Government in Würtemburg a hundred and sixty years ago, +when the reigning Duke Alexandra, in his indulgence and foolishly fond +treatment of his Cabinet Minister and Finance Director, the Jew Siece, has +placed his subjects at the mercy of a crafty and designing man. How his +object to overthrow the hero of the story, Gustave Lanbek, and his father, +by forcing him to take an office which would bring him the contempt of his +friends and the hatred of the people, was ultimately frustrated by the +encompassing of his own ruin, is a plot which is developed and completed +in a most dramatic manner. There is, too, a thread of love-making, the +course of which runs by no means smoothly, deftly introduced into the main +theme of the story, which lightens and relieves the plot. The book is one +which we have thoroughly enjoyed, and both author and publishers are to be +complimented upon the production of a volume effectively written and +attractively printed and bound.”—<i>Norfolk Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p>“The book has the great merit of soon interesting the reader. The get-up +of the book reflects credit upon the publishers.”—<i>Daily Mail.</i></p> + +<p>“A pretty story well told.”—<i>Hull News.</i></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="large">“Ingatherings.”</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By</span> ELLER.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Crown 8vo. Elegantly bound in cloth extra, 3s 6d.</i></p> + +<p>“This is an exceedingly interesting collection of writings in prose and +poetry. The book opens with a quaint story descriptive of the manner in +which a young German nobleman, by his purity and goodness, delivered an +old baron and his lovely daughter from the power of the evil one. Among +the other pieces of prose are ‘The Voices of Nature,’ ‘A Dream,’ ‘A +Reverie,’ each of which proves the author to possess considerable ability. +Their artistic style is delightfully refreshing. The poems are for the +most part original, but there are one or two gems from the pens of Goethe, +Schiller, and other master-minds. The publishers are to be congratulated +on the general get-up of the book.”—<i>Chester Courant.</i></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="large">The Church Bells of Holderness.</span></p> + +<p class="center">By GODFREY RICHARD PARK.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Crown 8vo, cloth extra. Only 300 copies printed.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Contents</span>:—History—Legends—Marriage Bell—Passing Bell—Priest’s +Bell—Litany Bell—Sermon Bell—Saunce Bell—Sanctus Bell—Sacring +Bell—Jesus Bell—Howslinge Bell—The Arc Bell—Curfew Bell—Harvest +Bell—Pancake Bell—Christmas Day—Good Friday—Easter Sunday—All +Hallows’—Royal Oak Day—Gowrie Plot—Gunpowder Plot—Change +Ringing—Dedication of Churches—Inscriptions on the Church Bells of +Holderness—Dedication of Church Bells—Index.</p> + +<p>“To all who are interested in church bells Mr. Park’s book will afford +interesting reading.”—<i>Hull Times.</i></p> + +<p>“A capital volume includes much out-of-the-way information on the bell in +history, legend, and custom, and cannot fail to entertain all who take an +interest in the church bells.”—<i>Leamington Advertiser.</i></p> + +<p>“Mr. Park’s volume makes a welcome contribution to antiquarian +literature.”—<i>Hull Christian Voice.</i></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="large">Essex in the Days of Old.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Edited by</span> JOHN T. PAGE.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Demy 8vo, cloth gilt, 7s. 6d. Numerous illustrations.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Contents</span>:—Witchcraft in Essex—Charles Dickens and Chigwell—Hadleigh +Castle—Daniel Defoe in Essex—Harbottle Grimston, Puritan and Patriot—In +the Reign of Terror—John Locke and Oates—The Homes and Haunts of +Elizabeth Fry—The Notorious Dean of Bocking and the “Eikon +Basilike”—Barking Abbey—The Round Church of Little Maplestead—Waltham +Holy Cross—Queen Elizabeth in Essex—The Salmons and Haddocks of +Leigh—The Dutch Refugees and the Bay and Say Trade—John Strype and +Leyton—The Brass of Archbishop Harsnett—Old Southend—The Bartlow +Hills—Index.</p> + +<p>“An extremely interesting and useful contribution to historic +literature.”—<i>East Anglian Times.</i></p> + +<p>“An attractive volume.”—<i>Norfolk Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p>“The volume is choicely illustrated, and should attract readers far beyond +the county of which it treats.”—<i>Birmingham Daily Gazette.</i></p> + +<p>“It is a readable and useful book.”—<i>The Times.</i></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="large">The Doomed Ship; or, The Wreck in the Arctic Regions.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By</span> WILLIAM HURTON.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Crown 8vo., Elegantly Bound, Gilt extra, 3s. 6d.</i></p> + +<p>“There is no lack of adventures, and the writer has a matter-of-fact way +of telling them.”—<i>Spectator.</i></p> + +<p>“‘The Doomed Ship,’ by William Hurton, is a spirited tale of adventures in +the old style of sea-stories. Mr. Hurton seems to enter fully into the +manliness of sea life.”—<i>Idler.</i></p> + +<p>“It is not surprising to learn that the Arctic boom has created a great +demand for books of this class, and that the volume before us in +particular is selling rapidly. It is entitled ‘The Doomed Ship, or the +Wreck in the Arctic Regions.’ By William Hurton. (London: William Andrews +and Co., 5, Farringdon Avenue, E.C. Three Shillings and Sixpence). It is +of general interest, but it is written in an attractive style, nicely +printed, and handsomely bound. Brimful of adventures in the ice-bound +regions of the North, it also gives a great deal of information which the +reading public are taking a great interest in since Dr. Nansen’s exploits +have been brought before the world. The story is told in the form of a +narrative by the nephew of the captain of the ‘good barque Lady Emily, +chartered from Hull to Tromso, in Holland.’ The vessel sailed on a +Friday—an unlucky day in the eyes of superstitious sailors, and which to +their minds accounted for the dire experiences which afterwards befell the +vessel and the crew. The vessel was laden with coals and salt, and, after +leaving Tromso, was to proceed to St. Petersburg to ship timber and deals +for the return voyage. She had twenty-two hands, and at Tromso took on +board a passenger for Copenhagen, in the person of a young Danish lady, +Oriana Neilsen by name. Chepini, an Italian lad, in revenge for being +flogged by the captain’s orders, so manipulated the compass that the ship +was taken hopelessly out of her course. Chepini is hung up to the yard +arm. The vessel is at the time surrounded by icebergs, a gale springs up, +and she is forced on to one of the bergs and remains fast by the bow, +while a mutiny occurs among the crew, which is not quelled till the +mutineers are killed, as well as the captain and cook. Oriana plays a +noble part in the affair, and the nephew of the captain and she take +command of the remainder of the crew, now consisting only of “Blackbird +Jim” and an Irishman and a Scotchman. As the ship’s bows were stove in, +and it was evident that whenever she cleared the iceberg she would go +down, the longboat was cleared away, and all the provisions and other +necessaries put into it. The survivors landed on an ice-bound shore, and +the story of their adventures, discoveries, and subsequent rescue does not +contain a dull page. Oriana is the heroine throughout, and the late +captain’s nephew of course falls in love with her. When they return to +civilisation the couple are, of course, married, and they, also of course, +live happily ever afterwards. All the same, the development of this state +of affairs comes naturally enough in the narrative, which is, as we have +already indicated, full of interest.”—<i>Eastern Morning News.</i></p> + +<p>“The interesting story ends in a satisfactory manner.”—<i>Dundee +Advertiser.</i></p></div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><strong>Footnotes:</strong></p> + +<p><a name="f1" id="f1" href="#f1.1">[1]</a> “Iona: its History, Antiquities, etc.,” by Rev. A. MacMillan and +Robert Brydall, 1898.</p> + +<p><a name="f2" id="f2" href="#f2.1">[2]</a> “Church and other Bells of Kincardineshire.”</p> + +<p><a name="f3" id="f3" href="#f3.1">[3]</a> “Church and other Bells of Kincardineshire,” Eeles.</p> + +<p><a name="f4" id="f4" href="#f4.1">[4]</a> Chambers’ “History of Peebles.”</p> + +<p><a name="f5" id="f5" href="#f5.1">[5]</a> “Bell Lore,” North.</p> + +<p><a name="f6" id="f6" href="#f6.1">[6]</a> Hope’s Reprint “Popish Kingdome.”</p> + +<p><a name="f7" id="f7" href="#f7.1">[7]</a> “Bell Lore,” North.</p> + +<p><a name="f8" id="f8" href="#f8.1">[8]</a> “Bell Lore,” North.</p> + +<p><a name="f9" id="f9" href="#f9.1">[9]</a> Eeles.</p> + +<p><a name="f10" id="f10" href="#f10.1">[10]</a> “Bells of Exeter Cathedral,” p. 7.</p> + +<p><a name="f11" id="f11" href="#f11.1">[11]</a> The Relief Church originated in 1752 in opposition to the system of +patronage, and received its name from its relief from that burden. In 1847 +it became, by union with the Secession Church, the United Presbyterian +Church.</p> + +<p><a name="f12" id="f12" href="#f12.1">[12]</a> For the accompanying illustrations of a repentance-stool, and of the +jagg or jougs, I am indebted to Mr Wm. Andrews, from whose work on “Bygone +Punishments” (London 1899) they are taken.</p> + +<p><a name="f13" id="f13" href="#f13.1">[13]</a> The spelling of this and the following extracts is modernised.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><strong>Transcriber’s Notes:</strong></p> + +<p>“St.” and “St” are used inconsistently throughout the original text.</p> + +<p>Other than the correction noted by hover information, inconsistencies in +spelling and hyphenation have been retained from the original.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Bygone Church Life in Scotland, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BYGONE CHURCH LIFE IN SCOTLAND *** + +***** This file should be named 34941-h.htm or 34941-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/9/4/34941/ + +Produced by Brian Foley and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Bygone Church Life in Scotland + +Author: Various + +Editor: William Andrews + +Release Date: January 13, 2011 [EBook #34941] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BYGONE CHURCH LIFE IN SCOTLAND *** + + + + +Produced by Brian Foley and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + +BYGONE CHURCH LIFE IN SCOTLAND. + + + + +[Illustration: Glasgow Cathedral with Blacader's Aisle] + + + + + Bygone Church Life in Scotland + + + Edited by William Andrews + + + LONDON: + WILLIAM ANDREWS & CO., 5, FARRINGDON AVENUE, E.C. + 1899. + + + + +WILLIAM.ANDREWS.& CO + +THE.MULL.PRESS + + + + +Preface. + + +I hope the present collection of new studies on old themes will win a +welcome from Scotsmen at home and abroad. + +My contributors, who have kindly furnished me with articles, are +recognized authorities on the subjects they have written about, and I +think their efforts cannot fail to find favour with the reader. + +WILLIAM ANDREWS. + +THE HULL PRESS, + +_Christmas Eve, 1898._ + + + + +Contents. + + + PAGE + + THE CROSS IN SCOTLAND. By the Rev. Geo. S. Tyack, B.A. 1 + + BELL LORE. By England Howlett 34 + + SAINTS AND HOLY WELLS. By Thomas Frost 46 + + LIFE IN THE PRE-REFORMATION CATHEDRALS. By A. H. Millar, + F.S.A., Scot. 64 + + PUBLIC WORSHIP IN OLDEN TIMES. By the Rev. Alexander Waters, + M.A., B.D. 86 + + CHURCH MUSIC. By Thomas Frost 98 + + DISCIPLINE IN THE KIRK. By the Rev. Geo. S. Tyack, B.A. 108 + + CURIOSITIES OF CHURCH FINANCE. By the Rev. R. Wilkins Rees 130 + + WITCHCRAFT AND THE KIRK. By the Rev. R. Wilkins Rees 162 + + BIRTH AND BAPTISMS, CUSTOMS AND SUPERSTITIONS 194 + + MARRIAGE LAWS AND CUSTOMS 210 + + GRETNA GREEN GOSSIP 227 + + DEATH AND BURIAL CUSTOMS AND SUPERSTITIONS 237 + + THE STORY OF A STOOL 255 + + THE MARTYRS' MONUMENT, EDINBURGH 260 + + + + +Bygone Church Life in Scotland. + + + + +The Cross in Scotland. + +BY THE REV. GEO. S. TYACK, B.A. + + +The Reformation in Scotland was of a character more sweeping and +destructive than is easy of realisation by an Englishman at the present +day. In the southern kingdom much that as symbolism was valuable, and as +art was admirable, was wantonly given over to the hammer or the flames at +that time; but one learns to be thankful for the many works of glory and +of beauty that were nevertheless left to us, when one turns one's eyes to +the northern realm. Carried away by the violence of the most extreme men, +the Reformation there became a veritable revolution, in which everything +that spoke of earlier times was condemned, and was treated as if it were a +sacrament of Satan; and the attempt was seriously made to render "the +King's Daughter" yet more "glorious within" by stripping her of every +shred of her "clothing of wrought gold." Religion, that it might be more +truly spiritual, was to be sent forth into the world absolutely naked of +every external sign or form. The furniture of the churches was torn out, +and sold or burnt; the statues of the saints were of course broken up; but +the organs were also pulled down, and even the carved stalls and screens +of the cathedrals were declared to be "idolatrous." Nothing illustrates +more strongly, and more curiously, the indiscriminate frenzy of +destruction which for a time took possession of the people, than the fact +that monuments and tombstones were even condemned as superstitious and +sinful. Only a comparatively few of all the many memorials of Scottish +worthies of earlier centuries escaped demolition, and this not wrought by +the mere violence of a turbulent mob, but by formal resolutions of the +General Assembly in the seventeenth century. In 1640 the Kirk Session of +Aberdeen ordered the removal of a portrait of "Reid of Pitfoddels" from +the vestry of the church, on the ground of its "smelling somewhat of +Popery"; and in 1649 a similar authority at Kilmarnock condemned "a +graven image" on the tomb of Lord Boyd. This action was taken, no doubt, +in obedience to the summons issued by the General Assembly in 1640 to the +presbyteries to complete the removal and destruction of all monuments. + +Such being the state of feeling in Scotland, we are not surprised to find +that the sign of our salvation was found even more obnoxious by the +leaders of the movement there than it was among their brethren in England. +With the latter, when the interiors of the churches were swept bare of +crosses, the passion for destruction was stayed so far as that emblem was +concerned; on spire and gable, on tomb and tablet, in churchyard and +market-place, the stone crosses were for the most part left; and even +when, under the Puritan regime of the following century, an attempt was +made to pull down these by Parliamentary authority, the popular feeling +was so far from being strongly in its favour, that the work was by no +means done thoroughly and completely. + +In spite of all that was intended, and even attempted, Scotland has, +nevertheless, retained some examples of the ancient crosses, which are +well worthy of our attention. In remote places the sacred sign has been +spared in scattered instances for more appreciative days; in more populous +centres the cross has been preserved in a secularised form, its symbol +gone, and with it its meaning; but amid the wreck of so much, we must +receive gratefully the fragments that remain. + +The strictly church crosses, those that once stood on altar or on +rood-screen, that led the stately procession, or cast their benign shadows +athwart the graves of the faithful--these were all swept away. The Synod +of Fife held, at the time of the Reformation, "visitations" from time to +time, to search out and remove "crosier staffes" and "divers crosses," as +well as other ancient furniture, from the parish churches; and in so +doing, doubtless, it was but acting as the other Synods of the country +did. The old crosses in the churchyards, many of them of great age, and +probably most interesting pieces of sculpture, were almost all destroyed. +The market crosses, however, have in several cases survived, although the +national emblem, the unicorn, has usurped the place of the Christian +symbol, the cross; and the attack upon mortuary memorials was not +altogether successful; in fact, it was hardly to be expected that any +people would consent to the entire obliteration of the grave-stones of +their ancestors. + +The most famous existing example is the High Cross, or Market Cross, of +the capital. The date of the foundation of this structure is unknown. Not +far from its site is an ancient well, known as the Cross Well, from which +some have conjectured that possibly the earliest cross was reared by some +unknown teacher of the faith, who, in a far distant age, established +himself in a cell beside this clear spring. Such a spot, we know, was +often chosen by these apostolic teachers, and not infrequently a rude +cross, erected hard by, served to mark the place as, in some sort, a +sanctuary. Our first authentic allusion to this Cross is, however, of a +date some centuries later than this. In 1175 William the Lion (1165-1214) +decreed that "all merchandisis salbe presentit at the mercat and mercat +croce of burghis." From this, we may safely conclude that Edinburgh had a +recognised Market Cross by that date, since we can hardly imagine that the +capital was without a symbol that was evidently usual in the burghs of +the country. A reference to the Cross is supposed to be contained in a +document of 1437. The assassins of the noble but unfortunate King James +I., who was barbarously slain in the February of that year, are said to +have suffered for their crime "mounted on a pillar in the market-place in +Edinburgh." Ten years later we meet with a definite reference to this +structure; the Charter of St Giles's Church, dated 1447, contains the +words "ex parte occidentali fori et crucis dicti burgi," on the west side +of the market-place and of the Cross of the said burgh. King James III. +(1460-1488), in an epistle to the citizens of his capital written in +October 1477, ordains that "all pietricks, pluvaris, capones, conyngs, +checkins, and all other wyld foulis and tame to be usit and sald about the +Market Croce and in na other place." At this time, therefore, we find the +Cross established as an acknowledged centre for commercial Edinburgh, such +as it was in the fifteenth century. + +The exact form of this early Market Cross is as doubtful as the date of +its foundation. The pillar of the present erection is the same as that in +the earliest historical notices which we have of it; but whether this +originally stood upon a simple pedestal, upon a pyramid of steps, or upon +an elevated platform like that of a later date, we cannot say. It has been +thought probable, however, that the Cross was raised to its dignified +altitude by the addition of the arcaded platform in the time of James III. +This monarch was indolent, and unfit for the rule of a somewhat turbulent +kingdom, but he was a patron of the arts, and a friend of the Church. +Several improvements were made in Edinburgh during his reign, including +the enlargement of St Giles's Cathedral; hence it is possible that he also +took in hand the adornment of the neighbouring Cross. Under James VI., +previously to his becoming Sovereign of Great Britain, further alterations +were made. In 1555 we read of work at the Cross consisting of "bigging the +rowme thereof," which is supposed to mean that at this time the open +arches which upheld the platform were filled in, so as to form an enclosed +"rowme" below. This room was entered by a door, which was secured with a +lock; so that thenceforward only those having some high and official duty +to perform, such as publishing a royal proclamation, could ascend to the +broad base of the Cross. In the City Treasurer's accounts for 1560 are +two entries as follows: "Item for ane band to ye Croce dur," and "Item for +mending of ye lok of ye Croce dur." Once more, we read in the same records +for 1584, "5 Julii, Item, ye sam day given for ane lok to ye Croce dur, +and three keyis for it." There is extant an old engraving giving a +bird's-eye view of Edinburgh in 1647, from which we may see that in its +main outlines the Market Cross was then much as it is to-day; the summit +of the shaft (from which, doubtless, the cross had already been flung +down) having been surmounted by the heraldic symbol of Scotland at the +date of the last-quoted entry from the city accounts. The record +concerning it is of a sum "payit to David Williamson for making and +upputting of the Unicorn upon the head of the Croce." + +Early in the next century the whole erection was moved to a new site. In +1617 it was "translated by the devise of certain mariners of Leith from +the place where it stood past the memory of man to a place beneath in the +High Street." A new substructure was made for it, of stone "brocht from +the Deyne"; and the shaft was swung into "the new seat" on the 25th +March, the cost of the entire work being L4486, 5s. 6d. (Scots). + +The republicans of the Commonwealth period defaced the Cross, tearing down +the royal arms, and hanging the crown from the head of the unicorn upon +the gallows. At the Restoration, therefore, certain repairs had to be +made; Robert Mylne was entrusted with the work, and a further contract was +made with George Porteous "for painting the Croce." + +During the succeeding century frequent complaints were made that the Cross +was an obstruction to traffic; and at last in 1756 the complainants +obtained their wish. On the 13th March in that year the Market Cross of +Edinburgh was demolished. The pillar, which fell and broke during the +operation, was sold to Lord Somerville, who set it up in the vicinity of +his house at Drum; the medallions which had adorned the base came +eventually into the hands of Sir Walter Scott, who built them into a wall +at Abbotsford, where they remain; the site was marked out with stones, as +some small compensation for the loss to the lovers of antiquity; and +finally a plain stone pillar was erected beside the well hard by, and this +was officially declared to be from that day forward the Market Cross of +the city. Even this contemptible substitute was not, however, suffered +long to remain; but on the same plea of obstruction was presently removed +like the Cross itself. + +The citizens of the ancient city did not unanimously concur, by any means, +in this destruction of a time-honoured landmark in the history of the +country; and efforts were repeatedly made to obtain its restoration. After +a time the movement was so far successful as to gain the return of "the +pillar of the Cross" to Edinburgh, where it was set up on a pedestal +within the railings of St Giles's Church. So matters stood until recent +times, when a complete restoration was effected by the generosity of the +late Rt. Hon. W. E. Gladstone, who built a new and imposing octagonal +base, on one of the faces of which the following inscription was placed in +Latin, "Thanks be to God, this ancient monument, the Cross of Edinburgh, +devoted of old to public functions--having been destroyed by evil hands in +the Year of our Salvation 1756, and having been avenged and lamented, in +song both noble and manly, by that man of highest renown, Walter +Scott--has now, by permission of the city magistrates, been rebuilt by +William E. Gladstone, who, through both parents claims a descent entirely +Scottish. November 23rd, in the Year of Grace 1885." The date is that of +the day on which this noble present was formally given to the civic +authorities by Mr Gladstone, who was then member of Parliament for +Midlothian. + +So far of the history of the fabric of the Cross: to trace in detail the +great events in which it has been called to play a part, would be to +recount no small portion of the annals of the Scottish kingdom. This spot +has long been treated as the very centre and heart of the country. Here +Scottish sovereigns met the citizens of their capital; here proclamation +was made of peace and war, of the accession of kings, and of aught else of +prime and pressing interest to the people; here, too, many have suffered +for their devotion to causes, political or religious, which had--at any +rate for a time--fallen before superior force. + +A fountain near the old Cross ran red with wine when James IV. of Scotland +brought home his bride, Margaret of England, and the first link in the +golden chain was forged which should shortly join the realms. Here in +1512 the royal summons was read for the mustering of that army, so many of +the gallant members of which were to fall at Flodden; and here--most +fateful of all proclamations published there--the death of Elizabeth was +announced, and the accession of James VI. to the double Crown of Great +Britain. + + +[Illustration: EXECUTION OF THE EARL OF ARGYLE, SHEWING THE OLD HIGH +CROSS, EDINBURGH.] + + +John Knox was burnt in effigy at the Cross in 1555, when he failed to +return from Geneva in answer to a summons from the bishops; and ten years +later a Roman Catholic Priest was "tyed to the Cross" and pelted because +he had dared to say Mass on Easter Day. The Earl of Morton was beheaded +here in 1581. Under James the Seventh of Scotland and Second of England +many a powerful head fell on the scaffold beneath the shadow of the Cross. +Those were stormy times in which religion and politics were curiously and +unhappily mingled, so that those who to one side seemed mere rebels, to +the other appeared as martyrs. Among others who suffered was the Earl of +Argyle, together with many of his clan who had been led by him to open +revolt. + +Edinburgh had another Cross, known as St John's, situated in the +Canongate; it was similar in design to the High Cross, but smaller. + +The Crosses of the Metropolis seem to have been taken as models by other +Scottish burghs. Their plan was quite unlike any existing examples in +England. The base or pedestal was an elevated platform, supported either +by open arches, or by solid walls; on the top of this, the tall shaft of +the cross was placed, and latterly it was crowned by a unicorn holding +the Scottish shield. Steps, within the base, led to the platform from +which proclamations and official notices were published by the city +heralds. Judging from the analogy of the Market Crosses in the southern +kingdom, it seems probable that the base was originally intended to be +open, so as to afford shade or shelter, as the weather might require, to +some at least of the market folk. Many English Crosses, the best known +example of all, for instance, that of Chichester, provide accommodation of +this sort, but none of them have a flat roof serving as a platform. +Subsequently, as the business of the country grew, this shelter would +prove so inadequate as not to be worth considering; and then the lower +structure was in some cases built in, so as to protect the access to the +platform, reserved now for formal and official purposes only. + +The city of Aberdeen boasts that her Market Cross is the finest in the +land. It was built in 1688 by a country mason named John Montgomery, and +was placed opposite the Tolbooth. In 1842 it was moved to the present site +in Castle Street, and was at the same time somewhat altered. It is +hexagonal in plan, six wide arches supporting the upper platform, round +which runs a circular balustrade garnished with shields of arms and +medallions of Scottish kings. The pillar rising from the midst is +handsomely carved, and supports a unicorn in white marble holding the +national shield. All the British sovereigns since its erection have been +proclaimed from this Cross, as well as the two Pretenders in 1715 and +1745. Near the spot now occupied by this erection originally stood the +Flesh Cross, close to which were the shambles; lower down Castle Street +was the Fish Cross, or Laich Cross, indicating the position of the fish +market. + +Prestonpans possesses a Market Cross of the same type as those already +described, and still in good condition, as also does Elgin; similar +Crosses at Perth and Dundee have been unhappily destroyed. Amongst other +notices of the Town Cross at Linlithgow is a record of punishment +inflicted upon an unfortunate burgess, for "in his great raschness and +suddantie destroying the head of the Toun's drum." This unmusical citizen +was deprived of the freedom of the burgh, fined L50 Scots, and ordered to +"sitt doune upon his knees at the Croce at ten houres before noone, and +crave the provost, baillies, and counsall pardone." Drums were evidently +of more account in Scotland in the seventeenth century than crosses or +tombstones. + +The ceremony of beating the bounds, or as it is called in Scotland "riding +the marches," is still observed in some burghs, and the procession usually +starts and terminates at the Cross if there be one. At Lanark before +separating the company sings "Scots wha hae" beneath the Cross, near which +stands what would two centuries since have been called "an idolatrous +statue" of William Wallace. At Linlithgow the function begins by drinking +the sovereign's health at the Cross, and the procession returns thither +before breaking up. At Kilmarnock Fastern's Eve (in English, Shrove +Tuesday) used to be celebrated by a large amount of horse-play round the +ancient Cross; the town fire-engines and their hose being called into +requisition for the drenching of the crowd with water, who probably +drenched themselves with something rather stronger later in the day. + +Of all the royal edicts proclaimed from these Crosses the following was +certainly one of the most curious. It was ordered to be published from +every Town Cross in Scotland in 1619, and was issued by King James from +London, whither a host of adventurers from his northern dominions had +promptly followed him. The proclamation warns "all manner of persons from +resorting out of Scotland to this our kingdome, unlesse it be gentlemen of +good qualitie, merchands for traffiques, or such as shall have a generall +license from our Counselle of that Kingdome, with prohibitioun to all +masters of shippes that they transport no such persons;" it further goes +on to announce that "Sir William Alexander, Master of Requests, hath +received a commission to apprehend and send home, or to punish all vagrant +persons who came to England to cause trouble, or bring discredit on their +country." + +Here and there throughout Scotland crosses of various kinds have no doubt +escaped destruction, when they happen to be in obscure places, or small +and scarcely noticeable in form or situation; thus the old Cathedral of +Brechin still preserves one of the consecration Crosses, cut in its walls +as part of the ceremony of its original dedication. But almost the only +examples of importance left to us, besides those town crosses which we +have considered, are several exceedingly interesting ancient memorial or +sepulchral crosses, of which those at Iona are by far the best known. + +An anonymous writer in 1688, speaking of this sacred isle, says, "that +M'Lean's Cross is one of the 360 standing before the Reformation; the +others were thrown into the sea by order of the Synod of Argyle." In the +absence of anything beyond the bare assertion, this statement must be +considered as at least doubtful. No earlier writers, including those who +had visited Iona, mention the fact; and if an organized attack of this +kind were made upon the monuments of the island, it is difficult to +explain why two were left untouched. That there were many more Crosses +here formerly may be taken for certain, and that the Synod of Argyle would +think them all idolatrous is equally clear; but it is not likely that it +ordered so great an undertaking as that of digging from their foundations +nearly four hundred massive blocks of stone, some, to judge by what is +left to us, of great size, and casting them into the sea. All such +monuments having been formally condemned throughout Scotland, it is fair +to assume that those of Iona met with a good deal of ill-usage. The "axes +and hammers" of the isle would be brought to bear upon "the carved work +thereof"; and it is more probable that the mode of destruction has been of +this kind, aided by time and storm, whose ravages nothing has been +attempted to stay or to repair, than that any definite scheme of +demolition has been carried out. + + +[Illustration: ST. MARTIN'S CROSS, IONA.] + + +Two fine crosses yet remain in good preservation in Iona, known +respectively as St. Martin's Cross and the Cross of the Maclean. The +former of these is considerably the older, and stands in front of the +ruined cathedral. It is a monolith measuring fourteen feet in height above +ground, eighteen inches in breadth, and ten inches in thickness, and is +set in a block of granite three feet in height. It is elaborately carved, +figures of the Blessed Virgin-Mother and the Holy Child, of ecclesiastics +in vestments, of musicians with harps and wind instruments, occupying one +face, together with foliage and twining snakes; while the other has a more +conventional design. On the roadside, near the ancient nunnery, stands +Maclean's Cross, which has been described as "one of the oldest Celtic +crosses in Scotland," and even as "the oldest Christian monument" in that +country. This is to ascribe to an undoubtedly ancient relic an antiquity +to which it has no claim; it dates probably from the fifteenth century. It +is eleven feet high, and is carved with the figure of the crucified +Redeemer, attended by angels, and with much graceful scroll-work. The +claimants for the greater age of this fine cross assert that it marks the +spot where St. Columba rested on his last walk about the monastic lands. + +St. Oran's Chapel, alleged to have been built by Queen Margaret some time +after 1072, contains one or two broken crosses. There is the shaft of one +erected in memory of the Abbot Mackinnon in 1489, a portion of another +known now as the "Flat stone of Oran," and a fragment of yet a third. The +famous burial ground of Iona, the Reilig Orain, to which were brought the +remains of kings, not only from the mainland of Scotland, but from Ireland +and even from Norway, has several sepulchral slabs which still bear the +sacred sign. One, probably of the twelfth century, has a well-designed +interlaced cross stretching almost the whole length and breadth of the +stone, with a galley carved upon the one side of it and a sword upon the +other; another, alleged to commemorate Ranald, Lord of the Isles in the +early thirteenth century, has a small interlaced cross upon one side of a +sword, and two "disguised" crosses, somewhat of the fylfot shape, upon the +other. There is also a broken stone, with a portion of a cross of Irish +design, and a fragmentary inscription. It has been supposed to mark the +burial-place of Maol Patrick O'Banan, the saintly bishop of Conor and +Down, who died in Iona in 1174.[1] Two boulders, measuring rather less +than two feet in length, have also been found in the island, each incised +with a cross. One, which has a well-proportioned figure of the type +commonly called "runic," is supposed by some to have been the stone, +which, according to his biographer Adamnan, formed the pillow of St. +Columba. + +Some others of the Western Isles have preserved a few of their ancient +crosses. Boswell, in his "Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides" in 1773, +speaks thus of the approach to Rasay: "Just as we landed I observed a +cross, or rather the ruins of one, upon a rock, which had to me a pleasing +vestige of religion." A few days later the traveller set out to explore +the island, and he made other discoveries of the same nature. "On one of +the rocks just where we landed," he tells us, "there is rudely carved a +square, with a crucifix in the middle: here, it is said, the Lairds of +Rasay, in old times, used to offer up their devotions; I could not +approach the spot without a grateful recollection of the event +commemorated by this symbol." A little further on he writes, "The eight +crosses, which Martin mentions as pyramids for deceased ladies, stood in a +semicircular line, which contained within it the chapel; they marked out +the boundaries of the sacred territory, within which an asylum was to be +had; one of them, which we observed upon our landing, made the first point +of the semicircle; there are few of them now remaining." On the islet of +Oronsay, immediately to the south of Colonsay, is a Celtic cross with a +Latin inscription, erected in memory of a Prior who died in 1510. Some of +the crosses from Iona are said to have been carried to the neighbouring +island of Mull, and to the mainland of Argyle. At Campbelltown in that +county is a handsome cross, carved from a monolith of blue granite, and +now serving as a Market Cross, which is alleged to be one of the spoils of +St. Columba's isle. + +Argyleshire has also preserved some interesting sculptured tombstones. The +churchyard of Kilfinan has two such; one is adorned with a wheel-headed +cross, the shaft of which is covered with scrolls, a wicker-pattern design +running down either side of it; the other has a cross with deep hollows at +the intersection of the arms. At Nereabolls, in Islay, is the upper +portion of a crucifix, broken off beneath the arms of the figure; it is +roughly carved, but has nothing of the grotesqueness of some very early +attempts at the human form. All these stones date from the fourteenth or +following century. + +In certain districts several Celtic crosses have been suffered to survive, +or have been brought forth from the concealment into which the neglect, or +the violence, of past ages had thrown them; and they present perhaps the +most valuable examples of runic inscriptions and of contemporary carving +which we now have in Great Britain. Some of them are quadrilateral slabs +on which the sacred symbol is cut, others are carved into the shape of a +cross; most of them have a large amount of characteristic adornment. There +are men riding and hunting, animals conventional, if not actually +grotesque, interlaced chain designs, and intricate and often very graceful +scrolls. Among other figures cut on these ancient monuments we find +constantly repeated some of those Pictish symbols, the meaning of which is +one of the apparently insoluble problems of archaeology. The twin circles +connected by three lines like a Z, or included within the arms of it, the +crescent crossed by two lines forming a V, a grotesque somewhat distantly +resembling an elephant; these and other forms constantly meet us. They are +characteristic of the carving of a time not more than eight or nine +centuries from our own, yet the very alphabet of the symbolic language +which they speak is lost. They have been described as the work of Cymric +Christians, as Gnostic, as magical, as derived from oriental Paganism, as +learned from Scandinavian heathenism; but even if we could agree as to +their origin, we should yet be in the dark as to their meaning. In +Wigtonshire are several crosses, including some of this type: we find them +at Kirkcolm, Kirkmadrine, Whithorn, Monreith, and St. Ninian's cave. At +Kirkcolm is an exceedingly rudely carved crucifix; beneath the figure of +the Crucified is another human figure accompanied by two creatures meant +apparently for birds; the whole being of the roughest description. The +Monreith Cross stands seven and a quarter feet in height, and has a wheel +head, with a shaft whose sides curve slightly outwards from top and +bottom; an ingeniously contrived scroll covers the face. The Kirkmadrine +example has incised upon it the sacred monogram XP conjoined, and arranged +crosswise within a circle. + +In Kirkcudbright is the splendid Ruthwell Cross, standing over seventeen +feet in height. The shaft tapers gracefully towards the head, and has +within panels upon it the effigies of several saints; the sides have a +singularly fine scroll of conventional foliage with birds; and the head is +light and elegant. It is altogether a very beautiful structure. + +Other stones worthy of notice now are, or have been found, at St Madoes +and Dupplin, near Perth; at Kirriemuir, and elsewhere, in Forfar; and in +some other places, chiefly along the north-eastern coast of the country. +It must be remembered that the Reformation progressed much more slowly in +the Highlands than in the Lowlands, so that we might naturally expect that +the demolition of the crosses would not be carried out quite so thoroughly +in the north as in the south. + +It was, however, in a southern town that we read of the last use, until +recent times, of that ancient ceremony for Good Friday which our +forefathers called "Creeping to the Cross." On May 8th, 1568, Grindal, +then bishop of London, writes to Sir William Cecil, afterwards Lord +Burleigh: "Evans, who is thought a man of more simplicity than the rest, +hath reported (as I am credibly informed) that at Dunbar, on Good Friday, +they saw certain persons go bare-foot and bare-legged to the church, to +creep to the cross; if it be so the Church of Scotland will not be pure +enough for our men." + +In spite of the abolition of the sign of the cross in the ceremonial of +the church, and the destruction, so far as possible, of the material cross +in its buildings, even Presbyterian Scotland could not discard the emblem +of St. Andrew from among its national devices. The Covenanters marched +across the Border in the Great Civil War, under a flag which bore that +symbol; the white Cross of St. Andrew lay athwart its field, charged at +the centre with the thistle, while in the spaces between the four members +of the cross was the motto, "Covenants for Religion, Croune, and +Kingdoms." Under the Commonwealth the royal arms, of course, dropt out of +use, their place being taken by a shield, the first and fourth quarters of +which were charged with St. George's Cross (for England), the second with +St. Andrew's Cross (for Scotland), and the third with the Irish harp. + + +[Illustration: COVENANTER'S FLAG.] + + +Some few folk-customs, involving the use of this sign have also lived on +in the northern kingdom. At Borera, for instance, is a Celtic cross, now +overthrown; and whosoever wishes for rain has but to raise this, according +to the local belief at one time, and he will obtain his desire. It used +also to be customary in some parts of the country, when a bridegroom +arrived at the church door ready for his wedding, to unfasten the +shoe-string on his right foot and to draw a cross upon the doorpost. Such +usages, however, seem to have been rarer in Scotland than in England. + +St. Margaret of Scotland, a queen worthy of everlasting remembrance, who +died in the year 1093, gave to one of the churches in her husband's +dominions a splendid crucifix, on which was a figure of the Redeemer in +pure gold. The one historic crucifix of the country, however, is the +famous Black Rood of Scotland, round which gathers much both of legend and +of history, and from which the royal palace and abbey in Edinburgh +received its name of Holy Rood. The story of this ancient cross is +recounted at length in the "Rites of Durham," and is as follows. + +King David Bruce was hunting in a forest hard by Edinburgh one Holy Cross +Day, or Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (September 14th), and had +become separated from his companions, when a wondrous hart, of great +beauty and strength, suddenly appeared to him. The creature charged the +king's horse, and so terrified it that it took to flight; but the hart +followed "so fiercely and swiftly" that it bore down both the horse and +its royal rider to the ground. Bruce, putting forth his hands to save +himself, was about to seize the antlers of his assailant, when, from the +head of the hart, "there most strangly slypped into the King's hands the +said crosse most wonderously," and forthwith the animal vanished. On the +following night Bruce was warned in his sleep to build an abbey at the +spot where this miracle had happened. Accordingly, he sent to France and +Flanders for workmen, built the abbey of the Holy Rood, which he gave to +the canons regular of St. Augustine, and "placed the said Cross most +sumptuously and richly in the said Abbey, ther to remayne in a most +renowned monument." So it continued until "the said king" invaded England +previous to the Battle of Neville's Cross; this sacred relic was then +brought forth, and carried to the war. Again the king received a vision +during his sleep, in which he was warned in no case to damage the +patrimony of St. Cuthbert; but, in spite of this, he proceeded to lay +waste and to destroy the domains of the great Abbey at Durham; and for +this disobedience divine vengeance fell upon him. He himself was captured +at the ensuing fight, many of the flower of his nobility fell on the +field, his royal standard became a prize to the English, and the Holy Rood +was taken! All the trophies of the victory were solemnly offered by the +English as an act of thanksgiving at St. Cuthbert's shrine at Durham, and +the Rood "was sett up most exactlie in the piller next St. Cuthbert's +shrine in the south alley of the said Abbey." The writer of the "Rites" +tells us in one place that "no man knew certenly what mettell or wood the +said crosse was mayd of;" at a later point in his story he implies that it +was of silver and was termed the "Black Rude of Scotland" from "being, as +yt weare, smoked all over," doubtless from the tapers constantly burnt +before it both in Edinburgh and in Durham. At the Reformation this +valuable and historic cross was carried off with the other abbey +treasures, and no doubt found its way into the melting pot. + +Our chronicler is not quite sound in his history. It was David I. who +founded Holyrood Abbey, about the year 1128; and to whom, therefore, the +first part of the story relates; but it was David II., son of Robert +Bruce, and thus a descendant of the first Scottish King of that name, who +lost the relic at Neville's Cross in 1346. There is another story to the +effect that St. Margaret brought the crucifix from the Holy Land in 1070; +and that both religious and filial devotion thus prompted David I., the +youngest of her sons, to raise and dedicate the abbey, which was to +enshrine it. The saintly queen may perhaps have received the rood from +Jerusalem, she can hardly have brought it thence herself, for it does not +seem that she ever undertook that pilgrimage. + + +[Illustration: SEAL OF HOLYROOD ABBEY.] + + +The seal of Holyrood Abbey, probably the most famous of all the many +foundations dedicated in honour of the Holy Cross, contains a memorial of +the legend above given. The centre is occupied by a crucifix beneath a +canopy, with the Blessed Virgin and St. John on either side; below this is +the Madonna enthroned and holding the Holy Child. A crosier, on one side +of these figures, marks the dignity of the abbey; a stag, on the other +side, with a cross rising from its forehead recalls the tradition of its +inception; while the royal shield of Scotland below informs us of the +sovereignty of the founder. + + + + +Bell Lore. + +BY ENGLAND HOWLETT. + + +In all Christian countries from the earliest ages the use of bells is +practically as old as Christianity itself. The bell in its original form +was nothing more or less than a piece of metal rolled into a wedge-like +form and riveted together, and it is a curious instance of survival that +the cattle bells in many countries are now practically of this primitive +pattern. In the early days of Christianity small portable handbells were +used for summoning the people to worship. It was not long, however, before +the bell founder's art made great progress, and long before the year 1000 +the music of bells pealing from church towers could not have been by any +means a rare sound. + +We must remember that although bells are primarily connected with matters +ecclesiastical, still, more especially in the middle ages, they were used +in all cases where it was necessary to give a public notice or warning. +The commercial transactions of a market were to a great extent regulated +by bells. In case of fire or danger the bells were sounded to arouse or +warn the people. In harvest time the gleaners' bell was rung to limit the +time when the gleaners should set forth and return from their work. Before +the days of the telegraph and quick travelling, bells were found to be a +good medium for passing on intimation of any great national event or +danger; and perhaps no sound has carried the news of such great joy and +sorrow as the sound of the bell. + +Gifts of bells to churches, particularly in the earlier ages, were always +deemed the most acceptable of gifts, and during the middle ages these +bells were not uncommonly given as a memorial of some deceased friend or +relation. Kings and Queens may be found amongst the donors of bells, and +one of the earliest royal bell givers was probably Canute, who presented a +pair of bells to Winchester Cathedral in 1035. + +The art of bell founding was principally, if not entirely, carried out +under the direction of the ecclesiastics, prior to the thirteenth century. +This, of course, is not to be wondered at when we remember that at this +period the arts in general owed their preservation and development to the +zeal and industry of the church. + +In the early middle ages, not only in Scotland but also in England and on +the Continent, we are told by Mr F. C. Eeles[2] that the richer churches +each possessed several bells, obtained usually at various times, and often +without regard to their respective sizes, or to the relations between +their notes. The great bell was often dedicated to the patron saint of the +church, and the smaller bells to the other saints who were commemorated in +the church below; each was used separately for the services at the +corresponding altar, while all were used for High Mass, and on great +occasions. A desire to ring the bells in a musical way made itself felt +very early. On the continent this took the form of adding a carillon to +the already existing collection of heavy bells, while here it showed +itself in a tendency to make the heavy bells themselves form a part of the +diatonic scale, and therefore suitable for ringing in succession. Shortly +before the Reformation the carillon developed very rapidly on the +continent, and reached its perfection in the seventeenth century. It +consisted of a large number of small light bells, fixed "dead," and +sounded by hammers worked by wires from an arrangement of levers, +something like the keys of an organ. + +In Scotland, during the middle ages, the country churches as a rule had no +tower. This was one of the architectural peculiarities of the country at +this period, and as the use and appreciation of bells was steadily +progressing at the time, we find the architects gradually adapting +themselves to the requirements of the case. This they did, not by building +towers as in England, but by elaborating a type of belfry which became +almost peculiar to Scotland, a sort of architectural feature of the +country. It is curious and interesting to notice that this type of belfry +survived the destructive element of the Reformation, and lived on through +the re-actionary period when art and taste were practically dead. Thus we +often find in buildings otherwise devoid of all architectural pretensions, +these redeeming little belfries which were evolved simply to meet the +growing use of the bell. + +Most of these belfries come under the head of the open stonework class, +which, from their very formation give an air of lightness and freedom to +the building they surmount. When the Renaissance period came in the form +of the belfry was not altered, but the detail then became of classical +design. + +In Scotland we find that in some of the larger towns both the steeples and +the bells are the property of the municipality, the Church only having the +use of the bells on Sundays, while on week days they are used by the town +authorities. The origin of this curious sort of co-ownership would appear +to lie in the fact that in former times it was no uncommon thing for a +town to acquire a lien on the bells in exchange for helping to build the +steeple or undertaking to keep it in order.[3] + +The following extract from the Burgh Records[4] of Peebles exhibits a good +instance of this:-- + +"1778, December 29. The Council in conjunction with the heritors, agree to +the proposition of building a new church.... The town to be at the expense +of building the steeple and furnishing it with a clock and bells, for +which it is to be the property of the burgh." + +From the Perth Session Records, October 6, 1578, we find that "The Session +ordains James Sym, uptaker of the casualities that intervenes in the kirk, +to buy a tow to the little skellit bell--the which bell shall only be rung +to the affairs of the kirk, also to the examinations, or to the +assemblies." + +The same Session Records for Perth, under date February 6, 1586, tells us +that "The Session ordains Nicol Balmain to ring the curfew and workmen's +bell in the morning and evening, the space of one quarter of an hour, at +the times appointed--viz., four hours in the morning and eight at even." + +In many primitive parts of Scotland, where there was no belfry, it seems +to have been the custom to hang the solitary bell on a tree. A writer in +1679 protests against "that pitiful spectacle, bells hanging upon trees +for want of bell houses." At Drumlithe the town bell used to hang on an +ash tree, and thus continued to do until 1777, when a small steeple was +provided for it. + +Among the Church ornaments to be provided by the parishioners in the +fourteenth century was "a bell to carry before the body of Christ in the +visitation of the sick." This was done in order that all, according to the +then teaching of the Church, might be warned of its approach and pay +reverence to it.[5] + + Saint John before the bread doth go, and poynting towards him + Doth show the same to be the Lambe that takes away our sinne, + On whome two clad in Angels' shape do sundrie flowres fling, + A number great of sacring Belles with pleasant sound do ringe.[6] + +These hand-bells were also used in procession on the Rogation days, and +frequent notices of them are to be found in Church inventories. + +Small hand-bells were in general use in a variety of ways in +pre-Reformation times. At the burial of the dead we find them used for the +double purpose of clearing the way for the funeral procession, and also to +call for prayer for the deceased. The Bayeux Tapestry, which was worked by +Matilda, the Queen of William the Conqueror, depicts the burial of Edward +the Confessor, and in this a boy appears on each side of the bier carrying +a small bell. We find reference to the use of these hand-bells at +funerals by Chaucer:-- + + ... they heard a bell clink + Before a corse was carried to the grave. + +Hand-bells which were kept for this purpose were generally called "the +corse bell" or "the lych bell," and by these names they are constantly +found mentioned in Church inventories. The custom of ringing these small +bells at funerals was sought to be stopped by the Bishops in the sixteenth +century. In 1571, Grindal directs that "at burials no ringing of +hand-bells," and a few years later (1583), Middleton directs "that the +clerk nor his deputy do carry about the town a little bell called the +Sainctes bell before the burial."[7] + +It is a very prevalent belief that a large quantity of silver was used in +the composition of the old bells, and that to this fact we owe much of the +beauty and purity of their tone. It is commonly stated that in the middle +ages it was the practice for our ancestors to throw in their silver +tankards and spoons when the parish church bells were cast. However, a +subsequent analysis of many bells of this period which have since been +recast show the proportion of silver in them to have been exceedingly +small. + +The ancient bells, when cast, were set apart for their sacred uses by a +solemn benediction, often called, from a too close approximation to the +office of Holy Baptism, the Baptism of Bells. The office and the +ceremonies used, which can be found in the Pontificals of the Mediaeval +Church, varied very little after the ninth century. The bell itself was +washed by the bishop with water, into which salt had been previously cast. +After it had been dried by the attendants, the bishop next dipped the +thumb of his right hand in the holy oil for the sick, and made the sign of +the cross on the top of the bell; after which he again marked it both with +the holy oil for the sick and with chrism, saying the words:-- + + "Sancti + ficetur, et conse + cretur, Domine, signumistud: in nomine + Pa + tris, et Fi + lii, et Spiritus + sancti in honorem Sancti N. pax + tibi."[8] + +It is interesting to notice that in many places the practice still remains +of ringing the bells at particular hours when no service is to be held. +This is clearly a survival of the times when the bells were rung to call +people to the mediaeval services. We are reminded in "The Bells of +Kincardineshire,"[9] that at the present day various reasons, more or less +utilitarian, have been given in Scotland for these old service bells. The +country people say that the eight o'clock bell is to "let you ken it's the +Sabbath," or to "gar the hill folk mak' theirsel ready or the kirk win +in." This is very often called the "rousing bell," and the later bell the +"dressing bell," or the "get ready." + +The Perth Session Records, July 10, 1560, provide that "The Session, after +the appointment of the order of communication, ordains that the first bell +should be rung at four in the morning; the second at half five o'clock; +the third at five. The second ministration, the first bell to be rung at +half nine o'clock; the second at nine; the third at half ten." July 6, +1703, "The Session appoints that the church doors be opened at seven of +the clock in the morning, and _not_ till then; as also that the first bell +be rung at eight of the clock; the second at half nine; and the third at +nine." + +The ringing of bells at funerals is a custom of ancient origin. It was a +popular belief that the sound of the bell had power to drive away evil +spirits. In England, Bishop Grandison of Exeter in 1339 found it necessary +to check the long ringings at burials, on the grounds that "they do no +good to the departed, are an annoyance to the living, and injurious to the +fabrick and the bells."[10] + +Before the Reformation there were five bells at Dundee on which "six score +and nine straiks" were given three times a day, to call to "matins, mess, +and even-sang." + +Presbyterianism has naturally had a great influence on the bells in +Scotland. Mr Eeles, who is an authority on the subject, tells us that the +passing bell is no longer rung, nor is there any ringing at burials beyond +tolling the bell for a few minutes as the procession approaches the +churchyard. In some parishes even this is said to be fast dying out. In +the Burgh Records of Dundee "it is statute that an ony person cause the +gret bells to be rung for either saul, mass or dirige, he sall pay forty +pence to the Kirk werk." + +The ringing of the death-knell was universal after the Reformation, when +it seemed to have acquired a new meaning in the minds of the people, +having become degenerated, so to speak, into a mere notice to the public +that a death had taken place. Shakespeare refers to this ringing of the +death-knell in his seventy-first sonnet:-- + + No longer mourn for me when I am dead, + Than ye shall hear the surly, sullen bell + Give warning to the world that I am fled + From this vile world, with vilest worms to dwell. + +The Reformation and the decline of Gothic architecture both combined to +put their impress upon bells. The Reformation naturally caused a great +change in the inscriptions, and the decline of Gothic led to a poverty of +design and an abandonment of the fine lettering, crosses, and other +ornaments. Figures of angels and saints no longer appeared, and soon the +artistic black letter gave place to the commonplace Roman capitals. With +these drastic changes much of the romance of the bell has been swept +away. + + + + +Saints and Holy Wells. + +BY THOMAS FROST. + + +Among the results of the preaching of the Gospel to the ignorant and +superstitious in the early ages of the Church there must, unfortunately, +be included a considerable mixture of pagan beliefs and customs with the +new religion, some of which have survived even to our own time. The sacred +character ascribed to a great number of wells or springs both in England +and Scotland may be traced back, in numerous instances, to pagan rites +observed at them in pre-Christian ages. Some of these, as at Drumlanrig, +in Dumfries county, and at Tully Beltane, in the Highlands of Perthshire, +have near them a circle of stones, resembling those supposed to be +associated with Druidism; and of the latter, Jamieson says in his +"Scottish Dictionary,"--"On Beltane morning, superstitious people go to +this well and drink of it, then they make a procession round it, as I am +informed, nine times; after this, they, in like manner, go round the +temple," as he calls the circle of upright stones. + +In the little island in Loch Maree, in the county of Ross, is a well or +spring traditionally associated with St. Maelrubha, who is said to have +been a monk of the monastery of Bangor, in Ireland, and to have founded a +church at Applecross, in the same county, in 673. Pennant, who visited +Innis Maree in 1772, says:--"In the midst is a circular dike of stones,... +I suspect the dike to have been originally Druidical, and that the ancient +superstition of paganism had been taken up by the saint, as the readiest +method of making a conquest over the minds of the inhabitants." The +probability of this appears from old Kirk Session records of an annual +custom in Applecross of sacrificing a bull to "Mourie" on the saint's day. +This custom survived until the latter half of the seventeenth century, +when it was denounced as idolatrous. + +In the island of Lewis, one of the Hebrides, are the ruins of a chapel +formerly dedicated to St. Mulvay, near which is a spring, the water of +which was supposed to be of singular efficacy in curing diseases of the +brain. The patient was made to walk seven times round the ruins, and was +then sprinkled with water from the spring. In others of the Hebrides, and +along the west coast, there are many wells named after St. Columba. Almost +every well in Scotland is, indeed, named after some mediaeval saint, many +of them of only local fame, and very few having a place in the +ecclesiastical kalendar. St. Ronan's Well, from the association with it of +Scott's novel of that name, is the best known to the general reader. It +has been identified with the mineral well at Innerleithen, in the county +of Peebles, which long enjoyed good repute as a curative agent in diseases +of the eye and the skin, and also in dyspepsia. + +The church of St. Fergus, in Buchan, commemorates an Irish missionary of +the eighth century, in whose memory a well in the parish of Kirkmichael, +in Banffshire, is named. Concerning this spring, Dr Gregor, in his "Folk +Lore of the North-east of Scotland," says:--"Easter Sunday and the first +Sunday in May were the principal Sundays for visiting it, and many from +the surrounding parishes, who were affected with skin diseases or running +sores, came to drink of its water, and to wash in it. The hour of arrival +was twelve o'clock at night, and the drinking of the water and the washing +of the diseased part took place before or at sunrise. A quantity of the +water was carried home for future use. Pilgrimages were made up to the end +of September, by which time the healing virtues of the water had become +less. Such after-visits seem to have begun in later times." + +The best known of several wells named after St. Helena, the mother of +Constantine, is beside the road from Maybole to Ayr, and about two miles +and a half from the former place. It used formerly to be much resorted to +on the 1st of May, for the benefit of sickly children. St. Iten's Well, at +Cambusnethan, in Lanarkshire, at one time was held in good repute as a +cure for asthma and skin diseases. Martin, in a description of the +Hebrides, written about 1695, mentions a well named after the same saint +in the Isle of Eigg, which was regarded by the natives as a panacea for +"all the ills that flesh is heir to." He gives a curious, and in view of +the connection of holy wells with pagan beliefs and customs, an +interesting account of the dedication of this well by a priest called +Father Hugh. + +"He obliged all the people to come to this well," he says, "and then +employed them to bring together a great heap of stones at the head of the +spring by way of penance. This being done, he said mass at the well, and +then consecrated it; he gave each of the inhabitants a piece of wax +candle, which they lighted, and all of them made the Dessil,--going round +the well sun-ways, the priest leading them; and from that time it was +accounted unlawful to boil any meat with the water of this well." + +St. Fillan's Well, at the foot of a green hill in the parish of Comrie, +was formerly much frequented on the 1st of May and the 1st of August by +persons in quest of health, who walked or were carried three times round +it, from east to west, following the course of the sun. This done, they +drank of the water of the spring, deposited a white stone on the saint's +cairn, and departed, leaving some rag of linen or woollen as an offering. + +Half-way between the bays of Portankill and East Tarbet, on the coast of +Wigtonshire, are the ruins of St. Medan's chapel, within which are three +natural cavities in the rock, which at high water are filled by the tide. +Sickly children used to be brought to the larger hole to be bathed, and +this is still done occasionally, though faith in such matters, as in so +many others, seems to be lessening. Dr Trotter, who visited the place in +1870, had the ceremony described to him by an eye-witness as +follows:--"The child was stripped naked, taken by one of the legs, and +plunged head-foremost into the big well until completely submerged; it was +then pulled out, and the part held on by was dipped in the middle well, +and then the whole body was finished by washing the eyes in the smallest +one, altogether very like the Achilles and Styx business, only much more +thorough. An offering was then left in the old chapel, on a projecting +stone inside the cave behind the west door, and the cure was complete." + +There is nothing certain known about this St. Medan, though there are +wonderful legends concerning her in the Aberdeen Breviary and elsewhere. +Concerning the chapel in Wigtonshire, Dr Trotter thinks that "the well was +the original institution; the cave a shelter or dwelling for the genius +who discovered the miraculous virtues of the water, and his successors; +and the chapel a later edition for the benefit of the clergy, who +supplanted the old religion by grafting Christianity upon it; St. Medana +being a still later institution." + +St. Catherine's Well, at Liberton, near Edinburgh, has been regarded for +centuries as a remedy for diseases of the skin, and is still frequented by +persons suffering from them. It derives its name from a tradition, +preserved by Boece, in his chronicle of Scotland, that the spring rose +miraculously from a drop of oil brought from the tomb of St. Catherine of +Alexandria on Mount Sinai, and this story was considered to be +countenanced by the fact that drops of oil are often observable on the +surface, a phenomenon now regarded as due to the decomposition of coal, or +bituminous shale, in seams below. Boece says that Queen Margaret, the wife +of Malcolm III., built a chapel near the spring, and dedicated it to St. +Catherine; but this chapel, some remains of which were still standing at +the close of the last century, was dedicated to St. Catherine of Sienna, +not to her sister saint of Alexandria. Before the Reformation, the nuns +made an annual visit to the well, three miles from their convent, in +solemn procession, a ceremony due perhaps to the coincidence of name. + +James IV. made an offering in this chapel in 1504, and when James VI. +returned to Scotland in 1617, he visited the well, and, as Sir Daniel +Wilson relates in his "Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Time," he +"commanded it to be enclosed with an ornamental building, with a flight of +steps to afford easy access to the healing waters; but this was demolished +by the soldiers of Cromwell, and the well now remains enclosed with plain +stone-work, as it was partially repaired at the Restoration." + +St. Bernard's Well, a sulphurous spring in the valley below Dean Bridge, +Edinburgh, is traditionally associated with the sainted Abbot of +Clairvaux. Its medicinal virtues appear to have escaped notice, however, +until 1789, when the property on which it is situated came into the +possession of Lord Gardenstone, who erected a handsome Grecian edifice +over the spring, set up within it a statue of Hygeia, and appointed an +attendant to dispense the water at a very trifling charge. The place then +became a popular resort for the purpose of drinking the water, and in 1889 +the statue of the Roman goddess, having become decayed, was replaced by +one in marble, by the generosity of the late William Nelson, who also +restored the temple and made the surroundings more attractive. + +On Soutra Hill, the westernmost point of the Lammermoor range, there once +stood a hospital founded by Malcolm IV., for the reception of poor +travellers, and dedicated to the Trinity. Only a small portion of the +building now remains, but near it is a spring known as Trinity Well, which +in former times was much frequented on account of the healing virtues +attributed to it. A similar reputation was enjoyed for a long time by St. +Mungo's Well, on the west side of the hill named after that famous +Scottish saint, in the parish of Huntley, Aberdeenshire. + +There were springs also which were reputed to preserve from disease those +who partook of their water. The virtues of St. Olav's Well, in the parish +of Cruden, in Aberdeenshire, are recorded in the couplet-- + + St. Olav's Well, low by the sea, + Where pest nor plague shall never be. + +Of St. Corbet's Well, on the top of the Touch Hills, in Stirlingshire, it +was formerly believed that whoever drank its water before sunrise on the +first Sunday in May was sure of another year of life, and crowds of +persons resorted to the spot at that time, in the hope of thereby +prolonging their lives. Water for the font was often taken from holy +wells, and it was believed in the middle ages that persons baptised with +water from Trinity Well, at Gask, in Perthshire, would never be attacked +by the plague. Baptisms in St. Machar's Cathedral, Aberdeen, were at one +time performed with water taken from the saint's spring; and, before the +Reformation, the font at Airth, in Stirlingshire, is said to have been +supplied from a well dedicated to the mother of Christ, near Abbeyton +bridge. + +Passing over a number of springs with reputed medicinal properties, but +not associated with any hagiological tradition, we find it stated by Mr J. +R. Walker, in a communication to the Scottish Society of Antiquaries, that +"many of the wells dedicated to 'Our Lady' and to St. Brigid, the Mary of +Ireland, were famous for the cure of female sterility, which, in the days +when a man's power and influence in the land depended on the number of his +clan or tribe, was looked upon as a token of the divine displeasure, and +was viewed by the unfortunate spouses with anxious apprehension, dread, +doubt, jealousy and pain. Prayer and supplication were obviously the +methods pursued by the devout for obtaining the coveted gift of fertility, +looked upon, by females especially, as the most valuable of heavenly +dispensations; and making pilgrimages to wells under the patronage of the +mother of our Lord would naturally be one of the most common expedients." + +Some saints' wells were believed to have the power of foretelling whether +the patients on whose behalf they were invoked would recover,--a +superstition which may be traced to Greek paganism of a time thousands of +years before the Christian era. St. Andrew's Well, at Shadar, in the +island of Lewis, was reputed to possess this power. A vessel filled with +water from the spring was taken to the patient's abode, and a small wooden +dish placed on the surface. If this turned towards the east, it was held +to denote that the patient would recover; but if in the opposite direction +that he would die. "I am inclined," says Mr Gomme, "to connect this with +the vessel or cauldron so frequently occurring in Celtic tradition, and +which Mr Nutt has marked as 'a part of the gear of the oldest Celtic +divinities,' perhaps of divinities older than the Celts." The Virgin's +Well, near the ancient church of Kilmorie, in Wigtonshire, was also +reputed to possess this power. If the patient on behalf of whom the +prophetic power of the well was sought would recover, the water flowed +freely; but in the contrary case it failed to well up. + +Votive offerings have been mentioned as made to the saints to whom wells +were dedicated, and thus became holy. At Montblairie, in Banffshire, +shreds of linen and woollen were hung on the bushes beside a consecrated +well, and farthings and halfpence were thrown into the water. Miller, in +his "Scenes and Legends of the North of Scotland," notices a similar +custom as practised in the vicinity of Cromarty, his native town. He says, +"It is not yet twenty years since a thorn, which formed a little canopy +over the spring of St. Bennet, used to be covered anew every season with +little pieces of rag, left on it as offerings to the saint by sick people +who came to drink of the water." + +St. Wallach's Bath, in Strathdeveron, is a cavity in the rock, about three +feet in depth, into which water flows from a spring several yards higher +up, the overflow trickling over the edge into the stream, about four feet +below. Down to the beginning of the present century, large numbers of +weakly children used to be brought to this bath to be strengthened by +immersion in it, and some small article of the child's clothing was hung +on a neighbouring tree. The spring was resorted to for the cure of sore +eyes, and pins were offered to the Saint, being left in a hollow of a +stone beside the well. At the end of May, which was the season for the +visit, the hollow was often full of pins. Sir Arthur Mitchell, describing +the holy well on Innis Maree in a communication to the Scottish Society of +Antiquaries, says, "Near it stands an oak tree, which is studded with +nails. To each of these was originally attached a piece of the clothing of +some patient who had visited the spot. There are hundreds of nails, and +one has still fastened to it a faded ribbon. Two bone buttons and two +buckles we also found nailed to the tree. Countless pennies and +halfpennies are driven edgeways into the wood." A more recent visitor, +surprised at finding what appeared to be a silver coin fixed in the tree, +took the trouble to examine it, and found it spurious. + +Coins were more usually, however, thrown into the well, and Mr Patrick +Dudgeon, who in 1870 had the well of St. Querdon, in Troqueer parish, +Kirkcudbrightshire, cleaned out, observes in an article contributed to the +transactions of the Dumfries and Galloway Natural History Society, that +several hundreds of coins were found at the bottom--nearly all being the +smallest copper coins, dating from the reign of Elizabeth to that of +George III., but chiefly Scottish issues of James VI., Charles I., and +Charles II. He mentions also having been told by old residents that they +remembered seeing rags and ribbons hung on the bushes around the well. + +Dr Macgeorge, describing St. Thenew's Well, in his "Old Glasgow," states, +"It was shaded by an old tree, which drooped over the well, and which +remained until the end of the last century. On this tree the devotees who +frequented the well were accustomed to nail, as thank-offerings, small +bits of tin-iron--probably manufactured for that purpose by a craftsman in +the neighbourhood--representing the parts of the body supposed to have +been cured by the virtues of the sacred spring, such as eyes, hands, feet, +ears, and others." + +Pilgrimages to saints' wells were a well-observed custom until they were, +after the Reformation, prohibited both by the Church and Parliament. In an +Act of 1581, allusion is made to the perverse inclination to superstition, +"through which the dregs of idolatry yet remain in divers parts of the +realm by using of pilgrimage to some chapels, wells, crosses, and such +other monuments of idolatry, as also by observing of the festal days of +the Saints sometime named their patrons in setting forth of bon-fires, +singing of carols within and about kirks at certain seasons of the year." +In accordance with this enactment, the Kirk Session of Falkirk, in 1628, +ordered several persons who had made a pilgrimage to a holy well to appear +in church on three appointed Sundays, clad in the garb of penitents. A +warning was also issued that persons doing the like in future would be +fined in addition to the penance, and in default, would be put in ward and +fed on bread and water only for eight days. + +In the following year, the Privy Council made an order "that commissioners +cause diligent search at all such parts and places where this idolatrous +superstition is used, and to take and apprehend all such persons of +whatsomever rank and quality whom they shall deprehend going in pilgrimage +to chapels and wells, or whom they shall know themselves to be guilty of +that crime, and to commit them to ward, until measures be adopted for +their trial and punishment." But though pilgrimages in bodies were +checked, individual visits to holy wells continued. In 1630, the Kirk +Session of Aberdeen fined a woman for sending her child to be washed in +St. Fittack's Well, in the parish of Nigg, on the opposite side of the +Dee, and she and her nurse were ordered to acknowledge the offence before +the session. + +In course of time, such "offences" came to be regarded more leniently. +Fines gradually ceased to be inflicted, and penance to be enjoined. In +three cases entered in the Kirk Session records of Airth, in +Stirlingshire, in 1757, the persons cited were merely admonished. But old +customs have wonderful vitality, and holy wells are still frequented. Sir +Arthur Mitchell remarks, in "The Past in the Present," that he has seen at +least a dozen wells "which have not ceased to be worshipped," though he +adds that the visitors are now comparatively few. Mr Campbell of Islay +says, in his "Tales of the West Highlands," "Holy healing wells are common +all over the Highlands, and people still leave offerings of pins and nails +and bits of rag, though few would confess it. There is a well in Islay +where I myself have, after drinking, deposited copper caps amongst a hoard +of pins and buttons and similar gear placed in chinks in the rocks." + +Some of the wells once resorted to by great numbers of persons have +disappeared in consequence of changes of the surface. The growth of towns, +railways, agricultural improvements, have each had their part in the +obliteration of spots formerly deemed sacred. The Pilgrims' Well, at +Aberdour, in Fifeshire, which for centuries attracted crowds, is now +filled up. The like end has come to the Abbot's Well at Urquhart, in +Elginshire. St. Mary's Well at Whitekirk, in Haddingtonshire, has also +ceased to exist, the water having been drained off. Near Drumakill, in the +parish of Drymen, Dumbartonshire, there was once a famous spring dedicated +to St. Vildrin, and near it was a cross, with a figure of the Saint upon +it in relief. Between thirty and forty years ago the cross was broken up, +and the fragments used in the construction of a farm-house; and shortly +afterwards the spring was drained into a stream. + +There was formerly a holy well beside the lonely cross-road from Abbeyhill +to Restalrig, near Edinburgh, and in the middle ages it attracted a great +number of pilgrims. It appears to have been originally dedicated to the +Holy Rood, but it afterwards became known as St. Margaret's Well, and Mr +Walker thinks that the dedication may have been changed in connection with +the translation of Queen Margaret's remains in 1251, on the occasion of +her canonisation. There was a small Gothic building over the spring until +the North British Railway Company acquired possession of the site and +built a station upon it. The covering was then taken down, stone by stone, +and rebuilt above St. David's spring, on the northern slope of Salisbury +Crags. The water of St. Margaret's Well found another channel, and thus +one more of Scotland's holy wells ceased to exist. + + + + +Life in the Pre-Reformation Cathedrals. + +BY A. H. MILLAR, F.S.A.SCOT. + + +The history of every Scottish city or burgh of importance is intimately +connected with one of two possible originals. Each burgh has taken its +origin either from a feudal castle or from a cathedral or abbey. This +statement may seem very sweeping in its character, but a close examination +will prove that it is founded on fact. Edinburgh, for instance, grew up +around the ancient Castle--Eadwin's burh--while the Cathedral of St. Giles +and all the subordinate churches were adjuncts of the secular centre. The +true ecclesiastical point of origin in Edinburgh was St. Margaret's +Chapel, and it still stands within the Castle walls. Glasgow, on the other +hand, took its origin from the Cathedral. That building formed the nucleus +of the original city, and the first houses in Glasgow were the Bishop's +Castle beside the Cathedral, and the dwellings and manses of the +ecclesiastics in its immediate vicinity. It was as a "Bishop's burgh," or +community under ecclesiastical control, that Glasgow first had a corporate +existence. The Bishop or Archbishop nominated the civic rulers, and though +an attempt was made shortly after the Reformation to abrogate priestly +control, and to transfer the power of the election of the Provost to the +Guildry, the Protestant Archbishops strove to retain this right up till +the early years of the seventeenth century. In 1639 the Town Council for +the first time elected the Provost and Bailies, but even then the consent +of the Duke of Lennox--who had received the secularised property of the +Archbishopric--had to be obtained; and it was not until 1690 that the +citizens of Glasgow obtained the right to choose municipal governors. + +These two forms of origin may be traced in all the important Scottish +burghs. Stirling found its centre in the Royal Castle; Dunfermline owed +its existence to the Abbey. Perth originated from the ancient Church of +St. John, and was long known as "Saint John's toun"; Inverness clustered +around its baronial Castle. The Round Tower and the Cathedral of Brechin +were the starting points of that burgh; and Paisley dates its history from +the foundation of its Abbey. St. Andrews and Arbroath bear still +unmistakable evidences of their ecclesiastical origin; while Dundee found +its first nucleus in its Castle, and after the destruction of that +fortress the centre was shifted to the magnificent church of St. Mary, one +of the largest parish churches in Scotland in the fifteenth century. It is +clear, therefore, that life in the pre-Reformation Cathedrals and +ecclesiastical buildings had an important influence in forming and +fashioning the history of the people. This fact is too frequently +overlooked by modern historians. + +Only two of the pre-Reformation Cathedrals in Scotland have survived +unimpaired the iconoclastic zeal of the Reformers. St. Andrews Cathedral, +the seat of the Primate of Scotland, was partially devastated by the +Protestant mob, and weather and storm completed the ruin thus begun. +Dunblane Cathedral has recently been restored and rescued from the wrecked +condition in which it lay for centuries. The restoration of Brechin +Cathedral is now (1898) in progress; and the Cathedral of St. Giles, +Edinburgh, has only been brought back to some of its pristine magnificence +within the last quarter of a century. The two Cathedrals which escaped the +fury of the Reformers are, the fanes dedicated to St. Mungo (St. +Kentigern) at Glasgow, and to St. Magnus at Kirkwall, Orkney. Both these +Cathedrals had Episcopal Palaces adjoining the main structures, and from +the history of these it might be possible to spell out the conditions of +life during their palmy days. As Glasgow Cathedral shows in a remarkable +manner the gradual development of a great commercial city from a small +ecclesiastical burgh, and thus supplies a connecting link between remote +times and the present day, it will be most convenient to treat it as a +typical example of the far-reaching influence of early ecclesiastical +modes of life. + +Glasgow Cathedral occupies a very peculiar site. It is built on ground +that slopes rapidly down from the level of the floor of the nave towards +the bed of the Molendinar Burn. So steep is the declivity that a Lower +Church--wrongly called the Crypt, but really an _Ecclesia Inferior_--is +built under the floor of the Choir, only a few steps being necessary in +passing from the Nave to the Choir, so as to give the requisite height to +the roof of the "Laigh Kirk." Such a site would not have been chosen by a +modern architect for a building of the same magnitude, because of the +structural difficulties it presented; yet it has been asserted by Mr John +Honeyman, an experienced architect who has made a special study of Glasgow +Cathedral, that the whole design of this magnificent structure "was +carefully thought out and settled before a stone was laid. It is a skilful +and homogeneous design, which could only be produced by a man of +exceptional ability and of great experience. Nothing has been left to +chance or the sweet will of the co-operating craftsmen, but the one +master-mind has dictated every moulding and every combination, and has +left the impress of his genius upon it all." ("Book of Glasgow Cathedral," +p. 274.) It is a remarkable fact that the name of this gifted architect is +quite unknown, though a theory has been advanced that seeks to identify +him with a certain John Morvo or Moray, a man of Scottish descent, born +and trained in Paris, who was also architect of Melrose Abbey. But nothing +absolutely certain is known as to the architect who planned Glasgow +Cathedral; and this is no unusual circumstance in the history of other +ecclesiastical buildings. Referring to this fact Mr Gladstone once wrote +thus:--"It has been observed as a circumstance full of meaning, that no +man knows the names of the architects of our Cathedrals. They left no +record of themselves upon the fabrics, as if they would have nothing there +that could suggest any other idea than the glory of God, to whom the +edifices were devoted for perpetual and solemn worship; nothing to mingle +a meaner association with the profound sense of His presence; or as if in +the joy of having built Him a house there was no want left unfulfilled, no +room for the question whether it is good for a man to live in posthumous +renown." + +Though the name of not one of the great architects who designed the +Scottish Cathedrals has been preserved--unless we accept the doubtful +theory as to John Morvo already mentioned--it is evident that the +ecclesiastical designer must have been an important personage in every +religious community from the beginning of the twelfth century until the +Reformation. In those remote days it was not given to any architect to +witness the completion of his design. That unique experience was reserved +for Sir Christopher Wren, who superintended the building of St. Paul's +Cathedral from its foundation till the last stone was laid. Many +circumstances prevented the early architects from witnessing the end of +their labours. The poverty of the country, the perpetual warfare which +ravaged Scotland, the impossibility of employing the wandering Lodges of +Masons from the Continent so continuously as to ensure the rapid execution +of the work, and the frequent changes in the Bishop or Archbishop who had +the control of the building, necessarily spread the labour over centuries. +Glasgow Cathedral was begun by Bishop John Achaius during his episcopate, +which extended from 1115 to 1147. It was not completed till the time of +Archbishop Blacader, who died in 1508. During these four centuries the +original designs by the nameless first architect must have been carefully +preserved, and handed down through a succession of equally unknown +architects, until the whole work was finished. Yet all these men, whose +brilliant ideas and excellent workmanship are at once the admiration and +the despair of modern architects, will ever remain anonymous. The Kings +and Princes who contributed towards the cost of the structure, the Bishops +who added various portions to the building at long intervals, and the +Archbishops who consecrated these additions are all carefully recorded; +but the architects from whose fertile brains the ideas sprang, and the +workmen who laboriously realised their dreams, are alike unknown. + +The Cathedral of Glasgow took its origin from a _cella_ erected on the +bank of the Molendinar Burn, by the pious St. Kentigern. This early +Christian Apostle was the natural son of Eugenius or Ewen III., King of +Reged. His mother was Thanew, daughter of Loth, King of Lothian. Her name +survives in a corrupted form as "St. Enoch," there being now several +Scottish churches so designated, though she is distinctly denominated "St. +Thanew" in pre-Reformation documents. The life of Kentigern is very fully +detailed in the biography written by Jocelyn, a monk of Furness, at the +request of Herbert, Bishop of Glasgow (died 1164), and is included in the +"Lives of the Scottish Saints." The careful examination of this biography +by Skene gives the probable date of Kentigern's birth as 518, his +consecration as Bishop of Glasgow at 543; his foundation of Llanelwy (now +St. Asaphs) in Wales at 553; his return to Glasgow at 581; and his death +at 603. Kentigern was visited by St. Columba at Glasgow before 597, and +his popular name of St. Mungo (_mon gah_ == my friend) was then conferred +upon him by Columba. From the time of Kentigern's death until the twelfth +century nothing definite is known regarding the history of Glasgow. Within +the present Cathedral the site of "St. Mungo's tomb" is pointed out; and +it is not improbable that the magnificent pile was erected on this spot to +commemorate the founder of Glasgow. During the bishopric of Kentigern it +is not likely that there was any building on the present site of the +Cathedral save the little _cella_ or chapel of the Bishop, and possibly a +few of the houses inhabited by the Culdee priests. It should be remembered +that the Culdees were not celibates, but lived with their families in +these rude dwellings, which thus formed the nucleus of modern Glasgow. +When the ground beside the Cathedral was turned into a grave-yard every +trace of these houses must have been removed. It is possible that St. +Kentigern was buried within his chapel; and if so, the tomb of St. Mungo, +in the crypt of the Cathedral, will mark the place where that primitive +structure stood. + + +[Illustration: The Duke's Lodging, Drygait.] + +[Illustration: Bishop Cameron's Tower Episcopal Palace of Glasgow.] + +[Illustration: Town Residence of the Rector of Renfrew.] + + +The history of the See of Glasgow for five centuries after the death of +St. Kentigern is almost a total blank; save for some dubious references to +certain ecclesiastics supposed to have been the successors of the Saint, +there is nothing to show the progress of the church in those days. The +reforming zeal of Malcolm Canmore and Queen Margaret led to a revival of +religion, as remarkable in its own way as the Protestant Reformation. The +Culdees were supplanted by the Romanists, and the foundations were laid of +a hierarchy that attained to vast power in Scotland. The reforms of the +Queen were principally confined to the east coast--Dunfermline and St. +Andrews--and it was not until her sixth and youngest son, David, Prince of +Cumberland (afterwards David I.), ordered an "Inquisitio" as to the +property belonging to the See of Glasgow in 1120, that any documentary +evidence was made available on this point. Prince David had already +procured the appointment of his chancellor and tutor John Eochey or +Achaius to the bishopric of Glasgow, and with the installation of that +prelate a new era began in the history of the city. The Inquisitio or +Notitia showed that the lands possessed by the Bishop of Glasgow were +co-extensive with the kingdom of Strathclyde, and were in the upper ward +of Lanarkshire, and the counties of Peebles, Roxburgh, and Dumfries. +Bishop John Achaius was consecrated in 1115; Prince David came to the +throne in 1124; and shortly after this accession the Bishop began the +building of the Cathedral, which was dedicated to St. Kentigern on the +nones of July, 1136. Bishop John Achaius died in 1147, and the Cathedral +which he built did not long survive him. It is probable that it was a +wooden structure, for it was destroyed by fire in 1176, and in that year +Bishop Jocelin (1175-1199) began to rebuild it with stone. The next +"building Bishop" was William de Bondington (1233-1258), who completed the +Lower Church (or Crypt) and the Choir. Bishop William Lauder (1408-1425) +began the erection of the present tower, and partly built the +Chapter-house. These portions were completed by his successor Bishop John +Cameron (1426-1446). Robert Blacader (1484-1508), the first Archbishop of +Glasgow, erected the crypt at the south transept known as "Blacader's +Aisle," built the splendid rood-screen and the stairs leading from the +Nave to the Choir and Lower Church, and put the finishing touches to the +Cathedral, which had thus taken nearly four hundred years to reach +completion. + +The gradual development of the Cathedral necessarily led to the increase +of the ecclesiastics connected with it. The elaborate ceremonial of the +Romish Church required a staff of officials far out-numbering that of the +simple Culdee _cella_ of St. Kentigern's time. No definite information is +available as to the method adopted for supplying these officials in the +early years of the Cathedral's existence. It is reasonable to suppose, +however, that the Rectors and Parsons who had charges in the +widely-scattered parishes under the control of the Bishop, would have +stated periods when they would take their turns of officiating. These +clergymen would likely reside temporarily in the Bishop's Palace, to which +reference will be made presently. At a later date, as the grandeur of the +Cathedral increased and its ceremonial became more ornate, houses were +provided for them near the building, and thus a return was made to the +social system of the Culdees, though with a celibate clergy. Even so +recently as the middle of the present century, about twenty of the manses +belonging to different prebends connected with the Cathedral could be +identified in its immediate vicinity. It has been credibly conjectured +that the remains of a building outside the north wall of the Cathedral +mark the site of the Hall of the Vicars Choral, and a narrow lane between +the Cathedral and the Bishop's Castle was known as the Vicar's Alley, +probably because it gave access to the building. A consideration of some +of these clerical homes will give an idea of the social life in a +pre-Reformation Cathedral. + +The Bishop's Castle was for centuries a central point around which the +burghal and national life crystallised. The date of its erection is not +known. The earliest reference to it is found in a charter of 1258, in +which the Bishop alludes to _palacium suum quod est extra castrum +Glasguense_. This phrase proves that in the middle of the thirteenth +century there was not only a Castle in existence, but also a _palacium_ or +minor dwelling--not a "Palace" as the word has been absurdly translated, +but a "place," equivalent to the old Scots word "ludging"--which stood +outside the wall of the Castle. It is reasonable to suppose that Bishop +Jocelin, who rebuilt the Cathedral with stone towards the close of the +twelfth century, had caused the erection of the Castle to be begun, and +that Bishop William de Bondington, who completed a large part of the +Cathedral, also finished the Castle and the _palacium_ referred to in his +charter. The Castle would be constructed for defence in those lawless +times as well as for residence, and would probably be a square keep +surrounded by a moat. There was a Bishop's Garden in 1268, and the +Bishop's Castle is mentioned in a document dated 1290. At the latter date +Robert Wishart (1272-1316) was Bishop, and as he built rural mansions at +Castellstarris (Carstairs) and Ancrum, it is probable that he extended the +Castle at Glasgow beside the Cathedral. During the War of Independence +this Castle became a stronghold coveted by both belligerents. In 1297 it +was captured for Edward I., by Anthony Bek, the famous "fighting Bishop of +Durham," and re-taken by Sir William Wallace. After Bishop Wishart's time +references to additions made to the Castle are more distinct. Before the +middle of the fifteenth century the moat had been partially replaced by a +high wall. In 1438 Bishop John Cameron built "a great tower," at the +south-western corner of this wall, and his arms with episcopal insignia +were visible on this tower in 1752. Archbishop James Beaton (1508-1522) +enlarged the tower and completed a wall 15 feet high, which enclosed the +grounds of the Castle. In the time of Archbishop Gavin Dunbar (1524-1547) +a gate-house or port was erected on the line of the wall to form the main +entrance to the Castle. From the fact that a sculptured stone, still in +existence, which was taken from this port bears the arms of James Houston, +Sub-Dean of Glasgow, it has been conjectured that the gate-way was erected +at his expense; and as he had workmen building the Church of the B. V. M. +and St Anne (now the Tron Church) which he founded in 1530, he probably +employed them upon this other piece of work at that date. After the +Reformation the Bishop's Castle fell into disrepair. It was partly +occupied by several of the Protestant Archbishops, but they had not +incomes sufficient for its up-keep, and after the abolition of episcopacy +by the Revolution of 1688 the Castle degenerated into a prison for rebels +and petty offenders. Public executions took place in the Castle-yard so +late as 1784--a curious survival of the power of the early Bishops over +the lives of their vassals, for it is said that the gallows of modern +times was erected on the site of the old "heading-stone" of former days. +In 1755 the Magistrates gave permission to Robert Tennant to use the +stones of the ruined Castle for the erection of the Saracen's Head Inn, a +building which still exists though now divided into tenements. + +During the stormy period of the sixteenth century, when Scotland was +constantly in turmoil, through foes within and without the realm, the +Bishop's Castle was frequently besieged. The legal proceedings that +followed one of these incidents affords a glimpse of life within the +Castle at that time. John Mure of Caldwell, acting under the orders of the +Earl of Lennox, laid siege to the Castle on 20th February 1515, and +captured it. He was soon compelled, by the Duke of Albany, to evacuate +this stronghold, but before he retired his followers had sacked and +pillaged the Castle. Two years afterwards Archbishop James Beaton claimed +damages for the goods destroyed, and obtained a decree in his favour from +the Lords of Council. The following articles were specially detailed in +this decree, and are of interest as showing the furnishing and contents of +an episcopal dwelling of that period:--"xiii feddir bedds furnist, price +of ilka bedd v marks; xviii verdour bedds, price of the pere xl{s}.; xii +buird claiths, xii tyn quarts, xii tyn pynts, v dusane of peuder +veschellis, tua kists, xv swyne, iv dakyr of salt hyds, vi dusane of +salmond, ane last of salt herring, xii tunnes of wyne, ane hingand +chandlar, ane goun of scarlett lynit with mertricks, vi barrels of +gunpulder, ix gunnis, xiv halberks, xiv steill bonnets, vi halberts, iv +crossbowis, vi rufs and courtings of say, and iv of lynning, with mony +uther insight guds, claithing, jewells, silkes, precius stanes, veschell, +harness, vittales, and uther guds." From this list it will be seen that +the luxuries of peace in which the prelates indulged had to be defended by +the weapons of war. + +While the Bishop's Castle was the centre of ecclesiastical influence, the +first extension of Glasgow was due to the erection of manses for the minor +officials of the Cathedral. To any one acquainted with the topography of +Glasgow, the city may be thus "skeletonised" to show the manner of its +evolution. The Cathedral stands on an eminence rising gradually from the +north bank of the Clyde, and is distant about a mile from the river. The +main route from the Cathedral to the Clyde is by an almost straight +succession of streets--High Street and Saltmarket--which, unquestionably, +follow the line of an ancient footpath. The origin of secular Glasgow was +a small collection of huts inhabited by salmon-fishers on the bank of the +river. A pathway was formed in course of time between this primitive +village and the Cathedral, but for centuries there were no continuous +buildings between these two points. In the time of Bishop Jocelin +(1175-1199) the village had extended so far along the river-side and up +the line of the present Saltmarket that the Bishop deemed it advisable to +obtain from William the Lion the grant of a weekly market and an annual +fair. About this time also, arrangements were made for the erection of +manses for the ecclesiastics near the Cathedral. These houses were built +on a road running at right angles with the footpath to the river, the part +going westward being called the Rottenrow (Ratoun Raw), while the eastward +route was called the Drygait. There was thus a sacerdotal burgh in process +of formation on the summit of the hill beside the Cathedral, while a +secular burgh was gradually developing on the bank of the river. In the +course of centuries these two burghs were conjoined, and thus the +"backbone" of Glasgow was formed. The ecclesiastical houses were, of +course, more elaborate than those used by the fishermen and tradesmen who +were soon attracted to the place by the wealth of the Cathedral; and thus +it has happened that the greatest commercial city in Scotland--the second +in the United Kingdom--took its rise from the houses of the ecclesiastics +by whom the burgh was ruled for a very long period. + +No record exists as to the time when the prebendal manses were first +erected, but it is certain that Bishop Cameron (1426-1446) increased the +number of canons from twenty-five to thirty-two, and caused all of them to +build manses within the burgh and near the Cathedral. The sites of many of +these manses can be identified from descriptions in old charters, and some +of them have only been removed within the past thirty years. The Dean of +the Cathedral, who was Parson of Cadzow (now Hamilton), had his manse in +the Rottenrow. The Archdeacon of Glasgow was Rector of Menar (now +Peebles), and his house stood in the Drygait. Long after the Reformation +it came into the possession of the Duke of Montrose, and was known as "the +Duke's lodging." It was removed about 1880, to make way for an extension +of the North Prison. The Rector of Morebattle, Archdeacon of Teviotdale, +had a manse in the Kirkgait, now also absorbed in the grounds of the North +Prison. The Sub-Dean was Rector of Monkland, and his house was on the bank +of the Molendinar Burn, south-east of the Cathedral. The Chancellor, +Rector of Campsie, lived in the Drygait at the place called "the +Limmerfield" to which reference is made in Scott's "Rob Roy." The +Precentor of the Cathedral, Rector of East Kilbride, had a manse near the +Castle, the approach being by the Vicar's Alley. The Treasurer, Rector of +Carnwath, also had a manse, though its site has not been identified. The +Sacristan of the Cathedral, Rector of Cambuslang, lived in the Drygait, +near the house of the Archdeacon. The Bishop's Vicar, Parson of Glasgow, +had a manse beside the Castle. The Sub-Precentor, Prebendary of Ancrum, +had a parsonage in the Vicar's Alley, north of the Cathedral. The Parson +of Eaglesham lived in the Drygait, beside the Archdeacon; and the Rector +of Cardross had his manse on the south side of the same street. The manse +of the "Canon of Barlanark and Lord of Provan," in Castle Street, is the +only remaining house supposed to have been occupied by him, though it +seems more likely to have been erected after the Reformation. The Rector +of Carstairs resided in a manse in Rottenrow, beside the houses of the +Prebendary of Erskine and the Rector of Renfrew. Other officials who lived +in the immediate vicinity of the Cathedral were the Rector of Govan, the +Vicar of Kirkmahoe, Dumfriesshire, the Rector of Tarbolton, Ayrshire, the +Rector of Killearn, Dumbartonshire, the Prebendary of Douglas, +Lanarkshire, the Rector of Eddleston, Peeblesshire, the Rector of Stobo, +Peeblesshire, and the Rector of Luss, Dumbartonshire. The houses of six of +the Prebendaries--Durisdeer, Roxburgh, Ashkirk, Sanquhar, Cumnock, and +Ayr--have not been identified, though it is extremely probable that they +had to comply with Bishop Cameron's command, and to erect manses in the +burgh. The Hall of the Vicars Choral, with accommodation for eighteen +officials, was built on the north side of the Cathedral, by Bishop Andrew +Muirhead (1455-1473). + +From this list it will be seen how great must have been the influence of +this Levite village upon the development of the burgh. The comparatively +luxurious style of living among the ecclesiastics would attract craftsmen, +artificers of various kinds, and merchants trading with other countries to +supply the rich garments, the expensive wines, and the numerous delicacies +which were deemed necessaries by ecclesiastical dignitaries of high +degree. With the Reformation all this grandeur was swept away, but before +that epoch Glasgow had been made the favourite residence of many of the +Lowland noblemen; and when the sacerdotal burgh disappeared, the secular +and commercial city was ready to take its place. The domination of the +Church passed, but not before it had prepared the way for its successor. +In other Cathedral cities in Scotland a similar process of development may +be traced, though not in so distinct a manner as exhibited in the +evolution of Glasgow. Verily, that city owes much of its prosperity to the +foresight and patriotism of those who ruled in its pre-Reformation +Cathedral! + + + + +Public Worship in Olden Times. + +BY REV. ALEXANDER WATERS, M.A., B.D. + + +Many changes in the form of Church service have been witnessed in the +Church of Scotland since the Reformation. In the first book of discipline, +compiled by Knox and others in 1560, it is stated that "to the churches +where no ministers can be had presentlie must be appointed the most apt +men that distinctly can read the common prayers and the Scriptures to +exercise both themselves and the church till they grow to greater +perfection." In accordance with this recommendation there were, in +parishes where ministers could not be procured to preach and administer +the sacraments, a class of men employed in the Church under the name of +"readers," whose office was to read the Scriptures and a liturgy of +printed prayers such as is used in the public service of the Church of +England. After the Church became more fully plenished with ministers, +readers were still in many places continued. In parishes supplied with +both a reader and a minister there were two distinct services in the +church on Sundays. There was, first of all, a preliminary service +conducted by the reader. The service consisted of reading the public +prayers and portions of Scripture. It usually lasted an hour, and when it +ended the minister entered the church and conducted his service of +extempore prayer and preaching. In the year 1580 the General Assembly +declared that "the office of a reader is not an ordinary office in the +Kirk of God;" and the following year it was expressly ordained that +readers should not be appointed in any church. It is evident, however, +that readers continued to be employed in the Church of Scotland long after +that date, both during the episcopacy that subsisted from 1606 to 1637, +and during the ascendency of Presbytery from 1637 to 1645. + +The Westminster Assembly of Divines ignored the office of reader, and when +the Westminster Directory for Public Worship was adopted by the Church of +Scotland in 1645, it may be said that the service of the reader was +ostensibly and almost practically brought to an end in Scotland. It has to +be stated, however, that readers were, nevertheless, employed in some +parishes long after their office had ceased to be recognised in the +constitutions of the church. Mr More, in his account of Scotland in 1715, +describes the Sunday service in Scottish churches as follows:--"First the +precentor, about half an hour before the preacher comes, reads two or +three chapters to the congregation of what part of Scripture he pleases, +or as the minister gives him directions. As soon as the preacher gets into +the pulpit the precentor leaves reading, and sets a psalm-singing with the +people, till the minister by some sign orders him to give over. The psalm +over, the preacher begins confessing sins and begging pardon ... then he +goes to sermon, delivered always by heart, and, therefore, sometimes +spoiled by battologies, little impertinences, and incoherence." + +The reader was usually also precentor, and it will be a natural +transition, therefore, to pass on now to an account of that part of the +Sunday service which the precentor conducted. In the Reformed Church of +Scotland a very limited space was originally allotted to the service of +praise in public worship. "There is perhaps no country in Christendom," +says Dr Cunningham, "in which psalmody has been as little cultivated as +in Scotland. Wherever the Church of Rome reared her altars, music grew up +under her shadow, and gave a new charm to her sensuous services. But +Presbytery gave little countenance to such a hand-maid." The use of +instruments in the service of praise was repudiated or almost abjured. +Organs were not even allowed standing room in church. In 1574 the Kirk +Session of Aberdeen gave orders "that the organis with all expedition be +removit out of the kirk and made profeit of to the use and support of the +puir." On his visit to Scotland in 1617 King James endeavoured to +inaugurate a more aesthetic and cultured form of worship in Scotland, after +the manner of what he had seen in England. Among other innovations he set +up an organ in the Chapel Royal at Holyrood. "Upon Satterday, the 17th +May," says Calderwood, "the English service was begun in the Chapel Royal +with singing of quirristers, surplices, and playing on organes." The +popular feeling, however, that in 1637 was aroused against the service +book was turned against the organ also, and among the outbreaks of 1638 +Spalding records that "the glorious organes of the Chapell Royall were +maisterfullie broken doune, nor no service usit thair bot the haill +chaplains, choristis, and musicians dischargeit, and the costlie organes +altogether destroyit and unusefull." + +The old doctrine of the Church of Scotland in regard to psalmody is +tersely expressed in the first book of discipline. "There be two sorts of +policie," it is said in that book; "the one of these sorts is utterlie +necessary, as, that the word be preached, the sacraments ministered, and +common prayers publicly made. The other sort of policy is profitable, but +not necessarie, as, that psalms should be sung and certain places of +Scripture read when there is no sermon." And in accordance with this +doctrine there is very little singing of psalms prescribed as part of +public worship in either Knox's Liturgy or the Westminster Directory. In +each of these manuals of worship there are only two psalms appointed or +supposed to be sung during the minister's service--one before the sermon +and another before the benediction. It is possible, however, that there +was, from an early period, a third psalm sung in the church by the +congregation, although that psalm was not included in the service. Just as +in modern churches where instrumental music has been introduced, there is +a voluntary played on the organ during the time that the congregation are +assembling, so in very ancient times, long before the Reformation, it was +customary over a large part of Christendom for the people "to entertain +the time with singing of psalms" till the congregation had gathered. And +in Scotland within quite recent times the epithet of the "gathering psalm" +was commonly applied to what is now called the first psalm. + +Pasdoran states that, "It was the ancient practice of the Church of +Scotland, as it is yet of some Reformed Churches abroad, for the minister +or precentor to read over as much of the psalm in metre as was intended to +be sung at once, and then the harmony and melody followed without +interruption, and people did either learn to read or got most of the +psalms by heart." What is here called the ancient practice of the Church +of Scotland in the rendering of praise is just the practice that is +observed at the present day. But soon after 1645 a different practice +arose and continued long in the church. The Westminster Directory for +Public Worship recommends that, "for the present, where many in the +congregation cannot read, it is convenient that the minister or some +other fit person appointed by him and the other ruling elders, do read the +psalm line by line before the singing thereof." The practice was +accordingly introduced into the Church of Scotland soon after of giving +out the psalms in instalments of one line at a time, and so popular did +the practice become, and so essential a part of revered use and wont, that +very great difficulty was found long afterwards in getting it +discontinued. Indeed, the practice of reading the line was pretty general +until the beginning of this century. + +Loud objections were raised to the singing of hymns and what, in Scotland, +are commonly called paraphrases; and even within living memory this +innovation gave rise to bitter controversy. Not a few persons maintained +that the only proper subjects for divine praise in public worship are the +metrical versions of the Old Testament Psalms. But from the date of the +Reformation down to the sitting of the Westminster Assembly, not only were +metrical versions of the psalms, but hymns and doxologies also, generally +sung in the public worship of the church. The year 1650, however, +witnessed a change in that respect. The present version of the psalms was +that year printed for use in public worship, and no hymns nor paraphrases +were appended. It was not until 1781 that a Committee appointed by the +General Assembly submitted "such a collection of sacred poems as they +thought might be submitted to the judgment of the church." It is this 1781 +collection of paraphrases that is still, after the lapse of more than a +hundred years, bound in Scottish Bibles along with the metrical version of +the Psalms of David. The paraphrases have established a secure place in +the psalmody of all the Presbyterian Churches in Scotland. But it was not +without contention and controversy, strife and bitterness, that the +paraphrases made their way into use in the services of public worship. The +writer has seen a worthy elder violently close his Bible on the giving out +of a paraphrase, and remain seated while it was being sung. + +Having described the reader's and precentor's service, there remains the +service that specially devolved on the minister. It is well known that a +liturgy was at one time, and for a long time, used in the Church of +Scotland. Knox's liturgy continued to be used by some ministers and +readers down to the year 1637 at least. Its use was by no means universal, +however, during that period. Extempore prayers were always popular with +the general public, but when young and raw readers, however sparely gifted +and not more than half-educated, took on themselves, as they often did, to +treat congregations to extempore prayers, the guardians of public manners +were shocked. It was a shame to all religion, said King Charles I., to +have the majesty of God so barbarously spoken to; and, as a remedy for +this deformity, as he termed it, in the public worship of the Church of +Scotland, Charles issued a new service book to be used as a liturgy by all +preachers and readers. But neither minister nor people would take the +king's liturgy, and extempore prayers became more established in use and +favour than ever. + +It is well known that in Protestant churches generally, and in the Church +of Scotland particularly, the preaching of the word has always been +reckoned the chief part of the service of the sanctuary. The quantity of +preaching that ministers had to give and people had to take in olden +times was enormous. There were commonly two diets of worship on the +Sabbath and very often what was termed a week-day sermon besides. It was +customary for ministers to take up a subject or text and on that subject +or text to preach for six or eight Sabbaths consecutively. It seems not to +have been uncommon for ministers to take an hour to their sermon. And to +keep preachers right in this matter, it was customary to set up a sand +glass in the church. + + +[Illustration: PREACHER'S HOUR GLASS.] + + +It is doubtful if in olden times there was as much good order observed in +church during divine service as there is now. In some of the old +ecclesiastical records, we find curious regulations for the preservation +of order in church. In the Kirk Session records of Perth we find an +instruction minuted that the kirk-officer "have his red staff in the Kirk +on the Sabbath days wherewith to waken sleepers and remove greeting +bairns." In 1593 complaint was made at Perth of boys in time of preaching +running through the church clattering and fighting. + + +[Illustration: HOUR GLASS STAND.] + + +The hours of church service on Sundays were much earlier long ago than +they are now. In 1615 the Kirk Session of Lasswade appointed nine o'clock +as the hour on which service should begin in the summer months, and +half-past nine as the hour of service in winter. + +The neglect of public ordinances has at all times been a subject of +lamentation. In olden days many devices are said to have been tried to +remedy or abate these evils. Those resorted to by the Covenanters in +Aberdeen in 1642 were perhaps as ingenious as any that have ever been +adopted. "Our minister," says Spalding, "teaches powerfullie and plainlie +the word to the gryte comfort of his auditores. He takes strait count of +those who cumis not to the communion, nor keepis not the kirk, callis out +the absentis out of pulpit, quhilk drew in sic a fair auditorie that the +seatis of the kirk was not abill to hold thame, for remeid quhair of he +causit big up ane loft athwart the body of the kirk." + +Mr Cant did not go quite so far, but being annoyed that his afternoon +diets were sparsely attended, he naively dismissed his forenoon audience +without a benediction, and reserved his blessing for those that returned +to the second sermon. + + + + +Church Music. + +BY THOMAS FROST. + + +Though the use of instrumental music in the services of the Church fell +into disfavour after the Reformation, the existence of a sculptured +representation of an organ in Melrose Abbey shows that instrument to have +been known as early as the fourteenth century. That "regals," as they were +then called, were placed in some of the principal churches, and used in +worship, is also evidenced by documents still in existence. That these, +however inferior they may have been to similar instruments of the present +day, were carefully constructed, and at considerable cost, appears from +the payments made to William Calderwood for "a pair of organs" for the +Chapel Royal at Stirling in 1537, and for "a set of organs" for the King's +Chapel at Holyrood in 1542. But the Reformation led to these instruments +being everywhere discarded as partaking too much of Romanism to be +acceptable to the followers of Knox. + +The organs of the royal chapels kept their places for a time, but +elsewhere the "kists of whistles," as they then came to be called, were +broken up and the materials sold in aid of the fund for the poor. But no +long time elapsed before the Earl of Mar, as captain of Stirling Castle, +caused the organ in the Royal Chapel to be removed and broken up; and in +1571 the Scottish Parliament expressed approval of the act. The prevailing +feeling against the organ was intensified when, in 1617, orders were given +by James VI. that carved figures of the Apostles should be affixed to the +seats of the choir in the Chapel at Holyrood, where the organ was then +being repaired, after a long period of disuse and neglect. Instrumental +music thus became associated in the public mind with what was regarded as +idolatry, and so much excitement prevailed that the bishops advised that +the restoration of the organ and the choir stalls should be delayed until +it subsided. + +In 1631 Charles issued an order for the erection of an organ in every +cathedral and principal church, and thereby renewed the agitation against +the instrument. The order was disregarded, and in 1638, when popular +opposition to the introduction of the Anglican prayer-book was being +strongly manifested, the General Assembly ruled that the attempt to +introduce instrumental music into the services of the Church should be +resisted. Spalding, speaking of the agitation of that period, says that +"the glorious organs of the Chapel Royal were masterfully broken down, nor +no service used there, but the whole chaplains, choristers, and musicians +discharged, and the costly organs altogether destroyed and unuseful." Six +years later, the General Assembly recorded in their minutes the gladness +with which that body had received the news from their commissioners at +Westminster of the taking down of the great organs of St. Paul's Cathedral +and Westminster Abbey. + +Psalmody was little more in favour than the gilded pipes of the organ. The +Westminster Directory for Public Worship, adopted by the General Assembly +in 1645, recommends that "for the present, where many in the congregation +cannot read, it is convenient that the minister, or some other fit person +appointed by him and the other ruling officers, do read the psalm, line by +line, before the singing thereof." Before this time, in 1642, there had +been much controversy in the western Lowlands concerning the singing of +the doxology at the end of a psalm, a practice which was popularly +regarded as a commandment of men, not to be accepted as a divine +ordinance. The General Assembly, in 1643, took the matter into +consideration, and ordered the dispute to be dropped. In 1649, however, +the subject was again before the Assembly, which then resolved that the +singing of the doxology should be discontinued. + +In 1647, a committee was named by the General Assembly to examine and +revise Rous's paraphrase of the Psalms, and Zachary Boyd was requested to +make a metrical version of the other Biblical songs; but nothing was done +in the latter direction, probably due to the desire for uniformity with +the Presbyterian Church in England, and in 1650 the present metrical +version was printed for use in public worship, without the addition of any +hymns or paraphrases. Nothing further was done for the improvement of +congregational singing for more than half a century. + +The question of instrumental music was revived in 1687, by the erection in +the Royal Chapel at Holyrood, by order of James II., of a large and +magnificent organ, which was regarded as a step towards the introduction +of the Romish service. So convinced were the people of this that the +clergy of even the Episcopal churches discontinued the use of the organ in +public worship. In the following year, when James had abdicated, and the +fear of Popish devices had become allayed, the mob of Edinburgh testified +to the national joy, and at the same time indulged their latent propensity +to mischief by breaking down the organ and burning the materials. + +As in England down to a much later period, so also in Scotland, a metrical +version of the Psalms was alone in use in worship, though several attempts +were made at different times in the last century to introduce hymns of a +more distinctively Christian character, as well as more poetical than the +old paraphrases of Hebrew psalmody. The matter was before the General +Assembly in 1707, and again in 1742, when a committee was appointed to +prepare some paraphrases of passages in the Bible, "to be joined with the +Psalms of David, so as to enlarge the Psalmody." Three years afterwards, +some examples of religious poetry were submitted by the committee for the +judgment of the Assembly; but, as before, nothing was done, and the matter +remained in abeyance until 1775, when it was suggested by the Synod of +Glasgow and Ayr that the Assembly should take such measures as might be +judged necessary to introduce the paraphrases of 1751 into the Psalter of +the Church. These were, in consequence, again examined and revised by a +committee, but it was not until 1781 that the committee made their report +and the Assembly ordered copies of the collection (which had been printed +in 1751) to be submitted to the Presbyteries. Pending the Presbyterial +judgment, the Assembly allowed the collection to be used in public worship +"where the minister finds it for edification." + +The permission to use this collection of Biblical paraphrases was never +recalled by the Assembly, but it has also never been made a permanent act. +It appears to have been given reluctantly, and only as a measure of +policy, in concession to popular feeling in favour of the collection; for +it appears to have been previously used in several churches. "Use and +wont," says Dr Edgar, in his "Old Church Life in Scotland," "have now +given as valid an authority for the singing of the paraphrases in church +as a special Act of Assembly could do. The paraphrases have, on the +strength of their own merits, established a secure place in the psalmody +of all the Presbyterian churches in Scotland." + +Instrumental music had, in the meantime, continued to be banished from +public worship. The psalm to be sung was announced by the minister, and +the precentor, who occupied a smaller pulpit below him, placed in a slit +in a lyre-shaped brass frame in front of him a card bearing the name of +the tune in large letters, so as to be visible to all the congregation. +The minister then repeated the first two lines of the verses to be sung, +and the precentor struck his tuning-fork on the desk. It was a custom of +long standing, probably dating from a time when few of the congregation +could read, for the precentor to read and sing a line alternately, which +must, to persons unaccustomed to it, have sounded strange, and certainly +have destroyed what little harmony there might have been if the psalm had +been sung differently. + +It was not until the first decade of the present century that the organ +was called to the aid of the volume of praise in the Scottish Church. To +Dr Ritchie, minister of St. Andrew's Church, Glasgow, belongs the honour +of this innovation. With the approval of the congregation, he introduced +an organ, which was played for the first time on the 23rd of August, 1807, +not without producing a sensation and a protest. The Presbytery was +convened, and the Lord Provost appeared before that grave body, at the +head of a deputation of influential citizens, to protest against the +minister's innovation on long established custom. The Presbytery ruled, +"that the use of organs in the public worship of God is contrary to the +law of the land, and to the law and constitution of our Established +Church." The organ was summarily silenced, therefore, and the grand tones +of that instrument were not again heard in accompaniment of sacred song in +the Presbyterian churches of Scotland for more than twenty years. + +The ineffective character of unaccompanied congregational singing was very +slowly recognised. In 1829, however, the congregation of the Relief +Church,[11] at Roxburgh Place, Edinburgh, with the approval of their +minister, had an organ erected in their place of worship. The act was +clamorously opposed outside his own following, and the Relief Presbytery +called upon the minister, John Johnston, to remove the offending +instrument, under pain of deprivation. The response of minister and +congregation to this command was the severance of their connection with +the Synod. In 1845, a Congregational Church in Edinburgh set up an organ +in their place of worship, and as each congregation in that denomination +is an independent body, no outside opposition or interference was in that +case possible. + +The progress of the movement continued, however, to be very slow. A large +proportion of the older men in the ministry still regarded instrumental +music in churches as associated with Romanism, and when Dr Lee, the +minister of the Old Greyfriars' Church, in Edinburgh, ventured, in 1863, +to introduce a harmonium there, it was rumoured that he was a disguised +Jesuit, seeking to Romanise the Reformed Church. He was well able to +defend himself, however, and he did so with such ability and power that, +in the following year, the General Assembly ruled that "such innovations +should be put down only when they interfered with the peace of the Church +and the harmony of congregations." The cause was won. The Old Greyfriars' +congregation subscribed four hundred and fifty pounds for an organ, which +replaced the harmonium in 1865. + +The Free Church lingered long in the rear of the movement, mainly owing to +the opposition of Dr Begg, but in 1883 the General Assembly recorded a +resolution similar to that adopted by the Assembly of the Established +Church of Scotland in 1864, and opposition to instrumental music is now +practically at an end. The prejudice against it still lingers, however, in +some districts remote from the life and light of the larger towns. A story +is told of a lady of the old school of religious thought, that, having +been induced by some friends to attend an Episcopalian service, and being +asked on her return how she liked the music, she replied, "It was verra +fine, but waes me! yon's an awfu' way of spending the Sawbath." + + + + +Discipline in the Kirk. + +BY THE REV. GEO. S. TYACK, B.A. + + +In no country and at no time has a more searching system of ecclesiastical +discipline been attempted than in Scotland in the first century after the +Reformation. Not only was the teaching or the practice of the unreformed +faith punished with the severest penalties, not only was attendance at +church and the learning of religion, as the reformers understood it, +rigidly enforced; but even the private life of the people was watched and +scrutinized. The behaviour of the congregation on the way home from divine +service, the amusements which formed the relaxation of the people, the +dress of the women in the street as well as at kirk, the snuff-taking of +the men, domestic broils and filial misbehaviour in the various +households,--these and other such matters were discussed by ecclesiastical +tribunals and visited with pains and penalties, as much as offences +against human or divine laws. The country was overspread with a network +of church authorities claiming disciplinary powers, there was quite an +arsenal of punitive machines in every district, and the whole system was +kept in motion by the free use of espionage. Verily, in Scotland "new +presbyter was," as Milton said, "but old priest writ large," larger in +fact than the original by far. Even the soldiery of the Commonwealth, +sufficiently used to the methods of Puritanism in England, were astonished +and disgusted with the ways and means of Scottish discipline; so much so +that during their stay in the country in 1650 they destroyed many of the +weapons of this intolerable tyranny; and it is indeed surprising that the +people themselves accepted it so long with submission. That the Church has +authority to use discipline over its members is admitted; and that at the +present time this authority is too little recognised is, in the opinion of +very many, equally true; but in the day of its supremest power the +Scottish Kirk Sessions seem to have usurped a universal authority. The +punitive rights of the State, the proper control which a man has within +his own house, even that discipline which every one should learn to +exercise over himself, all these, as well as that influence which more +strictly is the province of the Church, the Kirk endeavoured to control +and enforce by means of its own ecclesiastical courts. + +Of these courts the first was the "Exercise," as it was at first quaintly +called, from the custom of "making exercise," or critically examining a +given passage of Scripture; more properly described as the Presbytery. +Next to this came the authority of the Synod, or district court, and the +final appeal lay to the General Assembly. Of these the higher courts not +infrequently did much more than exercise appellant jurisdiction, issuing +orders to spur on the zeal of the inferior ones. + +The methods of punishment employed by the Kirk were various. +Excommunications were freely launched against offenders, especially +against those who did not accept in their fulness the teaching and +practices of the reformers. Public penance was also resorted to, often in +addition to some other form of punishment; the penance usually involving +the use of the "repentance-stool," or the jaggs, or jougs. The former of +these was a wooden structure formed in two tiers or steps, the lower of +which, used for less heinous offences, was named the "cock-stool." An +offender, judged to perform a public penance on this stool, was first +clothed in an appropriate habit, the Scottish representative of the +traditional white sheet, which consisted of a cloak of coarse linen, known +as the "harden goun," the "harn goun," or the "sack goun." Thus arrayed, +he (or she) stood at the kirk door while the congregation assembled and +during the opening prayer of the service; just before the sermon the +penitent was led in by the sexton and placed, according to the terms of +the sentence, either upon "the highest degree of the penitent stuill" or +upon, "the cock-stool"; where he stood barefoot and bare-headed during +the discourse, in which his sins and offences were not forgotten. The +congregation generally wore their hats during the sermon. + + +[Illustration: REPENTANCE STOOL, FROM OLD GREYFRIARS, EDINBURGH.] + + +The minutes and accounts of the Presbyteries have frequent allusions to +this stool and its accompanying "goun." Thus at Perth mention is made of +the provision of both cock-stool and repentance-stool, and in 1617 the +Kirk Session of the same place ordered a stool of stone to be built. The +Synods specially enjoined on all parishes the procuring of a +repentance-gown; in 1655 as much as L4, 4s. 6d. was spent in one for +Lesmahago, and in 1693 Kirkmichael, Ayrshire, ordered one of a special +fashion, "like unto that which they have in Straitoun," to be made. The +repentance-stool has maintained its place in scattered instances down to +modern times, one of the latest instances of its use being in 1884, when a +man stood on the stool to be publicly rebuked in the Free Kirk at +Lochcarron. The Museum of the Society of Antiquaries at Edinburgh contains +the old repentance-stool, formerly used in the Old Greyfriars' Church of +that city; the repentance-gown of Kinross parish is also preserved in the +same museum. It does not always follow that penance implies repentance, +and the strong arm of the Scottish Kirk sometimes compelled a man to +submit to the former without his experiencing the latter; such was +evidently the case with three reprobates who were excommunicated in 1675 +by the Kirk Session of Mauchline, Ayrshire, because of "their breaking the +stool of repentance on which they had been sentenced to stand in presence +of the congregation." + + +[Illustration: JOUGS FROM THE OLD CHURCH OF CLOVA, FORFARSHIRE.] + +[Illustration: THE JOUGS AT DUDDINGSTON.] + + +The jagg or jougs consisted of an iron collar fastened by a padlock, which +hung from a chain secured in the church wall near the principal entrance. +An offender sentenced to the jagg was compelled to stand locked within +this collar for an hour or more before the morning service on one or more +Sundays. About the time of the Revolution this dropt out of use, chiefly +from the fact that the State no longer suffered the powers of the Kirk to +be carried with so high a hand; several of the old jaggs, however, yet +remain. At Merton, Berwickshire, at Clova, in Forfarshire, and at +Duddingston, Midlothian, the instrument may still be seen attached to the +kirk wall; the jaggs of Stirling and of Galashiels have also been +preserved, though removed from their original places.[12] + +Besides the repentance-stool and the jagg, which were specially the +weapons of the kirk, there were other instruments of punishment employed +by the State, to which the Kirk also did not hesitate at times to have +recourse. Just as the Spanish Inquisition handed over those whom it +condemned to the "secular arm" for punishment, so the Scottish Kirk passed +resolutions desiring the bailies to put this or that offender in gyves; +magistrates were requested to imprison others, "their fude to be bread and +watter;" employers were instructed to fine or chastise servants who used +profane language; and town authorities were solicited to procure +appliances for "ducking" certain classes of sinners. The brank or scold's +bridle, the stocks, and the pillory, were used by the ecclesiastical, no +less than by the civil, authorities; the Kirk also imposed fines, decreed +banishment, used the steeples as prisons, and inflicted mutilation, and +even death, upon offenders; its power to enforce these sentences being +largely due to the fact that civil disabilities followed the pronouncement +of excommunication. The excommunicated person was an outlaw; he could hold +no land, might be imprisoned by any magistrate to whom he was denounced, +and was to be "boycotted" by friends, followers, and tradesmen; any one +showing him the smallest consideration, or affording him the least +assistance, was liable to a similar punishment. These large powers were +only abrogated in 1690. + +Among the offences dealt with by the Kirk, a prominent place was given to +adherence to the unreformed faith, and to any apparent lack of zeal for +presbyterianism. Saying mass according to the ancient rite, or even +hearing it, or giving any countenance to such as did so, was severely +dealt with. Hamilton, Archbishop of St. Andrews, was summoned, with nearly +fifty others, before the High Court in 1563, charged with saying mass; and +although he was liberated at that time, he was subsequently hanged. For a +similar "crime," John Carvet was put in the pillory at Edinburgh, in 1565; +other priests were banished in 1613; and another (John Ogilvie) was +sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered in 1615. For hearing mass, +John Logane was fined a thousand pounds in 1613, and many persons were +from time to time imprisoned, or otherwise punished. The Church festivals +were also put under a ban. The General Assembly in 1645 prohibited +schoolmasters from granting a holiday at Christmas; the Kirk Session of +St. Andrews punished several persons for keeping that festival in 1573; +and in 1605 the same authority at Dundonald summoned a man for not +ploughing on "Zuile day" (Yule). To harbour a priest, to possess books of +Catholic devotion, to paint a crucifix, all these were recognised +offences, which were visited with fines and imprisonment. In 1631 Sir John +Ogilvy of Craig was committed to jail for "daily conversing" with +supporters of the old faith. + +The means adopted to promote reformed opinions among the people were +equally drastic. + +The most rigid observance of Sunday as a Sabbath was enforced. In 1627 +nine millers at Stow, in Midlothian, had to do public penance and pay +forty shillings for that "their milnes did gang on the Sabbath;" and in +1644 another miller, in Fifeshire, was sentenced to a fine of thirty +shillings, with the same addition, for a similar offence. The uncertainty +of the weather was not admitted as any excuse for Sunday harvesting, as is +shown by a fine inflicted (together with the usual penance) upon one +Alexander Russell and his servant for "leading corn on the Sabbath +evening," at Wester Balrymont. There are records of the stool of +repentance being called into use for the correction of fishermen who +mended their nets, of sundry people who gathered nuts, of a woman who +"watered her kaill," and of another who "seethed bark," on a Sunday. The +last named had to stand in the jagg for three Sundays as well. Lads who +were found playing on Sunday were sometimes whipt, as in a case dealt with +by the Kirk Session of St. Andrews in 1649, and others at Dunfermline in +1685. In 1664 it was enacted at Dumfries that "persons walking idly from +house to house and gossipping on Sabbath" should be fined thirty shillings +for their evil conduct; and in 1652 the Kirk Session of Stow actually +compelled one William Howatson to do public penance for having, on a +Sunday, "walked a short distance to see his seik mother." + +But mere abstinence from work and play was not sufficient; attendance at +the kirk was compulsory. The amount of the fine exacted in different +districts varied, but everywhere even a single absence was noted, and had +to be paid for. At Aberdeen, in 1568, the penalty was 6d. for every +service missed; at Lasswade, in 1615, it was 6s. 8d. from a gentleman, and +3s. 4d. from a servant; at Dunino, in 1643, sum was 2s. for a first +offence, 4s. for the second, and a like proportion for others. Paupers who +failed in this duty were to be deprived of all relief, by order of the +Kirk Session of St. Andrews in 1570. + +The almost omniscient eyes of the Kirk Sessions kept watch, moreover, on +the behaviour of the congregation while at the services. The Kirk Session +of Ayr summoned Andrew Garvine before it and reproved him in 1606, because +he was late at kirk; and at Saltoun, in 1641, a fine of 6s. 8d. was +decreed against everyone who ventured to "take snuff in tyme of divine +service"; at Perth the Session's officer was instructed "to have his red +staff in the kirk on Sabbath days, therewith to wauken sleepers, and to +remove greeting bairns forth of the kirk." The congregation was divided +according to the sexes, the men (most ungallantly) being allowed to +occupy forms, while the women sat upon the floor; and any departure from +this arrangement was gravely censured. The dress of the women also +occupied the attention of the Sessions, their habit of wearing their +plaids about their heads being especially condemned. At St. Andrews, the +beadle was commanded to go about the kirk during the service "with ane +long rod to tak down their plaidis" from the women's heads; while the +authorities at Monifieth took very extreme measures, ordering the +expenditure of five shillings in tar "to put upon the women that held +plaids about their heads." Women condemned to do public penance upon the +penitence-stool were deprived of their plaids before ascending that +ecclesiastical pillory. + +The instruction which the people were to receive was also regulated by the +Kirk Sessions. Before the morning service, and between that and the +afternoon service, the children were publicly to recite their catechism, +both for their own edification and that of the people present. So it was +ordained at Stow in 1656, and at Dunfermline in 1652, on the ground that +it was "usit in uthyre kirks." But the passages of Scripture to be +treated by the preachers were also settled by the same authorities; the +custom being, apparently, for the minister to go systematically through +some complete book of the Bible. The Kirk Session of the "Kirk of the +Canongait," Edinburgh, desired the minister, who had just entered upon the +Book of Isaiah, "to begyne the Actes of the Apostles," after completing +the first chapter of the prophet; and Mr George Gladstanes, at St. +Andrews, was requested to take up the Second Book of Samuel. The length of +the sermon was fixed also by the Session, as is illustrated by a +resolution passed at Elgin, to the effect that Mr David Philips do "turn +his glass when he preaches, and that the whole be finished within an +hour." + +All these regulations, moreover, did not apply exclusively to Sunday; for +although the Kirk forbade the observance of old Church festivals, it +rigidly enforced its own fasts and days of thanksgiving. There was public +service in the towns usually every Wednesday and Friday, and work was as +absolutely forbidden during service time on those days, and attendance at +kirk as strictly enjoined, as on Sundays. Moreover, the non-observance of +an appointed fast was visited with a heavy fine. + +For the further protection of the people from any teaching contrary to the +received standard, the Press was carefully guarded, and the publication of +any work bearing on religion forbidden, unless it had first received the +_imprimatur_ of the Kirk's official "superintendent"; and publishers who +issued books which proved to be obnoxious to the ecclesiastical +authorities were compelled to withdraw them. The purchase of Bibles, +moreover, was not left to the zeal or discretion of the people; but by an +act of 1576, every householder worth 300 marks annual rent, and every +yeoman or burgess having stock valued at L500, was compelled to procure a +Bible and a Psalm-book, under a penalty of L10 (Scots). + +Next to importance in the guidance of religious teaching and worship, and +indeed closely connected with it, in the estimation of the Scottish +ecclesiastical courts, came the question of witchcraft and sorcery. The +annals of the country throughout the seventeenth century, together with +the closing years of the preceding one, are full of stories of the trial, +torture, and punishment of alleged witches; and even in the early years +of the eighteenth century there are occasional instances of persons +proceeded against in the Kirk Sessions for using charms, and similar +superstitious practices. The unfortunate women charged with selling their +souls to Satan in exchange for occult powers seldom succeeded in +establishing their innocence, and juries which ventured to acquit them +were themselves occasionally charged with "wilful error" for so doing. +Under these circumstances it would seem that the accused, abandoning all +hope of escape, frequently took pleasure in exciting the wonder and the +horror of the court by the weird and marvellous tales which they invented +of their evil deeds; and no tale could be too marvellous for belief. It +made no difference in the enormity of the crime whether the supernatural +powers ascribed to the prisoner were used for good objects or for evil; +Isabel Haldane, who "cured Andrew Duncan's bairn, by bringing water from +the burn at Turret Port," Margaret Hornscleugh, who restored Alexander +Mason's wife to health and renewed the milking powers of Robert Christie's +cow, were burnt equally with Agnes Simpson, who had raised a storm to +drown King James, and Catherine Campbell, who had struck her young +mistress with convulsions. Foremost in hunting down these poor deluded, or +maligned creatures, were the ministers of the Kirk; and practically the +only lawful excuse for absence from a public service on Sunday, or even +for the omission of the service altogether, was attendance at a +witch-burning. + +Much time of various Kirk Sessions was also occupied, now and again, in +considering cases of pilgrimage to holy wells, "turning the riddle" to +discover the name of a thief, and similar matters, and in reprimanding the +offenders. So late as 1709, the Kirk Session of Kilmorie summoned before +it a woman accused of "the horrid sin of the hellish art of +riddle-turning," and sentenced her to public penance on three several +Sundays. + +More useful were the efforts, directed by the disciplinary authorities of +the Kirk, to prevent such sins as drunkenness, profanity, slander, and +sexual immorality. At Stirling, in 1612, a man was fined 20s. for being +intoxicated; and Dunino had, in 1645, a regular scale of fines for such +cases, 6s. for the first offence, 12s. for the second, and so forth. +Cursing and swearing were openly punished at the market crosses, by the +shame of the pillory, and by fines. Slander was met with the use of the +brank, the pillory, compulsory shaving of the head, or, in extreme cases, +with banishment from the district. In all these cases, a public reprimand +on Sunday at the stool of repentance was usually inflicted, in addition to +whatever other penalty there was imposed. + +The violation of the marriage vow was made a capital crime in Scotland in +1563; but the death sentence was not actually carried out very frequently. +At Glasgow, in 1586, it was considered sufficient to send the offenders to +the pillory, barefoot and in sackcloth, and then to cart them through the +town; but in 1643, the punishment was made more severe--the jagg, a public +whipping, committal to the common jail, and, finally, expulsion from the +town, being the satisfaction demanded by local justice. In the case of a +minister who had admitted that he was guilty of adultery, the utmost +humiliation was demanded. He had first to prostrate himself before the +General Assembly, and implore their pardon in the most abject manner; he +was then required to do public penance in sackcloth at the kirk door, and +on the repentance-stool for two Sundays each, in three several towns, +which were chosen so as to complete his degradation. Edinburgh, the +capital, Dundee, his native town, and Jedburgh, the place of his ministry, +were all to witness his shame. For other sins of impurity, fines, +imprisonment in the kirk steeple, standing in irons at the market cross, +and having the head shaved, were, one or more of them, adjudged. + +Some of the cases in which the Kirk exercised its discipline were such as, +it would appear to us, might have been dealt with more effectually in less +formal or more private ways. When a lad failed in proper respect to his +father, like the Glasgow youth who did not "lift his bonnet" on meeting +him, or even like him of St. Andrews, who struck his parent, it would +hardly seem to have been needful to report the matter to the Kirk, for it +to deal with it; yet the Sessions at those places solemnly considered +these misdemeanours, in 1598 and in 1574 respectively. Again, few +husbands, now, would probably care so far to confess themselves unable to +control their wives as to call in the authority of the Kirk to prevent the +"weaker vessels" from abusing their lords; yet such cases frequently +occupied the attention of Kirk Sessions. The brank, or imprisonment, or +the pillory, was the sentence usually pronounced on these rebellious +wives. + +The interference of the Kirk Sessions in some matters, which they once +claimed as within their sphere, would now certainly be resented. Thus, the +presbytery of Glasgow forbade a marriage between James Armour and Helen +Bar, in 1594, on the ground that the prospective bridegroom was "in greit +debt"; and at St. Andrews, in 1579, all persons who could not recite the +Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Commandments were debarred from +matrimony. Moreover, the Kirk undertook the regulation of the wedding +festivities. At Stirling, in 1599, the Kirk Session decreed that no +marriage dinner or supper should cost above 5s.; and this was an advance +upon the rule passed at Glasgow, in 1583, which limited the cost to +"eighteen pennies Scots." At Cambusnethan, in 1649, the presence of a +piper at a wedding was forbidden; and at Dumfries, in 1657, the number of +guests was limited to twenty-four. + +In too many instances the Kirk procured the information on which it acted +in enforcing these decrees through spies of one kind or another. The +informants, through whom cases were got up against the adherents of the +unreformed rites, were often men of the worst characters, such as Robert +Drummond, a twice-convicted adulterer, who finally died by his own hand. +The wretches who hunted down and tested those accused of witchcraft were +scarcely more respectable agents. Officers both of the kirks and of the +municipalities were required to watch for and report those who did not +attend divine service regularly; an espionage of the most dangerous and +objectionable kind being introduced when, as at Glasgow in 1600, it was +decreed that, on the "deacons" of craft-gilds informing of any remissness +in kirk-attendance of their members, half the fine imposed should be given +to the gild. Bailies were desired to traverse the houses on "preaching +dayes" to see that the people did not stay at home; beadles were "to tak +notice of those who tak ye sneising tobacco in tyme of divine service, and +to inform concerning them;" others were appointed to take the names of +such as were in the alehouses after eight o'clock at night; midwives and +doctors were threatened with discipline if they failed to report any +illegitimate birth which they attended; "searchers" were appointed to find +out those who did not buy Bibles and Psalm-books; in a word the lives of +the people were constantly under observation. It is perhaps the strongest +proof of the strength of the Scotsman's character that, after a century or +more of such interference with his responsibility, his sturdy independence +survived. Much of this disciplinary system died away when, in 1690, it +ceased to have behind it the civil disabilities attendant on +excommunication. + + + + +Curiosities of Church Finance. + +BY THE REV. R. WILKINS REES. + + +"The plate for collections is inside the church, so that the whole +congregation can give a guess at what you give. If it is something very +stingy or very liberal, all Thrums knows of it within a few hours; indeed, +this holds good of all the churches, especially, perhaps, of the Free one, +which has been called the bawbee kirk, because so many half-pennies find +their way into the plate. On Saturday nights the Thrums shops are besieged +for coppers by housewives of all denominations, who would as soon think of +dropping a threepenny bit into the plate as of giving nothing. Tammy Todd +had a curious way of tipping his penny into the Auld Licht plate while +still keeping his hand to his side. He did it much as a boy fires a +marble, and there was quite a talk in the congregation the first time he +missed. A devout plan was to carry your penny in your hand all the way to +church, but to appear to take it out of your pocket on entering, and some +plumped it down noisily like men paying their way. I believe old Snecky +Hobart, who was a canty stock but obstinate, once dropped a penny into the +plate and took out a half-penny as change; but the only untoward thing +that happened to the plate was once when the lassie from the farm of Curly +Bog capsized it in passing. Mr Dishart, who was always a ready man, +introduced something into his sermon that day about women's dress, which +everyone hoped Christy Lundy, the lassie in question, would remember." + +This, from Mr J. M. Barrie's "Auld Licht Idylls," will ever be a classic +passage on Scottish church finance, so far as it is represented by the +collection. It is not, however, in such pages that the material for such +an article as this must be sought, but rather in such fruitful fields as +those afforded by, chiefly, the Kirk Session Records preserved in various +parts of the country. + +It has been pointed out, I think by Buckle in his "History of Civilisation +in England," in comparing Spain and Scotland in point of superstition and +religious intolerance, that the latter country has denied to political +what it has conceded to priestly government, and hence its superior +material progress and prosperity. The general influence of the Kirk +Session, especially as exemplified in its disciplinary powers, was +unquestionably large and far-reaching, surpassing even that of magisterial +authority. Hence we may find records of fines levied by and paid to the +Kirk Session which we should have thought would have been solely within +civil jurisdiction. The church revenue derived from fines must have been +in some instances quite considerable, and as indicating their nature many +entries derived from old church records are of peculiar interest and +value. What the Church forbad _was_ forbidden, and when her laws were +broken or her wishes not complied with, the culprit had to pay the +penalty. When the minister and the session anathematized it was generally +discovered that it was not as with the Highland laird, who "did not swear +at anybody in particular: he jist stood in tae middle o' tae road and +swore at lairge." The anathemas were directed at a definite object, and of +the luckless individual thus aimed at it could not be said, as in the +"Ingoldsby Legends," "Nobody seemed one penny the worse." + +The manner in which these fines were determined is sufficiently indicated +by an extract from the Records of Session of Tyninghame, under date May +12, 1616:--"Maister Johne (the minister, by name John Lauder) heavilie +compleinit yt ye last Lord's Day the Sabbothe was prophanit be sundrie +pepill, as he was informit, by yoking thair cairts about 10 or 11 houris +at evene, and led wair fra the see, to ye dishonour of God and evill +example of utheris. For redress heirof in tyme coming, it is ordainit be +the said Maister Johne and elderis present, that quhaevir sall yok to leid +wair on ye Sabbothe, befor ane hour efter midnight, or until 12 houris at +even be past, sall make publik satisfaction in the kirk, and pay 20s. +_toties quoties_; and also ordains publik intimation heirof to be maid." + +The following may be taken as supplying a commentary on this. It will, of +course, be remembered that in the days here referred to Scots money was +only one-twelfth part the value of what it is now:--"August 12 +(1621).--The minister shew to the elderis that he had causit wairn Robert +Skugall, servitor to James Neilsone, befor the session. Callit on, +compeirit, and accusit of carying netis to the sea in ane cairt, be yoking +hors efter the efternoone sermon, confessit the samin, bot did it, as he +alledgit, with his maister his directions. James Neilsone, present, +answerit yt he bade him not yoke ane cairt, bot cary the netis on ane +horseback. Ordainis the said Robert to satisfie publicklie the nixt Lordis +Day. Item: Thomas Airthe compleinit on ane man quha brocht salt from the +Panis to this towne this day, befor sermon, to sell to qm presentlie the +minister past; and George Shortus, the officer, with him, arrestit the +salt, and put it in Rot. Quhyte his barn, that nain of it micht be sold +that day. Takin fra him 12s. to the pure." "August 26.--James Neilsone, +accusit for comanding his man to pass to the sea with netis in ane cairt, +the said James denyit he comandit him except only to carie them on +horseback; to qm the minister answerit that the last day he confessit he +bade him yok the cairt, qlk some of the elderis testifeit; the brethren +present ordainit the said James to remove, to be censured, and ordainis +him to sit down on his kneis befor the elderis and ask God forgiveness, +and to pay twentie s. to the box, qlk bothe he did, and the session was +qtentit." + +Other extracts from the same records are worthy of note in this +connection. On September 25, 1631, Alex. Jackson was ordered to give to +the box what he received for the herrings which he brought in on the +Sabbath day. He affirmed that he got but thirty shillings, which was +produced before the session and put into the box. On April 3, 1642, John +Nicolson was accused for hauling some lines in the water one Sabbath day, +but the minister and elders, seeing him penitent, and submitting himself +humbly, alleging that he did not get four shillings' worth of fish, +ordered him to pay penalty, four shillings, and to make satisfaction on +his knees before the session. The fishermen were, however, allowed to set +their nets on Sunday, though not to haul them, as Dunbar records +testify:--"8 September 1639, Sunday.--Gude order keipit be the seamen at +the draife; no herring brocht in, nor nets hauled, but only nets set at +efternoon." "30 August 1635.--The session appoints some of the elders to +go to the seaside at efternoon, to see that there be no mercat in herring; +and the minister to be with them efter the efternoon, to see guid order +keepit." + +Sabbath-breaking was, unquestionably, a fruitful source of church income. +On December 26, 1619, it was shown to the minister that Robert Barrie, +hind to the Lady Bass, had thus offended by carrying peat; and on February +4, 1621, the said Lady Bass had to pay 18s. for a servant who again broke +the Sabbath. "Profanation of the Sabbath," with its attendant fine, was +again and again reported. Sometimes it was football on the links after the +afternoon sermon, and drinking after the pastime, which had to be atoned +for by a money payment, or again, it might be that "for not being in the +kirk in time in the afternoon" the offender had to pay ten shillings, even +though he might have "come to the kirk shortly after the third bell." +Occasionally, it would seem, the fines were imposed with drastic +severity:--January 21 (1644).--"James Kirkwood gave to the session, to be +put in the box, in name and behalf of George Hay, in Scougall, tasker to +said James, 7s., because he came not with his companie tymeouslie to the +kirk that Lord's Day his wyffe was buryed, as he aucht to have done.... He +said that the days were short, and they had few to carry hir corpes, and +the pepill did not conveine so tymeouslie as he expectit, and this was the +caus." + +Absence from worship caused many a shilling to fall into the coffers of +the kirk. "Advertise them that they come to the kirk every Sabbath and +that they that were convicted of absence, without lawful excuse, should +pay six shillings every person, seeing they might now, the farthest of +them, the days being long and the weather fair, come every day." This was +in 1619. What a significant entry is the following:--"October 14, +1621.--The minister exhortit the peple to repentance. George Shortus +searchit the towne." Or this:--"This day Alexander Davidson seairchit ye +towne, and delatit some persons absent fra ye kirk in tyme of preiching." +Absentees were followed and fined with an almost relentless pertinacity. +Elders were ordered by the minister to search the town and "to delate the +absentees." As soon as public worship began, the elder started on his +quest, and the luckless delinquents were hunted in home and alehouse. A +few days after, their names, with penalties attached, appeared in the +session books. Sometimes no excuse was taken. An elder, even though he +pleaded headache as reason for his absence, had to pay a fine; so had a +deacon with like adequate excuse; each exaction tending to increase the +income of the kirk. + +But not only had Sabbath-day offences thus to be acknowledged. On January +2, 1625, Alex. Johnson, Patrick Wood, George Foster and Patrick Bassenden +were called on and accused before the session "for troubling James +Neilsone's house, singing at the door, being drunk." The two former had to +pay, "ilk ane of them, 3 lib. for thair dronkenness, if they be able, and +to seik the concurrence of the civile magistrat for payment thairof; and +if they suld refuse, being unable, to speik the civile magistrat that they +micht be utherwayis punishit." And in the same year it was found necessary +to intimate "out of the pulpitt, to absteine from drunkenes, utherwayis if +any suld be fund giltie thairof suld be ordainit to pay thre punds." On +October 28, 1630, appeared an item of forty shillings, Alex. Jackson's +penalty for fighting, "sent down by my Lord of Haddington to the box, to +be employed _ad pios usus_." In 1659 the Kirk Session of Dunbar rebuked +and fined in L20 Scots a woman who had sinned when Cromwell's army was in +the neighbourhood eight years before! Such a sin-penalty was, as far as +possible, applied to a secular purpose, and the _godly_ poor were not +supposed to benefit therefrom. In 1620 James Neilson complained of his +wife's misbehaviour, and she was warned that should she disagree again she +would be "inactit to pay 10 lib., _toties quoties_, and suld pay for this +tyme also if she did disagree againe." And in 1642 "John Bryson's wife, in +Scougall, is to be warned next day to the session for flyting with her +husband, and abusing him by her unreverent speeches." The penalty for such +speeches was "20s. _toties quoties_." Whether these ladies had private +means, or the husbands had to endure the further hardship of providing the +fine, history does not record. It should, however, be mentioned that cases +sometimes occurred in which the fair sex were not to blame, as when a man +was brought before the session for having assaulted his wife with a spade, +and was fined a dollar, beside having to express his regret and to satisfy +the session of his sincerity! + +A few other curious sources of income may be mentioned. On May 29, 1625, +it is reported in the Records of Session of Tyninghame that "John Jakson +was not to proceid in mariadge wt Helen Bassenden, bot that the mariadge +was given over, and thairfor qfiscats to the use of the pure, and uther +pious uses, the 40s. qsigned be him, according to the order maid +thairanent." In the old Records of Innerwick, during 1608, it is stated +that the minister having reported that the greatest part of the people +were ignorant of the "Comands and very many of the Beliefs," the session +ordained that if such knowledge were not acquired within a given time, a +penalty should be paid; also that no marriage shall be "maid or parteis +proclaimit until baith the parteis also recite ye Lord's Prayer, ye +Belief, and ye Comands, or ells pay five libs. that they sall have them +before the accomplishment of the mariage, qlk, if it be not done they sall +forfeit." And in 1620, when a man excused himself for not having come to +the examination, because he was ignorant, he was "ordained to heir the +Word diligentlie and attentivelie, and to keip the examination; and in +caise of absence againe, he suld mak publik satisfaction, and pay one +merk." + +The introduction of pews at the commencement of the eighteenth century was +a means of obtaining additional revenue. As a return for the privilege of +placing these seats in the previously open area of the kirk, "half-a-crown +for the use of the poor," was demanded as a rent, and it was further +required "that the same be payd before the seats be set up." The pew was +also a source of indirect income, as when, in 1735, one John Porter was +rebuked before the pulpit and heavily fined for pushing James Cobbam out +of a seat in church, wringing his nose, and thumping him on the back. +Bitter jealousy and anger were often occasioned by the pew, and hence free +fights with accompanying fines not seldom occurred. + +But the humours of the collection must not be altogether omitted. Burns, +in giving his experience in "The Holy Fair," has immortalised the elder +(Black Bonnet--so called from a peculiarly shaped black hat worn by him) +who stood by the plate as the people passed into the kirk-- + + "When by the plate we set our nose, + Weel heapit up wi' ha'pence, + A greedy glower Black Bonnet throws, + And we maun draw our tippence." + +And R. L. Stevenson refers to these elders, "sentinels over the brazen +heap," when he says of a countryman whom he met out West--"He had a +pursing of the mouth that might have been envied by our elders of the +Kirk. He had just such a face as I have seen a dozen times behind the +plate." The elder, at any rate, magnified his office and closely watched +each gift and giver. When a certain titled lady once made a profound and +formal bow only, in passing, the elder followed her as she marched in +state towards her seat, and in tones distinct enough to reach the whole +congregation, said, "Gie us less o' yer manners, my lady, and mair o' yer +siller." When in later days one of the elders passed from pew to pew with +outstretched ladle, he touched the people with it, and with unmistakable +directness would say, "Wife, sittin' next the wee lassie there, mind the +puir," or "Lass, wi' the braw plaid, mind the puir." + +The obligations of the congregation in regard to the collection were also +frequently enforced from the pulpit. Of "Wee Scotty o' the Coogate Kirk" +the following is related: "One Sunday, when there was a great noise o' +folk gaun into their seats, Scotty got up in the pu'pit and cried out, 'Oh +that I could hear the pennies birlin' in the plate at the door wi' half +the noise ye mak' wi' yer cheepin' shoon! Oh that Paul had been here wi' a +lang wooden ladle, for yer coppers are strangers in a far country, an' as +for yer silver an' yer goold--let us pray!'" And of Dr Dabster, "an unco +bitter body when there was a sma' collection," to whom, before the sermon +began, the beadle used to hand a slip of paper with the amount collected, +we are told that one day when the whole collection only reached two +shillings and ninepence, he stopped suddenly in his discourse and said, +with biting sarcasm, "It's the land o' Canawn ye're thrang strivin' after; +the land o' Canawn, eh? Twa an' ninepence! Yes, ye're sure to gang there! +I think I see ye! Nae doot ye think yersel's on the richt road for't. Ask +yer consciences an' see what _they'll_ say. Ask them an' see what they +_wull_ say. I'll tell ye. Twa miserable shillin's an' ninepence is puir +passage money for sic a lang journey. What! Twa an' ninepence! As well +micht a coo gang up a tree tail foremost, an' whustle like a superannuated +mavis as get to Canawn for _that_!" After this we cannot wonder at the old +farmer's advice to the young minister, "When ye get a kirk o' yer ain, +dinna expeck big collections. Ye see, I was for twal' year an elder, and +had to stand at the plate. I mind fine the first Sabbath after the +Disruption, though our twa worthy ministers didna gang out, and the +strange feelin' about me as I took my place at the plate for the first +time. It was at ane o' the doors o' St Andrew's Parish Kirk, in Edinburgh. +Noo, hoo muckle d'ye think I got that day?" "Oh, well, I know the church +nicely," was the answer--"seated for at least two thousand--you might get +two pounds." "Wad ye believ't?" responded the elder, "I only got five +bawbees, stannin' i' the dracht for twenty minutes, too! If I had only +kent, I wad rather hae pit in the collection mysel' an' covered up the +plate. Mind, dinna expeck big collections." + +The coins of other countries were strongly objected to. As far back as +1640, "The minister dischairget the people to give ill curreners," or the +treasurer writes, "Collect 8s. 4d., whereof much ill cureners." And in the +Records of Whitekirk, August 18, 1730, we find that "The minister and +elders did receive from John Lermond, son to the deceased William +Lermond, who was kirk-treasurer, the poor's box; and the poor's money +therein was compted, and there was in the box of good current money, at +the present rates, ane hundred and ten pounds of whit-money. In turners +there was of current coin 15lb., 10s. 10d.; in Scots half merks, 12lb.; in +doyts and ill copper money, 2lb., 4s. 2d." This doyt ("not worth a doyt") +was "a Dutch coin of debased metal, and equivalent in value to the twelfth +part of a penny only." Its use in Scotland seems to have been confined +solely to collection purposes. In Paul's "Past and Present in +Aberdeenshire" is mentioned a rebuke once given by a Mr Wilkie, a minister +of the parish of Fetteresso, whose income was chiefly obtained from the +kirk door collections. One Sunday morning he thus delivered himself: "When +ye gang to Aberdeen to sell your butter, and your eggs, and your cheese, +and get a bawbee that ye're dootfu' about, I'm tell't that ye'll gie't a +toss up atween ye'r finger an' ye'r thoom, an' say, 'It's nae muckle +worth, but it'll dae well eneuch for Wilkie.'" In the "Statistical Account +of Scotland" the minister of Nairn expressively states that "the weekly +collection at the church on Sundays amounted to about three shillings in +_good_ copper." + +This spurious money often accumulated. Sometimes a box of such coins was +given to the minister "to see what he could mak' of them" when in +Edinburgh. "Sometimes," we are told, "a man would turn up in a district +with a horse and cart, making offers for the bad copper or pewter that had +been laid aside. At other times it would be sent to an open market, and +there sold to the highest bidder. In 1774 there were over seven stones' +weight of this truly 'filthy lucre' sold in the market-place of Keith, and +its price was L2, 18s. 6d., less 4s. for carriage from Banff.... In order +to counteract as far as possible the practice of putting spurious money +into the plate, the various presbyteries under one synod used occasionally +to combine and send as much as L100 sterling to the mint in London, and +ask that the amount be exchanged for farthings, and returned with 'the +first sure messenger.'" + +But the use of the farthing has not been confined to the collections of +bygone days. The Rev. John Russell, in his comparatively recent book, +"Three Years in Shetland," thus writes of the collections in the parish of +Whalsay: "The coin usually put into the ladle was a farthing. As the +collections were exchanged at the shop for silver, and as it was at the +shop where my hearers provided themselves with those farthings, I thought +that if the Session hoarded up the farthings and so stopped the supply of +them, we might get halfpence put into the ladle instead." This ingenious +plan was not, however, put into practice, for the minister was assured +that for the popular farthing would be substituted no gift at all. As to +that perennial favourite, the bawbee or halfpenny, nothing need be said. + +A few words must be given to the box that held the money--an important +piece of Scottish ecclesiastical furniture that was jealously guarded. +"Given to George Cuming, smith in Peffersyd, 32 pence for mending the lock +of the box, and causing it to open and steek," is an entry under date, +June 30, 1639. Innerwick looked well after the box:--"23 April 1609.--The +quilk day ye sessioune ordains George Wallace to keip the key of the box." +But there are not a few entries in the Records of Dunbar which show that +the box had been tampered with by the elder in charge; and for a +considerable period one of the civil magistrates there took his place by +the side of the elder at the plate on Sunday. The beadle also fell +occasionally under suspicion, well merited at times, it is feared. In a +certain Highland parish the money, after being counted, was placed in a +box which was consigned to the care of the minister, who secreted it, with +the key, in a part of the session-house press known only to himself and +the beadle. Small sums were regularly extracted, and one Sunday when the +minister discovered that the usual small amount had disappeared, he +summoned the beadle. "David," said he, "there's something wrong here. Some +one has been abstracting the church money from the box; and you know there +is no one has access to it but you and myself." Thinking he had the beadle +thoroughly cornered, the minister fixed him with his eye and paused for an +answer. But David dumfounded the minister by this cool proposal: "Weel, +minister, if there's a defeeshency, it's for you and me to make it up +atween us, an' say naething about it!" + +But if on the side of revenue we find much curious reading we find it none +the less surely on the side of disbursements. When poor law and poor rate +alike were unknown in Scotland the Church took care of the poor, and +that, oftentimes, in most thorough and effective fashion. Even when other +urgent claims asserted themselves the poor were by no means neglected. A +proclamation of the Privy Council, August 29, 1693, decreed that one-half +the sums collected at the church door was to be given to the poor as +before, while the other half might be retained for the relief of other +distress, or for any matters that might come under the consideration of +each individual Kirk Session throughout the country. In the Kirk Session +Records of Falkirk, under date July 1696, it is stated that "the number of +the poor within the parish church does daily abound," and the session +recommends to the minister "to intimate to the congregation the next +Lord's Day that they would be pleased to consider ye present strait and be +more charitable." The response to such appeals may not always have been +adequate, and in some records we find it stated again and again that "the +raininess of the day" caused the collection to be so small that the +treasurer, instead of transferring it to the box, handed it to the beadle. + +The manner in which the poor were relieved is sufficiently indicated by +the following selected passages from the Kirk Session Records of +Tyninghame, which, for our purpose, may here be considered typical:-- + + "November 2, 1617.--Given to ane pure honest man, quha had ane sair + hand, 6s." + + "May 23, 1619.--Given to ane pure man, lying sik in Patrik Jaksonis, + being ane coupper in Tranent, 10s. His wyfe came befor ye session and + earnestlie desyrit it, being in great necessitie." + + "August 26, 1621.--Given to ane pure man, being ane scollar, 6s." + + "January 26, 1623.--Collect 4s., given all to Thomas Harvie in + Tyninghame, being ane ald honest man tailyeour." + + "September 18, 1625.--To ane pure young man, being ane minister's + son, 6s. 8d." + + "September 7, 1628.--Given to ane stranger, being ane Transelvanian, + 18s. He was supportit be all the kirks of the presbiteries." + + "April 24, 1631.--Given to a man with a testimonial, robbed by + pyratis, 9s." + + "December 3, 1637.--Given to ane poore woman at the Knowis, callit + the Daft Lady, 5s." + + "September 5, 1641.--Given to ane poor scholar (being a minister's + dochter), 5 dollars." + +These extracts are also instructive:--"January 2, 1620.--Reportit that +Andrew Law, being ane agit man grieve to ye Ladie Bass, was lying deidlie +sik in ane hous. Ordainis to adverteis ane of the hostlairis to furnish +him in drink and breid for a tyme, and out of ye box they suld gett +payment, seing he was in great necessitie, being ane honest man. Ordainis +also the Ladie to be adverteisit heirof." "January 30.--The said day given +to them that furnishit drink to Andrew Law, being in great necessitie, +14s. 4d." + +In the treasurers' books of the time, entries frequently occur of sums +paid to "twa hirpling women, sairly needing something out of the box," or +to "a lass wi' a cruikit back-bane," or to "a laddie wi' black een and a +white face." Space will not permit any treatment of the interesting +subject of badges for the poor. + +One ludicrous incident in connection with a collection for the poor should +be related. In Mr Sinclair's "Scenes and Stories of the North of Scotland" +we read of a Highland minister who, notwithstanding an imperfect knowledge +of the tongue, dared to make some announcements in Gaelic. He intimated +that "on the following Lord's day there would be a collection for the poor +of the congregation. But, alas, for him! he forgot how nearly alike in +sound are the words 'bochd,' signifying poor, and 'boc,' which means a +buck. The word he uttered was the latter instead of the former, so that +he startled his audience by solemnly intimating a collection for the bucks +of the congregation!" + +It seems that among the many and diverse poor none needed help more sorely +or frequently than the schoolmaster. A flood of light is thrown upon his +condition by such extracts as these:--"February 1, 1618.--The session +ordainis that Mr James Macqueine, schoolmaister, sal have of everie +baptisme 40d., and for everie mariadge half ane merk--viz., for ye +proclamation 40d. and of ye mariadge 40d.--for his better help." "March +8.--Ordainis ye wemenis penalties that commits fornication to be given to +Mr James Macqueine, schoolmaister." "August 1, 1619.--Given to Maister +James Macqueine, schoolmaister, 4s., seing thar was verie few bairnis at +the school." "August 29.--The qlk day given to Maister James Macqueine, +schoolmaister, 24s., and 10s., being Cristen Stories penaltie, according +to contract maid with him." "September 26.--Given to Maister James +Macqueine, 25s., in regaird of his povertie, and in respect he was to go +hame to ye Northe; in respect, also, of his reading in the kirk." "October +17.--The quilk day Mr James Macqueine, schoolmaister, desyrit earnestlie +some support, that he micht pass to ye Northe, seing thair was few or na +bairns at the schoole. The session heirwith advysit. Ordainis thre lib. to +be given to him." + +"Maister James Macqueine's" successor suffered still more acutely from the +eternal lack of pence. "October 22, 1620.--Given to George Davidsone, +scholm{r.}, for reiding and singing in the kirk, at his request, 40s." +"November 19.--Lent to Mr George Davidsone, scholm{r.}, out of the box, +18s." "July 15, 1621.--The said day George Foster his penaltie given to +George Davidsone, schoolmaister and reiddar, becaus of his povertie." +"September 16.--George Davidsone, schoolmaister, earnestlie desyrit somqt +for his support out of the penalties, seing he had few bairnis in the +school. Given to him 20s." "October 7.--Given to George Davidson 20s. of +Thomas Greivis penaltie, the uther twentie given befor in respect of his +reiding and singing in the kirk, he being verie puir, having ane familie." +Soon the minister addresses plaintive appeals to the church in behalf of +the said schoolmaster, and at last the climax comes. "December 1, +1622.--The minister earnestlie desyrit the elderis to have ane cair of +George Davidsone, schoolmaister, now in great distress, being somqt +distract in his witt, and desyrit that George Shortus, officer, wald cause +some ane waik ilka nicht with him, and that the minister and he wald go +from hous to hous for his support. The elderis promeisit to help, and to +caus utheris to help." "December 8.--The minister desyrit bothe the +elderis themselfs to help George Davidsone, and to caus utheris, he being +almost now weill againe, seing he wald go over to Fyff againe. They +promeisit to do the same. Maister Johne (the minister) reportit that he +hyrit ane man on his owin expenss to go to Fyff for his father and brother +to come to him--viz., Patrick Watson--and that he gave him 20s., and that +his father has now come." "December 15.--The minister desyrit the elderis +to help George Davidsone, being now well, praised be God! Given be the +minister and elderis out of their purss, 45s." The schoolmaster's +departure is, however, delayed, for in the following year, 1623, his name +appears again. "March 9.--Given to George Davidson, 20 lib." "November +23.--This day collect at the kirk doore, for George Davidsone, being to +depairt, 50s. 8d." + +Assistance to cripples constituted a repeated charge on the church funds. +"May 28, 1615.--Collect 4s., qlk was given to ane crepill." "Mairch 31, +1616.--Given to the belman for carrying ane puir cripple man off the +toune, 6 lib." "June 21, 1618.--Given to Jhone Finla 3s. for carrying away +ane crepill." "February 11, 1638.--Given to Alexander Storie, wricht, for +ane pair of stelts to Henrie Caning, crepill, 4s." "September 23.--Four +shillings given to carray away a crepill. We could get nane in the toune +to carray away this crepill the morn, becaus of their business." + +Payments for medical help were also frequently made. "May 28, +1615.--Gathered at the kirk door to give ane physician--viz., George +Adamson, in Dunbar--for curing Agnes Tailzeour, in Peffersyd, 40s., qrof +28s. given to the pottingar, and the rest to the said Agnes Tailzeour, +dauchter to Marion Peacock, in Peffersyde." "Januarii 3, 1641.--Given to +Agnes Richisone (hir bairne being still vehementlie diseast, and hir +husband at the camp), 20s. to buy cures." "Januarii 7, 1644.--Ane merk to +Elspethe Duns sonne, lyklie to be crepill. 20 shillings given to his +mother, to be given to the man wha promeised to do diligence to cure the +said; to be given for drogis." "July 20, 1645.--Given to Robert Ewart, in +Tyninghame, for curing James Brown, his leg, 3 lib. 4s. 4d." All this +links the church finance of the Scotland of that day with that of the +early Christians, for in the _Apologia_ of Justin Martyr and of Tertullus +we read that the early Christians contributed or collected, on the first +day of the week, money for widows, orphans, and others in distress, and +particularly for the relatives of poor slaves condemned to work in the +mines. + +From the Kirk also was drawn much money that eventually found its way into +the pockets of the sea-robbers of the Mediterranean. The collections made +at the church door largely supplied the amounts necessary for effecting +the ransom of those luckless sailors who fell into the clutches of the +pirates. Hence we find:--"May 11, 1617.--Intimation maid to ye peple out +of pulpite to provyde something againe ye nixt Sabbothe according to thair +powar, for the relieving of Jhone Mure, in Dunbar, and some utheris, wha +was takin be ye Turkis on the sea, and deteinit be them in prison, seing +thair was ane collection to be maid throughout all ye kirks in the qtrie +to this effect." "May 18.--Collect at ye kirk doore for relief of them +that wer takin be ye Turkis, 5 lib. 18s. 4d.; the speciallis, or richest +of ye peple, being absent, quhas portionis were also to be socht fra +them;" and "May 7, 1620.--Collect at the kirk doore for the Scottishmen +lying in Algiers, taken by the Turkis, 3 lb. 17s. 4d." + +Again and again we find in the pages of the Kirk Session Records +reflections of the history of the time. Thus on December 5, 1641, +"Intimation maid of collect the nixt Lord's day for ane pure honest woman, +spous to umquhile James Freeman. He was slain in Ireland, and quarteret, +as is allegit, for mainteining the Scottis Covenant." On February 29, +1622, "Earnest exhortations maid to the pepill anent ye contributions to +the Kirk of God in France. Collect this day efter the sermon threttie +pund, 8s. 2d.;" and on March 3, "Qtribut this day at ye kirk door to the +Kirk of France 3 punds, 11s. 10d." On August 28, 1646, a collection was +made in the parish church of Auchterhouse for the people of Cullen, who +had suffered much from the burning of their town by the Marquis of +Montrose on his march northward; and in 1746 the Falkirk beadle begged +the Kirk Session to lend him five shillings because of harsh treatment he +had endured at the hands of Prince Charlie's soldiers on their retreat +from England. + +Among the miscellanea of church finance as concerning expenditure the +following should, undoubtedly, have place. The stool of +repentance--imposing and certainly not cheap--deserves some prominence. +"Given to Andrew Stone, wricht, 22s., and 2s. to his man, for mending and +repairing the stoole of repentance;" and "David Nimmo, wricht in Lintoun, +compeirit, and desyrit payment for making and repairing the stoole for +repentance. The minister and elders herewith advysit; deliverit to him, +out of the box, aucht pounds, and sax shillings to his sonne, and twentie +s. to James Paterson, mason," are two suggestive items. Alexander Sherrie +receives six shillings on April 19, 1635, "to buy poudder with to shett +the dowes in the kirk, becaus they filet the seitts." At Cullen Parish +Church, in the session records for 1703, the treasurer writes:--"For a +calf's skinn to be a cover to ye Kirke bible, 7s. For dressing ye skinn +bought to cover ye Kirke bible, and alm'd leither to fasten ye cover to ye +brods, and for sowing thereof, 10s. For keepers to ye clasps, brass nails +putting on ye stoods, and gluing loose leaves, 14s." Dr Russell, writing +in his "Reminiscences of Yarrow," about his father's pastorate in the Vale +of Ettrick, says, "At the first Martinmas of my father's incumbency, Robin +(Robert Hogg, the father of the Ettrick Shepherd) came to him and said, +'Sir, Mr Potts (the predecessor of Dr Russell's father) used always to +allow me five shillings of the collections in the kirk at this time, for +gathering the bawbees, in order to buy a pair of shoon!' But to his +disappointment, my father replied that he could not take it on him to make +this application of the public money." The beadle, however, sometimes got +the price of a pair of shoes; and in one book, in 1615, we have "_Nota_ (a +word scarcely ever used) That in all the gatherings for the poor there is +the price of ane pint of ale, that collect which is set doun in the +session-books, because of the pains which the clerk of the kirkmen taks in +going thrice aboot the toune, and ance efternoon. This custom of giving +sae mickle to the beadle has been ust of ald in this parish." + +In February, 1733, a certain Jean Hall, a pauper in the parish of +Morebattle, dies, and on the 16th of the month James Robson, in Kirk +Yetholm, receives L3, 14s. 3d. for "cheese, tobacco, and pipes" provided +at the funeral. "The digging of the grave, the crying of deceased's +effects at the roup, and the ringing of the 'passing-bell' are all +provided for by the treasurer, out of his continually replenishing and +inexhaustible kirk-box." At one time thirty shillings is given for a +winding sheet for a "dead corpse" which came in on the sands of Aldhame, +and, at another, twenty-five shillings is given for one for a man "quha +came in Peffersand and was buryed the last week." Sometimes twelve +shillings is given to a man for reading and singing at the communion, and, +occasionally, as much as twenty pounds is given to buy a horse, "seing he +had ane horse deid latly, and fallen abak in meins;" or there is given out +of the penalties to Alexander Sherrie, "for mending and translating the +pulpitt, ane dollar." (In the writer's article, "Witchcraft and the Kirk," +in the present volume, reference is made to expenditure occasioned by the +imprisonment and execution of witches.) + +Help is given to Dundee for a new harbour, to North Esk for a bridge, and +to Glasgow because of a disastrous fire. Even "a collection for the +Northern Infirmity" is mentioned, but this is an obvious reference to the +Northern Infirmary. + +One closing quotation must suffice:--"May 2.--The minister also shew to +the elderis that the bishop, at the last Provinciall Assemblie, haldin at +Edinburghe, the twentie of April 1619, ordainis everie minister to bring +ye contribution for ye students of ye new colledge in Saint Androis, and +everie minister to give it to ye moderator of the presbiterie quhair he +dwellis, that it micht be sent to Saint Androis. The minister shew to ye +elderis that ye kirk of Tyninghame was ordainit to pay thre lib. yerlie. +The elderis wer unwilling to grant thairto. The minister shew them that +everie kirk was appointit to pay, and that he wald give 20s. out of his +awin purse to that effect, seing thair was little in the box, and many +puir in the parishe. They grantit thairto, bot with some regraits." "May +9.--The said day takin out of the box 34s., and 6s. of Jhone Walker's +penaltie; and Maister Jhone (the minister) gave 20s. out of his awin purse +to make out thre lib. to be given for ye qtribution to ye studentis in the +new colledge at St. Androis." This is but one among many contributions +made by the minister to fulfil obligations resting on the kirk. + + + + +Witchcraft and the Kirk. + +BY THE REV. R. WILKINS REES. + + +For centuries belief in witchcraft was an article of faith with dour and +brooding Scots. The Scot was made by Scotland; the country stamped an +indelible impress on every characteristic of its inhabitants. With much +truth it has been said, "From the cradle to the grave the Scotch peasant +went his way attended by the phantoms of this mysterious world; always +recognising its warnings, always seeing the shadows which it cast of +coming events, and so burdening himself with a weight of grim and eery +superstition, that we marvel he did not stumble and grow faint, seeing +that his dreary Calvinistic creed could have brought him little hope or +comfort. Nay, it is a question whether his superstition did not partly +grow out of, or was fostered by, his hard, cold religion. Superstition is +the shadow of Religion, and from the shadow we may infer the nature of the +substance or object that casts it." + +There are traditions concerning witchcraft, even earlier than that of the +fourth century which credits his Satanic Majesty with such a hatred of St. +Patrick's sterling piety that he roused the whole tribe of witches against +him. St. Patrick fled from the determined assault, and finding, near the +mouth of the Clyde, a boat, set off in haste for Ireland. But running +water being ever an insuperable barrier in the path of a witch's progress, +these emissaries of Satan tore up a huge rock and hurled it after the +departing saint. With the proverbial inaccuracy of feminine aim they +missed their mark, but the mass itself ultimately became the fortress of +Dumbarton. In those early days the marvels of witchcraft were great and +many--Holinshed, among others, has chronicled the same--and, at the close +of the seventh century, King Kenneth, fearful of his own safety and the +stability of his throne, decreed that jugglers, wizards, necromancers, and +such as call up spirits, "and use to seek upon them for helpe, let them be +burnt to death." + +That persons accused of witchcraft suffered death is unquestionably true, +as in the cases of the Earl of Mar in 1479, and Lady Janet Douglas in +1537, the executions of whom are foul blots on the pages of history. But +it can hardly be said that it was witchcraft as an offence against +religion or as mere superstition that was so punished. It was rather +witchcraft in its political bearings--generally, in fact, as connected +with treason and not with sorcery--that received condemnation. + +But with the advent of Calvinism--the natural turn of the Scottish nation +for metaphysical discussion induced them to receive the doctrines of the +Reformation with general interest and favour--it would seem that the +"crime" of witchcraft was looked upon in a somewhat different light. In +1563 the Scottish Parliament by statute, for which John Knox was a chief +agitator, formally constituted witchcraft and dealing with witches a +capital offence. "That all who used witchcraft, sorcery, necromancy, or +pretended skill therein, and all consulters of witches and sorcerers, +should be punished capitally" (Erskine's "Institutes," p. 706). And +henceforth the irreligion of witchcraft caused it to be regarded as an +offence against the law of the country, and the Kirk and its connections +played an important part in the stern measures adopted for its +suppression, doing their work with resolute determination and fanatical +zeal. The authority of the ministry was great; its influence +preponderated. Its friends were the allies, its opponents the enemies, of +heaven. The theocracy which the clergy asserted on behalf of the Kirk was +not so distinctly understood, or so prudently regulated, but that its +administrators too often interfered with the civil rule. Old Mellvin's +words were suggestive of much when, grasping King James the Sixth's +sleeve, he told him that in Scotland there were two kingdoms--that in +which he was acknowledged monarch, and that in which kings and nobles were +but God's silly vassals; and the clergy were but too apt to assert the +superiority of the latter, which was visibly governed by the assembly of +the Kirk in the name of their unseen and omnipotent Head. To disobey the +king might be high treason, but to disobey the kirk, acting in the name of +the Deity, was a yet deeper crime, and was to be feared as incurring the +wrath which is fatal both to body and soul. With severity the Presbyterian +teachers inflicted church penances, and with rigour they assumed dominion +over the laity in all cases in which religion could be possibly alleged +as a motive or pretext, that is to say, in almost all cases whatever. + +Led by their clergy, and believing fully as they did in the literal +interpretation of all Biblical imagery and the personal appearances of the +devil, the people of Scotland waged a fierce unresting war against a great +number of ill-fated individuals, whose only ground for being attacked was +some physical or mental peculiarity, or who suffered simply because of the +malice or ignorance of their accusers. At one time, stupid justices, +instigated by foolish clergymen, consigned to torture and the stake almost +every old woman dragged before them, even though brought only by the spite +of malicious neighbours. In his preface to the _Bibliotheque de Carabas_ +edition of Robert Kirk's "Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns, and +Fairies," Mr Andrew Lang says: "Some of the witches who suffered at +Presbyterian hands were merely narrators of popular tales about the state +of the dead. That she trafficked with the dead, and from a ghost won a +medical recipe for the cure of Archbishop Adamson of St. Andrews, was the +charge against Alison Pearson.... 'She was execut in Edinbruche for a +witch.'" On several occasions, commissions were issued by King James for +the purpose of "haulding Justice Courtis on Witches and Sorceraris." The +commissioners gave warrants in their turn to the minister and elders of +each parish in the shire to examine suspected parties and to frame an +indictment against them. And as a rule the accused were overwhelmed by a +huge heap of rumoured or concocted evidence, composed of exaggeration, +prejudice, and credulity, wellnigh incredible. Even Sir George Mackenzie, +Lord Advocate of Scotland during the time of the greatest fury, admitted +the indiscretion of ministerial zeal, and recommended that the wisest +ministers should be chosen, and that those selected should proceed with +caution. "I own," says the Rev. John Bell, Minister of the Gospel at +Gladsmuir, in his MS., "Discourse of Witchcraft," 1705, "there has been +much harm done to worthy and innocent persons in the common way of finding +out witches, and in the means made use of for promoting the discovery of +such wretches, and bringing them to justice; that oftentimes old age, +poverty, features, and ill fame, with such like grounds, not worthy to be +represented to a magistrate, have yet moved many to suspect and defame +their neighbours, to the unspeakable prejudice of Christian charity; a +late instance whereof we had in the west, in the business of the sorceries +exercised upon the Laird of Bargarran's daughter, anno 1697, a time when +persons of more goodness and esteem than most of their calumniators were +defamed for witches, and which was occasioned mostly by the forwardness +and absurd credulity of diverse otherwise worthy ministers of the gospel, +and some topping professors in and about the city of Glasgow." + +In the last forty years of the sixteenth century, we have the astounding +aggregate of no less than eight thousand persons who suffered, almost +invariably by burning, for witchcraft. For about the first decade, not +more, perhaps, than forty were so punished in a year, but towards the +close of the period alluded to, the annual death-roll probably reached +five hundred. The total number of victims, strange to say, represented +even a larger proportion than those of the Holy Office, during a +corresponding space of time. That during one period the Kirk should have +been more disposed to kindle the pile than was the Inquisition, is, +without doubt, a startling fact. + +For a time, at any rate, the population seemed divided into only two great +classes, witches and witchfinders. The dark tales of witchcraft were not +even relieved by fairy folk-lore. There was, perhaps, no little truth in +what Cleland said in his "Effigies Clericorum," when he attributed the +disappearance of Scottish fairies to the Reformation. In writing of +Parnassus, he proceeds:-- + + "There's als much virtue, sense, and pith, + In Annan, or the Water of Nith, + Which quietly slips by Dumfries, + Als any water in all Greece. + For there, and several other places, + About mill-dams, and green brae faces, + Both Elrich elfs and brownies stayed, + And green-gown'd fairies daunc'd and played: + When old John Knox, and other some, + Began to plott the Haggs of Rome; + Then suddenly took to their heels, + And did no more frequent these fields; + But if Rome's pipes perhaps they hear, + Sure, for their interest they'll compear + Again, and play their old hell's tricks." + +As far as fairydom survived, however, it was regarded as under the same +guilt as witchcraft. + +The harsh forbidding creed of the Kirk had its influence in every +direction; and music, instrumental at any rate, fell under its ban. +During the sway of the Covenant, indeed, the Scottish minstrels were +popularly supposed to be under the special care and protection of the +devil. The Reverend Robert Kirk, author of the "Secret Commonwealth," +attributed certain impressions produced by music to diabolical influence. +"Irishmen," says he, "our northern Scottish, and our Athole men are so +much addicted to, and delighted with harps and musick, as if, like King +Saul, they were possessed with a forrein sport; only with this difference, +that musick did put Saul's play-fellow asleep, but roused and awaked our +men, vanquishing their own spirits at pleasure as if they were impotent of +its powers, and unable to command it; for wee have seen some poor beggars +of them chattering their teeth for cold, that how soon they saw the fire, +and heard the harp, leap thorow the house like goats and satyrs." Without +enlarging on the subject, may we not conclude that such an estimate of +instrumental music as became common, especially in Covenanting days, had +much to do with the prolonged antipathy of the Kirk to its introduction in +worship? + +But the Presbyterians went even further than this. At one time they +declared that the bishops were cloven-footed and had no shadows, and that +the curates themselves were, many of them, little better than wizards. The +Episcopalians seem to have been regarded by the Presbyterians with little +more favour than the Red Indians were by the early Puritan settlers in +America. The extraordinary story of Salem witchcraft shows us that the +Puritan clergy assured their people that the Red Indians were worshippers +and agents of Satan; and we can but faintly imagine the effect of this +belief on the minds and tempers of those who were thinking of the Indians +at every turn of daily life. The common people, always susceptible to +exaggeration, had been preached into such a holy hatred of popery that +they saw its type and shadow in everything which approached even to +decency in worship; so that, as a satirist expressed it, they thought it +impossible they could ever lose their way to heaven, provided they left +Rome behind them. + +On the other hand, John Knox was deemed a skilful wizard by the Catholics +in Scotland; it was even said that in the churchyard of St. Andrews he +raised Satan himself, wearing a huge pair of horns on his head, at which +blood-curdling sight Knox's secretary became insane and died. And in old +Kirkton's "Secret and True History," in his picturesque account of the +curious scene which was witnessed in Lithgow upon the anniversary of the +King's restoration, we see that the Episcopal party lost no favourable +opportunity of turning the tables on their opponents. In the pageant they +had an arch, in the midst of which was a litany: + + "'From Covenants with uplifted hands, + From Remonstrators with associate bands, + From such Committees as govern'd this nation, + From Church Commissioners and their protestation, + Good Lord deliver us.' + +"They hade also the picture of Rebellion in religious habit, with the book +Lex Rex in one hand, and the causes of God's wrath in the other, and this +in midst of rocks, and reels, and kirk stools, logs of wood, and spurs, +and covenants, acts of assembly, protestations, with this inscription, +'REBELLION IS THE MOTHER OF WITCHCRAFT.'" + +But Episcopacy was abhorrent to the people generally. A contemporary +writer--a Presbyterian--candidly remarks, "I have known some profane +people that, if they committed an error over night, thought affronting a +curate to-morrow a testimony of their repentance." This religious +animosity had no doubt much to do with the belief that witchcraft was +common among the Episcopalian clergy. The Reverend James Kirkton (before +alluded to), a true son of the Kirk, writing at that time gravely relates, +amongst several similar accusations, that one Gideen Penman said grace at +the devil's table as his chaplain; that one Thomson, the curate of +Anstruther, was a "diabolic man," the wench who bore a lantern in front, +as he returned from a visit, "affirming that she saw something like a +black beast pass the bridge before him;" and that the hated Archbishop +Sharp, when assassinated, had "several strange things," and, in +particular, "parings of nails," about his person. Archbishop Sharp was +also charged with entertaining "the muckle black Deil" in his study at +midnight, and of being "levitated" and dancing in the air; and of +Archbishop Adamson, men of learning like James, nephew and companion of +Andrew Melville, believed that, as in the case of other witches, he had a +familiar in the form of a hare, which once ran before him down the +street. + +It is a curious circumstance, as Pitcairn in his "Criminal Trials" points +out, that in almost all the confessions of Scottish witches, their +initiation and many of their gatherings were said to have taken place +within churches, or at least the surrounding ground, and a certain +derisive form of service was carried out. James VI. of Scotland and I. of +England was, in the matter of witches, undoubtedly the greatest royal +expert that ever lived. His famous dialogue, "Daemonologie," in which he +carefully classifies witches, describes their ceremonials, and details +their various characteristics, did much to encourage popular credulity and +the spirit of persecution. "Witches," he affirms, "ought to be put to +death, according to the laws of God, the civil and imperial law, and the +municipal law of all Christian nations; yea, to spare the life, and not +strike whom God bids strike, and so severely punish so odious a treason +against God, is not only unlawful, but, doubtless, as great a sin as was +Saul's sparing Agag." He even contended that, because the crime was +generally abominable, evidence in proof might be received which would be +rejected in other offences, and that the only means of escape to be +offered was through the ordeal. If we only remember that Luther said he +would burn every one of them, urging that there must be witches because +the Bible says, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live," we shall wonder +less at the credulity of the witch-hunting king. + +The principal witch cases and trials in Scotland may be said to date from +the conspiracy of devils to prevent James's union with the Princess Anne +of Denmark. "An overwhelming tempest at sea during the voyage of these +anti-papal, anti-diabolic, royal personages was the appointed means of +their destruction." To describe the trial of those who were implicated as +the human agents, even though it may be one of the most extraordinary and +weirdly fascinating stories in the annals of Scottish witchcraft, would be +beyond the scope of this article; it is fully related in an exceedingly +scarce black-letter pamphlet--"Newes from Scotland, declaring the damnable +Life of Doctor Fian, a notable Sorcerer, who was burned at Edenbrough in +Januarie last, 1591; which Doctor was Register to the Devill, that sundry +times preached at North-Baricke Kirke to a number of notorious Witches, +&c." It may be noted, however, that "Agnis Sampson, which was the elder +witch," at last confessed, "before the king's majestie and his councell," +"that upon the night of Allhollon-Even, shee was accompanied, as well with +the persons aforesaide, as also with a great many other witches, to the +number of two hundreth, and that all they together went to sea, each one +in a riddle, or cive, and went in the same very substantially, with +flaggons of wine, making merrie and drinking by the way in the same +riddles, or cives, to the kirke of North-Barrick, in Lowthian, and that +after they had landed, tooke handes on the lande, and daunced this reill, +or short daunce, singing all with one voice:-- + + 'Commer, goe ye before, commer, goe ye; + Gif ye will not goe before, commer, let me!' + +At which time shee confessed, that this Geillis Duncane (another of those +charged) did goe before them, playing this reill or daunce uppon a small +trumpe, called a Jewe's trumpe, untill they entered into the Kerk of +North-Barrick. + +"These confessions made the king in a wonderful admiration, and sent for +the saide Geillis Duncane, who, upon the like trumpe, did play the saide +daunce before the kinges majestie, who, in respect of the strangeness of +these matters, tooke great delight to be present at their examinations. +Item, the said Agnis Sampson confessed that the divell being then at North +Barrick Kirke, attending their comming, in the habit or likenesse of a +man, and seeing that they tarried over long, hee at their comming enjoyned +them all to a penance ... and having made his ungodly exhortations, +wherein he did greatly inveigh against the King of Scotland, he received +their oathes for their good and true service towards him, and departed; +which done, they returned to sea and so home again. + +"At which time the witches demanded of the divell, why he did beare such +hatred to the king? who answered, by reason the king is the greatest +enemie hee hath in the world." + +Spottiswoode also tells a fantastic story in connection with this Agnes +Sampson, Dr John Fian, Geillie Duncan, and others, meeting the devil at +North Berwick kirk, of black candles round about the pulpit, of the devil +calling the roll and preaching a sermon, and of the rifling of three +graves for magical cookery. Of Francis, Earl of Bothwell, who was accused +of being associated with Dr Fian in his magical conspiracy against the +king, and who was also imprisoned for having conspired the king's death by +sorcery, we have this note attached to a curious discourse, from Mr Robert +Bruce's Sermons, preached at Edinburgh, November 9th, 1589--"At the which +time the Earle Bothwell made his publicke repentance in the church." It +will not be forgotten that, in "Tam o' Shanter," Burns depicts a witches' +meeting in Alloway Kirk:-- + + "A winnock-bunker in the east, + There sat auld Nick, in shape o' beast; + A towzie tyke, black, grim, and large, + To gie them music was his charge: + He screw'd the pipes and gart them skirl, + Till roof and rafters a' did dirl.-- + Coffins stood round like open presses, + That show'd the dead in their last dresses; + And by some devilish cantraip sleight + Each in its cauld hand held a light." + +As typical of the evidence afforded by parochial inquisitions, and on +which death sentences were based, the following may be taken:-- + +"Isabel Roby.--She is indicted to have bidden her gudeman, when he went to +St. Fergus to buy cattle, that if he bought any before his home-coming, he +should go three times 'woodersonis' about them, and then take three +'ruggis' off a dry hillock, and fetch home to her. Also, that dwelling at +Ardmair, there came in a poor man craving alms, to whom she offered milk, +but he refused it, because, as he then presently said, she had three +folks' milk and her own in the pan; and when Elspet Mackay, then present, +wondered at it, he said, 'Marvel not, for she has thy farrow kye's milk +also in her pan.' Also, she is commonly seen in the form of a hare, +passing through the town, for as soon as the hare vanishes out of sight, +she appears." + +"Margaret Rianch, in Green Cottis, was seen in the dawn of the day by +James Stevens embracing every nook of John Donaldson's house three times, +who continually thereafter was diseased, and at last died. She said to +John Ritchie, when he took a tack (a piece of ground) in the Green Cottis, +that his gear from that day forth should continually decay, and so it came +to pass. Also, she cast a number of stones in a tub, amongst water, which +thereafter was seen dancing. When she clips her sheep, she turns the bowl +of the shears three times in her mouth. Also, James Stevens saw her +meeting John Donaldson's 'hoggs' (sheep a year old) in the burn of the +Green Cottis, and casting the water out between her feet backward, in the +sheep's face, and so they all died." + +These charges were considered sufficient by the Presbytery of Kincardine, +and were duly signed by "Mr Jhone Ros, Minister at Lumphanan." + +The following, under date February 8th, 1719, will, however, more clearly +illustrate the manner in which an accused person was examined by Kirk +authority:-- + +"The said day, Mr William Innes, minister of Thurso, having interrogat +Margaret Nin-Gilbert, who was apprehended Fryday last, on suspicion of +witchcraft, as follows:--1_mo_, Being interrogat, If ever there was any +compact between her and the devil? Confessed, That as she was travelling +some time bygone, in ane evening, the devill met with her in the way in +the likeness of a man, and engaged her to take on with him, which she +consented to; and that she said she knew him to be the devil or he parted +with her. 2_do_, Being interrogat, If ever the devil appeared afterwards +to her? Confessed, That sometimes he appeared in the likeness of a great +black horse, and other times riding on a black horse, and that he appeared +sometimes in the likeness of a black cloud, and sometimes like a black +henn. 3_to_, Being interrogat, If she was in the house of William +Montgomerie, mason in the Burnside of Scrabster, especially on that night +when that house was dreadfully infested with severall catts, to that +degree that W. M. foresaid was obliged to use sword, durk, and ax in +beating and fraying away these catts? Confessed, That she was bodily +present yr, and that the said M. had broke her legg either by the durk or +ax, which legg since has fallen off from the other part of her body; and +that she was in the likeness of a feltered cat, night forsaid, in the said +house; and that Margaret Olsone was there in the likeness of a catt also, +who, being stronger than she, did cast her on Montgomerie's durk when her +legg was broken. 4_to_, Being interrogat, How she could be bodily present +and yet invisible? Declares, She might have been seene, but could give no +account by what means her body was rendered invisible. She declares, that +severall other women were present there that night in the other end of the +house. Being interrogat, How they came not to be seene, seeing they were +not there in the likeness of catts, as were others condescended on? +Declares, The devil did hide and conceall them by raising a dark mist or +fog to skreen them from being seen.... 6_to_, Being interrogat, What +brought her and her accomplices to Montgomerie's house? Answered, They +were doing no harm there. To which Mr Innes replyed, that the disturbing +and infesting a man's house with hideous noises, and cryes of catts, was a +great wrong done to him, having a natural tendency to fright the family +and children. The premisses are attested to be the ingenuous confession of +Margaret Nin-Gilbert, _alias_ Gilbertson, by William Innes, minister of +Thurso.... _Nota_, That upon a vulgar report of witches having the devil's +marks in their bodies, Margaret Olsone being tryed in the shoulders, where +there were severall small spots, some read, some blewish, after a needle +was driven in with great force almost to the eye, she felt it not. Mr +Innes and Mr Oswald, ministers, were witnesses to this." In another case +it is recorded that "Mr John Aird, minister, put a prin in the accused's +shoulder (where she carries the devill's mark) up to the heid, and no +bluid followed theiron, nor she shrinking thereat." + +The foregoing "dittay," conjointly with the confessions of so many of the +accused, inevitably prompts the anxious question--how could it be that +these persons declared themselves guilty of an impossible offence when the +admission must have sealed their doom? The assumption that the victim +preferred being killed at once to living on, subject to suspicion, insult, +and ill-will, under the imputation of having dealt with the devil, cannot +here, any more than in the astounding cases recorded in connection with +Salem witchcraft, cover anything like the whole ground. There can be +little doubt now that the sufferers under nervous disturbances, the +subjects of abnormal conditions, found themselves in possession of strange +faculties, and thought themselves able to do new and wonderful things. +When urged to explain how it was, they perhaps could only suppose that it +was by some "evil spirit," and except where there was an intervening +agency to be named, the only supposition was that the intercourse between +the Evil Spirit and themselves was direct. It is impossible, as an +Edinburgh Reviewer has remarked, even now to witness the curious phenomena +of somnambulism and catalepsy without a keen sense of how natural and even +inevitable it was for similar subjects of the middle ages and in Puritan +times to believe themselves ensnared by Satan, and actually endowed with +his gifts, and to confess their calamity, as the only relief to their +scared and miserable minds. It would also seem as though some of these +unfortunate women credited themselves with certain powers because others +so credited them, and believed that they could perform deeds of witchcraft +because their neighbours declared they could. + +But let us turn again to the Kirk Session Records, than which we can find +no better sources of information. During the years 1649-1650, for +instance, the witch fires seemed never to have ceased burning. In the +Lowlands one, John Kincaid, and another, George Cathie, were expert +searchers. In 1650 the Presbytery of Biggar called on the Presbytery of +Haddington, as well as the civil power, to secure Cathie's services +whenever they were required. In 1649 John Kincaid received from the +minister and elders of Stowe for the "broding of Margret Durham, 6lb." His +colleage Cathie once condemned as witches twelve people in +Crauford-Douglas on the evidence of a lunatic. + +And here are a few significant extracts from the Tyninghame Kirk Session +Records:--"January 11, 1629.--This day James Fairlie preichit, the +minister being at Edinr., at comand of the presbiterie, to assist Mr Js. +Home, minister at Dunbar, anent the tryall of ane woman suspect of +witchcraft in the parish of Dunbar--viz., Issbell Yong, in Eist Barns." +She was accused of both inflicting and curing diseases, and was burnt for +witchcraft. "17 September 1649.--Janet Nicolson execut and brunt at Hails +for witchcraft. 25 November.--Item: According to the ordinance, he +intimate out of the pulpit if any had any delations against Agnes Raleigh, +in East Barns, suspect of witchcraft, and apprehendit there for that, they +come to the session of Dunbar upon Tysday, or the presbyterie on Thursday +next. On Monday the witches at Wittinghame brunt, being three in number. 9 +December.--Intimation maid from the pulpit anent Patrick Yorston and +Christian Yorston, in Wittinghame, if any in this parish either knew or +have any delations against both or either of them, that they show it to +the kirk-session. 6 January 1650.--Some of our pepell confronted with some +witches in Prestonkirk parish. 13 January.--The minister demandit the +elders if they knew of any suspect of witchcraft, and shew them that they +were to search diligentlie such as are delated be the witches at +Prestonkirk parish, when the searchers cam. Upon Tysday ane man in +Wittinghame brunt for witchcraft. Upon Wednesday, the 23 of January, six +people at Staintoune parish brunt. 3 February.--Item: Reported that the +searchers of the witches were not yet returned from the southe, and in the +meantime that Agnes Kirkland and David Stewart shall be apprehendit. On +Thursday Agnes Kirkland and David Stewart, bothe of this parish, were +imprisoned. Wednesday.--I (the minister) went to Dunbar, being ordained +thairto, whair ten witches were execut. + +"10 February.--This day the session sett doon orders aboot the watching of +those that are apprehendit for witchcraft nichtlie, appointing ane roll of +all the parishe to be taken up and six to watch everie nicht, and twa +everie day thair, tyme aboot in order, qlk accordinglie was done. Upon the +20 of February the searcher in Tranent cam and found the mark on those +that were suspect of witchcraft, and shortlie thairafter they confessit. 3 +Mairch.--Item: Ordains the watch to be keipit preceisely, and ane elder to +watch everie nicht in turn with them, qlk they did, and promeisit to +continue. The minister shew his diligence in going to those suspect of +witchcraft, both in the day and nicht-time, in examining of them, and in +praying for them, both privatelie and publiklie, and performing all the +other duties recognisit or practised in such cases, qlk the session +heartilie and unanimouslie acknowledge and approved. Upon Tysday, the 1st +Mairch, the pepell given up be Agnes Kirkland and David Stewart, both in +this parish and Prestonkirk parish, confronted with them, and did pass +from some and stand by others. 29 Mairch.--Appoints the watch to be better +keipit, qlk they promeisit to do. 31 Mairch.--Item: Because the commission +anent the witches was not as yet come, it was thocht gude to have ane cair +of them still. The elders shew it was hard to get pepell to watch all the +day, albeit the watch was preceisly keipit all the nicht; and thairfor it +behoved them to tak something out of the box, or rather to borrow it, to +give to some wha had watched this eight days byegane--viz., Robert Nisbet +and George Ker, given to them 3lbs., and efter the burning of the witches. +7 April.--Item: The minister shew to the elders anent David Stewart and +Agnes Kirkland, that now the commission to put them to assize had come +eist to our hands, and that some that were appointed and put in the same +did meet heir on Setterday, and appointed all things to be done, and in +what manner; and Tysday next to be the day wherin to put them to an +assize; and thairfor to appoint the watch to be well observed this twa +nichts to come, and all the elders and honest men to be present on Tysday, +wherunto they consentit. 9, Tysday, 1650.--David Stewart and Agnes +Kirkland were execut. 14 April.--George Shorthous intromits with what +belongs to Agnes Kirkland; promeisit to the session 12lbs. out of Agnes +Kirkland's readiest gudes and gear, and find the box lykwys, if by any +means he culd." There is no necessity to add anything to the ghastly +simplicity of such sentences as these. + +The expenses incurred in these matters by the Kirk cannot be considered +trifling. There are significant entries like the following: "21 July +1661.--Given for candle to watch the witch, 11s.;" but much fuller +statements are also given. In 1633 two poor victims, "William Coke and +Alison Dick, witches," were burned, as the Kirk Session Records testify, +on the sands at Kirkcaldy. And in connection with that event these were +the "Extraordinary Disbursements":-- + + _In primus_--To Mr John Millar when he went to + Prestoun for a man to try them, L2 7 0 + To the man of Culross when he + went away the first time, 0 12 0 + Item--For cales for the witches, 1 4 0 + Item--For purchasing the commission, 0 3 0 + Item--For one to go to Finmouth for the + Laird to sit upon their assize as + judge, 0 6 0 + Item--For harden to be jumps to them, 3 10 0 + Item--For making of them, 0 6 0 + --------- + Summa, Kirk's part, L17 10 0 + --------- + + _In primus_--For 10 loads of coal to burn them, L3 6 8 + Item--For a tar barrel, 0 14 0 + Item--For towes, 0 6 0 + Item--To him that brought the executioner, 2 18 0 + Item--To the executioner for his pains, 8 14 0 + Item--For his expenses here, 0 16 4 + Item--For one to go to Finmouth for the Laird, 0 6 0 + --------- + Summa, Toun's part, L17 1 0 + --------- + +The other items, the cost of which would bring the "Summa, Kirk's part," +to L17, 10s., are not supplied. + +The severity with which the witches were sometimes treated during +imprisonment is sufficiently indicated by the following entries, 1597:-- + + _Item._ To Alexander Reid, smyth, for twa pair + of scheckellis to the Witches in the + Stepill, xxxii_sh._ + + _Item._ To John Justice, for burning upon the + cheik of four seurerall personis + suspect of witchcraft and baneschit, xxvi_sh._ viii_d._ + + _Item._ Givin to Alexander Home, for macking of + joggis, stapillis, and lockis to the + witches, during the haill tyme forsaid, xlvi_sh._ viii_d._ + + Expense on witches, aucht-score, xlii_li._ xvii_sh._ + iiii_d._ + +It could not be supposed that ministers, who were so zealous in attacking +witchcraft, would be permitted by the supernatural powers to go scot-free. +In the evidence given in the Mohra witch commission, held in Sweden in +1670, the minister of the district testified that having been suffering +from a painful headache, he could account for the unusual severity of the +attack only by supposing that the witches had celebrated one of their +infernal dances upon his head while asleep in bed; and one of them, in +accordance with this conjecture, acknowledged that the devil had sent her +with a sledgehammer to drive a nail into the temples of the obnoxious +clergyman, but the hardness of his skull mercifully saved him. And in +Scotland the Renfrewshire witches were charged with roasting the effigy of +a Rev. Mr Hardy, after having dipped it into a decoction composed of ale +and water; while, in 1622, one of the accusations against Margaret +Wallace, burnt for witchcraft, was "that being conveined before the Kirk +Session of Glasco 5 or 6 years since, by Mr Archibald Glen, minister at +Carmunnock, for killing Robert Muir, his good brother, by witchcraft; she, +to be revenged, laid on him ane uncouth sickness, whereof the said Mr +Archibald, sweating, died; to which it was answered, that in truth the +said Mr Archibald died of a consumption of his lights." In a curious +sheet, "Endorism, or a strange Relation of Dreamers or Spirits that +trouble the Minister's House of Kinross," we read how a minister was +molested in 1718. For some time "they could eat no meat but what was full +of pins"; "a stone thrown down the chimney wambled a space in the floor, +and then took a flight out at the window. Also there was thrown in the +fire the minister's Bible, which would not burn; but a plate and two +silver spoons thrown in, melted immediately; also what bread is fired, +were the meal never so fine, it's all made useless; and many other +things, which are both needless and sinful to mention. Now, is it not very +sad that such a good and godly family should be so molested, that employ +their time no other way but by praying, reading, and serious meditation, +while others, who are wicked livers all their lifetime, and avowedly serve +that wicked one, are never troubled." + +And let it not be inferred that Kirk Sessions were, without exception, +quick to condemn. We find in the records of the Kirk Session at Eastwood +that a woman, who was delated for using charms at Hallow-even and who +confessed, was sentenced to be rebuked before the congregation; and in the +records of Lanark Presbytery (1630), that another woman, charged with +consulting with charmers and "burying a child's clothes betwixt three +lairds' lands for health," was saved by penitence from punishment. And +sometimes the consideration of cases, far more serious than these in the +eyes of the grave Kirk Session, was wisely postponed, and postponed for +ever, for we hear no more of the matter. + +But in 1735 the reaction, which had long made itself felt, found something +like adequate expression in the repeal of the statutes against +witchcraft, and, notwithstanding the action of such as the Seceders from +the Established Church of Scotland, who inveighed against this repeal as +iniquitous, prosecutions for witchcraft entirely ceased. These "Seceders," +who claimed to be the real representatives of the Church's teaching, were +so offended that, in the annual Confession of National and Personal Sins, +printed in an act of their Associate Presbytery at Edinburgh, 1743, the +Penal Statutes against witches are specially mentioned as having been +repealed by Parliament, contrary to the express Law of God! + +And with this reference the consideration of witchcraft and the Kirk may +conveniently and appropriately end. + + + + +Birth and Baptisms, Customs and Superstitions. + + +Some strange customs, the origin of which does not appear to have been +traced, but which probably came down from the dark ages of Celtic +paganism, were performed in bygone times on the birth of a child. When +such an important event in family history was expected, a rich cheese was +made, which, when the anticipation was realised, was divided among the +women who, on such occasions, were injudiciously allowed to crowd the +chamber. A lighted slip of fir-wood was whirled three times round the bed, +with the superstitious idea of averting evil influences. The new-born babe +was next dipped into a vessel of cold water, tempered in a very slight +degree by dropping a burning coal into it. This may have been done with +the Spartan idea of rendering the child hardy. If a boy, it was afterwards +wrapped in a woman's chemise; if a girl, in a man's shirt. The idea +underlying this custom is not clear. Women were not allowed to touch the +child without first crossing themselves. The tiny creature was not to be +referred to in terms of admiration, lest it should be "forespoken," which +implied consequences prejudicial to its future welfare. + +After the mother's recovery, friends and neighbours assembled to +congratulate the parents, and drink to the child's future prosperity. This +gathering was known as the _cummer-fealls_, or the gossips' wake, +concerning which custom the Kirk Session of Dunfermline made, in 1645, one +of the most sensible enactments to be found on the minutes of those +bodies. Considering, it is recorded, "the inconveniences arising +therefrom, as mainly the loss and abusing of so much time, which may be +better employed in attending to business at home, by such as frequent the +occasions thereof, and the prejudice which persons lying in child-bed +receive, both in health and means, being forced, not only to bear company +to such as come to visit, but also to provide for their coming more than +is either necessary or their estate may bear," the Session inhibited "all +visits of this kind, and for the end foresaid, under the pain of being, +for the first fault, censured by the Session, and there to be obliged to +acknowledge their fault, and, for the next, to make public confession of +their fault before the whole congregation." + +Other singular practices were observed in connection with the baptism of a +child. It was placed in a basket, on which a white cloth was spread, with +some bread and cheese, and the basket was suspended by a crook over the +fireplace, and swung round three times. This was said to be done to +counteract the evil influence of fairies and other malignant spirits. The +bread and cheese were offered to the first person met on the way to the +church, and rejection of it was thought to presage future evil to the +babe. When several children were baptised at the same time, the boys were +presented for the rite first, for it was thought that, if a girl obtained +priority, she would in after time be disfigured by a beard. + +Baptism was at one time refused to the children of persons outside the +communion of the Reformed Church. In 1567, the Countess of Argyle was +ordered by the Assembly to "make public repentance in the chapel royal of +Stirling, one Sunday, in time of preaching," for assisting at the baptism +of the royal infant, afterwards James VI., "in a papistical manner." And +even in 1716, registration of baptism was refused to the child of Harry +Foulis, son of Sir James Foulis, on the ground that it had been baptised +by a minister of the Episcopal Church. Thereupon the father procured the +baptismal register from the session clerk, and made the entry himself, +appending a statement of the circumstances. + +The sacrament of baptism has been the subject of much controversy in the +Scottish church, especially in the seventeenth century, when everyone born +north of the Tweed seems to have been, more or less, a theological +disputant. In the First Book of Discipline, in the framing of which Knox +had much to do, it was laid down that, "In baptism, we acknowledge nothing +to be used except the element of water only; wherefore, whosoever +presumeth to use oil, salt, wax, spittle, conjuration, and crossing, +accuseth the perfect institution of Jesus Christ of imperfection, for it +was void of all such inventions devised by men." The abjuring of +conjuration seems to refer to a formula of exorcism prescribed by the +first Prayer Book of Edward VI., to be used in the rite of baptism. + +Concerning the use of the cross in baptism there has been an enormous +amount of controversy, and very opposite views are still held. Dr Renaud, +who wrote a ponderous volume on the subject in 1607, says: "It is as unfit +to make a cross a memorial of Christ as for a child to make much of the +halter or gallows wherewith his father was hanged." The Service Book of +1637 enjoined the use of the cross in baptism, and as that book is said, +by Spalding, to have been introduced in many parts of the country, it may +be concluded that the practice existed thereafter in some Scotch churches. +As to other baptismal ceremonies, Dr Edgar observes, in his "Old Church +Life in Scotland," that the principles laid down by Knox "are the +principles on which the Church of Scotland has always acted. She has +uniformly endeavoured, except during a brief interlude of Anglican +innovation prior to 1638, to make her sacramental forms square with the +pattern and precepts set before her in Scripture." + +Another question concerning which there has been much controversy, is the +lawfulness or otherwise of private baptism. In 1618, when the historically +famous "five articles," framed by James I., as king of both England and +Scotland, were sent to the General Assembly for sanction and approval, +their adoption by that body raised a storm of indignation and opposition +which was not allayed until they were abjured by the General Assembly in +1638, and the proceedings of the Assembly held at Perth in 1618 were +declared null and void. + +One of the articles objected to was that which pronounced "that baptism +might be administered at home when the infant could not conveniently be +brought to church." This was objected to as papistical, and denounced as +introducing a new and false doctrine of baptism, calculated to create a +superstitious belief that there was some spiritual efficacy in the act of +sprinkling a few drops of water on an infant's face, in the name of the +Trinity, thereby giving ground for the belief that baptism is essential to +salvation. This doctrine, though taught by the Church of England, has not +been accepted by the Church of Scotland since the Reformation. + +Moreover, as non-attendance at the services of the Church was regarded as +contrary to good order, it was objected that the administration of baptism +in private houses would allow Christian privileges to be enjoyed without +compliance with Christian duty. If a child was to be accepted and +declared a member of the Church, the act should be performed by the whole +congregation, and not by the minister alone. For at least a hundred years +this was strongly and firmly insisted upon. Some doubt seems to have been +felt in 1643, as to whether the Westminster Assembly would adopt the +Scottish view of the question, as baptisms were very commonly performed in +private houses by ministers of the English Presbyterian Church. It was +with much satisfaction, therefore, that the news was received in Scotland +that the Assembly had affirmed the necessity of public baptism. + +The Directory for Public Worship in the Presbyterian Church states, +accordingly, that baptism "is not to be administered in private places, or +privately, but in the place of public worship, and in the face of the +congregation, where the people may most conveniently see and hear; and not +in the places where fonts, in the time of Popery, were unfitly and +superstitiously placed," that is, near the church door, and behind the +backs of the congregation. The view held by Presbyterians since the +Reformation thus became the law of the Church; and the General Assembly, +in 1690, strictly enjoined that baptism should not be administered +elsewhere than in church, and before the congregation. But in this matter, +as in some others, there appears to have been a laxity in enforcing the +rule of the church, which has gone on increasing. Wodrow stated, in 1718, +that private baptisms were unknown in the Church of Scotland, except in +Edinburgh and Glasgow; and only two years later the Synod of Glasgow and +Ayr had to repeat the injunction of 1690. What the state of things in this +respect is at the present day we are told by Dr Edgar, who, as minister of +Mauchline, must be considered to speak from experience. He says that, "in +some parishes there are ten private baptisms for every one public baptism; +and these private baptisms are never challenged as irregular, unlawful, or +deserving of censure." + +Registers of baptisms have been kept, with more or less regularity, from +the time of the Reformation; and these show that, in some parishes at +least, private baptisms had become very frequent about the middle of the +eighteenth century. In referring to the evidence of the parish register of +Mauchline on this matter, the writer just quoted says: "Although such +baptisms were a violation of Church order, I cannot help remarking that +Church order was not, in this instance, clearly founded on the evangelical +principle professed by our forefathers, that all procedure in Church +ritual should be conform to the precept or example of Scripture. It seems +quite certain that, in the days of the Apostles, baptism was not always, +if ever, administered in the place of public worship and in the face of +the congregation. The eunuch of Ethiopia, Cornelius the centurion, St. +Paul himself, and the gaoler at Philippi were each baptised privately." + +The Church of Scotland has been more strict in upholding the rule of the +Westminster Directory, that baptism "is not to be administered, in any +case, by any private person." This also, it may be remarked, is not in +strict accordance with the principle of the Christian Church in its early +ages, as set forth by some of the Fathers; and down even to the present +day the Church of England, while discountenancing lay baptism as a rule, +has recognised its validity in cases of necessity. The recorded instances +of refusal to admit evidence of lay baptism in the Church of Scotland +are, however, chiefly cases in which the rite had been performed by +deposed ministers. In 1708, a Kilmarnock man was cited to appear before +the Kirk Session for having had a child irregularly baptised by a deposed +minister, namely, Macmillan, the founder of the Reformed Presbyterian +Church. No further proceedings appear, however, to have been taken. +Similar cases occurred in 1715 and 1721, the General Assembly in the +former case, and the Presbytery of Ayr in the latter, merely pronouncing +the baptisms null and void. + +Some differences have to be noted between the Churches of Scotland and +England with regard to the forms and customs connected with baptisms. The +former is the more strict with regard to the sponsors of the children to +be baptised. The Westminster Directory states that the child is to be +presented at the font by its father, or in the case of his unavoidable +absence, by some Christian friend in his place; and in 1712 the General +Assembly enacted that no other sponsor than a parent should be received at +a baptism, "unless the parents be dead, or absent, or grossly ignorant, or +under scandal, or contumacious to discipline; in which cases, some fit +person (and if it can be, one related to the child,) should be sponsor." + +Not only was the Church more strict in this matter in Scotland than in +England, but the nature of the sponsion was different. In Knox's Liturgy, +the sponsors are not regarded as proxies for the child, but are required +to make a declaration of their own faith, in which they engage to instruct +the child. As the matter is well put by Dr Hill, "the parents do not make +any promise for the child, but they promise for themselves that nothing +shall be wanting, on their part, to engage the child to undertake, at some +future time, that obligation which he cannot then understand." + +In the latter half of the seventeenth and the first of the eighteenth +century, the Kirk Sessions had as much to do in repressing undue +gatherings at the font as on the occasion of wedding festivities. In 1622 +the Kirk Session of Aberdeen, considering "that it is come in custom that +every base servile man in the town, when he has a bairn to be baptised, +invites twelve or sixteen persons to be his gossips and god-fathers to his +bairn," whereas the old custom was not to invite more than two, ordered +that in future only two or at most four persons should be allowed to +appear in that capacity. In 1681 an Act of Parliament prohibited the +attendance at baptisms of more than four witnesses, in addition to parents +and children, brothers and sisters; and in 1720 the Kirk Session of +Kilmarnock made an ordinance that "only so many women as are necessary +attend infants that are carried to the church to be baptised, and the +Session think three sufficient." + +Down to the time of the Westminster Assembly, it seems to have been the +custom in Scotland for parents, at the baptism of a child, to repeat the +Creed. But in the Westminster Directory the father is merely required to +promise that he will bring up the child "in the nurture and admonition of +the Lord." Nevertheless, many Kirk Sessions overlaid this requirement with +regulations of their own devising. In 1615, the Kirk Session of Lasswade +ordained that "no children of ignorant persons be baptised, except the +father first lay one poynd of ten shillings, and a month shall be granted +to learn the Lord's Prayer, Belief, and Ten Commandments, with some +competent knowledge of the sacraments and catechism, which he performing, +his poynd shall be returned, otherwise forfeited." In 1700 an application +to the Kirk Session of Galston for the baptism of a child was refused, on +the ground that the father "did not attend diets of catechising." On his +promising to attend in future, and submitting to rebuke for his previous +non-attendance, the child was allowed to be baptised. More than +three-quarters of a century later, that is, in 1779, a man who had applied +to the Kirk Session of Mauchline for the baptism of a child was subjected +to a theological examination much too stiff for him; but on promising to +study the knotty points propounded to him, and signing an undertaking to +that effect in the minute-book, he was allowed to present the child for +baptism, though the permission seems to have been regarded as a great +favour. + +As in England, so also in Scotland, the registration of baptisms was +required at a period long antecedent to the statutary obligation to +register births. Old sessional records show that fees were paid, but it is +a disputed question whether these were for baptism or for registration. +Dunlop, in his "Parochial Law," quotes a legal opinion to the effect that +"as to baptisms, what is paid on that account is for obtaining the Kirk +Session's order for baptism, and recording that order." But an entry in +the records of the Kirk Session of Galston, in 1640, after prescribing the +fee to be paid for baptism, adds--"and there shall be no more exacted of +any that come to this kirk for all time coming, except they desire the +baptism registered, and in that case to satisfy the reader therefore, +which is hereby declared to be other four shillings Scottish." + +There are several curious entries in Kirk Sessional Records, showing that +those parochial bodies were as zealous in restricting the customary +festivities at christening parties as they have, in another paper, been +shown to have been in repressing undue feasting at weddings. With respect +of the former, the interference of Kirk Sessions was preceded by that of +the Scottish Parliament, by which assembly it was enacted, in 1581, "that +no banquets shall be at any upsitting after baptising of bairns in time +coming, under the pain of twenty pounds, to be paid by every person doing +the contrary." In 1621 it was further enacted that, "no person use any +manner of dessert of wet and dry confections at marriage banqueting, +baptism feasting, or any meals, except the fruits growing in Scotland, as +also figs, raisins, plum dames, almonds and other unconfected fruits, +under the pain of a thousand marks _toties quoties_." + +These enactments appear, however, to have had little effect. In 1695 the +Kirk Session of Greenock ordained that "persons having their children +baptised on the Sabbath day abstain from keeping banquets and convening +people at such occasions on that day, whereby much idle discourse and sin +may be evited." In 1701 it was very seriously complained by the Kirk +Session of Kilmarnock that feasts continued to be held on Sundays after +baptisms, and it was ordered that children should be baptised on the +weekly sermon day (Thursday), except in case of necessity. But, either +through attachment to old customs, or want of inclination to attend the +week-day sermon, children continued to be presented for baptism on Sunday, +and in 1720 the Session again ordered "that none make or hold feasts at +baptising their children on the Lord's day." + +In conformity with the Registration Act for Scotland, passed in 1854, all +parish registers are deposited in the Registry Office then established in +Edinburgh. Most of the registers of births commence about the middle of +the seventeenth century, those of only fifteen parishes, out of about nine +hundred, dating from the preceding century. The register of baptisms of +Errol, Perthshire, commences in 1553, but the entries for the years +preceding 1573 are transcribed from an older register which has been lost. +Many of the older registers have been injured by damp, others by fire, and +not a few have suffered from the negligence of their custodians. In many +of them blanks occur. In some instances session clerks of the sixteenth +century recorded in their registers events unconnected with their own +parishes. The clerk of the Kirk Session of Aberdeen made an entry in the +register of the birth of James VI., who was born at Edinburgh, loyally and +piously adding, in the curious spelling of the period (which in previous +extracts in this paper, has been modernised,) "quhame God preserve in guid +helth and in the feir of God, to do justice in punishing of wrayng and in +manttinyen the trewht all the dais of his lyfe. So be itt." + + + + +Marriage Laws and Customs. + + +The laws relating to marriage differ so much in Scotland from those under +which dwellers south of the Tweed live, that no comparison of social and +religious life in the two countries can be made without knowledge of them. +In no part of Christendom have the ecclesiastical laws relating to the +relations of the sexes been more strict, or more strictly enforced, than +in Scotland, and in no other have there been more irregularities. It was +not until more than twenty years after the Reformation that the custom of +"handfasting," which had come down from old Celtic times, fell into +disrepute and consequent disuse. By this term was understood cohabitation +for a year, the couple being then free to separate, unless they agreed to +make the union permanent. Lindsay, the chronicler, says of Alexander +Dunbar, son of the sixth Earl of Moray, and Isobel Innes,--"This Isobel +was but handfast with him, and deceased before the marriage." When +Margaret, widow of James IV., sued for a divorce from the Earl of Angus, +she pleaded that he had been handfasted to Jane Douglas, "and by reason of +that pre-contract could not be her lawful husband." How such marriages +were regarded at that time is shown by the fact that the marriage was +dissolved by the Pope, though the issue of the Queen's marriage with Angus +was pronounced legitimate. + +Sir John Sinclair's "Statistical Account of Scotland" contains a report +from the minister of Eskdale Muir, referring to the practice of +handfasting as existing in that parish, under ecclesiastical sanction, at +a period anterior to the Reformation. At a fair held there, unmarried men +chose women to be handfasted with them, and a monk from Melrose Abbey +visited the place annually, to marry those couples who wished the union to +be made permanent. The first check given to the practice appears to have +been the decree of the Kirk Session of Aberdeen, in 1562, that persons +cohabiting under the sanction of a handfast contract of marriage should be +united in lawful wedlock. But though this practice was discontinued, and +those who wished to be thought respectable obtained the blessing of the +Church on their marriage, irregularities continued to exist, and even to +be permitted. An acknowledgment by a couple that they were husband and +wife, either orally or in writing, followed or preceded by cohabitation, +was regarded as a valid marriage, both by the Church and by society. In +1563, however, the General Assembly of the Church ruled that no contract +of marriage so made should be recognised until the parties had submitted +themselves to the discipline of the Church, and the contract had been +verified by witnesses of good repute. + +The custom of betrothal was very general, but it varied in form in +different parts of the kingdom. The presentation of an "engagement ring," +as in England, is not found among these forms, nor does it appear that the +sanction of parents was thought necessary; but after the contract was made +it was usual for them to be informed and their sanction sought. Among the +upper and middle classes there was usually a betrothal feast, but among +the classes living by manual labour this was dispensed with. Dr Rogers +says, in his "Social Life in Scotland," that--"In betrothal, the parties +usually moistened with the tongue the thumbs of their right hands, and +then pressed them together. The violation of a contract so consecrated was +considered tantamount to an act of perjury." Another form of betrothal was +the clasping of hands across a stream. In this way Burns, the laureate of +the Scottish peasantry, and Mary Campbell vowed fidelity. In some counties +silver coins were exchanged by plighted lovers, or a worn one was broken +between them, each retaining one of the halves. + +Marriages regarded by the ecclesiastical courts and Kirk Sessions as +"regular" have always, from a long period anterior to the Reformation, +been preceded by the publication of banns. In 1569 a case came before the +General Assembly which shows the successive steps taken at that time +before the solemnisation of a marriage. It is recorded that "ane promise +of marriage made, before the readers and elders, in ane reformit church, +the parties contractit compeirs before the minister and session, and +requires their banns to be proclaimit." In 1575 the question came before +the General Assembly, whether the form of mutual declaration prior to the +publication of banns should be longer continued; and it was ruled that it +should be considered sufficient for the names of the parties desiring +proclamation of banns to be given to the session clerk. Banns were ordered +to be published, as in England, on three successive Sundays; but, after +the Reformation, it was ruled that, on payment of a larger fee, one public +announcement should be held sufficient, the words "for the first, second, +and third time" being used. + +It became customary towards the close of the sixteenth century for +security to be given, with the notice of banns, for the solemnisation of +the marriage, two friends of the parties depositing with the clerk a sum +of money as a guarantee, and that for more than one purpose. In 1570 the +Assembly ordered that "promise of marriage shall be made according to the +order of the reformed Kirk to the minister, exhorter, or reader, taking +caution for abstinence till the marriage be solemnised." The minutes of +Kirk Sessions show that, in numerous instances, during the latter half of +the seventeenth century, such deposits were retained for the space of nine +calendar months after the marriage. The Kilmarnock Kirk Session was not so +strict. It was there ordered, in 1670, that the deposit should be +returned to the parties on the expiration of half a year. Whatever the +term was, if scandal arose before it expired, the deposit became +forfeited. + +Kirk Sessions in some cases accepted personal security in lieu of cash, +the bondsmen in such cases becoming liable in the event of scandal +arising, or the non-solemnisation of the marriage. But this system, so +convenient for those who could not raise the caution money, or "pawn," as +it was commonly called, was in course of time abandoned. The Kirk Session +of Mauchline instructed the clerk, in 1691, "to take neither bond nor +cautioner for consignation money, but to require that the money be laid +down, to remain in his hand for the space of three-quarters of a year." +The example was followed by other Kirk Sessions, but the custom continued +for a long time afterwards, and was never formally abolished, falling into +abeyance gradually. Dr Edgar, in his "Old Church Life in Scotland," states +that "on a page at the end of a small volume of scroll minutes still +extant there is a writing, under date 23rd November, 1771, which has all +the appearance of being a genuine matrimonial consignation bond." + +The First Book of Discipline makes it peremptory that no persons should be +married without the consent of the parents, unless it should appear that +there was no reasonable ground for the refusal of their consent. The +Westminster Directory qualifies this by ruling that the consent of parents +should be obtained to first marriages, especially if the parties were +under age. It is not clear whether non-age means under the age of +twenty-one, or is to be interpreted by the decree of the General Assembly +of 1600 that, "considering that there is no statute of the kirk,... +defining the age of persons which are to be married, ordain that no +minister within this realm presume to join in matrimony any persons in +time coming, except the man be fourteen years of age, and the woman twelve +complete." The same ages are given in the First Book of Discipline. + +Deviations from even this rule sometimes occurred, and may be classed +among the permitted irregularities referred to at the beginning of this +paper. The marriage of heiresses under the age of twelve was not +infrequent, the plea of the guardians, that they feared the abduction of +their wards if longer unmarried, being admitted. There is a record of the +marriage of a girl in her eleventh year to a boy of fourteen in 1659; and +no longer ago than 1859 a girl was married at Edinburgh, who was entered +by the registrar as in her eleventh year. The official inspector thought +there must have been an error in the registration, but inquiry proved that +the entry was correct. + +There was no laxity, however, in the matter of prohibited degrees of +relationship. In 1731, an irregular marriage came before the Presbytery of +Ayr. The banns had been forbidden on the ground that the woman's first +husband had been grand-uncle to the second bridegroom. The lovers +thereupon proceeded to Carlisle, and were there united in marriage. The +Presbytery pronounced them guilty of incest, prohibited them from +cohabitation, and the interdict being disregarded, passed sentence of +excommunication. + +Marriage might be refused in former times when either of the parties was +found to be "under scandal." In 1565, the General Assembly enacted that +"such as lie in sin under promise of marriage, deferring the +solemnisation, should satisfy publicly, in the place of repentance, upon +the Lord's day before they be married." Many instances are recorded of +persons appearing before the Kirk Session, and denying upon oath that they +had committed the sin of which they were accused. The Kirk Sessions were +equally diligent in their endeavours to prevent scandals. In 1621, it was +reported to the Kirk Session of Perth "that Janet Watson holds house by +herself, where she may give occasion of slander," wherefore an elder was +directed "to admonish her in the Session's name either to marry or to pass +to service." + +But while the Church authorities were so zealous for the morals of the +nation and the prevention of scandal, they appear to have sometimes thrown +impediments in the way of lawful marriage. In the early years following +the Reformation, it was a very frequent ordinance of Kirk Sessions that no +persons should be allowed to marry until they were able to repeat to the +minister or reader the Lord's Prayer, the Apostles' Creed, and the Ten +Commandments. Either a "pawn" was required for the fulfilment of this +condition or a fine was exacted in case of failure. In some parishes the +Kirk Sessions went beyond this requirement, and insisted on regular +attendance at public worship. In 1700, the Kirk Session of Galston, +"considering that there were some who lived within the parish who did not +join with the congregation in public worship, nor submit themselves to +discipline, and yet craved common privileges of members of this +congregation, such as proclamation in order to marriage, concluded that +none such should have privileges, until they should engage to live orderly +for the time to come." And a further entry, of the same date, states that +one of the persons referred to applied for proclamation of banns, and, on +the resolution being communicated to him, he "engaged, through God's +grace, to live orderly, and to wait upon gospel ordinances more +particularly, and was then allowed to be proclaimed." + +There was some difference of opinion in the early days of the Reformed +Church as to whether a pre-contract should be an impediment to marriage +with another person. The minutes of the Westminster Assembly show that +some of the divines maintained that a promise of marriage was a "covenant +of God," and could not be broken, even by mutual consent. The Church of +Scotland did not adopt this view. In 1570, the General Assembly directed +that persons desiring to withdraw from a contract of marriage should, if +nothing had followed, be allowed to do so. In the same year, an appeal was +made to the Assembly from the decision of a Kirk Session that a man should +not be allowed to marry any woman other than a former servant of the +appellant, whom he had seduced. He had applied to the Kirk Session for +proclamation of banns, putting in the document known as a "discharge of +marriage," signed by the woman he had wronged, for three or four +successive years, but it was persistently refused recognition. The +Assembly sustained his appeal, gave him the liberty he sought, and added, +"yea, and there is injury done to him already." + +Sometimes, however, contracted persons declined to set each other free, +and forbade the publication of banns with any other person. In 1689, one +John Meikle was cited to appear before the Presbytery of Ayr, to show +cause why he forbade the banns of Janet Campbell. He pleaded that Janet +had been engaged to him, and on that ground he objected to her becoming +the wife of any other man. The Presbytery decided that Janet was free to +do so. In 1777, a woman applied to the Kirk Session of Mauchline to have +her banns stopped, on the ground that she had changed her mind, and had +become engaged to another man. The first lover opposed the application, +pleading that she was his "by the covenant of God." The Kirk Session did +not admit his plea. The publication of banns was stopped, and a minute of +the Session justifies this decision, on the ground that "there would be an +obvious impropriety in proceeding further in the proclamation, after being +certified by the woman of her resolution not to marry the petitioner." + +There were some superstitions connected with marriage as to lucky and +unlucky days and seasons. Perthshire couples refrained from wedlock in +January, and everywhere it was declined in May. In the Lowlands, Friday +was considered an unlucky day for weddings, but in the Highlands, it was +the day generally chosen for the ceremony. These notions had no weight +with the compilers of the First Book of Discipline, who expressed their +opinion that Sunday was the day "most expedient." On the other hand, the +Westminster Assembly advised that marriages should not be solemnised on +the Lord's day. The latter may have been influenced by the same reason +that moved the Kirk Session of Perth to adopt, in 1584, a resolution that +"forasmuch as sundry poor desire to, because they have not to buy clothes, +nor to make bridals, marriages should be as well celebrated on Thursday, +within our Parish Kirk in time of sermon, as on Sunday." The former, on +the other hand, probably had in view the disorderly scenes to which a +wedding was often the prelude. The General Assembly, in 1645, adopted the +view of the Westminster Directory, and marriages from that date were +generally solemnised on the day of the weekly lecture. + +In former times, and down to the first quarter of the present century, the +celebration of a marriage otherwise than in church was regarded as +irregular and clandestine. In 1581, the General Assembly "concluded by +common consent of the whole brethren, that in times coming no marriage be +celebrated, nor sacraments administered, in private houses." At that time, +and long afterwards, ministers were liable to deposition, and were +actually deposed, for marrying persons in private houses. It is a fact, +nevertheless, that though the law of the Church remains as settled in +1581, marriages celebrated in private houses have not been regarded as +irregular since the beginning of the last century; and the records of the +General Sessions of Edinburgh show that, as long ago as 1643, private +marriages were not infrequent in that city, where, however, they were +restricted to the well-to-do classes by a fine of twenty marks. + +Weddings were usually followed by great festivities, which were generally +on a scale so extensive, and carried to so great an excess, that the +records of Kirk Sessions during the seventeenth century show numerous +regulations for their restriction. They fixed the number of guests who +might be lawfully entertained on such occasions, and the hour at which the +festivities should cease. Many of the customs observed were peculiar to +the country, or to certain parts of it. In the Highlands, until about a +century ago, the bride walked round the wedding party at the close of the +ceremony, saluting each with a kiss. A dish was then passed round, in +which each deposited a coin, the amount collected being given to the +bride. The term "penny wedding" appears to have arisen from this custom. +Owing to the large number of guests entertained, which Kirk Sessions did +not venture to reduce to less than forty, it was usual for the neighbours +to assist in providing for them. Landowners gave beef, mutton and venison; +farmers, poultry and dairy produce; and the minister and the schoolmaster +lent cooking utensils. The bridal feast was followed by a dance. + +Some peculiar rites, of ancient and pagan origin, were practised at the +home-coming of the bride. The guests assembled at the door, on the +threshold of which a sieve containing bread and cheese was held over her +head, and, as she entered the house, a cake of shortbread was broken over +her head, the young folk present scrambling for the fragments. The +ceremony was completed by the bride sweeping the hearth with a broom. + +This paper would not be complete without some notice of an aspect of the +matter with which it deals, which has not received the attention to which +it is certainly entitled. The law relating to marriage remains unsettled. +It has been so constantly regarded as a matter for ecclesiastical +regulation, that it has been practically left to be dealt with by +Presbyteries and Kirk Sessions. "As far back as any living man +remembers," says Dr Edgar, "it has taken very few formalities to +constitute in Scotland a marriage that is binding in law. A man and a +woman have only had to take up house together, and declare themselves +husband and wife. The law thereupon pronounced them married persons. But +this was not always understood to be the law of the land in Scotland, and +the Church of Scotland did not always recognise such unions as marriages." +But while writing of what was or was not _understood_ to be the law, he +tells us nothing as to what the law really was or is. + +It seems to have been the practice of the Church, in former times, to +pronounce her own judgment, and then to ask the State to confirm it. In +the first General Assembly held in Scotland, that of 1560, there was a +declaration made concerning marriages within certain degrees of +relationship, and "the authority of the Estates was craved to be +interposed to that finding as the law." There were many of the ministers +of the Reformed Church who held that a religious ceremony was not +necessary to constitute a valid marriage. One of the members of the +Westminster Assembly, in 1644, expressed the opinion, previously given by +Luther, that only the consent of the parties was necessary. This view +appears to have prevailed very generally among the laity, notwithstanding +the action taken so frequently by Kirk Sessions in opposition to it. + +The question continued to be disputed throughout the last century. Writers +on legal questions held one view, and judges on the bench pronounced +contrariwise. Erskine argued that, in Scotland, the consent of the parties +was all that was necessary to constitute a valid marriage. Lord Braxfield +affirmed the opposite in 1796. Lord Fraser, on a later occasion, said that +the view set forth by Erskine was never judicially pronounced to be the +law of Scotland until 1811. Can we wonder, therefore, when lawyers and +judges disagree, at the haziness of mental vision displayed by Kirk +Sessions, and the frequent want of uniformity in their decisions? + + + + +Gretna Green Gossip. + + +Gretna Green is the name of an insignificant village in the Border country +between England and Scotland. It is situated in Dumfriesshire, near the +mouth of the Esk, nine miles north-west of Carlisle, and consequently +within a mile of the English border. Probably no place of such absence of +pretension to size and population has attained the notoriety which +attaches to the name of Gretna Green, a distinction it has obtained merely +through its being the first place suitable for stoppage after the English +border was once passed. This close proximity was utilised by runaway +couples, who, dispensing, for various reasons, with the preliminaries of +anyone's consent to their union, or the publication of banns requisite by +the English Marriage Laws, could, when once on Scottish ground, accomplish +their wedding by simply declaring before witnesses their mutual +willingness to undertake the contract. To the facility, then, which the +Marriage Laws of Scotland offered to amorous and impatient couples (minors +or not), the fisher-village of Gretna Green owes its repute as a chosen +altar of Hymen. A marriage once declared here was henceforward considered +valid, and after exchanging before any witness the mutual promises, the +pair might return to England at once, the knot being tied beyond all +chance of dispute. As might be expected, haste was a great factor in these +summary pairings, and consequently postillions were largely employed to +get over the distance between Carlisle and Gretna, a course upon which, no +doubt, many a tough race has been run between prudent parent or guardian +and ardent runaways. + +The "parsons" of Gretna were the ordinary inhabitants, who were weavers, +fishermen (Gretna being at the head of the Solway), blacksmiths, &c., and +their fees were entirely arbitrary, being fixed on the spot, according to +the private information of the postillions, or according to the appearance +and simplicity of the young couple. Marriages have been contracted here +for a glass of whisky, while on the other hand a fee of twenty pounds has +been paid, as in the case of Lord Chief Justice Erskine, who availed +himself of the easy ceremony, and even much larger sums, as in the cases +of the Earl of Westmoreland, Lord Deerhurst, and others, who paid to the +officiating "cleric" upwards of one hundred guineas. In the absence of any +local person to receive the attestations to the contract, the postillions +themselves have been known to assume the sacerdotal functions. + +The first broker in Gretna Green marriages was one Scott, who lived at a +point called the Rigg, a few miles from the village. It is said that he +commenced his infamous profession about the year 1750, but beyond the fact +that he was a crafty fellow, who could turn the emergencies of the time to +his own advantage, little is known of him. The next who undertook the +remunerative duties of high priest was George Gordon, an old soldier, who +invariably wore as canonicals a full military uniform of a by-gone type--a +tremendous cocked-hat, scarlet coat, and jackboots, with a ponderous sword +dangling from his belt. His "church," which had the appearance of a barn, +stood a little to the left of the public road; his altar was an ale cask +upon which was placed an open Bible. Following Gordon, Joseph Paisley +(sometimes called Pasley) became the recognised parson. He was a +fisherman, who agreeably united with the duties of that position the +pursuits of smuggler and tobacconist. He has been also called a +blacksmith, but this was simply a fanciful allusion to the part he took in +the Gretna Green marriages, Vulcan being the marriage maker of the gods as +well as their smith. He commenced the matrimonial business in 1789, and +from being retiring in his manner of dealing, became audaciously +unscrupulous, going so far even as to supply fictitious signatures to the +certificates, instead of, as at first, resorting to the less culpable +proceeding of signing his own name as a witness. It is said of this man +that at his death, about 1811, he weighed twenty-five stones. He was a +coarse, blatant individual, and habitually appeared in a sort of priestly +dress, even in his constant dissipations. At his death the priesthood was +taken by his son-in-law, Robert Elliott, who kept an account of his +transactions, and afterwards published them under the title of "The Gretna +Green Memoirs." In this he states that between 1811 and 1839, not less +than 7744 persons were united by him at Gretna. The _Times_, in a review +of the book, doubted the accuracy of the assertion, which drew from him a +reply in the form of a letter to that paper. He said, "I can show +registers for that number from my commencement, and which either you or +any respectable individual may inspect here, and which I can substantiate +on oath." + +We give here an extract from the "Memoirs" of Elliott. He says:--"As the +marriage ceremony performed by me and my predecessors may be interesting +to many of my readers, I give it verbatim: The parties are first asked +their names and places of abode; they are then asked to stand up, and +inquired of if they are both single persons; if the answer be in the +affirmative, the ceremony proceeds. Each is next asked, 'Did you come here +of your own free will and accord?' Upon receiving an affirmative answer, +the priest commences filling in the printed form of the certificate. The +man is then asked, 'Do you take this woman to be your lawful wedded wife, +forsaking all others, and keep to her as long as you both shall live?' He +answers, 'I will.' The woman is asked the same question, when, being +answered the same, the woman then produces a ring, which she gives to the +man, who hands it to the priest; the priest then returns it to the man, +and orders him to put it on the fourth finger of the woman's left hand, +repeating these words, 'With this ring I thee wed, with my body I thee +worship, with all my goods I thee endow, in the name of the Father, Son, +and Holy Ghost. Amen.' They then take hold of each other's right hand, and +the woman says, 'What God joins together let no man put asunder.' Then the +priest says, 'Forasmuch as this man and this woman have come together by +giving and receiving a ring, I therefore declare them to be man and wife +before God and these witnesses, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy +Ghost. Amen.'" + +The following are among the memorable matches effected through the agency +of Robert Elliott, and recorded in his Memoirs:-- + +1812.--Rev. Wm. Freemantle, an English clergyman. C. Ewen Law, son of Lord +Ellenborough, to Miss Nightingale. + +1815.--A "droll gaberlunzie without legs or arms, to a comely damsel, both +appearing anxious for the ceremony," to the disgust of the not too +fastidious parson himself. + +1816.--Lord Chief Justice Erskine. Within a year, however, his lordship +unsuccessfully tried to loosen his matrimonial chains by a divorce by the +Scottish law. + +1826.--E. Gibbon Wakefield, with Miss Turner. Of the trial which ensued +upon this union we give particulars below. + +During the latter part of Elliott's "ministration" competition in the +marrying business became brisk, and he had numerous rivals, the most +powerful of these candidates for clerical emolument being another son of +Mars, named David Laing. The competition became so pronounced that the +rival parsons canvassed for the assistance and co-operation of the +postillions, who, commencing by receiving a commission per runaway pair, +at last ended by working upon a system of equal shares with their priestly +co-partners. + +In 1827, at the Kent Assizes, a Gretna Green marriage was the subject of a +curious trial before Mr Baron Hullock. The action was taken against one +Mrs Wakefield and her two sons, for conspiring "to take away by subtle +stratagems" a young lady named Turner, who had not yet left school. The +David Laing above mentioned was called as a witness on behalf of the +defendants, and he affirmed that the couple were married lawfully +according to the Scottish fashion--namely, by putting on the lady's finger +a ring. The witness said he was seventy-five years old, and had spent more +than half of his life in the performance of marriages. In +cross-examination by Mr Brougham, he admitted obtaining L30 for this +particular ceremony, or even L50, but could not remember exactly, "being +somewhat hard of hearing." The accused was found guilty of causing this +young lady to "contract matrimony without the consent of her father, and +to the great disparagement of the King's peace." The chief prisoner, E. +Gibbon Wakefield, was convicted of abduction, and the marriage, which +excited considerable public attention, was afterwards rendered invalid, +and annulled by an Act of Parliament specially obtained. After this +flagrant case Gretna Green marriages fell into disrepute, and the business +showed a steady decline, though cases of the employment of pseudo-parsons +are on much later record. In 1853, a person named Thomas Blythe, a witness +before the Court of Probate at Westminster, stated that he lived at +Springfield, Gretna Green, and that he obtained his livelihood by means of +agriculture, but that he not unfrequently took advantage of opportunities +to increase his income by small strokes of business in the "joining" line. +Again, the demise of another "joiner" was announced so late as 1872, when +the obituary of Simon Laing appeared in the _Glasgow Herald_. It is +probable, however, that the pursuit of his "clerical" profession ceased +long before the date of his death, for, in 1856, the old law by which the +mere verbal declaration of consent before witnesses was sufficient to +constitute a Scottish legal marriage became effete through the passing of +the Act of Parliament, 19 and 20 Victoria, cap. 96. By this Act the laws +of Scotland and England were brought into assimilation, and in that year +the occupation of the northern hedge-parsons was virtually gone. + +It may be said such marriages as those we have described were considered +as clandestine and ill-advised in Scotland, as in more southern parts, the +Church of Scotland doing all that lay in its power to discourage and +prevent them. The only punishment, however, which it had for transgressors +being excommunication, the restraint by the Kirk was very slight, its +injunctions and fulminary condemnations being treated with contempt. + +Probably the best known of the notable marriages which have taken place at +Gretna is that of the Earl of Westmoreland with the daughter of Child, the +banker, whose counting-house was at the sign of the Marygold, in the +Strand. The romantic but determined couple had the advantage of an early +start, one starlight night in May, but the pursuit was not less hot than +the departure had been well arranged, and when within a few miles of the +Border the coach was nearly overtaken by Mr Child's carriage. The Earl, +however, not to be baulked when so near the end of the journey, shot down +one of the pursuing horses, while one of the servants cut the carriage +straps behind. The crown of firs which mark Gretna from the surrounding +country came quickly into view, the bridge was crossed, and the village +was reached by the reckless couple. A parson was found, and quickly the +Earl and Miss Child were made one. Within a year Mr Child died, it is +said, of the mortification and disappointment connected with this affair. +The elder daughter of the match, Lady Sophia Fane, afterwards married Lord +Jersey, and inherited his immense fortune, including Child's Bank at +Temple Bar. + + + + +Death and Burial Customs and Superstitions. + + +Among the many pagan beliefs and observances which were adhered to during +many centuries of Christian creed and worship, and some of which have +survived among the less enlightened even to the present day, a large place +is held by those connected with death and burial. In Scotland, many +trivial things were regarded as omens of death. In the northern Highlands, +an itching of the nose was believed to prognosticate the death of a +neighbour. In the southern parts, a humming in the ear was held to prelude +the death of a relative. The crowing of a cock at an unusual hour was +regarded as a token of the death of some person in the parish. In the +Lowlands, the howling of a strange dog was accepted as a warning of the +approaching death of some inmate of the house near which the melancholy +wail was raised. The "death candle," as the phosphoric light sometimes +seen flickering over burial-grounds was called, was similarly regarded in +the Hebrides. + +In some parts of the Highlands it is still believed that the last moments +of a dying person are prolonged by the door of the death-chamber being +closed. It is usual, therefore, for it to be left ajar, so that there may +be room for the departing spirit to take its flight, and yet the intrusion +of any evil thing be prevented. When a death occurred, the clock was +stopped, and its face covered, as were all the mirrors in the house. A +bell was laid under the head of the corpse, and a vessel containing earth +and salt placed upon the breast. + +From the moment of death until the departure of the funeral procession to +the place of burial, the corpse was watched night and day by parties of +friends and neighbours, who relieved each other. Silence was observed, but +this did not prevent the consumption of much ale and whisky. Among the +poorer classes the interment took place soon after death, in order to +lessen the cost of watching, but the well-to-do deferred the funeral for +at least a week, and sometimes a fortnight, in order that the hospitality +of the house might be more extensively offered and enjoyed. Among these a +feast was given on the evening preceding the funeral. + +There were many superstitious beliefs and customs connected with funerals. +As in England, the proverb was accepted that "happy is the corpse that the +rain falls on." If the funeral party, on the way to the burial-ground, +walked in a straggling manner, it was regarded as an omen that another +death would soon occur under the same roof. In the Hebrides, if one of the +party stumbled and fell, the incident was held to indicate that he would +be the next to die. + +In the last century, there was a lamentable amount of ale and whisky +drinking before and after funerals. The company began to assemble two +hours before the time appointed for the corpse to be carried from the +house. If the deceased was a farmer, each of the guests was offered a +glass of whisky at the gate of the farm-yard, and another on crossing the +threshold. On entering the guest-room, a portion of shortbread and another +glass of whisky were handed to him, a reverential silence being observed +for a time, after which conversation was carried on in whispers. When all +the guests were assembled, the minister commenced a religious service, +which lasted about three-quarters of an hour. This was followed by the +handing round of oatcake, cheese, and whisky, and afterwards shortbread +and more whisky. Then the coffin was carried out, and followed to the +grave by all those who were sufficiently sober to walk straight. + +Religious ceremonies at burials have never found favour in the Church of +Scotland. They were discouraged both by the First Book of Discipline and +the Westminster Directory, the compilers of the former saying, "for +avoiding all inconveniences, we judge it best that neither singing nor +reading be at the burial,... yea, without all kind of ceremony heretofore +used, other than that the dead be committed to the grave with such gravity +and sobriety as those that be present may seem to fear the judgment of +God, and to hate sin, which is the cause of death." The Westminster +Directory deals with the matter in much the same way, the Assembly +maintaining that the burial of the dead is not a part of the work of the +ministry, as baptisms and marriages are. + +It appears to have been customary in the early centuries of the Church in +Scotland, to bury the dead uncoffined; and this custom prevailed among the +poor for some time after the Reformation. It lingered in rural districts +longer than in towns, and in some later than in others; but the Kirk +Session records of some parishes refer to the provision of coffins for the +interment of persons who were practically paupers in the last quarter of +the seventeenth century. As to the mode of burial before the use of +coffins became general, the General Assembly ordained, in 1563, "that a +bier should be made in every country parish, to carry the dead corpse of +the poor to the burial-place, and that those of the villages or houses +next adjacent to the house where the dead corpse lieth, or a certain +number out of every house, shall convey the dead corpse to the +burial-place, and bury it six feet under the earth." + +The biers appear to have been of more than one kind. Some of them were +mere rails upon which the corpse was laid, covered only with a pall, +called in Scotland a mort-cloth. Others were wooden boxes, with the lid on +one side furnished with a hinge, so that the corpse could be taken out, +and lowered into the grave by ropes. In some parts of the Highlands, a +long basket, made of twisted rushes, was used, and called the "death +hamper." There were three pairs of loop handles, through which short iron +bars were passed for convenience of carriage; and on the grave being +reached, it was lowered by ropes, so arranged that it could be turned over +and recovered for future use. + +Before the Reformation, it was the custom to bury unbaptised children +apart from members of the Church, the north side of the churchyard being +reserved for that purpose. This was afterwards regarded as contrary to the +true principles of Protestantism, and in 1641 the Synod of Fife ordained +that "all these who superstitiously carries the dead about the kirk before +burial, also these who bury unbaptised bairns apart, be taken notice of +and censured." Suicides and excommunicated persons were also, at one time, +buried apart, and at night. In 1582, the Kirk Session of Perth refused to +allow the corpse of a man who had committed suicide by drowning to be +"brought through the town in daylight, neither yet to be buried among the +faithful,... but in the little Inch within the water." + +With regard to interment within the churches, the Scottish Reformers seem +to have been in advance of those south of the Border. The Brownists were +as much in advance of the former, for in 1590 one of the leaders of that +denomination wrote:--"Where learned you to bury in hallowed churches and +churchyards, as though you had no fields to bury in? Methinks the +churchyards, of all other places, should be not the convenientest for +burial; it was a thing never used till Popery began, and it is neither +comely nor wholesome." Interment in churches was, on sanitary grounds, +even more objectionable than in the grounds adjacent to them, and in 1576 +the General Assembly prohibited the practice, and ordered that those who +contravened the ordinance should be suspended from the privileges of the +Church. + +Long after that time, however, burials in churches continued to take +place, owing to the value attached by families of rank above that of the +commonalty to the privilege of having their relatives buried apart. In +1643, the Assembly again prohibited all persons, "of whatsoever quality, +to bury any deceased person within the body of the kirk, where the people +meet for hearing of the Word." But the ordinance was disregarded by all +who thought themselves powerful enough to do so, and as ministers had very +little to do with a matter which had been declared to be unministerial, +they usually found their will sufficient to serve their purpose. In 1695, +the Kirk Session of Kilmarnock recorded a minute that, the north aisle +being then filled with pews, "they shall, when required, cause lift six +pews, on each end, next to the north wall of the aisle, so oft as any of +the families of Rowallan, Craufordland, and Grange, shall have occasion to +bury their dead;... and, after burial, the said pews shall be set up +again in their places, at the expense of the session." Kirk Sessions seem +to have felt themselves powerless to enforce their ordinances in the face +of a long existing custom and a fancied right of the gentry to burial +within the church; and in one instance, which occurred in a Highland +parish in 1727, the Kirk Session petitioned the Presbytery to "put a stop +to such a bad practice." + +The custom of ringing a bell at funerals, which was a common one before +the Reformation, was continued afterwards. There is an entry in the +records of Glasgow, for 1577, of the sale of "the auld bell that yed +throw the toun of auld at the burial of the dead." In 1621, the Kirk +Session of Dumbarton ordained that "the beadle, John Tome, and his +successors, shall ring the mort-bell before all persons deceased within +town, for such prices as the minister and session shall set down." It may +be that the custom, like the ringing of church bells, originated in the +superstition that the sound of bells scared away evil spirits; for an +edict of the Town Council of Aberdeen, passed in 1643, includes the +tolling and ringing of bells among the "superstitious rites used at +funerals," which it prohibits. + +Towards the close of the seventeenth century, it seems to have been usual +for the church bell to be tolled at funerals, and that without any charge +being made, for, in 1696, the Kirk Session of Mauchline made a minute that +they "thought it reasonable that whoever desired the tolling of the bell +at the funeral of their relations, should pay some small quantity of money +to the kirk treasurer, to be disposed of for the poor's use." Similar +ordinances were passed about the same time by the Kirk Sessions of other +parishes in Ayrshire. It was decided, however, in the Civil Court, in +1730, that the money arising from fees for the ringing of bells and +burials within the church did not properly belong to the fund for the +relief of the poor, but might be used for the maintenance of the fabric of +the church. The poor, however, do not appear to have lost much by this +decision, for during the year ended October, 1732, the "big" bell at +Kilmarnock was tolled for funerals only seven times. It may be explained +that there were two bells in many churches, the larger one to be tolled at +the funerals of the rich, and the smaller at those of the poor. In the +register of burials at Inverness, the words "big bells" are added to the +entries of the funerals of "persons of quality." + +The burials register of the parish of Tough, in Aberdeenshire, record +that, in 1784, forty-two of the parishioners joined in the purchase of a +new bell for the church, stipulating that, when deaths occurred in their +families, "the bell be rung once before the day of interment, that is, +when the officer gets the first notice of a contributor's death, and then +upon the day of interment, from morning until the coffin be laid in the +ground, in the manner that bells ought to be rung at funerals, and that +by no other person than the officer allenarlie." + +Palls were, from a very early period, regarded as essential parts of the +funeral paraphernalia. In 1598, the Kirk Session of Glasgow ordered a +black cloth to be bought "to be laid on the corpses of the poor," and, for +at least two hundred years afterwards, it was the custom for the +"mort-cloth" to be taken to the house where a corpse awaited burial, and +laid over it. The reason for this may be found in the early custom of +burial without a coffin, and in the case of those who desired to show some +regard for appearances, in the proclamation of Council in 1684, that +coffins should not be covered with silk or decorated with fringes or +metal-work. The mort-cloths kept "to be laid on the corpses of the poor" +were probably of coarse black woollen cloth; but those used at the +funerals of well-to-do people were, as a rule, of richer and more handsome +material. In the sessional records of the parish of Mauchline for 1672 +there is an entry of the payment of a sum of no less than L10, 12s. 4d. as +completing the price of a new mort-cloth, which implies that some portion +of the total cost had been paid previously. Another new mort-cloth +provided for the same parish in the last quarter of the eighteenth century +is described as having been made of Genoa velvet, conformably fringed. + +The preaching of funeral sermons received little favour in Scotland during +the early period of the Reformed Church. "We have," says Baillie, writing +from London during the sitting of the Westminster Assembly, "with much +difficulty, passed a proposition for abolishing their ceremonies at +burials, but our difference about funeral sermons seems irreconcilable. As +it has been here and everywhere preached, it is nothing but an abuse of +preaching, to serve the humours only of rich people for a reward. Our +Church has expressly discharged them, on many good reasons; it's here a +good part of the minister's livelihood, therefore they will not quit it. +After three days' debate, we cannot yet find a way of agreeance." + +It was in consequence of this inability to agree on the subject that the +Scottish commissioners at Westminster declined to hear the sermon preached +on the occasion of the funeral of Pym. Baillie wrote:--"On Wednesday, Mr +Pym was carried from his house to Westminster on the shoulders, as the +fashion is, of the chief men of the Lower House, all the House going in +procession before him, and before them the Assembly of Divines. Marshall +had a most eloquent and pertinent funeral sermon--which we would not hear, +for funeral sermons we must have away, with the rest." + +The earliest registers of deaths are those of Aberdeen, which commence in +1560; Perth, beginning in 1561, and the Canongate, Edinburgh, in 1565. The +register of burials in the last-named parish commences in 1612, and that +of Greyfriars in 1658. Those of rural parishes generally commence in the +last century, and they are, as a rule, more or less imperfect. It appears +from the Edinburgh registers, in which the deaths are summarised annually, +that the mortality has greatly diminished during the last hundred and +fifty years. In the first four decades of the last century, nearly +two-thirds of the deaths were those of children, and the deaths of adult +females were double those of adult males. The dawn of a better state of +things appears in 1741, when the deaths of 276 men, 401 women, and 942 +children, were registered, which, if we accept the generally received +statement that the population of the city was then fifty thousand, gives +an annual average death-rate of 34 per thousand. The average mortality of +the ten years ending with 1878, as shown by the report of the Registrar +General, was 24 per thousand; and that of the week ending October 8, 1898, +was 20 per thousand; which was precisely that of the thirty-three largest +towns of the southern portion of the island. + +Contemporary events in other places were not unfrequently recorded in the +local registers of deaths in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. +Thus, in the Aberdeen register, we have the murder of Lord Darnley very +circumstantially recorded as follows, though under a wrong date:--"The +ninth [10th] day of February, the year of God 1566, Henry Stuart, Lord +Darnley, King of Scotland, who married Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland, +daughter to King James the Fifth, was cruelly murdered under night, in +Edinburgh, in the Cowgate, at the Kirk of Field, by James Hepburn, Earl of +Bothwell, and other his assisters, whose deed God revenge. So be it."[13] +The ascription of the crime to Bothwell does not appear in the Canongate +register, which merely records the fact of Darnley being blown up with +gunpowder. + +The assassination of the Earl of Murray is recorded in several parish +registers. The session clerk of Aberdeen recorded it, with much +particularity, as follows:--"The twenty-third day of January, the year of +God 1569, James, Earl of Murray, Lord Abernethy, Regent to the King and +realm of Scotland, was cruelly murdered and shot in the town of +Linlithgow, by a false traitor, James Hamilton of Bodywallhaucht, by the +conspiracy and treason of his own servant, William Kircaldy, and John +Hamilton, bloody Bishop of St. Andrew's, whose deed we pray God to +revenge. So be it." With equal circumstantiality the same clerk made an +entry in the register of the murder of Coligny, and the horrible massacre +of the Protestants of Paris, on St. Bartholomew's day, 1572, which event +he prays God to revenge. + +Some of the entries in the church registers of Edinburgh are of +considerable historical interest. In that of St. Giles is chronicled the +removal of the remains of the Marquis of Montrose from the Abbey Church of +Holyrood to St. Giles's Church, where they were honoured with a +magnificent and pompous funeral. The entry in the register of burials +records the final interment as follows:--"11 May 1661.--The Rt. Hon. +James, Marquis of Montrose, Earl of Kincardine, Lord Grahame and Mugdok, +His Majesty's late commissioner and Captain General for the kingdom of +Scotland, and knt. of most hon. order of the Garter, was conveyed from the +kirk of Holyrood House with great honour and solemnity to St. Giles's kirk +and buried." The corpse had been, in the first instance, interred at the +Burgh Muir, so that this was the third removal. + +The register of the Greyfriars' Church, Edinburgh, contains the following +record of another and more generally interesting translation:--"Robert +Garvock, Patrick Forman, James Stewart, David Fernie, Alexander Russell, +was executed in the Gallowlee, for owning the truth, upon the 10 day of +October 1681 years, and their heads fixed upon Bristo Port, taken down and +buried privately in Louristone Yards, now accidentally dug up upon the 15 +day of October 1726, and buried decently upon the 19 day of the said +month in the Greyfriars' churchyard, close to the Martyrs' Tomb." + +The grandeur of the final interment of the remains of the Marquis of +Montrose, followed later by the costly obsequies of Lord Roslin, induced +the Scottish Parliament, in 1681, to pass an Act which, besides +restricting the number of persons who might attend the funeral of a person +of rank to one hundred, prohibited "the using or carrying of any branches, +banners, and other honours at church, except only the eight branches to be +upon the pall, or upon the coffin where there is no pall." The Act seems, +however, to have had little effect in diminishing the excessive costliness +of funerals among all classes above the very poorest. The funeral of Sir +William Hamilton, who died in 1707, was attended with a display and an +amount of hospitality which cost a sum equal to two years of his salary as +a judge. The funeral of Lachlan Macintosh, chief of the Highland clan of +that name, in 1736, cost (including the customary festivities) a sum which +involved his successors in pecuniary embarrassments for a century +afterwards. The funerals of Highland chiefs were attended by all the clan, +sometimes numbering thousands of persons, and the procession to the place +of burial extending to more than a mile in length; the coronach--a hymn of +lamentation, an example of which may be found in Scott's "Lady of the +Lake"--being chanted by hundreds of voices, accompanied by the bagpipes. + + + + +The Story of a Stool. + + +James I. after the Reformation introduced into Scotland bishops, and his +son Charles I. attempted to force upon the Scottish church a book of +canons and a liturgy. Both actions were regarded with strong aversion, and +culminated in bitter strife. The king directed that on Sunday, July 23rd, +1637, the new service-book should be read in every parish church in +Scotland. Before the appointed day arrived, opposition was manifest in all +quarters, and few had the courage, even if they had the desire, to conduct +their services from the new prayer-book. + +On the eventful Sunday when the new order of service was to be formally +introduced, the chief church of the capital of Scotland, the old Cathedral +of St. Giles, was filled by an unusually large congregation. Among those +present were two archbishops, several bishops, the lords chancellor and +treasurer, privy council, judges, and magistrates. A large number of the +humble people, composed chiefly of the wives of citizens and their maids, +filled the body of the church. In those days no pews were in the church, +and the poor-folk brought clasp-stools. + +When Dean Hannay, attired in a surplice, commenced reading prayers from +the service-book a riot arose which has seldom been equalled in the house +of God. The Dean could not be heard for the clamour of many voices. The +voice of a female--that of Jenny Geddes--was heard above others. She +cried, "Out, out! does the false loon mean to say his black mass at my +lug?" and then threw her stool at the Dean's head. + +This was the signal for a riot: an attempt was made to tear from the Dean +his surplice, but he disengaged himself from it, and with difficulty made +his escape. Hand-clapping, hisses, curses, &c., put an end to any attempt +to conduct the service. The Bishop of Edinburgh attempted from the pulpit +to restore order, but a stool was thrown at him, and, had not a friendly +hand averted its course, doubtless he would have been seriously injured, +or even killed. Stones and other missiles were thrown at the pulpit. + +The Lord Chancellor, it is recorded, commanded the magistrates to call out +the town-guard to drive the ringleaders from the church. The church was +cleared of the rioters, but outside they battered the doors, broke the +windows, cried out, "A Pope! A Pope!" "Antichrist!" "Stone him! Stone +him!" The Dean tried to resume his reading, but the shouts of the +multitude without drowned his voice. + + +[Illustration: JENNY GEDDES' STOOL. + +_From the Antiquarian Museum, Edinburgh._] + + +The service in Greyfriars' Church had to be stopped on account of the +rioting without, and at the college, we are told in Stevenson's "Annals of +Edinburgh," the minister preferred the old extempore form of prayer, till +he learned how the liturgy had been received in other city churches. + +On leaving church the Bishop of Edinburgh was attacked by the mob, and +narrowly escaped death at their hands. Other rioting occurred, and for +many years the memorable day was known as "Stony Sabbath." + +The local authorities, it is recorded, desired to maintain order, and on +the Monday the local magistrates repaired to a meeting of the Privy +Council, and expressed their great regret at the outrage, and promised to +discover the ringleaders and have them punished. + +On one of the piers of St. Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, is a memorial +brass bearing the following inscription:-- + + TO + JAMES HANNAY, D.D., + DEAN OF THIS CATHEDRAL, + 1634-1639. + + _He was the first and last who read + the service-book in this church._ + + THIS MEMORIAL IS ERECTED IN HAPPIER TIMES + BY HIS DESCENDANT. + +In the Moray or south-west aisle is a memorial of gun-metal to Jenny +Geddes, with an inscription written by the late Lord President Inglis, +which reads as follows:-- + + CONSTANT ORAL TRADITION + AFFIRMS THAT NEAR THIS SPOT + A BRAVE SCOTCH WOMAN, JANET GEDDES, + ON THE 23 JULY 1637, + STRUCK THE FIRST BLOW IN THE GREAT STRUGGLE + FOR FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE, + WHICH AFTER A CONFLICT OF HALF-A-CENTURY + ENDED IN THE ESTABLISHMENT + OF CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. + + + + +The Martyrs' Monument, Edinburgh. + + +In the capital of Scotland are more imposing monuments than the +Covenanters' Memorial in Greyfriars' Churchyard, but not one more +historically interesting. It attracts the attention of visitors from all +parts of the world, and to the inhabitants of the city it must be a matter +of pride to have this memorial to the memory of the men who fought for +religious freedom. + +The early Scottish reformers were in earnest respecting their faith; a +bond was prepared, setting forth that they would stand unflinchingly by +the Calvinistic faith, and if necessary would fight in its defence. + +This was signed on December 3rd, 1557, by the Earls of Glencairn, Argyll, +and Morton, Lord Lorn, Erskine of Dun and many more, who assumed the title +of "Lords of the Congregation." + +A man in Scotland might do many indiscreet things and even be guilty of +crime, and be pardoned; but to flinch or fall from the Covenant was to +commit a sin that his countrymen could not forgive. + +Charles I., aided by Archbishop Laud, attempted to force upon the +Presbyterians of Scotland a liturgy, and in other ways to alter the mode +of divine worship in the country. The king's action was regarded with +alarm, and steps were taken to maintain the religious freedom of the +country. The Solemn League and Covenant of 1557 against Popery was renewed +and new articles added. A copy was sent to each town in Scotland. That +belonging to Edinburgh was, on March 1st, 1638, solemnly read aloud in +Greyfriars' churchyard. It was subscribed to by a large number of the +nobility, gentry and others of all ranks and conditions, ages and sexes. +It is impossible to count the signatures on the document, but it is +believed that over five thousand names occur, and the more zealous added +to their subscription such sentences as "till death." The size of the +parchment is four feet long and three feet eight inches broad, and it is +preserved in the Register Office, Edinburgh. It was spread upon a flat +stone in the churchyard for signature, and was signed by all who could get +near to it. + +Not a few who signed this document were amongst the many who suffered +death for their adherence to the faith they held. At the Battle of +Bothwell Bridge on June 22nd, 1679, it is recorded that 800 Covenanters +were slain on the field of battle, and about 1300 taken prisoners and +brought to Edinburgh, and later 200 were conveyed to Stirling. + +At Edinburgh the prisoners were kept in an enclosed piece of land (now +forming a part of the graveyard of Greyfriars), in a great measure without +shelter, for five months, and supported with a short supply of bread and +water. Guards watched them day and night. The condition of the prisoners +was most distressing and moved to pity the inhabitants of the city, but +they were not permitted to render the least assistance. + +The troubles of many of these brave men did not end with imprisonment. "On +the 15th of November," it is recorded, "256 were taken to Leith and put on +board a vessel to be carried to the plantations in America. The vessel +sailed on the 27th, but was wrecked on the coast of Orkney on December +10th, when upwards of 200 perished. Some of the remaining prisoners were +tried, condemned and executed; the remainder, upon signing bonds, +obtained their liberty." + +The monument is erected near the graves of the martyrs who were buried in +Greyfriars' churchyard. It was in that part of the burial-ground that +criminals were interred, and an allusion is made to this fact in the +inscription on the martyrs' monument. + +James Currie of Pentland obtained from the Town Council of Edinburgh, on +August 28th, 1706, permission to erect a stone in Greyfriars' churchyard +to the memory of the martyrs, on condition "there being no inscription to +be put upon the tomb but the sixth chapter of Revelation, verses 9, 10 and +11." + +A carved stone representing an open Bible, with the verses cut in full, +was erected, and this forms, we are told, the under part of the present +more stately monument, which was substituted in 1771, when the original +slab was removed. The old inscription with some slight alterations was +transferred to the present monument. The inscription is as follows:-- + + "Halt, passenger, take heed what you do see. + This tomb doth shew for what some men did die. + Here lies interr'd the dust of those who stood + 'Gainst perjury, resisting unto blood; + Adhering to the covenants and laws; + Establishing the same: which was the cause + Their lives were sacrific'd unto the lust + Of prelatists abjur'd; though here their dust + Lies mixt with murderers and other crew, + Whom justice justly did to death pursue. + But as for them, no cause was to be found + Worthy of death; but only they were found + Constant and steadfast, zealous, witnessing + For the prerogatives of Christ their King; + Which truths were seal'd by famous Guthrie's head, + And all along to Mr Renwick's blood: + They did endure the wrath of enemies: + Reproaches, torments, deaths and injuries. + But yet they're those, who from such troubles came, + And now triumph in glory with the Lamb. + + "From May 27th, 1661, that the most noble Marquis of Argyle was + beheaded, to the 17th February 1688, that Mr James Renwick suffered, + were one way or other murdered and destroyed for the same cause about + eighteen thousand, of whom were executed at Edinburgh about an + hundred of noblemen, gentlemen, ministers and others, noble martyrs + for JESUS CHRIST. The most of them lie here. + + Rev. vi. 9.--And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the + altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for + the testimony which they held: + + 10.--And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy + and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell + on the earth? + + 11.--And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was + said unto them that they should rest yet for a little season, + until their fellow-servants also and their brethren, that should be + killed as they were, should be fulfilled. + + Chap. vii. 14.--These are they which came out of great tribulation, + and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the + Lamb. + + Chap. ii. 10.--Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a + crown of life. + + "The above monument was first erected by JAMES CURRIE, merchant, + Pentland, and others, in 1706; renewed in 1771." + +(Added on the monument at a subsequent date):-- + + "Yes, though the sceptic's tongue deride + Those martyrs who for conscience died-- + Though modern history blight their fame, + And sneering courtiers hoot the name + Of men who dared alone be free, + Amidst a nation's slavery;-- + Yet long for them the poet's lyre + Shall wake its notes of heavenly fire; + Their names shall nerve the patriot's hand + Upraised to save a sinking land; + And piety shall learn to burn + With holier transports o'er their urn. + + JAMES GRAHAME. + + Peace to their mem'ry! let no impious breath + Sell their fair fame, or triumph o'er their death. + Let Scotia's grateful sons their tear-drops shed, + Where low they lie in honour's gory bed; + Rich with the spoil their glorious deeds had won, + And purchas'd freedom to a land undone-- + A land which owes its glory and its worth + To those whom tyrants banish'd from the earth." + + "For the accomplishment of this resolution, the three kingdoms lie + under no small debt of gratitude to the Covenanters. They suffered + and bled both in fields and on scaffolds for the cause of civil and + religious liberty; and shall we reap the fruit of their sufferings, + their prayers and their blood, and yet treat their memory either with + indifference or scorn? No! whatever minor faults may be laid to their + charge, whatever trivial accusations may be brought against them, it + cannot but be acknowledged that they were the men who, 'singly and + alone,' stood forward in defence of Scotland's dearest rights, and to + whom we at the present day owe everything that is valuable to us + either as men or as Christians." + + +[Illustration: THE MARTYRS' MONUMENT, EDINBURGH.] + + +It only remains for us to add that James Currie, who was the means of +raising the original monument, suffered much during the persecution and +more than once narrowly escaped capture. + + + + +INDEX + + + Alloway Kirk, witches in, 178 + + Antiquity of bells, 34 + + Assassins of James I., 6 + + Averting evil spirits at birth, 194 + + + Bag-pipes at funerals, 254 + + Banns, publication of, 213 + + Banquets at baptism, 207 + + Baptism of bells, 42 + + Beating bounds, 16 + + Begg, Dr, opposes the organ, 107 + + Behaviour at kirk, 119 + + Bell Lore, 34-45 + + Beltane superstitions, 46 + + Betrothals, 212, 213 + + Bible and witchcraft, 166 + + Bible thrown into the fire, 191 + + Biers, 241 + + Biggar, witchcraft at, 184 + + Birth and Baptism. Customs and Superstitions, 194-209 + + Black Rood, 29 + + Brank, 115 + + Brechin Cathedral, 66 + + Bristo Port, heads on, 252 + + Burghs, origin of, 64-66 + + Burning witches, 163, 168, 184, 191 + + + Calvinism, advent of, 164 + + Care of the poor, 149 + + Celtic crosses, 24, 28 + + Charter of St. Giles's Church, 6 + + Children, marriage of, 216 + + Christmas, punished for keeping, 117 + + Church, marriages to be celebrated in, 222 + + Church music, 98-107 + + Churches, interment in, 243 + + Clova jougs, 113 + + Coins, objection to foreign, 144 + + Compulsory attendance at kirk, 119, 137 + + Consent of parents to be given for marriage, 216 + + Covenanters slain, 262 + + Covenanters' flag, 27, 28 + + Craft-gilds, 128 + + Creeping to the cross, 27 + + Cripples assisted, 155 + + Cross, the, in Scotland, 1-33 + + Cross in baptism, 197 + + Culdees supplanted, 73 + + Currie, James, 263 + + Curiosities of Church Finance, 130-161 + + + Dead, tales about the, 166 + + Death and Burial. Customs and Superstitions, 237-254 + + Death hamper, 242 + + Denmark, Princess Anne and witchcraft, 175 + + Devil and minstrels, 170 + + Devil preaching a sermon, 177 + + Discipline of the Kirk, 108-129 + + Douglas, Lady Janet, suffered for witchcraft, 163 + + Dress of women condemned, 120 + + Drinking at funerals, 239 + + Drunkards punished, 124, 138 + + Duddingston jougs, 114 + + Dunblane Cathedral, 66 + + Dundee bells, 44 + + + Easter Sunday customs, 48 + + Eastwood, witchcraft at, 192 + + Edinburgh Market Cross, 5, 7, 11 + + Episcopacy and witchcraft, 173 + + Erskine, Lord Chief Justice, married at Gretna Green, 229 + + Excommunications, 110 + + + Farthings at collections, 146 + + Fishing on Sunday, 135 + + Flodden, 12 + + Foreign coins, objections to, 144 + + Forbidding the banns, 220 + + Forbidding marriage, 127 + + Frost, Thomas. Saints and holy wells, 46-63 + ---- Church music, 98-107 + + Funeral bells, 40-41, 44, 245-247 + + Funeral sermons, 248 + + + Geddes, Jenny, 256, 259 + + Gladstone, W. E., restores Edinburgh Cross, 10-11 + + Glasgow Cathedral, 67-85 + + Gifts of bells to churches, 35 + + Graveyard of Greyfriars, 260-266 + + Gretna Green gossip, 227-236 + + Gossips' wake, 195 + + + Haddington, witchcraft at, 184 + + Hamilton, Sir William, funeral of, 253 + + Hand-bells at funerals, 40-41 + + Handfasting, 210-212 + + Hannay, Dean, 256, 258 + + Harmonium, 106 + + Holyrood Abbey founded, 31 + + Holy Wells, 46, 63 + + Hospitality at funerals, 253 + + Hours of church service, 96 + + Howlett, E. Bell Lore, 34-45 + + Humours of the collection, 141 + + Hymns submitted, 102 + + + Ignorant persons' children not to be baptised, 205 + + Introduction of the organ at Glasgow, 105 + + Iona crosses, 18-22 + + + James VI. and witchcraft, 174 + + Jougs, 113 + + + Kilmarnock Cross, 16 + + Kirkcaldy, witchcraft at, 189 + + Kirkwall Cathedral, 67 + + Knox burned in effigy, 12 + ---- deemed a wizard, 171 + + + Lanark Cross, 16 + + Length of sermon, 121 + + Life in the pre-Reformation Cathedrals, 64-85 + + Linlithgow, 16 + + Liturgy used, 93 + + Long sermons, 95 + + + Macintosh, L., funeral of, 253 + + Manner of examining witches, 180 + + Mar, Earl of, suffered for witchcraft, 163 + + Market crosses, 4 + + Marriage laws and customs, 210-226 + + Marriage vow, punished for violating, 125 + + Martyrs' Monument, Edinburgh, 260-266 + + Mass, punished for saying, 13 + + Medical assistance, 155 + + Memorable marriage at Gretna Green, 232 + + Millar, A. H. Life in the pre-Reformation Cathedrals, 64-85 + + Mode of marrying at Gretna Green, 231 + + Money-box, church, 147 + + Montrose, Marquis, body removed, 251 + + Monuments, Destruction of, 3 + + Murray, Earl, assassination of, 251 + + + Observance of old church festivals forbidden, 121 + + Omens of death, 239 + + Opening doors for departing spirits, 238 + + Organs, 89, 98, 99, 102, 104, 106 + + Origin of Glasgow Cathedral, 71 + + Our Lady, wells dedicated to, 55 + + + Pagan rites at marriages, 224 + + Palls, 247 + + Parochial inquisitions, 178 + + Parsons at Gretna Green, 229-232 + + Peebles bells, 38 + + Perth bells, 39, 43 + + Pews, introduction of, 140 + + Pilgrimages to saints' wells, 60-62 + + Pillory, 116, 124, 125 + + Poor travellers' hospital, 54 + + Prayer-book, introduction of the, 100 + ---- objection to, 255 + + Precentor, 88, 104 + + Press guarded, 122 + + Priest pelted at the Cross, 13 + + Private baptism, 198-202 + + Proclamations published at crosses, 12 + + Psalmody, 100, 101, 102 + + Public Penance, 111 + + Public worship in olden times, 86-97 + + + Ransoms for sailors, 156 + + Reader, 87 + + Rees, Rev. R. Wilkins. Curiosities of Church Finance, 130-161 + ---- Witchcraft and the kirk, 162-193 + + Reformation, 1 + + Registers of baptisms, 201, 206, 208 + + Registers of deaths, 249 + + Riddle-turning, 124 + + Riding the marches, 16 + + Repentance stool, 111, 158 + + Roslin, Lord, funeral of, 253 + + Royal edicts proclaimed from crosses, 16 + + Ruthwell Cross, 26 + + + Sabbath-breaking, 136 + + Saints and holy wells, 46-63 + + Scandals and marriage, 217-218 + + Schoolmasters, 152 + + Scots money, 133 + + Scotchmen warned not to follow James VI. to England, 17 + + Sculptured tombstones, 23 + + Seal of Holyrood Abbey, 32 + + Sharp, Archbishop, assassinated, 173 + + Silver in bells, 41 + + Singing hymns, objections to, 92 + + Slanderers punished, 125 + + Solemn League of the Covenant, 261 + + Spurious money at collections, 146 + + Stirling, penance at, 196 + + Story of a stool, 255-259 + + St. Andrew's Cathedral, 66 + + St. Andrew's Well, 56 + + St. Bernard's Well, 53 + + St. Catherine's Well, 52 + + St. Columba's Wells, 48 + + St. Corbett's Well, 54 + + St. Fergus's Well, 48 + + St. Fillan's Well, 50 + + St. Giles's Cathedral, Edinburgh, 66 + + St. Helena's Wells, 49 + + St. Iten's Well, 49 + + St. Kentigern, 67 + + St. Maelrubha Well, 47 + + St. Margaret of Scotland, 29 + + St. Medan's Chapel and Well, 50-51 + + St. Mulvay's Well, 47 + + St. Mungo, 67 + + St. Olav's Well, 54 + + St. Querdon's Well, 59 + + St. Ronan's Well, 48 + + St. Thenew's Well, 59 + + St. Wallach's Bath, 57 + + Sunday observance, 117, 133-138 + + Superstitions, marriage, 221 + + Swearing, punished for, 124 + + + Taking snuff in the kirk, 128 + + Tokens of death, 237 + + Tyack, Rev. Geo. S. The Cross in Scotland, 1-33 + ---- Discipline of the Kirk, 108-129 + + Tyninghame, witchcraft at, 184 + + + Unbaptised children, burial of, 242 + + Uncoffined burials, 241 + + + Votive offerings, 57 + + + Watching the dead, 238 + + Waters, Rev. Alexander. Public worship in olden times, 86-97 + + Western Isles, crosses in, 22 + + Westminster Assembly of Divines, 87 + + Wine at Edinburgh Cross, 11 + + Witchcraft, 123 + + Witchcraft a capital offence, 164 + + Witchcraft and the Kirk, 162-193 + + + + +Footnotes: + +[1] "Iona: its History, Antiquities, etc.," by Rev. A. MacMillan and +Robert Brydall, 1898. + +[2] "Church and other Bells of Kincardineshire." + +[3] "Church and other Bells of Kincardineshire," Eeles. + +[4] Chambers' "History of Peebles." + +[5] "Bell Lore," North. + +[6] Hope's Reprint "Popish Kingdome." + +[7] "Bell Lore," North. + +[8] "Bell Lore," North. + +[9] Eeles. + +[10] "Bells of Exeter Cathedral," p. 7. + +[11] The Relief Church originated in 1752 in opposition to the system of +patronage, and received its name from its relief from that burden. In 1847 +it became, by union with the Secession Church, the United Presbyterian +Church. + +[12] For the accompanying illustrations of a repentance-stool, and of the +jagg or jougs, I am indebted to Mr Wm. Andrews, from whose work on "Bygone +Punishments" (London 1899) they are taken. + +[13] The spelling of this and the following extracts is modernised. + + + + +LIST OF PUBLICATIONS OF WILLIAM ANDREWS & CO., + +5 FARRINGDON AVENUE, LONDON. + + +"Valuable and interesting."--_The Times._ + +"Readable as well as instructive."--_The Globe._ + +"A valuable addition to any library."--_Derbyshire Times._ + + +The Bygone Series. + +In this series the following volumes are included, and issued at 7s. 6d. +each. Demy 8vo, cloth gilt. + +These books have been favourably reviewed in the leading critical journals +of England and America. + +Carefully written articles by recognised authorities are included on +history, castles, abbeys, biography, romantic episodes, legendary lore, +traditional stories, curious customs, folk-lore, etc., etc. + +The works are illustrated by eminent artists, and by the reproduction of +quaint pictures of the olden time. + + BYGONE BERKSHIRE, edited by Rev. P. H. Ditchfield, M.A., F.S.A. + BYGONE CHESHIRE, edited by William Andrews. + BYGONE DEVONSHIRE, by the Rev. Hilderic Friend. + BYGONE DURHAM, edited by William Andrews. + BYGONE GLOUCESTERSHIRE, edited by William Andrews. + BYGONE HERTFORDSHIRE, edited by William Andrews. + BYGONE LEICESTERSHIRE, edited by William Andrews. + BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE (2 vols), edited by William Andrews. + BYGONE MIDDLESEX, edited by William Andrews. + BYGONE NORFOLK, edited by William Andrews. + BYGONE NORTHUMBERLAND, edited by William Andrews. + BYGONE NOTTINGHAMSHIRE, by William Stevenson. + BYGONE SCOTLAND, by David Maxwell, C.E. + BYGONE SOMERSETSHIRE, edited by Cuming Walters. + BYGONE SOUTHWARK, by Mrs. E. Boger. + BYGONE SUFFOLK, edited by Cuming Walters. + BYGONE SURREY, edited by George Clinch and S. W. Kershaw, F.S.A. + BYGONE SUSSEX, by W. E. A. Axon. + BYGONE WARWICKSHIRE, edited by William Andrews. + BYGONE YORKSHIRE, edited by William Andrews. + +"Mr. Andrews' books are always interesting."--_Church Bells._ + +"No student of Mr. Andrews' books can be a dull after-dinner speaker, for +his writings are full of curious out-of-the-way information and good +stories."--_Birmingham Daily Gazette._ + + +England in the Days of Old. + +BY WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S. + +_Demy 8vo., 7s. 6d. Numerous Illustrations._ + +This volume is one of unusual interest and value to the lover of olden +days and ways, and can hardly fail to interest and instruct the reader. It +recalls many forgotten episodes, scenes, characters, manners, customs, +etc., in the social and domestic life of England. + +CONTENTS:--When Wigs were Worn--Powdering the Hair--Men Wearing +Muffs--Concerning Corporation Customs--Bribes for the Palate--Rebel Heads +on City Gates--Burial at Cross Roads--Detaining the Dead for Debt--A +Nobleman's Household in Tudor Times--Bread and Baking in Bygone +Days--Arise, Mistress, Arise!--The Turnspit--A Gossip about the +Goose--Bells as Time-Tellers--The Age of Snuffing--State +Lotteries--Bear-Baiting--Morris Dancers--The Folk-Lore of Midsummer +Eve--Harvest Home--Curious Charities--An Old-Time Chronicler. + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS:--The House of Commons in the time of Sir Robert +Walpole--Egyptian Wig--The Earl of Albemarle--Campaign Wig--Periwig with +Tail--Ramillie-Wig--Pig-tail Wig--Bag-Wig--Archbishop +Tilotson--Heart-Breakers--A Barber's Shop in the time of Queen +Elizabeth--With and Without a Wig--Stealing a Wig--Man with Muff, +1693--Burying the Mace at Nottingham--The Lord Mayor of York escorting +Princess Margaret--The Mayor of Wycombe going to the Guildhall--Woman +wearing a Scold's Bridle--The Brank--Andrew Marvell--Old London Bridge, +shewing heads of rebels on the gate--Axe, Block, and Executioner's +Mask--Margaret Roper taking leave of her father, Sir Thomas More--Rebel +Heads, from a print published in 1746--Temple Bar in Dr. Johnson's +time--Micklegate Bar, York--Clock, Hampton Court Palace--Drawing a Lottery +in the Guildhall, 1751--Advertising the Last State Lottery--Partaking of +the Pungent Pinch--Morris Dance, from a painted window at Betley--Morris +Dance, temp. James I.--A Whitsun Morris Dance--Bear Garden, or Hope +Theatre, 1647--The Globe Theatre, temp. Elizabeth--Plan of Bankside early +in the Seventeenth Century--John Stow's Monument. + +A carefully prepared Index enables the reader to refer to the varied and +interesting contents of the book. + +"A very attractive and informing book."--_Birmingham Daily Gazette._ + +"Mr. Andrews has the true art of narration, and contrives to give us the +results of his learning with considerable freshness of style, whilst his +subjects are always interesting and picturesque."--_Manchester Courier._ + +"The book is of unusual interest."--_Eastern Morning News._ + +"Of the many clever books which Mr. Andrews has written none does him +greater credit than "England in the Days of Old," and none will be read +with greater profit."--_Northern Gazette._ + + +Bygone Punishments. + +BY WILLIAM ANDREWS. + +_Demy 8vo, cloth gilt, 7s. 6d. Numerous Illustrations._ + +CONTENTS:--Hanging--Hanging in Chains--Hanging, Drawing, and +Quartering--Pressing to Death--Drowning--Burning to Death--Boiling to +Death--Beheading--The Halifax Gibbet--The Scottish +Maiden--Mutilation--Branding--The Pillory--Punishing Authors and Burning +Books--Finger Pillory--The Jougs--The Stocks--The Drunkard's +Cloak--Whipping and Whipping-Posts--Public Penance--The Repentance +Stool--The Ducking Stool--The Brank, or Scold's Bridle--Riding the +Stang--Index. + +"A book of great interest."--_Manchester Courier._ + +"Crowded with extraordinary facts."--_Birmingham Daily Gazette._ + +"Contains much that is curious and interesting both to the student of +history and social reformer."--_Lancashire Daily Express._ + +"Full of curious lore, sought out and arranged with much industry."--_The +Scotsman._ + +"Mr. Andrews' volume is admirably produced, and contains a collection of +curious illustrations, representative of many of the punishments he +describes, which contribute towards making it one of the most curious and +entertaining books that we have perused for a long time."--_Norfolk +Chronicle._ + +"Those who wish to obtain a good general idea on the subject of criminal +punishment in days long past, will obtain it in this well-printed and +stoutly-bound volume."--_Daily Mail._ + +"Mr. William Andrews, of Hull, is an indefatigable searcher amongst the +byways of ancient English history, and it would be difficult to name an +antiquary who, along his chosen lines, has made so thoroughly interesting +and instructive the mass of facts a painstaking industry has brought to +light. For twenty-five years he has been delving into the subject of +Bygone Punishments, and is now one of the best authorities upon obsolete +systems of jurisdiction and torture, for torture was, in various forms, +the main characteristic of punishment in the good old times. The +reformation of the person punished was a far more remote object of +retribution than it is with us, and even with us reform is very much a +matter of sentiment. Punishment was intended to be punishment to the +individual in the first place, and in the second a warning to the rest. It +is a gruesome study, but Mr. Andrews nowhere writes for mere effect. As an +antiquary ought to do, he has made the collection of facts and their +preservation for modern students of history in a clear, straightforward +narrative his main object, and in this volume he keeps to it consistently. +Every page is therefore full of curious, out-of-the-way facts, with +authorities and references amply quoted."--_Yorkshire Post._ + + +Literary Byways. + +BY WILLIAM ANDREWS. + +_Demy 8vo., cloth gilt, 7s. 6d._ + +CONTENTS:--Authors at Work--The Earnings of Authors--"Declined with +Thanks"--Epigrams on Authors--Poetical Graces--Poetry on Panes--English +Folk Rhymes--The Poetry of Toast Lists and Menu Cards--Toasts and +Toasting--Curious American Old-Time Gleanings--The Earliest American +Poetess: Anne Bradstreet--A Playful Poet: Miss Catherine Fanshawe--A +Popular Song Writer: Mrs. John Hunter--A Poet of the Poor: Mary Pyper--The +Poet of the Fisher-Folk: Mrs. Susan K. Phillips--A Poet and Novelist of +the People: Thomas Miller--The Cottage Countess--The Compiler of "Old +Moore's Almanack": Henry Andrews--James Nayler, the Mad Quaker, who +claimed to be the Messiah--A Biographical Romance: Swan's Strange +Story--Short Letters--Index. + +"An interesting volume."--_Church Bells._ + +"Turn where you will, there is information and entertainment in this +book."--_Birmingham Daily Gazette._ + +"The volume is most enjoyable."--_Perthshire Advertiser._ + +"The volume consists of entertaining chapters written in a chatty +style."--_Daily Advertiser._ + +"A readable volume about authors and books.... Like Mr. Andrews's other +works, the book shows wide out-of-the-way reading."--_Glasgow Herald._ + +"Dull after-dinner speakers should be compelled to peruse this volume, and +ornament their orations and per-orations with its gems."--_Sunday Times._ + +"An entertaining volume.... No matter where the book is opened, the reader +will find some amusing and instructive matter."--_Dundee Advertiser._ + +"Readable and entertaining."--_Notes and Queries._ + +"Mr. Andrews delights in the production of the pleasant, gossipy order of +books. He is well qualified, indeed, to do so, for he is painstaking in +the collection of interesting literary facts, methodical in setting them +forth, and he loves books with genuine ardour."--_Aberdeen Free Press._ + +"We heartily commend this volume to the attention of readers who are in +any way interested in literature."--_Scots Pictorial._ + + +The Church Treasury of History, Custom, Folk-Lore, etc. + +EDITED BY WILLIAM ANDREWS. + +_Demy 8vo., 7s. 6d. Numerous Illustrations._ + +CONTENTS:--Stave-Kirks--Curious Churches of Cornwall--Holy Wells--Hermits +and Hermit Cells--Church Wakes--Fortified Church Towers--The Knight +Templars: their Churches and their Privileges--English Mediaeval +Pilgrimages--Pilgrims' Signs--Human Skin on Church Doors--Animals of the +Church in Wood, Stone, and Bronze--Queries in Stones--Pictures in +Churches--Flowers and the Rites of the Church--Ghost Layers and Ghost +Laying--Church Walks--Westminster Waxworks--Index. Numerous Illustrations. + +"It is a work that will prove interesting to the clergy and churchmen +generally, and to all others who have an antiquarian turn of mind, or like +to be regaled occasionally by reading old-world customs and +anecdotes."--_Church Family Newspaper._ + +"Mr. Andrews has given us some excellent volumes of Church lore, but none +quite so good as this. The subjects are well chosen. They are treated +brightly and with considerable detail, and they are well illustrated.... +Mr. Andrews is himself responsible for some of the most interesting +papers, but all his helpers have caught his own spirit, and the result is +a volume full of information well and pleasantly put."--_London Quarterly +Review._ + +"Those who seek information regarding curious and quaint relics or customs +will find much to interest them in this book. The illustrations are +good."--_Publishers' Circular._ + +"An excellent and entertaining book."--_Newcastle Daily Leader._ + +"The book will be welcome to every lover of archaeological +lore."--_Liverpool Daily Post._ + +"The volume is of a most informing and suggestive character, abounding in +facts not easy of access to the ordinary reader, and enhanced with +illustrations of a high order of merit, and extremely +numerous."--_Birmingham Daily Gazette._ + +"The contents of the volume are very good."--_Leeds Mercury._ + +"The volume is sure to meet with a cordial reception."--_Manchester +Courier._ + +"A fascinating book."--_Stockport Advertiser._ + +"Mr. Andrews has brought together much curious matter."--_Manchester +Guardian._ + +"The book is a very readable one, and will receive a hearty +welcome."--_Herts. Advertiser._ + +"Mr. William Andrews has been able to give us a very acceptable and useful +addition to the books which deal with the curiosities of Church lore, and +for this deserves our hearty thanks. The manner in which the book is +printed and illustrated also commands our admiration."--_Norfolk +Chronicle._ + + +Historic Dress of the Clergy. + +BY THE REV. GEO. S. TYACK, B.A., + +Author of "The Cross in Ritual, Architecture, and Art." + +_Crown, cloth extra, 3s. 6d._ + +The work contains thirty-three illustrations from ancient monuments, rare +manuscripts, and other sources. + +"A very painstaking and very valuable volume on a subject which is just +now attracting much attention. Mr. Tyack has collected a large amount of +information from sources not available to the unlearned, and has put +together his materials in an attractive way. The book deserves and is sure +to meet with a wide circulation."--_Daily Chronicle._ + +"This book is written with great care, and with an evident knowledge of +history. It is well worth the study of all who wish to be better informed +upon a subject which the author states in his preface gives evident signs +of a lively and growing interest."--_Manchester Courier._ + +"Those who are interested in the Dress of the Clergy will find full +information gathered together here, and set forth in a lucid and scholarly +way."--_Glasgow Herald._ + +"We are glad to welcome yet another volume from the author of 'The Cross +in Ritual, Architecture, and Art.' His subject, chosen widely and carried +out comprehensively, makes this a valuable book of reference for all +classes. It is only the antiquary and the ecclesiologist who can devote +time and talents to research of this kind, and Mr. Tyack has done a real +and lasting service to the Church of England by collecting so much useful +and reliable information upon the dress of the clergy in all ages, and +offering it to the public in such a popular form. We do not hesitate to +recommend this volume as the most reliable and the most comprehensive +illustrated guide to the history and origin of the canonical vestments and +other dress worn by the clergy, whether ecclesiastical, academical, or +general, while the excellent work in typography and binding make it a +beautiful gift-book."--_Church Bells._ + +"A very lucid history of ecclesiastical vestments from Levitical times to +the present day."--_Pall Mall Gazette._ + +"The book can be recommended to the undoubtedly large class of persons who +are seeking information on this and kindred subjects."--_The Times._ + +"The work may be read either as pastime or for instruction, and is worthy +of a place in the permanent section of any library. The numerous +illustrations, extensive contents table and index, and beautiful +workmanship, both in typography and binding, are all features of +attraction and utility."--_Dundee Advertiser._ + + +The Miracle Play in England, + +An Account of the Early Religious Drama. + +BY SIDNEY W. CLARKE, BARRISTER-AT-LAW. + +_Crown 8vo., 3s. 6d. Illustrated._ + +In bygone times the Miracle Play formed an important feature in the +religious life of England. To those taking an interest in the history of +the Church of England, this volume will prove useful. The author has given +long and careful study to this subject, and produced a reliable and +readable book, which can hardly fail to interest and instruct the reader. +It is a volume for general reading, and for a permanent place in the +reference library. + +CONTENTS:--The Origin of Drama--The Beginnings of English Drama--The York +Plays--The Wakefield Plays--The Chester Plays--The Coventry Plays--Other +English Miracle Plays--The Production of a Miracle Play--The Scenery, +Properties, and Dresses--Appendix--The Order of the York Plays--Extract +from City Register of York, 1426--The Order of the Wakefield Plays--The +Order of the Chester Plays--The Order of the Grey Friars' Plays at +Coventry--A Miracle Play in a Puppet Show--Index. + +"Mr. Clarke has chosen a most interesting subject, one that is attractive +alike to the student, the historian, and the general reader.... A most +interesting volume, and a number of quaint illustrations add to its +value."--_Birmingham Daily Gazette._ + +"The book should be useful to many."--_Manchester Guardian._ + +"An admirable work."--_Eastern Morning News._ + +"Mr. Sidney Clarke's concise monograph in 'The Miracle Play in England' is +another of the long and interesting series of antiquarian volumes for +popular reading issued by the same publishing house. The author briefly +sketches the rise and growth of the 'Miracle' or 'Mystery' play in Europe +and in England; and gives an account of the series or cycle of these +curious religious dramas--the forerunners of the modern secular +play--performed at York, Wakefield, Chester, Coventry, and other towns in +the middle ages. But his chief efforts are devoted to giving a sketch of +the manner of production, and the scenery, properties, and dresses of the +old miracle play, as drawn from the minute account books of the craft and +trade guilds and other authentic records of the period. Mr. Clarke has +gone to the best sources for his information, and the volume, illustrated +by quaint cuts, is an excellent compendium of information on a curious +byeway of literature and art."--_The Scotsman._ + + +A Book About Bells. + +BY THE REV. GEO. S. TYACK, B.A., + +Author of the "Historic Dress of the Clergy," etc. + +_Crown, cloth extra, 6s._ + +CONTENTS:--Invention of Bells--Bell Founding and Bell Founders--Dates and +Names of Bells--The Decoration of Bells--Some Noteworthy Bells--The Loss +of Old Bells--Towers and Campaniles--Bell-Ringing and Bell-Ringers--The +Church-Going Bell--Bells at Christian Festivals and Fasts--The Epochs of +Man's Life Marked by the Bells--The Blessings and the Cursings of the +Bells--Bells as Time-Markers--Secular Uses of Church and other +Bells--Small Bells, Secular and Sacred--Carillons--Belfry Rhymes and +Legends--Index of Subjects, Index of Places. + +THIRTEEN FULL-PAGE PLATES. + +"A most useful and interesting book.... All who are interested in bells +will, we feel confident, read it with pleasure and profit."--_Church +Family Newspaper._ + +"A pleasing, graceful, and scholarly book.... A handsome volume which will +be prized by the antiquary, and can be perused with delight and advantage +by the general reader."--_Notes and Queries._ + +"'A Book About Bells' can be heartily commended."--_Pall Mall Gazette._ + +"An excellent and entertaining book, which we commend to the attention not +only of those who are specially interested in the subject of bells, but to +all lovers of quaint archaeological lore."--_Glasgow Herald._ + +"The book is well printed and artistic in form."--_Manchester Courier._ + +"'A Book About Bells' is destined to be the work of reference on the +subject, and it ought to find a home on the shelves of every +library."--_Northern Gazette._ + +"The task Mr. Tyack has set himself, he has carried out admirably, and +throughout care and patient research are apparent."--_Lynn News._ + +"We heartily recommend our readers to procure this volume."--_The +Churchwoman._ + +"An entertaining work."--_Yorkshire Post._ + +"'A Book About Bells' will interest almost everyone. Antiquaries will find +in it an immense store of information: but the general reader will equally +feel that it is a book well worth reading from beginning to end."--_The +News_, Edited by the Rev. Charles Bullock, B.D. + +"An excellent work."--_Stockton Herald._ + +"It is a well-written work, and it is sure to be popular."--_Hull +Christian Voice._ + +"Covers the whole field of bell-lore."--_Scotsman._ + +"Most interesting and finely illustrated."--_Birmingham Daily Gazette._ + + +Legal Lore: Curiosities of Law and Lawyers. + +EDITED BY WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S. + +_Demy 8vo., Cloth extra, 7s. 6d._ + +CONTENTS:--Bible Law--Sanctuaries--Trials in Superstitious Ages--On +Symbols--Law Under the Feudal System--The Manor and Manor Law--Ancient +Tenures--Laws of the Forest--Trial by Jury in Old Times--Barbarous +Punishments--Trials of Animals--Devices of the Sixteenth Century +Debtors--Laws Relating to the Gipsies--Commonwealth Law and +Lawyers--Cock-Fighting in Scotland--Cockieleerie Law--Fatal +Links--Post-Mortem Trials--Island Laws--The Little Inns of Court--Obiter. + +"There are some very amusing and curious facts concerning law and lawyers. +We have read with much interest the articles on Sanctuaries, Trials in +Superstitious Ages, Ancient Tenures, Trials by Jury in Old Times, +Barbarous Punishments, and Trials of Animals, and can heartily recommend +the volume to those who wish for a few hours' profitable diversion in the +study of what may be called the light literature of the law."--_Daily +Mail._ + +"Most amusing and instructive reading."--_The Scotsman._ + +"The contents of the volume are extremely entertaining, and convey not a +little information on ancient ideas and habits of life. While members of +the legal profession will turn to the work for incidents with which to +illustrate an argument or point a joke, laymen will enjoy its vivid +descriptions of old-fashioned proceedings and often semi-barbaric ideas to +obligation and rectitude."--_Dundee Advertiser._ + +"The subjects chosen are extremely interesting, and contain a quantity of +out-of-the-way and not easily accessible information.... Very tastefully +printed and bound."--_Birmingham Daily Gazette._ + +"The book is handsomely got up; the style throughout is popular and clear, +and the variety of its contents, and the individuality of the writers gave +an added charm to the work."--_Daily Free Press._ + +"The book is interesting both to the general reader and the +student."--_Cheshire Notes and Queries._ + +"Those who care only to be amused will find plenty of entertainment in +this volume, while those who regard it as a work of reference will rejoice +at the variety of material, and appreciate the careful indexing."--_Dundee +Courier._ + +"Very interesting subjects, lucidly and charmingly written. The +versatility of the work assures for it a wide popularity."--_Northern +Gazette._ + +"A happy and useful addition to current literature."--_Norfolk Chronicle._ + +"The book is a very fascinating one, and it is specially interesting to +students of history as showing the vast changes which, by gradual course +of development have been brought about both in the principles and practice +of the law."--_The Evening Gazette._ + + +Antiquities and Curiosities of the Church. + +EDITED BY WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S. + +_Demy 8vo., 7s. 6d. Numerous Illustrations._ + +CONTENTS:--Church History and Historians--Supernatural Interference in +Church Building--Ecclesiastical Symbolism in Architecture--Acoustic +Jars--Crypts--Heathen Customs at Christian Feasts--Fish and +Fasting--Shrove-tide and Lenten Customs--Wearing Hats in Church--The Stool +of Repentance--Cursing by Bell, Book, and Candle--Pulpits--Church +Windows--Alms-Boxes and Alms-Dishes--Old Collecting +Boxes--Gargoyles--Curious Vanes--People and Steeple +Rhymes--Sun-Dials--Jack of the Clock-House--Games in Churchyards--Circular +Churchyards--Church and Churchyard Charms and Cures--Yew Trees in +Churchyards. + +"A very entertaining work."--_Leeds Mercury._ + +"A well-printed, handsome, and profusely illustrated work."--_Norfolk +Chronicle._ + +"There is much curious and interesting reading in this popular volume, +which moreover has a useful index."--_Glasgow Herald._ + +"The contents of the volume is exceptionally good reading, and crowded +with out-of-the way, useful, and well selected information on a subject +which has an undying interest."--_Birmingham Mercury._ + +"In concluding this notice it is only the merest justice to add that every +page of it abounds with rare and often amusing information, drawn from the +most accredited sources. It also abounds with illustrations of our old +English authors, and it is likely to prove welcome not only to the +Churchman, but to the student of folk-lore and of poetical +literature."--_Morning Post._ + +"We can recommend this volume to all who are interested in the notable and +curious things that relate to churches and public worship in this and +other countries."--_Newcastle Daily Journal._ + +"It is very handsomely got up and admirably printed, the letterpress being +beautifully clear."--_Lincoln Mercury._ + +"The book is well indexed."--_Daily Chronicle._ + +"By delegating certain topics to those most capable of treating them, the +editor has the satisfaction of presenting the best available information +in a very attractive manner."--_Dundee Advertiser._ + +"It must not be supposed that the book is of interest only to Churchmen, +although primarily so, for it treats in such a skilful and instructive +manner with ancient manners and customs as to make it an invaluable book +of reference to all who are concerned in the seductive study of +antiquarian subjects."--_Chester Courant._ + + +Curious Church Customs, + +AND COGNATE SUBJECTS. + +EDITED BY WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S. + +_Demy 8vo, price 7s. 6d._ + +CONTENTS:--Sports in Churches--Holy Day Customs--Church Bells: When and +Why They were Rung--Inscriptions on Bells--Laws of the Belfry--Ringers' +Jugs--Customs and Superstitions of Baptism--Marriage Customs--Burial +Customs--Concerning the Churchyard--Altars in Churches--The Rood Loft and +its Uses--Armour in Churches--Beating the Bounds--The Story of the +Croiser--Bishops in Battle--The Cloister and its Story--Shorthand in +Church--Reminiscences of our Village Church--Index. + +"The book is an interesting addition to antiquarian and popular +literature."--_The Scotsman._ + +"A highly interesting work.... There are in all nineteen chapters, +containing a large and varied amount of information on many subjects, +respecting which the general public are not too well informed."--_Somerset +County Herald._ + +"An extremely interesting work."--_The Bazaar._ + +"A distinctly valuable addition to the literature dealing with the +antiquities of the Church."--_The Evening Post._ + +"A varied and comprehensive volume, evidently the outcome of much patient +research."--_The World._ + +"The value of the book is greatly enhanced by an admirable index."--_North +Eastern Gazette._ + +"It is as interesting as a novel."--_Blackburn Standard._ + +"We are indebted to Mr. Andrews for an invaluable addition to our library +of folk-lore, and we do not think that many who take it up will skip a +single page."--_Dundee Advertiser._ + +"A thoroughly excellent volume."--_Publishers' Circular._ + +"Very interesting."--_To-Day._ + +"Mr. Andrews is too practised an historian not to have made the most of +his subject."--_Review of Reviews._ + +"A handsomely got up and interesting volume."--_The Fireside._ + + +The Prime Minister of Wuertemburg. + +BY ELLER, + +Author of "Ingatherings." + +_Crown 8vo. Bound in cloth extra, 3s. 6d._ + +"This anonymously-written story is of much power, and presents to us a +picture of the Government in Wuertemburg a hundred and sixty years ago, +when the reigning Duke Alexandra, in his indulgence and foolishly fond +treatment of his Cabinet Minister and Finance Director, the Jew Siece, has +placed his subjects at the mercy of a crafty and designing man. How his +object to overthrow the hero of the story, Gustave Lanbek, and his father, +by forcing him to take an office which would bring him the contempt of his +friends and the hatred of the people, was ultimately frustrated by the +encompassing of his own ruin, is a plot which is developed and completed +in a most dramatic manner. There is, too, a thread of love-making, the +course of which runs by no means smoothly, deftly introduced into the main +theme of the story, which lightens and relieves the plot. The book is one +which we have thoroughly enjoyed, and both author and publishers are to be +complimented upon the production of a volume effectively written and +attractively printed and bound."--_Norfolk Chronicle._ + +"The book has the great merit of soon interesting the reader. The get-up +of the book reflects credit upon the publishers."--_Daily Mail._ + +"A pretty story well told."--_Hull News._ + + +"Ingatherings." + +BY ELLER. + +_Crown 8vo. Elegantly bound in cloth extra, 3s 6d._ + +"This is an exceedingly interesting collection of writings in prose and +poetry. The book opens with a quaint story descriptive of the manner in +which a young German nobleman, by his purity and goodness, delivered an +old baron and his lovely daughter from the power of the evil one. Among +the other pieces of prose are 'The Voices of Nature,' 'A Dream,' 'A +Reverie,' each of which proves the author to possess considerable ability. +Their artistic style is delightfully refreshing. The poems are for the +most part original, but there are one or two gems from the pens of Goethe, +Schiller, and other master-minds. The publishers are to be congratulated +on the general get-up of the book."--_Chester Courant._ + + +The Church Bells of Holderness. + +By GODFREY RICHARD PARK. + +_Crown 8vo, cloth extra. Only 300 copies printed._ + +CONTENTS:--History--Legends--Marriage Bell--Passing Bell--Priest's +Bell--Litany Bell--Sermon Bell--Saunce Bell--Sanctus Bell--Sacring +Bell--Jesus Bell--Howslinge Bell--The Arc Bell--Curfew Bell--Harvest +Bell--Pancake Bell--Christmas Day--Good Friday--Easter Sunday--All +Hallows'--Royal Oak Day--Gowrie Plot--Gunpowder Plot--Change +Ringing--Dedication of Churches--Inscriptions on the Church Bells of +Holderness--Dedication of Church Bells--Index. + +"To all who are interested in church bells Mr. Park's book will afford +interesting reading."--_Hull Times._ + +"A capital volume includes much out-of-the-way information on the bell in +history, legend, and custom, and cannot fail to entertain all who take an +interest in the church bells."--_Leamington Advertiser._ + +"Mr. Park's volume makes a welcome contribution to antiquarian +literature."--_Hull Christian Voice._ + + +Essex in the Days of Old. + +EDITED BY JOHN T. PAGE. + +_Demy 8vo, cloth gilt, 7s. 6d. Numerous illustrations._ + +CONTENTS:--Witchcraft in Essex--Charles Dickens and Chigwell--Hadleigh +Castle--Daniel Defoe in Essex--Harbottle Grimston, Puritan and Patriot--In +the Reign of Terror--John Locke and Oates--The Homes and Haunts of +Elizabeth Fry--The Notorious Dean of Bocking and the "Eikon +Basilike"--Barking Abbey--The Round Church of Little Maplestead--Waltham +Holy Cross--Queen Elizabeth in Essex--The Salmons and Haddocks of +Leigh--The Dutch Refugees and the Bay and Say Trade--John Strype and +Leyton--The Brass of Archbishop Harsnett--Old Southend--The Bartlow +Hills--Index. + +"An extremely interesting and useful contribution to historic +literature."--_East Anglian Times._ + +"An attractive volume."--_Norfolk Chronicle._ + +"The volume is choicely illustrated, and should attract readers far beyond +the county of which it treats."--_Birmingham Daily Gazette._ + +"It is a readable and useful book."--_The Times._ + + +The Doomed Ship; or, The Wreck in the Arctic Regions. + +BY WILLIAM HURTON. + +_Crown 8vo., Elegantly Bound, Gilt extra, 3s. 6d._ + +"There is no lack of adventures, and the writer has a matter-of-fact way +of telling them."--_Spectator._ + +"'The Doomed Ship,' by William Hurton, is a spirited tale of adventures in +the old style of sea-stories. Mr. Hurton seems to enter fully into the +manliness of sea life."--_Idler._ + +"It is not surprising to learn that the Arctic boom has created a great +demand for books of this class, and that the volume before us in +particular is selling rapidly. It is entitled 'The Doomed Ship, or the +Wreck in the Arctic Regions.' By William Hurton. (London: William Andrews +and Co., 5, Farringdon Avenue, E.C. Three Shillings and Sixpence). It is +of general interest, but it is written in an attractive style, nicely +printed, and handsomely bound. Brimful of adventures in the ice-bound +regions of the North, it also gives a great deal of information which the +reading public are taking a great interest in since Dr. Nansen's exploits +have been brought before the world. The story is told in the form of a +narrative by the nephew of the captain of the 'good barque Lady Emily, +chartered from Hull to Tromso, in Holland.' The vessel sailed on a +Friday--an unlucky day in the eyes of superstitious sailors, and which to +their minds accounted for the dire experiences which afterwards befell the +vessel and the crew. The vessel was laden with coals and salt, and, after +leaving Tromso, was to proceed to St. Petersburg to ship timber and deals +for the return voyage. She had twenty-two hands, and at Tromso took on +board a passenger for Copenhagen, in the person of a young Danish lady, +Oriana Neilsen by name. Chepini, an Italian lad, in revenge for being +flogged by the captain's orders, so manipulated the compass that the ship +was taken hopelessly out of her course. Chepini is hung up to the yard +arm. The vessel is at the time surrounded by icebergs, a gale springs up, +and she is forced on to one of the bergs and remains fast by the bow, +while a mutiny occurs among the crew, which is not quelled till the +mutineers are killed, as well as the captain and cook. Oriana plays a +noble part in the affair, and the nephew of the captain and she take +command of the remainder of the crew, now consisting only of "Blackbird +Jim" and an Irishman and a Scotchman. As the ship's bows were stove in, +and it was evident that whenever she cleared the iceberg she would go +down, the longboat was cleared away, and all the provisions and other +necessaries put into it. The survivors landed on an ice-bound shore, and +the story of their adventures, discoveries, and subsequent rescue does not +contain a dull page. Oriana is the heroine throughout, and the late +captain's nephew of course falls in love with her. When they return to +civilisation the couple are, of course, married, and they, also of course, +live happily ever afterwards. All the same, the development of this state +of affairs comes naturally enough in the narrative, which is, as we have +already indicated, full of interest."--_Eastern Morning News._ + +"The interesting story ends in a satisfactory manner."--_Dundee +Advertiser._ + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + +Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_. + +Superscripted characters are indicated by {superscript}. + +"St." and "St" are used inconsistently throughout the original text. + +The misprint "usua" has been corrected to "usual" (page 224). + +Other than the correction listed above, inconsistencies in spelling and +hyphenation have been retained from the original. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Bygone Church Life in Scotland, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BYGONE CHURCH LIFE IN SCOTLAND *** + +***** This file should be named 34941.txt or 34941.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/9/4/34941/ + +Produced by Brian Foley and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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