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+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: 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 *****
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