Aberdour and Inchcolme. Being historical notices of the parish and monastery. In twelve lectures

Front matter

ABERDOUR AND INCHCOLME. Edinburgh: Printed by Thomas and Archibald Constable FOR DAVID DOUGLAS. LONDON HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO CAMBRIDGE MACMILLAN AND BOWES. GLASGOW . . . v^TtTI^>S. " JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS. RUINS OF INCHCOLME ABBEY FROM THE SOUTH. Aberdour and Inchcolme BEING HISTORICAL NOTICES OF THE PARISH AND MONASTERY IN TWELVE LECTURES BY THE REV. WILLIAM ROSS, LL.D. AUTHOR OF ' BURGH LIFE IN DUNFERMLINE IN THElOLDEN TIME,' ' PASTORAL WORK IN THE COVENANTING TIMES,' ' BUSBY AND MTS NEIGHBOURHOOD,' ETC. EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUGLAS TO WILLIAM HENRY GOOLD, D.D. EDINBURGH Œ.j)i0 Uolume ie inacribeD IN TOKEN OF THE AUTHOR'S RESPECT AND AFFECTION AFTER A FRIENDSHIP WHICH BEGINNING AT ABERDOUR HAS DEEPENED WITH THE FLOW OF MORE THAN THIRTY YEARS.

Preface

. THE Lectures which compose this volume were written, chiefly as a relaxation from professional work, and delivered to the inhabitants of Aberdour more than twenty years ago. Designed for popular audiences, they are written in a simple, spoken style. They do not offer to the confirmed antiquary the minute details and constant reference to authorities which his habit of mind demands ; and to very grave people the little pleasantries which occur may appear trifling. But such readers will be good enough to bear in mind the audiences to whom the Lectures were originally adapted, and they may find that what lightened the task of listening to historical details has also made the reading of them more easy. As regards the subjects with which the volume deals, it may be said, first of all. that this is the only attempt to give anything like a full account of the Monastery of Inchcolme, drawn mainly from its charters.

To those who live in the neighbourhood of the ruins of the Abbey, whether on the Fife coast or the Midlothian shore of the Firth, the want of infor mation regarding the old Religious House must

PREFACE.

. X often have been felt. But great difficulties have lain in the way of providing this. The original Chartulary of the Abbey seems to be irrecoverably lost ; and few can be expected to wade through the Macfarlane transcript of it in the Advocates' Library. The author had a copy of this MS. made, and through the kindness of the Hon. John Stuart, afterwards Earl of Moray, he got admission to the charter-room at Donibristle, which brought other valuable papers connected with the Monastery under his notice. He has also been at pains to consult every authority within his reach that was thought likely to give information on the subject. The most of these authorities, if not all, are named in the body of the Lectures, and it will be a matter of regret if any of them are omitted. To the author it seems most desirable that the information contained in the printed Chartularies, and even those still in manuscript, should be brought within the reach of the ordinary reading public.

He has attempted to do this in the case of the MS. Chartulary of Inch colme, but could wish that he had been more successful. He has endeavoured to reproduce the living past, in its broader and more important lines of thought and action, and has not forgotten that mere lumber, however ancient, is lumber still. As regards the historical notices connected with Aberdour, the author can only hope that his old friends, the inhabitants of the village and parish, will derive some pleasure from the reading of this volume, and that his researches will do something to call

PREFACE.

. XI attention to a beautiful and interesting health resort, in which many of his happiest years were spent. It may seem strange to in spite of some, that, many requests to give these Lectures to the public, so many years should have been allowed to elapse between their delivery and their publication. But occupied as the writer has been with busy pastoral work, in a health resort still more frequented than Aberdour, it has only been of late, when failing health has made an assistant necessary, that he has found leisure to prepare this volume for the press. This delay has, however, enabled him to add a number of facts, which make his account of the Monastery and the parish still more complete. The author has only further to add that, amidst such a multiplicity of statements, stretching over so many years, it will not be thought wonderful if, in spite of all his care, some errors have crept into his book, and some important facts have been left unnoticed.

And as regards the moralisings which are found in the Lectures, it has been his aim in all he has written, not only to exhibit the great natural beauty and the rich historical interest of the neighbourhood with which he has been deal ing, but also to advance the cause of morality and religion. Bridge of Allan, May CONTENTS. LECTURE I. Nature and plan of the work — Sources of information — Notices of the parish and church in the twelfth century — Natural features of parish — The Castle : its antiquity and appearance — The Viponts and Mortimers— The ballad of Sir Patrick Spens — Randolph, Earl of Moray — The Douglases — Origin of the family — The ' Flower of Chivalry ' — The Regality of Aberdour — The first Earl of Morton — The Regent Morton — John, Lord Maxwell — William, the eighth Earl — The Castle burned — Cuttlehill — The dishonest trooper — The gallery and the schoolmasters, .......

Page i LECTURE II. The old church and churchyard — The church a pre-Reformation one — The architecture of it — Inscription under west window — A church in Aberdour as early as the beginning of twelfth century — An early Columban settlement ?— Fight between William de Mortimer and Canons of Inchcolme — Contest between the Canons and Simon of Balran — The chapel of Beaupr-i — The ' Fechtin' Bishop ' and Richard of Kirkcaldy — St. Fillan and his luminous arm — The Pilgrims' Well — The Hospital of St. Martha : its site, foundation, endowment, confirmation, occupants, career, and fall — The Sisterlands, 29 LECTURE III. The Monastery of Inchcolme — The influence wielded by monastic institutions — Interest connected with the island — Danish monu- CONTENTS. XIV ment — St. Columba — The hermit's oratory — Foundation of Monastery — Alexander the Fierce — Bull of Pope Alexander the Third — List of churches and other possessions— The Order of Augustinian Canons — Early monastic edifice — Diocese of Dun keld — Bishops buried on Inchcolme — Story of the ' Fechtin' Bishop ' — An Abbot of romance — Legend of Sir Alan Mortimer's daughter, ......

Page 53 LECTURE IV.

The Monastery at first a priory, then an abbey — The Augustinian Rule — The dress of the Canons — Bricius and Walter, Priors, and their contemporaries — Michael and Walter, Priors — The unbearable excesses of Prior William — Excellent qualities of Prior Nigel — Henry, the first Abbot — Quarrel about the mill of Aberdour — Abbot Thomas, his reign and resignation- Abbot William, fight about the multures of Cullelo— An appeal to the Pope — Abbot Bricius — Raids and miracles — Abbot Walter — Abbot John Dersy — Abbot Laurence and his edifices — Abbot John — The 'sitting down of the Cardinall' — Abbot Walter Bower — Abbot Michael — Patrick Graham, Archbishop of St. Andrews, a prisoner in the Monastery — Abbot Thomas — Abbot John — Richard Abercromby, the last of the Abbots— The martyr, Thomas Forret, Vicar of Dollar — Sir John Luttrell, Knight and Abbot, .... . . 78 LECTURE V. Possessions of the Monastery — Gifts of King David the First — Kincarnathar — Donibrysell — Fear of the English rovers — Lauin the Lesser — Ecclesmaline — Innerkinglassin and Kilrie — Churches of Aberdour, Dalgety, Rosyth, Auchtertool, and Beath — Possessions near Kinghorn— Tofts in Cramond and Edinburgh — Pagan the goldsmith — Tofts in Haddington, etc. — Kincarnie and Otherstown — Various rentals — A thousand eels out of Strathenry — William de Mortimer's gift of land, in his territory of Aberdour — Caer-almond — Restalrig — Inverkeithing and Fordell — The Avenels and Mores of Abercorn, their gifts — Richard of Inverkeithing and Constantine of Lochore — The fights of Fithkil or Leslie — Baledmon and Lundy — Fights about the mill of Aberdour— Story of the King's physician — The ' Crossaikers ' — Eglismartyn — Lochorward — The church of Dollar — Tenements in Haddington— Brego — Town of Wester Aberdour— Retour of the lordship of St. Colme — Feuing and alienation of the possessions of the Monastery— The Commendators— The suppressed Monastery becomes a receptacle CONTENTS.

XV for pirates, then a lazaretto — Reflections on the monastic system, ....... Page Hi LECTURE VI. The Regent Moray's birth, parentage, and upbringing— Made Prior of St. Andrews in the third year of his age — Other ecclesiastical .lonours heaped on the child — His youthful bravery — Accompanies the Princess Mary to France— His patriotism — Abandons the profession of Churchman— His place in the work of Reformation— Knox's influence over him — Compelled to abandon the cause of the Queen-Regent — A Commissioner to France to invite Queen Mary to return to Scotland— His devotion to her — His marriage, and Knox's sermon on the occasion — Quells disturbances on the Borders — The battle of Corrichie — Popish plots — His opposition to the Queen's marriage with Darnley — Flees into England — Returns after the death of Rizzio — Darnley's murder, and Mary's favour for Bothwell — Moray at the French Court — Mary's imprisonment in Lochleven Castle — Moray's interview with her — Accepts the Regency — Character of his government— Mary's escape from Lochleven Castle — Battle of Langside— Moray's efforts to save Mary's life — His assassination at Linlithgow — Testimonies of friendly and unfriendly historians to his worth, . . . 152 LECTURE VII.

Birth, parentage, and education of the Regent Morton — State of the country — Power of the Douglases, and their traitorous connection with Henry of England — Wily character of Sir George Douglas — Escape of James the Fifth from Falkland, and virtual banishment of the Douglases — Their return on the King's death — The capture of a wife and an earldom by sapping and mining — The marriage an unhappy one — A Lord of the Congregation — His late developed powers — Becomes Lord High Chancellor — The part he acted in connection with Rizzio's murder — This tragedy a virtual revolution — His relation to the murder of Darnley — The Quee n's relation to it — Bothwell's part in it — Disgraceful skirmishing between Morton and Kirkcaldy of Grange — Morton becomes Regent — Character of his government — Knox's warning — Charges brought against him, and his defence — Resigns the Regency — His residence at Aberdour — Is tempted to grasp power again — Is imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle, then in Dumbarton Castle — Brought to trial, condemned, and beheaded, .....

CONTENTS. XVI LECTURE VIII. The history of the old Church of Aberdour resumed — Its earliest Protestant ministers— Mr. Peter Blackwood : his wide sphere of labour— The Readers and Exhorters— John Fairfull, Exhorter and father of an Archbishop — Mr. Andrew Kirk, Vicar— John Row, the historian, schoolmaster at Aberdour — Story of the conversion to Protestantism of his father, the Pope's Nuncio — Contest about a stipend — A member of the ' Angelical Assembly ' — Mr. William Paton succeeded by Mr. Walter Stewart — Mr. Robert Bruce of Kincavil — Dalgety and Beath separated from Aberdour — Paganism of Beath — John Row and Colville of Blair befriend Beath — Mr. Robert Bruce's suspension — An exploit in pastoral visitation — Mr. William Cochrane and Mr. William Smyth, assistants, and their stipends — Mr. Thomas Litster — Mr. Robert Johnston — Notices of the public worship of the period — Communion seasons — Special collections made for various objects, . ....

Page 212 LECTURE IX. Events affecting the neighbourhood in the Covenanting Times — Object of the Covenant of 1638 — The grave of Robert Blair — His early life — His labours in Ireland — Seeks to escape persecution by going to America, but is driven back by storms— The Echlins of Pittadro — Blair's labours at Ayr— Translated to St. Andrews — Employment in public affairs — Appointed Chaplain to the King — His opinion of Cromwell — 'Cuffed on both haffets' — Sharp's treachery and persecutions — Blair confined to Couston Castle in Aberdour parish — Deathbed experiences— Anecdotes of him — His poor tombstone — His descendants — The ' Engagement ' — Renewal of the Covenant — The burden of the soldiers — Cromwell's invasion — The battle of Inverkeithing — Mr. Bruce's flight — The right of an Englishman to marry a Scotch girl — Aberdour men taken prisoners at the battle of Worcester — Margaret Gray's feelings towards her husband— Strange proceedings, with a view to discover Archbishop Sharp's murderer — Sufferers by fining in Aberdour parish, ........ 245 LECTURE X. Mr. Robert Johnston, ejected minister at the Revolution— An eight years' vacancy and its baneful results — Mr. David Cumming's labours — His frequent absences — Labours of the Kirk-Session, CONTENTS.

XVII as gathered from the Record — Number of elders — Their districts — Act for ' restraining the number of the Session ' — Hugh Bailzie, a troublesome member — His pipe of wine — His tendency to ' take loans' — Episcopal jealousy of the lay element — Frequency of meetings of Kirk-Session — Efforts on the part of the Session to encourage family worship — Visiting the town on Sabbaths and Tuesdays — Dealings with neglecters of public worship — Certificates — Care required in drawing conclusions from Session Records — ' Foully treated both with hands and tongue' — Dealings with cases of drunkenness — The notorious John Lochtie — The crime of selling drink to beggars — Sir John Erskine of Otterston — Dealings with Sabbath-breakers — William Craig's 'straiking of his wife' — A 'cock-and-bull' story — Case of murder at Croftgarie — Modes of punishment resorted to by the Kirk-Session : ' sitting down on the knees ' — the ' joggis ' — the branks — the stocks — sackcloth and the repenting stool — fining — ' Drink and shake hands ' — Usages connected with baptisms and marriages — The system of pledges — The abuse of ' pypers ' — ' Penny bridles ' — Usages connected with funerals — The beadle's hand-bell — The mortcloth — Burying in the 'queir' — The horologe — The cause of Education — The long labour to secure a school and schoolmaster's house — Mr. Francis Hannay — The doctor — Dealings with parents — Dame schools — Management of the poor — The box — Trades- Amusements, ......

Page 27° LECTURE XI. Superstitions prevalent in the neighbourhood in the seventeenth century — Definition of the term — Superstition vanishing before knowledge — Mirage — 'Death-tick' and 'death-warning' — Ecclesiastical miracles— Superstition of Dark and Middle Ages chargeable against the Roman Catholic Church— Witchcraft, how accounted for — The sin of the profession of it, and the crime against society— Belief in witchcraft wellnigh universal in seventeenth century — A bishop consulting a witch — The Earl of Angus refusing to do so — King James's treatise on Demonology — Mr. Bruce's incumbency the great period of witchbuming in Aberdour— Case of Janet Anderson— The ' Brodder ' and his needles— Margaret Cant's case— Heroic resolution of the Kirk-Session— Accusations against Margaret Currie, Catharine Robertson, and Janet Bell— Lord Morton's interference Delation by dying witches— Susanna Alexander thus accused —Instruments of torture had recourse to in some places— •Casting up' the sins of the dead— Bessie Lamb accuses CONTENTS.

XVIII Elspeth Kirkland of the crime of bewitching with a 'hairn tedder ' — Pretended divination by ' riddle and shears,' and ' key and Bible ' — Superstition traced to London ! — Mr. Francis Hannay's mode of proving a woman guilty of child-murder — Superstitions in the neighbouring parish of Inverkeithing — Mr. Walter Bruce of Inverkeithing a great witch-finder — Case of Robert Small— Sad case of the lady of Pittadro—Wife keeping versus witch-burning — Cases in Burntisland, . Page 315 LECTURE XII.

Ministry of Mr. Alexander Scot — Lord Morton's protest against his admission — Ebenezer Erskine's testimony to Mr. Scot's excellence — Acts of Kirk-Session pointing to pastoral diligence, in reference to education, morality, and care of the poor — John Stevenson has his ruinous house rebuilt — Troops in the Castle give much trouble — The Jacobite rising in 1715 tells severely on the parish — The Communion season in 1718, with tent-preaching on the Castle green — Mr. Scot's death — Wealth of the box — Revenue derived from mortcloth dues — Banking business of the Kirk-Session — Glance at general condition of the Church — The 'Marrow' controversy — Balance of parties in the Presbytery — Story of the forced settlement of Mr. John Liston — Lord Morton's high-handed measures — Protest of Ebenezer Erskine and others — Ordination of Mr. Liston by a ' Riding Committee ' — Mr. Nairne's sermon and ill-chosen text — Alienation of the people from the Church of their fathers — The dreary period that followed— Strange case of discipline — Elders deserting, and parents going elsewhere for baptism— John Millar deposed from the eldership— Strange mendicancy on the part of the Session — A badge for beggars within the parish — Begging cripples carried away on a ' slead ' — Collections made in Mr. John Liston's time — Mr. Robert Liston appointed colleague and successor — Fulness of secular details in Minutes — The mortcloths — The minister's travails in getting a church bell — Notices of times of dearth — Condition of the parish, its inhabitants and industries, at the close of the eighteenth century — Mr. Liston chosen Moderator of General Assembly — Dr. Bryce becomes minister of the parish — The Volunteer movement — Notable persons connected with Aberdour, ........ 34° CONTENTS. XIX