ABERDEENSHIRE: MORAYSHIRE: ROSS-SHIRE: PERTHSHIRE: STIRLINGSHIRE

DEER: KINLOSS: FEARN: INCHAFFRAY: CAMBUSKENNETH
DEER (Cistercian)

c. 580, Founded by St Columba and his nephew Drostan—1219, Refounded by William Comyn, Earl of Buchan.

AMIDST the low lying hills of the vicinity, the ruins of Deer abbey still lift their shattered walls towards the sky. Founded by St Columba and his nephew, and dedicated to St Drostan, they are situated in the older portion of the parish of Deer, where the incidents related in “Sir John of the Rose” are supposed to have been laid. Of the fine building, which was formerly erected “to the glory of God,” only very little remains; but although the ruins are so scanty that they afford but little pleasure to the arch?ologist or the tourist, they are treasured and reverenced on account of the immense service they have rendered literature in keeping safely hidden from the ravages of time documents of great antiquity, and consequently of great value as recording the customs and mode of living of our ancestors. The manuscripts, written in Latin, were discovered in the 18th century, but little attention was directed to them until these precious fragments of monastic literature found their way to Cambridge, and in 1860 the attention of{170} students was drawn to them by the learned librarian, Mr Bradshaw. It was then found that the small octavo of 86 pages contained St John’s Gospel, portions of the other three Gospels, the Apostle’s Creed, a fragment of an office for the visitation of the sick, and lastly, a G?lic Rubric. Some notes on the various endowments to the monastery were written on the blank sheets—evidently penmanship of the 12th century. These are of the greatest interest as being the earliest examples of Scottish G?lic known. The Gospels mentioned above were chiefly in the Vulgate version of St Jerome.

The old family of Comyn, a member of whom re-founded the abbey in the 13th century, was defeated in battle at Deer by the followers of Edward Bruce.
KINLOSS (Cistercian)

1150, Founded by David I.—1303, Edward I. makes the abbey his headquarters—After the Reformation the abbey demesne passes into the Bruce family.

Situated near the Moray Firth, these few ruins, often, doubtless, the scene of warfare, owe their origin, as is so often the case, to supernatural agency. King David—a hardy and brave man, though at times relentless and cruel towards his victims—is supposed on one occasion to have lost his way while hunting in the forest, and, like many poor mortals when threatened with personal danger, to have invoked his Maker’s aid to extricate him out of his dilemma. In answer to his prayer a dove appeared and led him to the site on which subsequently he built the abbey of Kinloss, and which was in due time inhabited by Cistercian monks. About a century and a half later, Edward I., King of England, having won a decisive victory over the Scots at Falkirk, had reason again to assemble a large force—the Scots not being entirely{171} subjugated, having gained several successes in the meantime. In 1303 he led his army over the frontier, and making the abbey his headquarters, “marched victorious from one end of the kingdom to the other.” Wallace, through the treachery of a friend, fell into Edward’s hands, but though deprived of her heroic leader, Scotland was not to be entirely overcome. Edward I., secure of success, invaded the northern country four years later, and was, as we know, attacked by a fatal illness at Berwick. His son then succeeded to the throne, but having neither the wish nor the capability to follow in his father’s footsteps, the battle of Bannockburn eventually gave Scotland her longed-for independence in 1314. Edward III. also paid a visit to this abbey in the year 1336. The abbey demesne passed after the Reformation into the possession of the Bruce family, whose ancestor, Robert, so bravely led his men to victory at Bannockburn; and, though they in turn sold it, they acquired, as Earls of Elgin, the title of baron through it.

Only the foundations of the abbey church are visible, and not a remnant of the walls remains. For this, Cromwell is to be held partially responsible. His soldiers carried away the stones of the sacred building for the purpose of erecting the Pretender’s Castle at Inverness. But that unfortunate man, on whom there is perhaps more malice and spite vented than on any other of England’s celebrities, was not altogether responsible for the present dilapidated state of the abbey, as for years, nay centuries, in common with so many other religious edifices, the building served as a quarry for all the houses and walks in the neighbourhood. Of the domestic buildings some remnants still remain, consisting of a cloister wall, two arches, a prior’s house and part of a dwelling-house.{172}
FEARN (Pr?monstratensian Canons)

c. 1230, Founded by the Earl of Ross in the reign of Alexander III.—1607, Annexed to the bishopric of Ross by James VI.—1742, Some slates and part of the roof fall during service, killing forty-four people.

As is so often the case in regard to various abbeys, the mutilated remains of this conventual church, once belonging to the Pr?monstratensian monastery, founded at Fearn in the 13th century, are now appropriated for the religious worship of the inhabitants of the town—the nave, chancel, and two side chapels (all of the Early English period), being converted into the parish church of the district. The abbey, curiously enough, was originally founded at Edderton, twelve miles to the north-west, but was subsequently placed in its present position, owing, it is thought, to the fertility of the soil. It was built by Farquhar, first Earl of Ross. Patrick Hamilton, the noted Scotch reformer of the 16th century, was abbot there. He and George Wishart—both ardent followers of John Knox—were burnt at the stake for heresy during the primacies of Archbishop Beatoun, and his successor.

It may be of interest to follow the various stages of Scottish religion from early Celtic times until the Reformation.

“From the days of St Columba up to the 12th century, the old Celtic Church of Scotland preserved its independence; but it had to bow before the onward march of papal usurpation just as the Church of England had done. Their wild nature and their tribal feuds made the Scots a ready prey to the diplomacy of papal embassies when the sister kingdom sought for aid against Norman conquerors, and the Scots allowed the Pope to claim feudal lordship over them that he might help them to keep the English south of the border. The ecclesiastical supremacy obtained by Anselm over the Scottish Church was only temporary, for Pope Clement III. was induced (A.D. 1190) to declare the Scotch Church independent of any authority outside his own. After that the Scotch clergy fell into the worldly minded{173} habits of medi?val Christianity, and many scandalous pr............