Religion of the
Highlanders – The Culdee Church – Its Constitution and Form of
Government – Poetry – Ossian Considered as an Historical Poet – New
Proof of his Authenticity – Music
THE Highlanders,
like all other people who have long preserved their original manners and
mode of life unaltered, possessed a peculiarly imaginative character.
While their manners remained in primitive rudeness, while their
occupations were still those peculiar to the early stages of society,
the energy of savage nature displayed itself in the increased power of
imagination and the engrossing influence of fancy. But these natural
properties of primitive society were greatly heightened in the
Highlanders by the wild and romantic aspect of their country, which
exercised a powerful influence on their character; and the force of
imagination over the Highlanders has consequently displayed itself from
the earliest period in the wildest superstition and poetic fancy.
What ancient
religion of the Highlanders was before the light of Christianity dawned
upon them, whether the Druidical, as suspected by some, or a belief
peculiar to themselves, would lead to too extensive an enquiry to
ascertain. The direct authority upon this subject is not great. Tacitus
mentions, that when the Caledonian clans united for the purpose of
opposing Agricola, that they ratified their confederacy by solemn
sacrifices. The only other writer from whom any information can be
obtained is Adomnan, from whom it appears, that the Picts, whom we have
formerly shown to have been the ancestors of the Highlanders, were
possessed of a religious establishment of priests, and that a Pagan
religion, full of the usual ceremonies and superstitions, existed among
them. The most authentic record, perhaps, of the nature of that religion
exists in the numerous stone monuments and circles which have remained,
and may still be seen in such profusion, in spite of the ravages of
time, the zeal of early converts to Christianity, and the consequences
of agricultural improvement; and there can be little doubt that a
comparison of these interesting monuments, in connection with the few
historical facts on the subject which are known, would afford a curious
and sufficiently accurate picture of the nature of that ancient
religion. The conversion of the northern Picts to Christianity took
place in the sixth century, and was effected by the preaching of St.
Columba, whose memory is still regarded with veneration by the
Highlanders as the great apostle of their nation. The form of church
government established by him in the north of Scotland was of a very
peculiar nature, and is deserving of some notice, as well from that
circumstance as from its having given rise to a modern controversy of
unusual length and bitterness. In the Christian church founded by that
great man, and afterwards termed the Culdee Church, the zealous
Presbyterian sees at that early period the model of a pure Presbyterian
government, and the great principle of clerical equality acknowledged in
a remote and obscure island, at a period when the rest of the world
submitted willingly and blindly to Episcopal supremacy. The devout
believer in the apostolic origin and authority of Episcopacy can
discover nothing essentially different from the diocean episcopacy which
was at that time universal in Christian churches; and the Roman Catholic
sees evidence of the existence of his own peculiar doctrines in that
church which both the other parties are agreed in pronouncing to be the
solitary exception to the universal prevalence of its dogmas and the
earliest witness against its corruptions. When a controversy of this
nature has arisen regarding the constitution of an early Christian
church, it is manifest that that church must have possessed considerable
peculiarities of form and character, and that it must in some respects
have differed from the other churches of the period. If in no respect
distinct in form or doctrine from the generality of Christian societies
of that period, it is difficult to conceive how any doubt could have
arisen as to its polity; and it is still more difficult to suppose that
it could have presented an exact counterpart to a modern system of
church government, confessedly formed upon no ancient model, and the
invention of the sixteenth century. Each party has unfortunately been
more anxious to prove its resemblance to their own cherished system of
church government than to ascertain its actual constitution. They have
eagerly seized hold of every circumstance which appeared to favour their
hypothesis, and attempted to neutralise and explain away whatever was
adverse to their system; but until we find it impossible, from an
impartial examination of all the scattered notices of the history of the
Culdee church which have come down to us, to extract a consistent form
of church government, although that form may have been a peculiar one,
we are not entitled to assume, à priori, that the form of the
Culdee church must have been the same with some known form of church
government, and in consequence to disregard any embarrassing notice,
however trivial. The obscurity which attends this subject has arisen
from various causes. We cannot expect to find in the older writers much
information regarding the internal history of the country, because,
while they anxiously recorded the principal events of its external
history, there was nothing in its manners and form of society to strike
them as peculiar or worth of commemoration. With regard to the Christian
church established in the country the case is different, for when we
consider that at that period all Christian churches possessed
essentially the same form of government, and that a form believed to be
of apostolic institution, we may well suppose that if the Culdee church
differed essentially from other churches in any important particular,
that that circumstance would be carefully recorded by every
ecclesiastical writer; and if we find that ecclesiastical writers do
impute peculiarities to that church, we may safely conclude that, with
the exception of the differences of form mentioned by these writers, it
must in all other respects have been similar to other Christian
societies throughout the world. Modern writers have added much to the
difficulty of the question by overlooking the fact, that the Culdee
church of Scotland was the offspring of the church founded in Ireland a
century before by St. Patrick, and by persisting in viewing the Culdee
church as it existed in Scotland unconnected with its mother church,
although it formed an essential part of that church for many centuries
after its foundation by Columba; but the difficulty has been increased
still more by not distinguishing between the different churches which
existed at the same time in Ireland and in Britain. During the
occupation of Britain by the Romans, that island was inhabited by two
races – the Britons and the Picts, and the latter were divided into two
nations of the southern and northern Picts; Ireland at the same period
was also inhabited by two races – the Scots, who possessed the south and
west, and the Cruithne, or Irish Picts, who inhabited the north and
east. In the fourth century the Scots brought the whole island under
subjection, and after that period, while their name extended over the
whole of Ireland, we find the two races distinguished by the titles of
the Southern Scot and Northern Scots. The Britons were the first of
these different races who became Christian, and after them the Scots,
both having been apparently converted to Christianity before the
departure of the Romans from the island. After that event we find, in
A.D. 431, Palladius sent from Rome as Primus Episcopus [Much
confusion has arisen among our historians by mistaking the meaning of
the expression “Primus Episcopus.” It most certainly signified first
bishop, in respect of dignity, or primate, not first bishop in order of
time.] to the “Scotos in Christum Credentes,” and in the
following year Patrick made his mission to Ireland. It would be
unnecessary here to refute the absurd idea formerly held, that the Scots
to whom Palladius was sent were the Scots of Britain, as there is no
point which has been so clearly established as the fact that his mission
was to Ireland; but historians have been much puzzled to reconcile the
mission of Palladius with that of Patrick. Patrick unquestionably
converted his Scots from Paganism, and that for the first time;
Palladius, it is equally certain, was sent but one year before to Scots
already Christian. Many attempts have been made to account for this, all
of which are equally unsatisfactory. But when we find, on examining the
best authorities, that Saint Patrick in fact converted the people of the
north of Ireland only, that he founded his archiepiscopal seat at Armagh
in Ulster, and that the jurisdiction of that primate never extended
beyond that part of the island, the inhabitants of which were termed the
northern Scots, it will appear very plain that the Scoti in Christum
Credentes, to whom Palladius was sent as primate, were the southern
Scots, or Scots proper, and that Saint Patrick’s mission was directed
principally to the Irish Picts, or northern Scots, who alone formed his
church. In A.D. 414, Ninian, a bishop of the British church, converted
the southern Picts to Christianity; and in 565, Columba, a presbyter of
the church founded by Saint Patrick, by the conversion of the king of
the northern Picts, added that nation to the church, which previously
consisted of the northern Scots of Ireland only. To the same church also
belonged the Scots of Britain, who came over from the north of Ireland
sixty years before the arrival of Saint Columba. Now, it must be
remarked that the churches of Britain, of the southern Scots founded by
Palladius, and of the southern Picts by Ninian, had all emanated from
Rome; and although they did not owe ecclesiastical obedience to the
aspiring bishops of that city, they unquestionably derived their form of
government and worship from her, and, accordingly, when again brought in
contact with their mother church, in the person of Augustine, they were
not found to differ in any essential particular. The church of the
northern Picts and northern Scots, to which the name of Culdee was
afterwards given, and which owed its origin to St. Patrick, was in a
very different situation, for it as unquestionably emanated from the
church of Gaul, a church always opposed to that of Rome, and claiming a
descent from the church of Ephesus, and its founder, St. John the
Evangelist; and it was under the teaching of St. Martin of Tours that
St. Patrick framed the system of church government which he afterwards
introduced. The principal writer from whom any information regarding the
Culdee church is to be derived is the Venerable Bede, and we accordingly
find that writer imputing to the Culdee church certain peculiarities in
its outward form and government which he implies not to have existed in
other churches.
The passage in
Bede upon which both parties found their principal argument with regard
to the form of government in the Culdee church, is the following: –
“Habere autem solet ipsa insula rectorem semper Abbatem Presbyterum
cujus juri et omnis provincia et ipso etiam episcopi, ordine inusitato
debeant esse subjecti justa exemplum primi doctoris illius, qui non
eqpscopus sed presbyter extitit et monachus.” From this passage the
Presbyterian argues that if a presbyter possessed the supreme government
of the church, it must have been essentially a Presbyterian church, and
overcomes the objection derived from the mention of bishops by asserting
that the word had a different signification in the
Culdee church from
that in other churches, and did not imply a distinct or superior order
of clergy. The Episcopalian justly argues that Bede must have used the
word episcopus in its ordinary sense, and consequently that the church
must have been an Episcopalian one; but he attempts to explain the
anomalous circumstance of these bishops being subject to a presbyter by
asserting that the monastery of Iona possessed a bishop as well as an
abbot, and that the episcopi who were subject to the presbyter abbot
were merely those bishops of Iona over whom the abbot had some
jurisdiction in temporal matters. But it is manifest that neither of
these explanations are satisfactory, and that an impartial consideration
of this passage would bring us to a very different conclusion from
either. By the use of the words “ordine inusitato,” it is plain that the
only anomalous circumstance connected with Iona was the subjection of
the bishops to its presbyter abbot. By confining the expression to this
circumstance, he clearly implies that the church possessed an order of
bishops exactly in the same manner as other churches; nor, of the
episcopi were not a separate and superior order, but merely implied
certain missionaries, as the Presbyterians allege, do we see any room
for the remark that their subjection to the abbot was an unusual
institution.
On the other
hand, if the Episcopalians are right in asserting that there was nothing
unusual or anomalous in the constitution of the Culdee church with the
exception that the Abbot of Iona exercised jurisdiction over the Bishop
of Iona in some temporal matters, independently of the fact that we
cannot trace either in the Irish Annals, which contain many particulars
regarding Iona, or in other historians, the smallest trace of any Bishop
of Iona different from the Abbot of Iona, it is difficult to suppose
that Bede would have intimated the existence of an unusual form of
government in the strong and precise terms which he uses. But that the
Culdee church was essentially an episcopal church, and possessed an
order of bishops distinct from and superior to that of the presbyter, is
very clear, both from an impartial consideration of the language of Bede
throughout, and from other writers.
In mentioning
the mission of Aidan and of Finan to the Northumbrians, Bede adds in
both cases that they were sent “accepto gradu Episcopatus,” and what
Bede implied by the “gradus [sic] Episcopatus” abundantly appears from
the case of Cedd, who was ordained Bishop of Finan. The words of Bede
are “qui (Finan) ubi prosperatum ei opus evangelii comperit, fecit eum (Cedd)
episcopum in gentem orientalium Saxonum, vocatus ad se in ministerium
ordinationis aliis duobus episcopis; qui accepto gradu
episcopatus rediit ad provinciam et majore auctoritate coeptum opus
explens, fecit per loca ecclesias, presbyteros et diaconos ordinavit.”
& c.
In another
part of his work he mentions that Pope John wrote a letter to the heads
of the Scottish or Culdee church, which letter bore this superscription,
“Dilectissimis et sanctissimis Thomiano Columbano, Chromano, Dimae et
Bartano episcopis, Chromano, Hermannoque Laistrano, Stellano et Segeno
presbyteris, Sarano ceterisque doctoribus seu abbatibus Scotis”;
[Bede, lib. ii., c. 19.] which implies both the existence and the
superiority of the episcopal order of the church. Adomnan is equally
distinct that the bishops were a superior order to the presbyters. He
narrates that Columba upon one occasion sent for a priest at the
consecration of the eucharist, and that suddenly casting a look at him,
he desired him to use the privilege of his order, and break the bread
according to the episcopal mode. [“Hunc solus episcopus episcopali
ritu frange panem – nune scimus quod sis episcopus.” – Adom. Vit. S.
Columb., lib. i., c. 16.] The unavoidable inference from these
passages is unquestionably that the Culdee church was no exception to
the universal prevalence of episcopacy in Christian churches at that
period, and to this inference the Presbyterian party oppose merely the
passage of Bede formerly quoted; but allowing to that passage its
fullest force, to which the other passages are equally entitled, the
fact there stated is not only, as we shall afterwards see, compatible
with the existence of episcopacy in that church, but the direct
inference from the passage unquestionably is that the Culdee church
possessed an order of bishops superior to that of the presbyters.
The Culdee
church being, then, essentially an episcopal church, let us now examine
its peculiarities, and in what respected it differed from the form of
church government universally prevalent at that period; and in doing so
it will be necessary to bear in mind that the Culdee church included the
province of the northern Scots in Ireland, as well as the northern Picts
in Scotland, and that it was the work of St. Patrick in the fifth
century, not that of Columba in the sixth (as generally supposed), who
merely added the nation of the northern Picts to its jurisdiction.
In the year
380, about fifty -two years before the Culdee church was established by
Saint Patrick, the monastic system was for the first time introduced
into Europe by Saint Martin of Tours; and previous to the rise of this
extraordinary and powerful institution, the Catholic clergy consisted
merely of the three orders of bishops, presbyters, and deacons.
The bishops
were, generally speaking, seated in the principal towns, and exercised
an ecclesiastical jurisdiction over a certain extent of the surrounding
country which formed his diocese, while the spiritual wants of its
inhabitants were supplied by the subordinate orders of presbyters and
deacons. Such was the state of the clergy when the Culdee church took
its origin, but a new institution had arisen in the East, which was
destined afterwards almost to supplant the clergy, and to wield the
whole power of the Establishment. Although they subsequently attained
this extraordinary elevation, yet at the time of which we speak the
monasteries had barely risen to a station which placed them on a par
with the clergy. Originally the monasteries were societies exclusively
composed of laymen, who adopted this mode of retiring from the active
duties of the world, and devoting themselves to a life of contemplation
and devotion. Their spiritual wants were supplied by the bishop and
presbyters of the diocese in which the monastery was situated, and to
whose jurisdiction they were subject in ecclesiastical matters.
Subsequently they found it expedient to procure a presbyter for the head
of their monastery, and after this period the abbots of the monasteries
were universally presbyters, while the monks remained laymen as before.
They thus in some degree dispensed with the services of the neighbouring
clergy, and while the bishop was obliged to render assistance to the
monastery in matters which belonged exclusively to his order to perform,
the abbot was relieved entirely from his jurisdiction. Such was the
condition of these societies when Saint Martin established the first
European monastery at Tours. The monks still consisted of laymen, and
the abbot was an ordained presbyter. The dangerous consequences likely
to result from such an institution, if elevated beyond its original
position, were not seen, and its advantages and merits were
over-estimated to such a degree as to facilitate their rapid advance to
power. To the progress which they had already made, Martin added the
step of providing a bishop for the exclusive use of the monastery, who
was elected by the abbot and monks, and ordained by the adjacent bishops
to the end that he might preach and do episcopal offices in the
monastery; and this bishop was obliged to reside within its walls, and
submit to its monastic rule. In this state Saint Patrick arrived at
Tours, and there can be little doubt that it was under the teaching of
Saint Martin, who was his uncle, that he framed the system of church
polity which he afterwards introduced into Ireland. In that system we
should consequently expect to find the same weight and preference given
to the monastic institutions over the clerical which Saint Martin had
already manifested, and that the same effect should follow from that
preference, of an additional step in their progress being attained by
the monastic orders at the expense of the secular clergy.
Now, in
examining the Culdee monasteries, the first peculiarity which strikes us
is, that the monks were no longer laymen, but ordained clergymen,
[This fact is acknowledged by all who have written upon the subject,
although the inference to be drawn from it, and the peculiarity of such
a circumstance, does not appear to have been perceived.] and in this
that church is certainly an exception to all other churches. But we find
a still more remarkable peculiarity in their system, for we see many of
the abbots of their monasteries possessing the same character,
exercising the same functions, and in every respect occupying the same
position with the bishops of the other churches; and we find the
monasteries over which these abbots presided possessing a jurisdiction
over a certain extent of territory in the neighbourhood, in the same way
as the bishops did in other churches. Now, when we add to this fact that
although, as we have seen, the episcopal order existed in this church,
we find it impossible to trace the existence of any individual bishop
distinct from the abbot of the monastery, the presumption naturally
arises in the mind that the great peculiarity of the Culdee church was
the union of the clerical and monastic orders into one collegiate
system, where the abbot and the bishop was the same person, and the
inferior orders of presbyters and deacons formed the monks who were
under his control; and accordingly, on an attentive examination of the
older historians, we find that this was actually the case. We can
distinctly trace a division of the Culdee abbots into two orders, of
“abbates et episcopi” and of “abbates et presbyteri;” thus, in the
letter addressed by Pope John to the Culdees, the superscription implies
that the five bishops as well as the five presbyters were abbots, and we
accordingly find in the Irish Annals several of these bishops and
presbyters mentioned as abbots. Besides this, the bishop-abbots are
frequently alluded to in these Annals. [In Tighernac the following of
those to whom the letter is addressed are mentioned: – OF THE BISHOPS.
A.D. 661–Death of Tomene, Abbptt-bishop of Armagh. A.D. 654–Death of
Colman, Bishop of the O’Telly’s and Abbot of Cluanirard. A.D. 643–Death
of Cronan, Bishop of Antrim. A.D. 659–Death of Dima, Bishop of Conere.
OF THE PRESBYTERS. A.D. 650–Death of Cronan, Abbot of Maighe Bile. A.D.
646–Death of Laisre, Abbot of Bencair. A.D. 652–Death of Segine, Abbot
of Iona. A.D. 662–Death of Saran, Abbot of the O’Cridans. One of the
Bishops and two of the presbyters are not mentioned in these Annals, and
were therefore probably in Scotland. Of bishop-abbots, besides the two
above mentioned, I find in Tighernac the following: – A.D. 663–Tuenoc,
the son of Findlain, Abbot of Ferna, and Dimna, two bishops, died. A.D.
687–Death of Osen, Bishop of the Monastery of Finntan. A.D. 715–Celine,
Bishop-abbot of Ferna, died. A.D. 718–Death of Dubduin, Bishop-abbot of
Cluanirard.] This distinction appears to have been drawn between
monasteries which had been founded by the primate, and the abbots of
which were ordained bishops, and the monasteries which had emanated from
those ruled by a bishop-abbot, which being intended to remain
subordinate to the monastery from which they proceeded, and not to form
a separate jurisdiction, were governed by presbyter-abbots, and
resembled in many respects the chorepiscopi of the ancient church, and
the archdeaconries of the present established church of England.
The character
of the Culdee church, then, may be considered to have been in its polity
a collegiate system, as carried to its fullest extent. In its mode of
operation it may be viewed as a missionary church, and this was a system
which was evidently peculiarly adapted to the state and character
of the people among whom the church was established.
Both the
nation of the northern Scots of Ireland and that of the northern Picts
of Scotland consisted at that time of a union of several tribes, when
the power of the king was circumscribed and his influence small; while
the turbulent chiefs, almost independent, and generally at war with each
other, rendered the royal protection unavailable for the security of any
church constituted as most Christian churches at that time were. The
Culdee polity preserved the principle of clerical subordination and
centralisation, then and justly considered indispensable for the
efficiency of a Christian church, while it avoided the dangers arising
from the peculiar form of society of their converts by the peculiar form
of government which their church assumed. Enclosed in a monastery with
their ecclesiastical superior, the clergy were safe from aggression, and
issuing forth as missionaries from its walls in time of peace, they
carried the blessings of Christianity to the savage members of the tribe
in which they had been cast.
Of the history
of the Culdee church little is known, and the annalists merely afford a
few of the leading changes which took place in its external form. At
first it consisted of the province of the northern Scots in Ireland
alone, and the primacy over the whole church was vested in the monastery
of Armagh, the bishop of which was styled Primus Episcopus. The province
was inhabited by numerous tribes, in each of which a monastery was
gradually founded, governed by a bishop-abbot, whose jurisdiction
extended over the territories of the tribe [In Tighernac the
bishop-abbots of the different monasteries are frequently styled bishop
of the tribe in which the monastery was situated, thus–A.D. 579. Death
of Mani, Bishop of the O’Fiatachs. See two instances in the former
note.] in which his monastery was placed; and where the spiritual
necessities of his diocese required an additional establishment of
clergy, a subordinate monastery was founded, over which a presbyter only
was placed. In 565, Columba, the presbyter-abbot if the monastery of
Dearmagh, which had emanated from that of Cluanirard, over which Finan
ruled as bishop-abbot, converted Brude, king of the northern Picts, and
added that nation to the Culdee church. The monastery of Iona, of
course, remained of that subordinate species ruled by a presbyter-abbot,
and accordingly it appears that the additional monasteries required by
the exigencies of the infant church in the Highlands were still for many
years afterwards supplied from the episcopal monasteries of Ireland. In
the middle of the seventh century the primacy was removed, for what
cause we know not, from Armagh to Scotland. [Cujus monasterium (Iona)
in cunctis pene septentrionalium Scottorum et omnibus Pictorum
monasteriis non parvo tempore arcem tenebat. – Bede, lib. iii., cap. 3.]
The great veneration and sanctity which attached to the character of
Saint Columba, as first apostle of the Picts, had invested the monastery
of Iona, which he had founded, with a superiority over the other Pictish
monasteries, and consequently the primacy became the undoubted right of
that monastery; but the almost idolatrous veneration entertained for
Saint Columba, produced the anomalous and extraordinary departure from
the principle of episcopacy of the abbot of Iona assuming the primacy of
the Culdee church and retaining his character of presbyter. That such
was the fact it is impossible to avoid admitting, if full force be given
to the passage of Bede, frequently alluded to; but that this is
incompatible with the existence and privileges of the episcopal order
there is no reason for thinking; nor if this explanation, resulting from
an impartial examination of the history of the church and the language
of the old writers, be admitted, is it possible to produce a single
passage which would infer that the Culdee church was not essentially,
and in the strictest meaning of the term, an episcopal church.
On the
transference of the primacy from Armagh to Iona, many of the other
monasteries of the Picts became episcopal, and were placed under the
government of the bishop-abbot. In this state the church continued with
little variation till the conquest of the southern Picts by the Scots of
Dalriada. The church which previously existed among the southern Picts
was one of those which had emanated, though not immediately, from Rome,
and it differed in no essential particular from other churches. On the
conquest of that race by the Scots, the Culdee church and system of
polity was introduced by the conquerors, and in consequence of this
great accession of territory to the Culdee church, and of the ruin of
the Irish part of their Establishment by the Danes, the primacy was once
more removed from Iona to Dunkeld, a church belonging to the northern
Picts; and this monastery being an episcopal one, the anomalous form of
government which had resulted from the primacy of Iona ceased for ever.
[It is universally admitted that Dunkeld was founded after the conquest,
by Kenneth M’Alpine. That the primacy was likewise removed to it appears
from the two following passages in the Annals of Ulster: – A.D. 864,
Tuathal Mac Artguso, Primus Episcopus of Fortren and Abbot of Dunkeld,
died. A.D. 864, Flaibhertach Mac Murcertaigh, Princeps of Dunkeld,
died.] With Dunkeld the primacy continued for forty years only, for
the Culdee churches established by Kenneth in the conquered territory of
the southern Picts, and which were peculiarly Scottish, appear to have
become jealous of their subjection to the Pictish bishop of Dunkeld, and
to have taken advantage of the usurpation of the throne by Grig, a chief
of the northern Picts, to procure from him, probably as the price of
their submission, the removal of the primacy from Dunkeld to Saint
Andrews. [The Chronicon Elegiacum says of Grig, “Qui dedit Ecclesiae
libertates Scoticanae quae sub Pictorum lege redacta fuit”; and as it is
in this reign that the Bishop of St. Andrews is first termed “Primus
Episcopus,” it is plain that the above passage refers to a removal of
the primacy to the Scottish church of St. Andrews.] After this
period there appears to have been no alteration in the outward form of
the church until the reign of David.
There are few
facts in the early history of the Christian church more striking than
the remarkable ease and pliability with which the church adapted itself
in its outward form to the political constitution of the countries in
which it was established. When Christianity was established by the
Emperor Constantine as the religion of Europe, we see the extreme
facility with which the church assumed a polity formed after the model
of the Roman. On the fall of the empire by the invasions of the northern
barbarians, the Christian church alone maintained its position, and
again adapted itself to the forms of society which arose among these
nations when settled in its territories.
In the Culdee
church this quality of the early Christian societies is no less
apparent. When confined to the north of Ireland, which was inhabited by
a number of independent tribes, scarcely owing subjection to a common
head, we find the diocese of the episcopal monasteries corresponding to
the extent and numbers of these tribes; and when the same system was
introduced into Scotland, we should naturally expect to find the same
accurate adaptation of the church to its territorial divisions. The
districts occupied by the early tribes of Scotland are in every respect
the same with those territorial divisions which were afterwards known as
earldoms, and accordingly there is nothing more remarkable than the
exact accordance between these earldoms and the position of the
episcopal monasteries, so far as they can be traced. This will appear
from the following table: –
Culdee Monasteries. Earldoms or Tribes.
St. Andrews Fife.
Dunblane Stratherne; Menteith, not an old earldom.
Scone Gowrie.
Brechin Angus; Mearns, formerly part of Angus.
Monymusk Mar.
Mortlach Buchan.
Birney
(Moray) Moray.
Rosemarkie Ross.
Dornoch Caithness.
Iona Garmoran.
Dunkeld Atholl; Argyll, part of Atholl.
The exact
coincidence of these dioceses with the most ancient territorial
divisions, forms an important and sure guide in ascertaining the extent
and history of the latter.
David I. is
generally supposed to have altogether overthrown the Culdee church, and
to have introduced the Roman Catholic clergy in their place; but this is
a most erroneous view of the nature and extent of the alteration
effected by him. To give a complete view of the change which took place
in his reign would lead to too great length here; it may be sufficient
to mention that it appears, from all the authentic information on the
subject that remains to us, that the alteration produced by him affected
the church in three particulars only. First, by the establishment of
parochial clergy, and consequently superseding the missionary system
which had hitherto supplied the spiritual wants of the people. Secondly,
by the introduction of the monastic orders of the Roman Catholic church
into the country; and, thirdly, by appointing a bishop over the
parochial clergy, and declaring the territory over which the Culdee
monastery had exercised their jurisdiction to be his diocese, in the
Roman Catholic sense of the word. The extent and number of the dioceses
remained unaltered, being just those which had previously existed among
the Culdees. The bishop was almost invariably the Culdee abbot, who was
taken out of his monastery; his place was supplied by an officer termed
a prior, and wherever the privilege was not expressly taken from them,
the prior and Culdee college constituted the dean and chapter of the
diocese, and elected the same person as bishop whom they would formerly
have elected to precisely the same office under the title of abbot.
Such is a
short sketch of the peculiar form which the Christian church,
established among the Picts or Highlanders of Scotland, assumed on their
conversion from paganism by the exertions of St. Columba, the great
apostle of their nation. But, while the influence of Christianity, and
the zeal with which it was propagated, soon dispelled the public and
general worship of false gods, and substituted the true religion as a
professed belief in place of their former idolatry; yet, as might be
expected from a character so enthusiastic as that of the Highlanders, a
great part of the spirit of that idolatry remained under the appearance
of Christianity, and exhibited itself in the wild and fanciful
superstitions of the Highlanders and the superstitious practices which
they still observed on their holidays.
To enter into
this subject at all would lead to an investigation of a length
altogether incompatible with the limits of this work, and it is with
regret that we leave a subject which affords such a curious and
interesting picture of the Highland mind. It may perhaps be sufficient
to remark, with a view to direct the enquiries of others, that the
superstitions of the Highlanders consisted principally of three kinds:
first, a belief in a species of supernatural beings, termed by them
Daoine-shith, or fairies; secondly, a belief in the influence of
departed spirits over the affairs of this life; and thirdly, in
second-sight, a subject of considerable difficulty, and one altogether
peculiar to the Highlanders. Besides their superstitious belief, the
spirit of their ancient idolatry was retained in many of their
festivals, the principal of which was the Beltain, or first day
of May, and Samhuin, or Allhallow eve; in the practices observed
by them on these days may still be traced the rites of their ancient
religion. Although their idolatrous worship had been superseded by
Christianity, yet, as long as the feuds and their constant habits of
predatory warfare remained among them, they do not appear to have
imbibed much of its spirit. a French writer of the early part of last
century remarks, “Ils se disent Chretiens, mais toute leur religion est
fort tenebreuse, et ils ne craignent guères ni Dieu ni Diable.” The case
is now very different, for since peace has been restored to the hills
they have advanced with wonderful rapidity, and they may now with truth
be called the most moral and religious part of the population of
Scotland.
Among savage
nations poetry is always the first vehicle of history; before any
regular means are taken for perpetuating a knowledge of the early
history of their tribes, they are usually in the habit of reciting in
verse the deeds of their forefathers, and their early traditions are
thus handed down from the most remote antiquity. This custom, although
common to all nations in a primitive stage of society, was peculiarly so
to the Highlanders. The natural disposition of a hunting and pastoral
people for poetry and hyperbole, was increased in them by the peculiar
and imaginative nature of their character, by their secluded situation,
and the romantic aspect of their country; and thus poetry was from the
earliest period almost the only medium by which a knowledge of the great
event of their early history, the achievements of their forefathers, and
the illustrious examples presented for their emulation was conveyed to
the Highlanders, and the warlike and somewhat chivalrous character of
the nation preserved.
Of this
species of historical poetry, a very ancient and remarkable specimen has
been preserved to us in the Albanic Duan, a poem, written in the
eleventh century, and containing the earliest traditions of the origin
of the nation before the fables of the Scottish monks had full sway in
the country; but, by a fate altogether singular in the case of the
Highlanders a complete body of these ancient versified histories have
been handed down in the poems of Ossian. It is not my intention here to
enter into the much disputed question of the authenticity of these
poems, taken as a whole; public opinion has long been made up as to
their literary merit, and no proof of their authenticity which could be
adduced could make any alteration in that opinion. When considered as a
poet, it only remains for the individual admirers of Ossian to examine
the claims of his works to be considered as the productions of a remote
age; but when looked upon as an historian, it becomes a matter of great
and general importance that the question of their authenticity should be
set at rest. It is now universally admitted that the ground-work of
these poems is ancient, while it is generally held that upon that
foundation a modern superstructure has been raised; with that question
we have here nothing to do, but the point to be determined is, whether
the historical system contained in the poems of Ossian is a part of that
ancient ground-work, and an actual record of the events of remote ages,
handed down through a long course of centuries, or whether it is the
invention of a modern and ignorant antiquary. It has long been adduced,
as a great objection to the authenticity of these poems, that the system
of history contained in them is untrue, and that it is diametrically
opposed to the real history. The historical facts contained in Ossian
relate principally to Ireland, and the difference between the Ossianic
system and that generally believed may be stated in a very few words.
The system maintained by the Irish writers is, that Ireland was
inhabited by one race of people termed Scots, who are said to have come
from Spain: that they divided Ireland into four provinces, Ulster,
Leinster, Munster, and Connaught, each of which was governed by a petty
king of the Scottish race: over these kings was placed a monarch, who
reigned at Fara, in Meath, and these monarchs were all of the same
Scottish line and can be traced from father to son. The Ossianic system
is very different from this. According to Ossian, Ireland was inhabited
by two races of people: the south if Ireland was possessed by a people
termed by him Firbolg; the north by Gael, who came originally from
Scotland. These two peoples, according to Ossian, were constantly at war
with each other; and in the second century the Firbolgs, by a series of
victories having obtained possession of the greater part of Ireland,
Conar, the brother of the King in Scotland, came over to the assistance
of the Gael, and driving the Firbolgs out of the northern part of
Ireland, founded a race of kings, who ruled in Temora or Tara, in Meath.
The kings of the race of Conor remained on the throne till the middle of
the third century, when the Firbolgs, under the command of Cairpre,
again obtained the upper hand.
These systems
of history are, it will be observed, diametrically opposed to each
other, but if it should appear that the system of Irish history, now
believed, is not older than the fourteenth century, and that the history
contained in the Irish Annals before that time is identic with that of
Ossian; and if it should also appear that these older annals were
unpublished, and inaccessible at the time Ossian was published, and even
for centuries before that time, and that the very existence of a
different system being contained in these older annals was unknown, it
is plain, not only that this objection must fall to the ground, but that
it must follow, as an incontestable proposition, that these poems were
not the work of Macpherson, but must have been older, at least, than the
fourteenth century.
The proof of
these facts will be taken from the Annals of Tighernac and Innisfallen,
the oldest and most authentic annals which the Irish possess. The former
is a work of the eleventh century; the latter was written in the
beginning of the thirteenth. The book remained inaccessible to all but
those who could read the ancient Irish language and character, and were
for the first time printed, along with a Latin translation, in the year
1825. Before entering upon the subject of inquiry, it will be necessary
to make one remark, in order that the argument may be distinctly
understood, which is, that in all the Irish annals the name given to the
earliest inhabitants of Scotland is Cruithne, and this
appellation is always applied by them to the inhabitants of Scotland, in
contradistinction to the Scots, or inhabitants of Ireland.
In the first
place, therefore, it can be proved from Tighernac that the Ultonians or
inhabitants of the north of Ireland, were Cruithne, and therefore must
have come from Scotland. The kings of Ulster were also called kings of
Eamania; thus, Tighernac says, Elim, son of Conrach, reigned in Eamania
ten years, and afterwards Fiachia was killed by Elim, son of Conrach,
that is, by the king of Ulster. Again, he says, Angus Fin, king of
Eamania, reigns, and afterwards he says a battle was fought by Cormac
against the Ultonians, in which Angus Fin, with his Ultonians were
routed; and that the kings, both of Ulster and Eamania, were called
kings of th Cruithne, appears from the following passages. In 236, he
says, Fiacha Araide reigns in Eamania ten years, and afterwards he
reports a battle between Cormac and the king of Munster against Fiacha
Araidhe and the Cruithne. Again, he says, in the year 565, Diarmait is
killed by Black Hugh, king of Ulster; and Adomnan, alluding to the same
transaction, says that Diomit was killed by “Aidus nigrus Cruithnicum
gente,” by nation a Cruithne.
It appears,
therefore, from Tighernac, that the north of Ireland was inhabited by a
people of the same race with the inhabitants of Scotland. Secondly, it
can be proved from Tighernac and the Annals of Innisfallen, that a
people called Bolgas inhabited the west and south of Ireland. Thus
Tighernac says, that Fiacha, King of Ireland, was killed in Temora, or
as others relate, in the Plains of Bolgas; and the Annals of Innisfallen
mention Hugh, king of Connaught, and at the same time say that he was of
the race of Bolgas. The same annals mention, in 332, a battle in Fermoy
by three Collas, along with the seven tribes of the Bolgas, who are
called Oilnegmacht, from inhabiting Connaught.
We thus see
that the Ossianic system of history is supported by these old annalists
in the few facts recorded, and that in direct opposition to the later
and generally believed system.
We now come to
the particular details of the history which extend during the second and
third centuries, and in the following table the two systems are
confronted with each other, with a view to the distinct understanding of
the argument, as follows: –
Irish
System Ossianic System
One
people in Ireland called Scots. Two races in Ireland. In the
North, the Gael; South, the Bolga.
Conn,
King of Temora Conar, a Gael from Alban.
Art Art
Cormac
Cormac, killed by
Cairpre
Cairpre, King of the Bolga.
It will be
seen that in the Irish, or generally believed system, four kings are
made to succeed each other, from father to son, during that period;
while in the Ossianic system, Conar, a Scottish chief, comes over to
Ireland and founds a family of kings of his own line, and his grandson,
Cormac, is killed by Cairpre, of the race of the Bolgas, who in
consequence mounted the throne.
In
corroboration of this, I remark, first, that Conn is said by Tighernac
to have conquered the northern half of Ireland from the Momonians, or
inhabitants of Munster, and that he is called by him of the race of the
Cruithne. Thus, he remarks, counting all the kings after Conn was on the
throne, seven kings of the race of the Cruithne reigned over Ireland, of
course including Conn in that race. Secondly, all agree that Conn was
succeeded by his son Art or Arthur, and Art by his son Cormac. Thirdly,
Cairpre is not made by Tighernac the son of Cormac, but his father is
not given at all. And the Annals of Innisfallen shew that he was of the
race of the Bolgas, for Tighernac says in 322 that Fiach, King of
Ireland, was killed by the three Collas, sons of Eacho, who was son of
Cairpre; and the Annals of Innisfallen say that the battle was fought by
the Collas along with the seven tribes of Bolgas, thus showing that
Cairpre, their grandfather, must also have been of that race.
We thus see
that Ossian is supported throughout by the old Irish annals, and that
even when he is in direct opposition to the system of Irish history at
present received. Now when we consider that the history contained in
these old annals was unknown, and the annals themselves
unpublished when the poems of Ossian were first given to the world, we
must come to the conclusion that the poems are necessarily as old at
least as the fourteenth century, and that in them we have handed
down to us a complete body of the most ancient historical poems by which
a knowledge of the early history of the country was preserved to
posterity. [An argument of the same nature has been used with great
success by the well-known Danish antiquary, Finn Magnussen. He proves
that the Odenism, or religion of the Lochlans, as contained in Ossian,
is a correct picture of the ancient religion of the Scandinavians, and
that the real nature of that religion was unknown to modern scholars
when Macpherson published his Ossian, and could not have been known to
him. Finn Magnussen is unquestionably the best authority on the subject
of the religion of the Eddas.] It may, however, be proper to notice
here shortly some of the other objections which have been made to Ossian
as a historian.
One objection
is, that the Lochlannach, or Norwegians, are mentioned in these poems,
but that the Norwegians did not appear on the coasts of Britain till the
ninth century. In answer to this I have only to remark, that the work
Lochlannach applies equally to all the tribes inhabiting Scandinavia and
the North of Germany, and to mention the well-known piracies of the
Saxons, who infested the shores of Britain from the second century to
the fourth, when they were defeated and driven out of the Orkneys by
Theodosius. Another objection is, that Ossian placed the Plain of
Moylena in Ulster, while in fact it is in Meath. [This is a most
dishonest objection, for every Irish antiquary knows that there was a
plain of Moylena in Ulster. I regret much to see it repeated by Mr.
Moore, in his excellent History of Ireland; a work that would have been
more valuable if he had not adopted the absurd and untenable system of
Sir William Betham.] To answer this, I must refer again to the Irish
annals, and to the best Irish antiquaries, from whom it appears that
there existed an extensive and well-known plain in Ulster under that
name. O’Flaherty mentions, p. 193– “Tuathal built Rathmor, or the Great
Palace, in the Plains of Moylena, in Ulster.” O’Connor also, the best
and most learned of the Irish antiquaries, under the word “Rathmor
Moylena,” says– “Arx magna campi Lena amplissima et antiquissima
Ultoniae post Eamnaniam etsi ab aliis constructa habeatur
regnante Tuathalie,” A.D. 130.
The place is
mentioned three times in Tighernac, under the years 161, 565, and 682.
It will be unnecessary to enter into a detailed examination of these
passages, and it will be sufficient to mention that they show very
clearly that the Plain of Moylena was in Ulster. A third
objection is, that Ossian places Tamora, the well-known palace of the
kings of Ireland, in Ulster, while its situation is known to have been
in Meath; but in this objection very great injustice is done to Ossian,
for it is assumed that the Tura of Ossian, which he undoubtedly places
in Ulster, was the same with Temora, but in Ossian the most marked
distinction is made between Tura and Teamharr, or Temora; the former
appears in Ossian to have been a seat of the Cruithne in Ulster, and was
probably the same place with the Rathmore Moylena of the Irish
annalists, while he places the latter considerably to the south, without
marking out its exact situation and implies that it was the seat of the
Irish kings. From these few remarks it will appear, the value of Ossian
as an historical poet must stand in the highest rank, while, whether the
chief part of these poems are of ancient or modern composition, there
can remain little doubt that in him we possess the oldest record of the
history of a very remote age.
Where a
national disposition towards poetry and recitation is exhibited by a
primitive people, the sister art of music is seldom found to be wanting,
and accordingly the Highlanders have at all times possessed a peculiarly
strong inclination for melody. The style of the Highland airs is
singular, being chiefly remarkable for it great simplicity, wildness,
and pathos or expression. The scale used is different from the ordinary
or diatonic scale, and is defective, wanting the fourth and the seventh;
but this very defect gives rise to the pleasing simplicity and
plaintiveness of the Highland melody, and imparts to their music a
character peculiarly adapted to the nature of their poetry.
The most
ancient instrument in use among them appears to have been the harp; and
although it has been for many generations unknown, there is little doubt
that it was at one time in very general use throughout the Highlands.
The author of “certain curious matters touching Scotland in 1797: says,
“they delight much in musicke, but chiefly in harps and
clarischoes of their own fashion. The strings of the clarischoes are of
brass wire, and the strings of the harps of sinews, which strings they
strike either with their nayles growing long, or else with an instrument
appointed for that use. They take great pleasure to decke their harps
and clarischoes with silver and precious stones; and poor ones that
cannot attayne hereunto, decke them with chrystall.”
Innumerable
other passages might be quoted to prove the very general use of the harp
in the Highlands, while the records attest the existence of a numerous
race of harpers attached to the different chiefs. Thus, in the lord high
treasurer’s accompts we find the following entries: –
“May
10th, 1503. Item to Makberty, the clairsha, to pass to the Isles,
iijb.x8.
“Sept.
3d, 1506. Item to Maklain’s clairsha, ix9.
“Sept. 4, 1506. To
Earl of Argyle’s clairsha, xiiij8. and to Duncan Campbell’s bard, v8.”
And in a roll of
Macnaughtan’s soldiers, shipped at Lochkerran, “11th
December, 1627" which has been preserved among the Morton papers,
appears “Harie M’Gra, harper fra Larg.” An interesting specimen of the
Highland harp of this period has been preserved in the family of Lude.
But besides the fact of the harp having been in general use at this
period, there is complete evidence that it has been used in this country
from the most remote period. The country lying to the north of the
Firths of Forth and Clyde, including the greater part of the Highlands,
abounds in large pillars of stone, carved with ancient sculptures, both
intaglio and in relief. These sculptured pillars are evidently of very
great antiquity, many of them even antecedent to the introduction of
Christianity, and they form a most valuable and interesting record of
the ancient manners and customs of the country. Upon two of these erect
stones are found representations of the harp, exactly resembling the
Highland harp in their design and appearance. On the first of these
stones, the date of which is fixed from various circumstances to be of
the ninth century, there is an armed figure seated and playing on the
harp. The other is of still greater antiquity, and on it there appears a
herp of an exactly similar construction. The use of the harp appears to
have rapidly declined in the Highlands during the seventeenth century,
in consequence of the civil wars which commenced at that period, and at
length it was entirely superseded by the more martial instrument, the
bagpipe, the origin of which is altogether unknown, although, from the
character of the music, there is greater probability in supposing it an
ancient instrument of the Highlanders than of foreign introduction.
Besides the
harp, the horn appears to have been in very ancient use among the
Highlanders. It is found on two of these remarkable sculptured crosses,
and in both cases it is apparently used in hunting.
