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DURING the 350 years occupied
by the Romans in attempting to conquer Scotland, a revolution took place in
the religious opinions of the people. The Druidical system, although
embracing such truths as that there is only one God, that the soul is
immortal, that men will be punished or rewarded in a future state according
to the actions which they have performed on earth, etc., yet, consisting as
it principally did of frivolous and debasing rites, particularly that of
offering human sacrifices, it could not stand before the power and progress
of divine knowledge. The individual or individuals who first introduced the
light of Christianity into the British Isles, are not certainly known. The
likelihood is, that during some of the rigorous persecutions carried on by
the Roman emperors against the early Christians, which was the means of
dispersing them over all parts of the known world, some of the converts
found their way to Britain, and there promulgated the faith which they had
embraced, and on account of which they had been called to suffer. The new
faith, by whatever person it was introduced, appears to have made rapid
progress in the minds of the people; and it is generally asserted that, in
the year 203, Donald, King of the Scots, with his queen and many of his
nobles, publicly embraced it, and were baptized. Then, from time to time,
arose certain illustrious divines, whom our ecclesiastical historians have
delighted to present in bright colours to the notice of their readers—such
as St Ninian, St Columba, St Kentigem, etc. St Kentigem, or St Mungo, who
flourished in the sixth century, after labouring with great zeal and success
in Wales, settled at last in the Vale of Clyde, founded a stately church at
Glasgow, and exercised a fatherly charge over the clergy in the adjacent
districts. We may conclude that a fabric for the exercise of the Christian
system had, by this time, been erected at Biggar, and that it was honoured
with occasional visits from the Clydesdale saint. It is not, however, for
fully 500 years after the time of St Mungo, that we have any authentic
reference to the Church of Biggar. The earliest allusions to it, or rather
to its clergymen, are to be found in the chartularies of the religious
houses.
The Church was a rectory in
the deanery of Lanark, and was dedicated to St Nicholas. Robert, the parson
of Biggar, is mentioned as a witness of a grant by Walter Fitzallan to the
monks of Paisley,
between 1164 and 1177. The
name of Master Symon, the physician of Biggar, and also, as has been
conjectured, the parson of the church, is given as a witness to a charter by
Walter, Bishop of Glasgow, between the years 1208 and 1232. About the year
1290, Philip de Keith, son of William de Keith, Knight Marischall, was
Rector of Biggar. In 1329 Sir Henry, Rector of Biggar, was one of the royal
chaplains, and clerk of livery to the household of the king. Walter, Rector
of Biggar, is mentioned in a charter of Malcolm Fleming, Earl of Wigton,
during the reign of David II. After this, very little is known regarding
Biggar Church and its incumbents for a period of two centuries.
In Baiamund’s or Bagimont’s
Roll, which, in the state in which it now exists, may be held to represent
the value of ecclesiastical livings in the reign of James V., the rectory of
Biggar is valued at L.66,13s. 4d., and in the Taxatio Ecclesiae Scotians at
L.58. By an indenture of assythment, and afterwards by a decreet arbitral in
the reign of James V., it received an additional endowment of L.10 yearly
from Tweedie of Drummelzier, ‘ to infeft ane chaplaine perpetualie to say
mass in ye kirk of biggair, at ye hye altar of ye sayme,’ for the soul of
John Lord Fleming, whom Tweedie had murdered.
It is supposed that it was
this endowment or mortification that first suggested to Malcolm Lord Fleming
the propriety of founding a collegiate church at Biggar, and conferring on
it a number of new endowments. He appears to have been a devoted Roman
Catholic. He had identified himself with the party who, at the time, were
striving, by every means in their power, to uphold the tottering fabric of
the Romish Church, and he was, no doubt, anxious to give a notable
manifestation of his zeal in the cause which they had so much at heart. The
principles of the Reformation, first enunciated in Germany by Martin Luther
in 1517, had now spread over all Europe, and were even making rapid progress
in the comparatively obscure realm of Scotland, and alarming the fears of
the devotees of the Romish superstition. Patrick Hamilton and George Wishart
had proclaimed these principles with impressive effect, and had testified
their sincerity by laying down their lives; and Sir David Lindsay of the
Mount, and George Buchanan, had written and published most pungent satires
on the pernicious doctrines and ungodly lives of the Romish priesthood A
corresponding desire was consequently manifested by the party, with whom
Fleming was connected, to prop up the superstructure of Romanism, which had
been so vigorously and successfully assailed.
The first intimation that we
have of Lord Fleming’s intention to build a collegiate church at Biggar, is
contained in a writ still preserved in the archives of the Fleming family.
It is from Gavin, Commendator of the Benedictine Monastery of Kelso, and
bears date the 26th November 1540. It states that he had heard of Lord
Fleming’s design to found and endow a college church at Biggar; that the
right of patronage of the Church of Thankerton had been obtained by the
Abbots of Kelso from his lordship’s predecessors; that in these evil times,
by the increase of Lutheranism, all true Catholics were bound to contribute
to so good a work; and that he was most anxious that his lordship should not
be diverted from his resolution, or suffer prejudice by the Abbots of Kelso
continuing to hold the patronage of the Church of Thankerton. On these
grounds, with consent of David Hamilton, then rector of the said church, he
transferred to Lord Fleming, in name of the college to be founded and built,
the right of patronage of that church, with its whole rents and emoluments,
to be bestowed on one or more prebendaries of the foresaid college. The only
reservation which he made, was that the Church of Thankerton should always
be provided with a vicar pensioner, who should discharge the clerical duties
of the charge, and have for his sustentation twenty merks Scots out of the
first and readiest of the teinds of the parish, with a house, garden, and
four acres of land This writ was confirmed by the Archbishop of Glasgow, at
Edinburgh, 1st May 1542.
The new church was founded in
1545, and erected on the site of the old building dedicated to St Nicholas.
The parson of the old church at the time was Thomas Chappell, who, on the
presentation of Malcolm Lord Fleming, was collated to his office by the
Archbishop of Glasgow, on the 17th April 1542. It has been supposed by some
persons, and among others by Grose, who took a sketch of the Church from a
window of the manse in 1789, and published an engraving of it in his work on
the ‘ Antiquities of Scotland,1 that the present edifice is much older than
the date above mentioned This, to some extent at least, is certainly a
mistake. From statements in the founder's testament, executed in 1547, and
also in a charter of the Abbot and Chapter of Holyrood connected with this
Church, and dated a few years afterwards, it is evident that the erection
had been commenced and carried on, to some extent, by the founder, Malcolm
Lord Fleming, but was evidently left unfinished at his death, in 1547. His
son and successor, James Lord Fleming, belonged to the same religious and
political party as his father, and was, no doubt, influenced by the same
views and feelings in respect to the new collegiate Church. He is understood
to have carried on the building, and to have left it in nearly the same
state in which it exists at present.
The style of the architecture
of the Church is Gothic, and the form of it is that of a cross. It was, no
doubt, intended to be all composed of ashlar work. The choir, transepts, and
tower have accordingly been built of dressed sandstone, brought evidently
from a quarry in the parish of Libberton, near Camwath ; but the nave is
constructed of rubble work, the stones employed being the rough whin which
abounds in the neighbourhood This may be a portion of the old Parish Church
made to harmonize with the original plan, or it may be a part of the
building executed in this manner by James Lord Fleming, with the view of
lessening the expense. It is said that the original plan embraced a spire,
which would have been a great ornament to the town, and a fine feature in
the landscape; but it was not built, and hence the unfinished state of the
Church is very commonly cited in the locality as an illustration of the
aphorism, ‘ Many a thing is begun that is never ended,1 like Biggar Kirk.
The walls of the tower from which the spire was to have sprung, have been
formed into a parapet with embrasures and loopholes, as if it was intended
to be a place of defence,—a use to which the towers and spires of churches
in Scotland were, in former times, not unfrequently put After all, however,
it may be questioned if it was ever intended to carry the tower higher than
it is at present It is certainly the fact, that central towers in Gothic
buildings very frequently terminate, not with a spire, but with a parapet
containing loopholes and embrasures similar to those of Biggar Kirk.
The building on the outside
is plain, presenting little more than the buttresses and mouldings peculiar
to Gothic architecture. It had two principal entrances, one in the south
transept, and the other in the western gable. The doorway in the west is
extremely plain, and is now built up; and the one on the south is composed
of an arch finely moulded. The corbels from which the mouldings spring, are
much defaced; but enough of them remains to show that they have been
ornamented with fine tracery work, and that the pattern of the one is
different from the other. On the handle or latch of the strong wooden door,
studded with nails, is the date 1697, referring most likely to the time at
which the door was made, and placed in its present position. On the left
side of this door are the remains of the ancient jougs, by which adult
offenders were fastened to the wall, and forced to remain a space of time
proportioned to their misdemeanors. On the right, at a lower elevation, are
staples, batted into the wall with lead, which were evidently intended to
suspend a pair of jougs for the confinement and punishment of juvenile
offenders. An excellent representation of this door and the chain of the
jougs is to be seen in the vignette to this volume. The buttresses on each
side of the gable of the south transept have been surmounted by carved
pinnacles; but these have long since disappeared, as well as the apex or
finial of the gable, which most likely was an emblem of the cross. The
remains of the cross on the apex of the north transept can still be very
distinctly observed On the lowest corbie, or, as they are here generally
denominated, crowsteps, of the western gable, is a carved shield of the
Fleming arms, with this peculiarity, that the cinquefoils, adopted from the
arms of the Frasers, are in the first and fourth quarters, instead of the
second and third, as they are usually found in the escutcheon of the Earls
of Wigton.
A large portion of the hewn
stones used in the building has the mark of the masons by whom they were
prepared. The practice of marking stones is known to have been observed by
masons for several thousand years. The design of it was to distinguish the
stones wrought by each workman, so that the merit or demerit of the
workmanship could at once be attributed to the proper individual It is not
uncommon to find two marks on one stone,—the one being the mark of the
hewer, and the other of the overseer, who, after inspecting the stone, and
finding it correctly wrought, put upon it the official stamp of his approval
The apprentices had generally what is called a blind mark, that is, one with
an even number of points or corners; while the journeymen or fellow-crafts
had one with an odd number, which might range from three points to eleven.
In the ancient lodges of Freemasons, a ceremony was observed at the time of
conferring a mark on a newly entered brother; and when this was over, his
name and mark were inserted in a book. We accordingly find that this was one
of the regulations adopted at a meeting of the masters of lodges, convened
at Edinburgh, 28th December 1598, by William Schaw, ‘Maister of Wark' to his
Majesty James VI., and General Warden of the Mason Graft in Scotland All the
old operative lodges, therefore, practised mark-masonry, and some of
them—and among others, the Lodge of Biggar Free Operatives—retain an
interesting roll of the marks which their members adopted and used. The
individuals who built Biggar Kirk were evidently mark-masons, and hence the
frequent marks to be found on the stones of which a portion of it is
constructed.
Two small buildings were at
one time attached to the Church, the one on the north side of the choir or
chancel, and the other on the south side of the nave. The one on the north
side, the traces of which are still to be seen on the wall of the Church, as
shown in the engraving of the Kirk, was the chapter-house, which in such
buildings was rarely to be found west of the transept. It was used for the
meetings of the provost and prebendaries, and most likely also as a mortuary
chapel The building on the south was originally, in all likelihood, the
vestry, in which the sacred utensils and vestments were kept; and perhaps it
also served the purposes of an eleemosynary, or almonry, in which alms were
distributed to the needy poor. It was in the end—and, indeed, in the memory
of some persons still living— used as a porch, and had seats all round the
walls. These buildings were removed about sixty years ago; but for what
reason, it is impossible, perhaps, now to say. Two buttresses on the iforth
side of the nave, and an arched gateway that stood at the entrance to the
churchyard, have also, in the course of time, been demolished.
The interior of the Church
was fitted up with considerable elegance. It had four altars. The high altar
and the altar of the crucifix stood in the choir or chancel, and the altars
of the two aisles were placed one in the south transept and the other in the
north transept, the two transepts being, in former times, very commonly
called * The Cross Aisles.* A screen divided the choir from the nave, and at
the eastern extremity of the choir, which was finely lighted with three
large windows, was the presbytery, into which no person was allowed to enter
except the priests. A stone on the north side of the choir had a carved
representation of a serpent,—an emblem which has a strange but emphatic
significance in the rites both of Paganism and Christianity. In the nave
were placed the pulpit, and the font for holding the holy water. The corbels
from which the groinings and arches of the roof sprung, were highly
ornamented with representations of doves, foliage, human heads, etc. These
are now much mutilated; but the heads on each side of the' eastern
termination of the nave are nearly entire, and are most likely intended to
represent the founder and his wife. In the north transept was the
organ-loft, the door to which still exists in the staircase which admits to
the tower. The ceiling, at least of the chancel, was originally of oak,
richly carved and gilt; but was removed a number of years ago, and one of
lath and plaster substituted in its place. In the tower is an apartment
which appears never to have been completed It is of square form, and has a
small window on each side ; but as these are filled with stone slabs, it is
quite dark, and can only be examined by the aid of a candle. The walls are
unplastered, and the floor and ceiling, if they ever existed, have
disappeared The oak joists, both above and below, are in a state of good
preservation. A very singular-looking shaft rests on a joist below, turns on
a pivot, and communicates with one of the joists above; while a second
shaft, with a hole in it near its, lower termination, is suspended from one
of the upper joists. It would perhaps not be easy to discover the purpose to
which this curious apparatus was applied The apartment has a spacious
fire-place, which seems to indicate that it was intended to be occasionally
occupied; but no reliable account can now be got of the use which it was
designed to serve. The tradition regarding it is, that it was the place to
which the Fleming family retired, or intended to retire, before and after
attending religious service in the Church, to assume and lay aside what was
called their ‘chapel graith.’ It is certain that the family had articles of
this kind, as is shown by the following bequests. The founder of the Church,
in his testament, says, ‘ I leif to James, my eldest son and air,* 4 the
chapell graith of siluer; that is to say, ane cross with the crucifix, twa
siluer span-dellers, twa siluer croadds, ane haly water fatt, with the haly
water stick, ane siluer bell, ane chalice with the patine of siluer, with
all the haill stand of vestments pertaining to the samen.’ James Lord
Fleming, in the testament which he executed at Dieppe in 1558, bequeathed
his ‘chapel graith* to his brother John. It consisted of the following
items:—*Ane silvere challice wfc ane pax, ane cryce of silvere, ane
eucharest of silvere, ane haly waiter fate, w* ane styk of silvere,
and ij crouats of silvere/ From these extracts it is
evident that the Flemings had not only a set of sacred vessels, but a
peculiar suit of garments, which they used while attending or performing the
rites of the Romish Church.
The
circular staircase already referred to was entered from the inside by a door
in the north-west angle of the chancel, and, besides admitting to the
organ-loft and the square apartment in the tower, communicated also with the
floor of the parapet or bartisan; and as this is covered with lead, being
open to the weather, it is usually called the Lead Loft. The door in the
inside of the Church was some years ago built up, and one in place of it cut
out of the staircase, as shown in the engraving. On the north-west side of
the interior of the staircase are the initials W.M., and on the south-east
side the initials I.H., and the date 1542. With regard to the initials
nothing can be said; and the date is certainly puzzling, as it is three
years prior to the time at which the present Church was founded. The stone
on which it is cut may have belonged to the old Parish Church, or some
person, at a period subsequent to the erection of the present Church, may
have cut it in a mere spirit of wantonness, or with a design to mislead We
put no confidence in it as calculated to establish the supposition of Grose
and others, that the whole of the Church is older than the year 1545, the
date of its foundation as a collegiate charge. The belfry was furnished with
a bell of a remarkably clear tone, which was heard for many miles round, and
was rung by a rope in the inside of the Church. This fine bell, which was
supposed to be as old as the Church itself, was unfortunately cracked by a
sexton, when tolling it at the funeral of one of the proprietors of the
parish, about forty years ago. The present bell is one of much inferior
quality, and is rung from the outside of the Church.
In the
inside of the Church a relic, now very rarely to be met with, is stiU
preserved. This is the cutty stool, on which the violators of ecclesiastical
discipline were wont, in the face of the congregation, to
make expiation for their offences. The punishment of the
cutty stool is referred to by Ferguson the poet as forming part of the
gossip around the farmer’s ingle:—
'And there how
Marion for a bastart son
Upo’ the cutty stool was forced to ride,
The waefu’ scald o’ our Mess John to bide.'
The cutty
stool of Biggar Kirk has the date 1694, with the
initndu
B. K., and is represented in the accompanying engraving.
 Another
relic preserved in the Kirk is a jug. It is apparently composed of pewter,
and very much resembles a small claret-jug. It is usually denominated a holy
water fatt or jug, as, according to tradition, it was used by the Roman
Catholic priests in holding holy water. After the establishment of the rites
of Presbyterianism, the jug was used in conveying to the Church the water
used in baptism. As an old relic connected with the Kirk, we give the
annexed engraving of it.
The Kirk,
although it has undergone many barbarous mutilations from the violence of
man, and suffered many injuries from the corroding hand of time, is still in
a state of good preservation, and holds out the promise of serving as the
Parish Church for ages to come.
A
proposal has lately been made to renovate the interior of the building, and
thus place it in a state similar, in some respects, to that in which it was
in former ages, and more in keeping with the altered spirit of the times.
This is to consist principally in filling the windows with stained glass; in
taking down the present ceiling of lath and plaster, and substituting one of
wood, with the groinings, pendants, and carvings, as near to the original as
can now be ascertained; and in cutting away the oak joists in the oentre
tower, and forming the lead loft into a glass cupola, in order to shed a
flood of light on the area of the Church. This proposal, with exception of
the last alteration, appears to be highly worthy of commendation; and it is
to be hoped that the present pastor of the parish, the Rev. J. Christison,
who seldom fails in any undertaking in which he embarks, will take it up,
and prosecute it to a successful termination.
Having
given a description of the building, we may now refer to the Charter of
Foundation. It is still preserved in the archives of the Fleming family,
and, with its ancient style of penmanship, and its large seals, has a most
venerable appearance. It is written in Latin, and is of great length. As a
full translation of it would occupy too much space, we will give the
substance of its most important points.
It is
addressed by Malcolm Lord Fleming to Cardinal Beaton of St Andrews. After
enumerating all that reverend father’s high-sounding titles, it goes on to
say that his Lordship, influenced by examples of piety and devotion, and
constantly desirous to increase the means of religious worship, and to press
forward more warmly and earnestly in the practice of pious deeds, so far as
justice and reason might warrant him, had been induced to found, endow, and
effectually erect a College or Collegiate Church at Biggar, with the
collegiate honour, dignity, and pre-eminence. The funds for this purpose
were to be drawn from the parish churches, benefices, chaplain-ries,
clerical revenues, and charities belonging to him by hereditary right, and
from other property bestowed on him by the favour of Almighty God He had
erected and endowed this Church to the praise, glory, and honour of the most
high and undivided Trinity; of the most blessed and immaculate Virgin Mary,
under the title and invocation of her assumption; of the blessed St
Nicholas, patron of the Parish Church of Biggar; of St Ninian the Confessor,
and all the saints of the heavenly choir. The object of the founder was the
safety of the soul of James V., late King of Scotland, of most worshiped
memory; the safety of his own soul; of the soul of his wife, Joan Stewart,
sister of the late renowned King; of the souls of his parents, benefactors,
Mends, and relatives, predecessors and successors; and of all the faithful
dead, especially those from whom he had taken goods unjustly, or to whom he
had occasioned loss or injury, and. had not compensated by prayers or
benefits. He had done all this with consent of the most reverend father in
Christ, Gavin, by the grace of God Archbishop of Glasgow, and of the wise
and venerable men, the deacons and canons of the Metropolitan Church of
Glasgow, in chapter assembled The foundation was to support a provost, eight
canons or prebendaries, four boys, and six poor men. The firm conviction of
the founder was, that in the solemnities of the mass the Son offered himself
to the Father Omnipotent, a rich sacrifice for a sweet-smelling savour; and
that to Him nothing more acceptable, gracious, and worthy could be
presented. His sincere belief in the Catholic faith also convinced him that
the mass had power to restore frail human nature, often falling into sin, to
the Father’s favour, to rescue the souls of the faithful from the pains of
purgatory, and bring them to the full enjoyment of happiness and glory. He
wished to have an assurance that he would not be found among the number of
those of whom it was said in the beginning, ‘They are a nation void of
counsel, neither is there any understanding in them. O that they were wise,
that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! ’ And
he had pondered in his mind what is written in the Apocalypse,
'And I heard a voice from
heaven saying, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from
henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours;
and their works do follow them.* The founder’s charity, piety, and desire
for extending the means of religious worship, having been thus evoked, he
had, out of his hereditary patronages and acquired property, endowed the
Collegiate Church of Biggar, for the provost, canons,
boys, and poor men, as already stated, and reserved only to himself, his
wife, and his heirs, the disposition, presentation, and endowment of these
officials, as often as the office of any one of them became vacant. The
collation of the provost was to belong to the Archbishop of Glasgow, and the
admission or installation of the prebendaries and boys was to be the daty of
the provost, or, in his absence, the President of the College for the time
being.
The
provost was to be called the Provost of the Collegiate Church of the Most
Blessed and Immaculate Virgin Mary, of Biggar. He was to celebrate the
Assumption of the Virgin, in the Church of Biggar, as the principal
festival; and he was to have for his sustentation, all and whole the
produce, rents, revenues, tithes, and emoluments of the rectory and vicarage
of the parish of Thankerton, in the diocese of Glasgow, along with its
tributes and offerings, and its manse and glebe. He was, however, to pay L.10
Scots to a curate, who was to undertake the cure of souls in the parish of
Thankerton, and to bestow on him two acres of land, near the Church, for a
manse and garden. The said curate was constantly to reside in the parish,
and discharge all the duties of his office in person. The provost was also
to bear all burdens, and meet all liabilities, ordinary and extraordinary,
that, in times past, attached to the Church of Thankerton.
The first
prebendary was to be called Canon of the Hospital of St Leonards, and was to
be master and teacher of the School of Song. He was to instruct the boys of
the College, and others, who might attend, in plain song, invocation or
pricksong, and discant. He was also to be well skilled in playing the organ
for the performance of divine service. He was to receive for his support,
throughout the year, the produce of the church lands of SpittaL The second
prebendary, who was to be instructor of the Grammar School, was to be
sufficiently acquainted with letters and grammar, and was to have, for his
yearly sustentation, the lands of Auchynreoch. The third prebendary, who was
to be sacristan of the College, was to have for his annual support the
chapel founded on the lands of Gamegabir and Auchyndavy, and dedicated to
the Virgin Mary, with its pertinents; and six merks of annual rent in
Kirkintulloch, along with two acres of land, for a manse and garden,
belonging to the chapel, and at that time in possession of Andrew Fleming of
Kirkintulloch. The duty of this prebend was to ring the bells, to light the
wax tapers and tallow candles on the high altar, the altars of the two
aisles, and the altar of the crucifix. For the maintenance of the tapers and
candles during winter, he was annually to receive L.5 Scots, drawn from the
produce and emoluments of the priest’s office in the Church of Biggar. This
prebend was also to prepare the vestments and ornaments of the four altars;
he was to wash, dean, and repair, as often as necessary, the cups,
vestments, and ornaments; and when this was done, he was to cover them up in
their respective places on the altars. For this service, he was to receive
the annual sum of L.5 Scots, levied from the priest’s office of the Church
of Biggar. The same prebend was to provide bread and wine for the
celebration of mass in the College; and for the expense of these elements,
he was annually to receive L.4 Scots out of the produce, rents, and revenues
of the rectory and vicarage of Biggar. The fourth prebendary was to have
charge of the poor men, while they were engaged in their devotions in the
College, and also the administration and distribution of the victuals and
other emoluments belonging to them; and was to render an account of the
discharge of his duties, in this respect, to the patron, or, in his absence,
to the provost and prebends. This canon was to receive for his sustentation
L.10 Scots, from the yearly rent of the lands of Drummel-zier, and L.7,
6s.
8d.
Scots, every year, drawn from the produce, rents, and revenues of the
rectory and vicarage of the Church of Biggar. Each of the other prebendaries
was to have for his support the yearly sum of L.17,
6s.
8d
Scots, levied from the revenues of the vicarage and rectory of Biggar, but
the special duties which they were to perfonn are not detailed. One of them
was to be vicar stipendiary of the Parish Church of Biggar, now erected into
a college, and was constantly to take his place in the choir, to sing, and
to exercise his divine office, unless when he was engaged with the special
duties of his charge and the administration of the sacraments. The
presentation of this vicar stipendiary was to belong to the founder and his
heirs, but his collation was to devolve on the Archbishop of Glasgow for the
time being.
The
founder also ordained that there should be attached to the College, in all
time to come, four boys with children’s voices, who were to be sufficiently
instructed and skilled in plain song, invocation, and discant, who were to
have the crowns of their heads shaven, and to wear gowns of a crimson*
colour, after the fashion of the singing boys in the Metropolitan Church of
Glasgow. They were to have, divided amongst them, all and whole the produce
of the priest’s office of the Parish Church of Lenzie, in the diocese of
Glasgow, except so much as might be necessary for the sustentation of a
priest to discharge the duties of the cure of that parish. The presentation
of these boys was to belong to the founder and his heirs, and their
examination and admission to the provost and prebendaries. When they lost
their boyish voices, by advancing age, or when they behaved in a disorderly
and incorrigible manner, the provost and prebendaries were to have the power
of dismissing them from their situations in the College. The produce and
emoluments of the office from which they were to derive their living were,
with the exception already stated, to be under the control of the boys,
along with their
*The word
‘blodie,’ in the original, is rendered by Colvill and other English
gloesarists,1 crimson,1 as derived from the Saxon ‘blod,’
blood; but Dncaoge considers that the proper meaning of it is bln*
parents and relatives, and were to be devoted
exclusively to the payment of their aliment and other necessary expenses.
The
founder ordained that the College should have six poor men, commonly called
(beid men.’ The qualifications for their admission were to be
poverty, frailty, and old age. They were to be natives of the baronies of
Biggar or Lenzie, if a sufficient number could be got in these places, and
they were to reside in the house of the Hospital, with its garden grounds,
which the founder had set aside for their accommodation. They were to be
presented, admitted, and installed by the founder, so long as he lived, and
after his death, by his heirs and successors. They were to be annually
furnished with a white linen gown, having a white cloth hood; and every day,
in all time to come, they were to attend in the College at high mass and
vespers; and when the founder departed this life, they were to sit at his
grave and the grave of his parents, and pray devoutly to the Most High God
for the welfare of his soul, the soul of his wife, and the souls of his
progenitors and successors. For their aliment and support, they were to have
distributed amongst them, on the first day of each month, two bolls of
oatmeal, the whole amounting annually to twenty-seven bolls; so that each
bedesman, during the year, was to obtain four bolls and two firlots of the
said oatmeal. This sustenance was to be levied from the first-fruits and
tithes of the rectory and vicarage of the Church of Biggar; and from the
same source twenty shillings annually was to be drawn for each bedesman, for
purchasing his gown and repairing his house. The bedesmen were also to have
full power, liberty, and access to cast, win, and lead peats and divots from
two dargs of the Nether Moss, in order to supply their hearths with fuel.
The
provost and prebends were to have suitable dwelling-houses and gardens near
the Church. The provost was to have one acre of land for this purpose, and
each canon half an acre; and they were, besides, to have the privilege of
casting, winning, and leading peats in the barony of Biggar, and especially
within the bounds of the lands belonging to the Hospital of St Leonards. The
patron, provost, and prebendaries were, yearly, on the eve of the Feast of
Pentecost, to meet and select two of the prebendaries, whose duty should be
to collect all the produce, tithes, revenues, offerings, and emoluments of
the rectory, vicarage, and church lands of Biggar, and distribute them in
proper order and proportion. Whatever sum remained, after this was done, was
annually to be disposed of in such a way as the patron, provost, and
prebends might think expedient, for the use and advantage of the College.
Each of these prebends, for their services in this respect, was to receive
annually the sum of 26s.
8d
Scots, derived from the revenues of the rectory and vicarage of the Church
of Biggar.
The
founder ordained that the following masses should be celebrated in the
Collegiate Church, and that a register of them should be inscribed on a
board, And suspended in the College* A mass in honour of the blessed Virgin
Mary was to be said in the morning, between six and seven o’clock, before
the commencement of matins, in summer as well as in winter. The priest
celebrating it was not to be exempted from attending and singing at matins;
and if he was not present at the end of ‘Gloria Patri,’ or the conclusion of
the first psalm, he was to lose that hour, and be subjected to a fine. High
mass was to be celebrated immediately after ten o'clock with singing the
solemn Gregorian chant,* or discant, and playing Buch tunes on the organ as
the time might require. A mass was to be said daily to any saint, according
to the option of the oelebrator, immediately after the consecration and
elevation of the body of Christ in high mass, and not sooner; and no priest,
present at chant and high mass, was to absent himself, under the penalty of
losing the hour during which the mass was celebrated.
The
following masses were to be celebrated on week-days, immediately after
matins, viz.:—on
the second day, or Monday, and on the greater double feasts, a mass
de rtquie,
for the founder's soul, his wife’s soul, the souls of his parents, and all
faithful dead; on the third, Tuesday, a mass in honour of St Ann, the mother
of the Virgin Mary; on the fourth, Wednesday, a mass in honour of St
Nicholas and St Ninian,a|> bishops and confessors; on
the fifth, Thursday, a mass in honour of the body of Chriftt; and on the
sixth, Saturday, a mass for the five wounds of Christ; while on Sabbath a
mass was to be performed for the Feast of the Compassion of the Blessed
Virgin Mary.J The officiating priest, elothed in his white gown and
surplice, was, immediately after the celebration of high mass, to approach
the grave of the founder, and sing the psalm, ‘de profundis,’ with the
uateal collects and prayers, and the sprinkling of holy water. Extraordinary
mass, as well as the mass
de
refute, was also to be said daily in the two aisles.
A chapter
was to be held every week in the Collegiate Church. It was to have the same
constitution, and to be subject to the same rules, as the Metropolitan
Church of Glasgow. Whoever absented himself from this meeting was to pay a
fine of twopence. On the fourth day, or Wednesday, immediately after the
solemnities for all the saints, for the purification of the blessed Virgin
Mary, and for the Apostles Philip and James, and St Paul
<ad vmcmla,
a mass was to be sung for the founder’s soul, his wife’s soul, and the souls
of all those previously mentioned,-*—the vespers and matins of the deed
being performed on
*The K/ftnto
Fermo’ was introduced into the service of the Romish Churoh by Pope Gregory
the Great, wfeo flourished daring the sixth centxuy. It has continued in use
to the present dayi *ad is generally known by tbe name of the. Qregorian
Chant
'A
relative of the founder was Prior of the Monastery of St Ninian, at Whithorn
in Galloway.
Compassion of the Virgin, or
wit
Lady of Pity,'—the Friday in Passion Week.
the evening preceding theoe solemnities, along with nine
collects, and nine psalms, with their responses. Each prebend was, with the
Gregorian chant, invocation, and discant, to celebrate matins, high mass,
vespers, and complin, at the hours and seasons usually observed by
prebendaries in other collegiate churches.
All the
prebends and their successors were bound to make a personal residence fit
the College, and on all feast, Sabbath, and week days, and continued
commemorations, were to celebrate and sing, without note, matins, high mass,
vespers, and complin at the great altar in the choir of the Churoh; and,
clothed in their clerical habits— viz., clean linen surplices and red hoods
trimmed with fur,—were, every night after complin, except on the greater
double feasts, to rehearse the responses in honour of the Virgin Mary, to
sing the psalm, ‘de profundis,’ and to read the usual collects and prayers
for the souls of the founder and all faithful dead.
The
prebendaries, at the ringing of the bell, which was to commence every
morning throughout the year at six o’clock, were to meet, clothed in their
clerical vestments, and sing matins at seven. At ten o’clock they were to
perform high mass; and at five, Vespers and complin, except in Lent, when
vespers was to be performed immediately after high mass, and complin at the
usual hour. When met for these purposes, they were not to move up and down
the Church, nor indulge in whispering and laughter, but to the close of the
service were to remain in solemn silence, and to manifest all be* coming
gravity. They were exhorted, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to
perform their duties fully, honestly, and attentively; and, avoiding all
light and frivolous proceedings, were to commence, continue, and pause in
the singing all at once. Those who violated this rule were to be severely
punished; for, by singing improperly and carelessly, the due honour of God
was not manifested, the intention of the founder was frustrated, the
well-ordered conscience was hurt, and the edification of others was not
promoted.
The
prebend who absented himself
from
the usual services of the Church on week-days or simple feasts, was, for
each hour, to pay twopence ; on Lord's days and the great feasts, threepence;
and on the higher feasts, fourpence. The fines thus exacted were to be
collected weekly by the provost or a substitute, and were to be expended in
the puJrchase of books or ornaments for the Church. Tbe provost, or his
substitute, was alio to have power of suspending offenders from the chair,
and devoting the whole of their incomes to the uses already stated, or other
objects of piety. On those who persisted in their disobedience, the general
officer of the Church of Glasgow was to inflict still heavier penalties and
higher ecclesiastical censures, from which they were not to be absolved till
they had given the utmost satisfaction. ’
All the
prebendaries were to be priests, or at least in deacorfs orders, and were to
be well skilled in literature, plain song, invocation, and discant; and,
each day, were to take their places at the altars, and in a private manner
celebrate mass for the souls of those by whom these altars were founded.
They were to possess all the advantages common to the Romish Church,
provided they made personal and continued residence at the College; but, in
the event of any one of them absenting himself for five days without
liberty, the provost, or, in his absence, the president and members of the
Chapter, were, unless a necessary cause of absence was shown, to declare his
office de facto
vacant. At their admission, they were to take a solemn oath of obedience to
the provost and the founder, so long as he lived, to observe the statutes
and rules laid down in the constitution and ordinances of the College, and
drawn up and ordained by the founder and others to whom he gave authority.
In the
event of any prebendary being prevented by infirmity or indisposition from
celebrating mass when it was his turn, another of the brethren was to occupy
his place; but should he refuse to perform this service when required by the
provost or president, he was to be fined twelve pence Scots. Should any
prebend be of a quarrelsome disposition, and provoke his brethren to fight,
or engage in other improper contentions, he was, on his offence being
proved, to be removed without further process from his office. A prebendship
becoming vacant in this or any other way, was not to be filled up till after
the lapse of thirty days, so that sufficient time might be afforded for
obtaining a suitable and well-qualified successor, who, previous to his
admission, was to undergo an examination by the provost and prebendaries.
The
charter ends by calling upon Cardinal Beaton, with concurrence of the Lord
Archbishop of Glasgow, to approve, ratify, and confirm, to add, correct, or
otherwise amend, the statutes, rules, and constitution laid down for the
College, its endowments, and officials. Malcolm Lord Fleming, in faith and
testimony of all and every one of the articles stated in connection with his
religious foundation, subscribed the charter with his own hand, and appended
to it his armorial seal; and the Archbishop of Glasgow, and the Chapter of
the Church of Glasgow, in token of their full concurrence and assent,
attached to it their respective seals, on the 10th of January 1545, in
presence of the following witnesses:—William, Bishop of Dunblane ; Robert,
Bishop of Orkney; John, Abbot of Paisley; Thomas, Commendator of Dryburgh;
Malcolm, Prior of Whithorn; William, Earl of Montrose ; John Lord Erskine;
Alexander Lord Livingstone; John Lindsay of Covington; William Fleming of
Boghall; Thomas Kincaid of that Ilk; Andrew Brown of Hartree, and many
others. This charter was confirmed by the Pope's Legate on the 14th of March
1545. The „ charter of confirmation is a very lengthy document, written on
parchment, and is still preserved. |
