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Or Romanisin there is little trace in our
parish, and even Episcopacy, which had been the established religion so
late as the 17th century, is almost forgotten. There are few notices of
the earlier Ministers. William de Gawbruth appears to have been Rector at
Kincardine in 1464, and David Watersun in 1468, as their names are found
as witnesses at these dates. John Glass was reader and exhorter "in
the Irische toung" in 1567. After that the succession is well
preserved.
I. —- 1580— William
Farquharson. 2.—1585—Patrick Grant, presented to the
parsonage by James VI.; translated to Advie after 1589, but returned 1624;
appointed by the Synod to get a helper 1663. 3.— 1663— Colin
Mackenzie, A.M., translated to Contin. 4.—1642—Roderick
Mackenzie, A.M., translated to Gairloch. 5.—1656—John
Sanderson, A.M., was obliged to leave from ill-health. 6. — 1670— Colin
Nicholson, A.M., ordained helper 1670; translated to Kirkmichael 1685
deprived by the Privy Council 7th November, 1689. 7.— 1686—James
Grant, A.M., translated from Urquhart; deprived by the Privy Conncil
7th November, 1689; died 1693. 8.—1709— William Grant, ordained
19th May, 1709; died 27th June, 1764, in his 96th year, and 56th of his
ministry. 9.—John Grant, A.M., 1765-1820. 10.—Donald Martin,
A.M., 1820-1838. 11.—James Stewart, A.M., 1838-1862. Born at
Dalvey, Cromdale; educated at Aberdeen; settled at Abernethy under the
Veto Act. Notable for his scholarship and literary tastes. Was much
esteemed in the parish, and a monument erected to his memory. His eldest
son, William Henry, retired as Surgeon from the Navy in 1895. 12-William
Forsyth, A.M., D.D., licensed at
Forres 29th July, 1846. Minister at Ardersier 1846-1853 ; at Dornoch
1853-1863. Translated to Abernethy April, 1863. The only Minister of the
Free Church is the Rev. Walter Ross, who was appointed in 1862, and has
served since then with much faithfulness and efficiency.
Mr WILLIAM GRANT
(1709-1764) was settled in troublous times. Part of the Session Book of
his ministry remains. It was remarkably well kept, and shows that the
Minister and Elders were strict in preserving order, and stern in
punishing offenders against Church law. Mr William preached regularly in
Gaelic (then called Irish), and in English, and the texts of his sermons
are always recorded. Sometimes, instead of the ordinary service in the
church, the day was devoted to catechising, a custom still in use in
England. Twice or thrice in the year Divine Service was held in outlying
districts, such as Glenbroun and Glenmore. In 1715 we find Mr William
complaining to the Baron Bailie of "the heathenish custom of calling
fidlers to like-wakes, and other barbarous uses," whereupon the
Bailie "statute and ordained that no fidler, housekeeper or any other
person, within the said parish be employed in fidling or dancing, or any
other barbarous and sinful customs or playes at the walking of dead
people, under the faillzie of £10 Scots, ilk person in all kine coming toties
quoties, to be uplifted by the Session’s Collector after convictione
by and altour being liable to Church censure, and that ilk ane of them be
liable in the failzie of £3 money foresaid t.g. they shall disobey the
Church censure, to be likewayes uplifted by the said Collector, and
appoints this act to be intimate from the pulpit of the Minister."
The York Company were at Coulnakyle in Mr William’s time, and, according
to Burt, though he has not the courage to give the name, he (Mr William)
was able to make some profit by cashing the orders of the Company, and
charging 1s per £1 upon money changed by him. Shaw says that he had a
mortgage on Congash. His portrait is at Castle Grant. Mr William appears
to have had one son, Ludovick, minister of Archattan, and four daughters.
Grizel married William Grant, Advie; Ann, m. Alexander Grant,
Barrack-master, Fort-Augustus; Margaret, m. Lewis Grant, Lettoch; and
Christina, m. Evan Grant, Pert-Augustus.
Mr JOHN GRANT, M.A.,
1765-1820.—--Mr John, as he was called according to the custom of the
times, was a native of Duthil, of the family of Milton. He was of a
long-lived race, his father, Sweton Grant, dying at the age of 86, and his
mother, Elspet, at the age of 72. His first charge was Arrochar, in
Argyllshire. In 1765 he was presented by the Laird of Grant to Abernethy,
and was admitted on the 26th September of that year. He died on the 21st
January, 1820, so that his pastorate extended over the long period of 55
years. Mr John was a man of kindly heart, and of much shrewdness and
practical ability. He was always zealous for what he considered the
interests of his people, and he seems to have done much to establish law
and order and to encourage education in the parish. The marble tablet
which was set up in the Church to his memory shows the high estimation in
which he was held by his parishioners. There are some anecdotes still
current which illustrate the character of this worthy man, and throw light
upon the times in which he lived. Mr John, like Zaccheus, was little of
stature, though he had broad shoulders and a good figure. Once when
examining a man who had been ballotted for the Militia, and whom he
wished, for his mother’s sake, to get off, he objected to his being
passed, saying, "Too short, too short." The man’s pride was
hurt, and he answered sharply, "Ye needna say that, Mr John, you’re
no one of the Philistines yersel’." During the severe seasons of
1783-84 many of the people were in great straits for food, and it was
reported that there had been thefts of potatoes, and even sheep, in the
parish. Mr John was much vexed. The next Sunday he referred to the report,
and said it grieved him to hear such things said of his people. The times
no doubt were hard, and when want pressed and the children were crying for
bread and there was none, he did not wonder if things were done which in
better days would not be thought of. "Well, if any of you are
starving," said the minister, "I have a good stock of potatoes
at Croftcroy, and you are welcome to a share of them; only I would rather give
them than that you should take them." And, added the good
parson, "God forbid that I ever hear again of any of you stealing
from some poor devil as ill off as yourselves." Mr John was at one
time called to perform a baptism in Tulloch. When he asked the child’s
name the answer was Solomon. Now it so happened that the parson, no doubt
for good reasons, had a dislike to the name, so he muttered "We have
had too many Solomons." "Well, Mr John," said the father,
"call him what you please." The parson at once said, "I
baptise thee John," and John he was to his dying day. It is curious
to find a parallel to this incident in the Far West. Professor Bryce, in
his book on the "American Commonwealth," when shewing the
force of party spirit, mentions that a certain clergyman at a baptism in
New England asked the child’s name. The father replied "Thomas
Jefferson." "No such un-Christian name," said the clergyman
hotly. "I baptise thee John Adams." Human nature is much the
same on both sides of the Atlantic. Mr John was for some time chaplain of
the 97th Regiment, and he always took much interest in military matters.
On one occasion he set out to visit Glenmore, and perhaps to do a little
in the way of recruiting. He was dressed in the bravery of tartans.
Passing Chapelton he found Allan Grant before his door cutting sticks.
Allan gave a glance at the parson, and then went on with his work. Mr John
was offended, and said, "You don’t seem to know me, Allan."
Allan looked up, scanned the parson from head to foot, and then said
quietly, "It would be no wonder, Mr John, if ye did not know yourself
in that dress." It is said the parson never put on the trews and
plaid again. Many of Mr John’s parishioners were serving in the army
during the French War, and as these were not the days of newspapers, and
letters were rare, he used some times after sermon to give information to
his people as to the progress of the war. One Sunday he had been telling,
with much satisfaction, that Buonoparte was dead, and that there would
soon be peace. The report turned out incorrect, so the next Sunday he was
quite downcast. "O my friends," said the parson, "it was
not true what I told you last Sunday. The scoundrel Buonoparte is alive
yet, and doing as much mischief as ever." Mr John was fond of music,
and did what he could to improve the church psalmody, which had been in a
wretchedly low state. He had employed a teacher of repute from Argyllshire,
of the name of Campbell, and his success was considerable. Mr John was
anxious to start a class in Kincardine also, and he arranged that Mr
Campbell and some of his best scholars should attend there when he next
preached, and, said the good parson, "you’ll get my own seat,"
which was a large table seat in front of the pulpit. The church was
crowded. After prayer, Mr John said, "We have a professor of church
music with us, and a good class, so, instead of a sermon, we shall occupy
ourselves in the praise of God." Now, there was sitting near the
pulpit a certain John Stewart, farmer, commonly called "the Baddan,"
who had a strong, harsh voice, which he was fond of letting be heard, and
Mr John, turning to him, said very pointedly, "And you, John, will
please keep silent, and not give us any of your bo-heas." Mr
John and the Laird of Rothiemurchus were great friends. Once, when
visiting at the Doune, he took a stroll by the Spey before breakfast. Near
the Druie, he came upon a lot of men busy buckling their floats. They had
left their coats and some of their tools a good way behind. The parson,
talking to one of them, remarked that it was foolish in them to leave
their things out of sight—they might be stolen. "No, no," said
the floater, "we’re all honest folk here, but," he added with
a sly chuckle, "if we were down the way of Abernethy- ." The
parson did not wait to hear more, but hurried off, highly offended. Mr
John did much for the improvement of the Cure. He got the Church restored,
he obtained a new manse, and he was at considerable expense in laying out
the garden and grounds, and in planting the waste places of the glebe. One
of his sons was studying divinity, and the old man hoped that he might be
his successor. We may imagine him watching the improvements, and saying to
himself as he planted tree after tree—" If God please, my son will
yet walk in the shade of these trees, and tell to his children who planted
them." But this dear hope was blasted. One day the sad news came from
Aberdeen that his son had died suddenly. Mr John never recovered from this
heavy stroke. One of the last glimpses we get of him is very touching.
Under his supervision a new school-house had been erected, of which he was
very proud. In his last winter, when very feeble and not able to go far
about, he used to visit the school, not above a quarter of a mile off, and
sit down by the fire, watching the classes with much eagerness. When a boy
or girl did well, the parson had a word of praise, and when passing out he
would pat the little ones on the head, and bid them good-bye with his
blessing. Mr John married (1775) Christina, daughter of James Grant of
Clurie, and had four sons and one daughter—Peter. Captain in the Hon.
East Indian Company, died 1810; James Augustus, Chief Secretary to the
Government, Bombay, and Senior Judge of the Court of Circuit, Guzerat,
long familiarly known at Nairn as "Viewfield ;" George, Captain
in Bombay Infantry, died 1819; Sweton, Student in Divinity, died 1810 ;and
Helen, who married Alexander Grant of Dellachaple, died 1865, represented
by Major John Grant, Dellachaple, Garmouth.
DONALD MARTIN, M.A.
(1820-1838).—Mr Martin was a native of Skye, of the old family of the
Martins of the Beallach in Kilmuir. He was educated at Edinburgh, where
during his four sessions he resided in the house of Lord Macdonald as the
favoured son of his father, who was agent to Sir Alexander, the first Lord
Macdonald. His first charge was Kilmuir, to which he was admitted 5th
October, 1785, in succession to Mr Donald Macqueen, who figures so
prominently in Johnson’s Tour. Here, 7th February, 1788, he married Ann,
daughter of Norman Macdonald of Scalpay. Three of her brothers rose to
high rank in the army, General Sir John Macdonald, K.C.B. ; General
Archibald Macdonald, and General Sir Alexander Macdonald, R.A. A fourth
brother, Matthew Hume, was the father of the present Lord Kingsburgh, Lord
Justice Clerk, who has in many ways shown the soldierly instincts of his
race. In 1808 Mr Martin was translated to the Chapel of Ease, Inverness,
and in 1820 he was presented to Abernethy, where he was inducted on the
15th August of that year. From his high reputation as a clergyman, his
coming was hailed with much satisfaction. But there was one drawback.
"He is but a ladie" (laddie) said a contentious critic,
objecting to a certain minister on the score of his youth. Mr Martin might
have been objected to on the ground of his age, for he was 71, but no
voice was raised in dissent. On the contrary, his settlement was in the
truest sense harmonious. Perhaps there is no parallel case on record in
the Church. But though Mr Martin had passed the threescore years and ten,
his eye was not dim nor his natural force abated. He had come of a race
remarkable not only for strength of body, for as he used to say he was the
youngest and the weakest of seven brothers, but also for strength of
character. He had much of the soldier spirit, and seemed born to command.
His unfeigned piety won the respect, and his earnest discharge of duty and
his unswerving rectitude soon gained him the confidence and the attachment
of his people. He was an able Gospel preacher, and in Gaelic an orator of
the highest order. The Churches that had been for some time scantily
attended were crowded. A solemn awe pervaded the congregation, and many
who had lived carelessly, or who had contented themselves with a cold
morality, were turned to God and to a godly life. Mr Martin was also most
zealous in pastoral work. He distributed Bibles (in connection with the
Strathspey Bible Society formed in his time), he held diets of catechising,
and he established Sabbath Schools, in which he took much delight. He also
called out men of earnest piety to be elders, who greatly helped him in
his evangelistic work. As the result, the religious tone of society was
raised, and the spiritual condition of the people greatly improved. It is
said that Mr Martin had been rather hard and worldly in his early days.
The death of his wife (1803) was a turning point in his career. Mrs Martin
was held in much esteem, not only on account of her birth and
accomplishments, but for her unfeigned piety, as is recorded on her
tombstone— "raised by the love and friendship of a sorrowful
husband" she had "through a short life of thirty-two years
served with unwearied assiduity the interests of Christ and of the
poor." When Mr Martin saw that his wife was dying, he was much
distressed. Holding her hand, he said with a faltering voice, "Annie,
dear, are you not sorry leaving me ?" With a heart tender but true
she answered, "That is not what troubles me, but that I am leaving
children without a father and a minister without grace." This
terrible word went like an arrow from the bow of the Great King straight
to the mark. From that time it was noted that Mr Martin was a changed man,
and that his preaching had taken a higher character. It was like the
crisis in Dr Chalmers’ life. Sometimes to his intimate friends Mr Martin
would confess how the world had been too much with him, and that he owed
his better spirit, under God, to his saintly wife. In 1826, when there was
almost a total failure of the crop, Mr Martin preached a powerful sermon,
exhorting the people to consider their ways, and warning them that the bad
harvest was a judgment of God, and that if they did not repent worse
things might come upon them. Next day he happened to meet Captain
Macdonald, Coulnakyle, an old sailor of rather a jovial temper. Captain
Macdonald jocularly said—" Parson, that was a terrible sermon you
preached yesterday, but your doctrine might be applied to yourself. See,
your crop (pointing to Croft Croy) is the worst in the parish, and if your
argument be good, you yourself must be the greatest sinner !" The
parson, in whom the "Old Adam" was not dead, was at first
disposed to resent this attack, but restrained himself and answered mildly—"
Whether the crop be the worst or not is no matter, I am the greatest
sinner, but I have obtained mercy." Mr Martin used to make
Saturday a rest day, a wise custom which other ministers might imitate.
Generally he spent part of the time at Grantown, visiting friends and
doing business. Once when driving to the village he was accosted by an
Irish woman, who asked charity. He gave her sixpence. The sight of the
silver, when she only expected copper, touched her heart, and she cried
with much fervour, "God bless your Rivirence, and may you be in
Abraham’s bosom this verra nicht." "Thank you, my good
woman," said the parson, "but you need not have been so
patticular as to the time." This saying is somewhat like that of
another Irish woman to a minister who had given her a pair of shoes,
"God bliss your Rivirence, your sheen I’ll be in Heaven afore
ye." Once a parishioner called upon Mr Martin about the baptism of a
child. He was a man notoriously ignorant and careless, and the minister
took advantage of the opportunity to speak to him seriously. He put
several questions, with very unsatisfactory results. At last, in the hope
of quickening his conscience, he said, "Man, do you know what people
you belong to?" The man had now his chance. The answer came quick and
clear. " Yes, Mr Martin, I belong to the good old stock of
Tullochgorm." What followed is not known, but Mr Martin seldom failed
to turn such opportunities to account. There was a striking instance of
this in the case of one of his elders. William Forsyth, Culreach, was a
quiet, honest living man, but he had shewn no personal interest in
religion. Indeed, he was more notable for strength than for piety. One hot
summer day, when the Church was very full, Mrs Grant, Birchfield, who sat
in the front seat of the west gallery, suddenly fainted. She was a big
heavy woman, said to be over 20 stones, and there was difficulty in
lifting her out. But William stepped forward, caught her up in his arms,
and carried her out, as if she were a baby. Other extraordinary feats of
strength by him are still spoken of. One week William lost his reckoning.
He thought it was Saturday, and set out to the moss to bring home some
peats. When busy he heard what seemed the Church
bell, but he set it down to fancy and went on with his work. When passing
the manse on his way home he met the herd boy, the late John Grant of
Glenlochy, who said sharply, "The Sabbath is no a day for carting
peats." "You little rascal," he answered, "what are
you saying?" But he had his doubts. Shortly after he met some people
going to Church, and he knew that it was the Sabbath. The shock to his
simple mind was severe. He at once unyoked his horse, left cart and peats
by the roadside, and returned home with a sad heart. Next day he was early
at the Manse and told his tale to the minister. Mr Martin spoke to him as
only a true minister could do, and was the means, by God’s blessing, of
winning his soul to Christ. Some time after he made him one of his elders,
and he continued to his death to bear the character of a humble and
sincere Christian. Mr Martin had three sons—Donald, who became a Captain
of Artillery, and died at Naples; Norman, who died at Demerara; and Sir
James Ranald, whose distinguished career in India and London as a
physician and sanitary reformer is well known. Two of Mr Martin’s
grandsons rose to high distinction— Major-General Andrew Aldcorn Munro,
who was brought up at the Manse of Abernethy, and Field-Marshal Sir Donald
Stewart, Bart., K.C.B., whose father, Robert Stewart, was of the old
family of Clachglas in Kincardine.
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