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In the following chapter I
shall take occasion to describe the monuments of bygone days still existing
in Culross and Tulliallan, so as to complete the references which have
already been made to them in the course of the previous history. It has
seemed better to me to adopt this course than to encumber the narrative with
a prolixity of descriptive details, and I think that it will be the most
agreeable and convenient for my readers.
The first of these remains of
antiquity that presents itself is naturally the old Monastery, with its
Abbey Church, which, standing on the crest of the hill overlooking the town
of Culross, is both the oldest and most conspicuous object by which the
place is characterised.. The spot, as already mentioned, is probably the
same as that originally occupied by the establishment of the primitive
Christian missionary, St Serf, though not a trace now remains of any
building that formerly existed here, and no tradition, however faint, is
preserved regarding the site.
The Monastery or Abbey of
Culross must have been in its entirety a very large and splendid building,
though probably it did not transcend or even equal in these respects several
other Scottish religious houses, the ruins of which still remain. It was
founded, as already stated, by Malcolm, Earl of Fife, in 1217, and nothing
whatever is known either as to its progress or completion. Our information
in regard to the buildings is derived entirely from their present condition,
and the very imperfect accounts which have come down to us from the period
of the Reformation.
In the middle of the
sixteenth century, immediately preceding the suppression of the religious
houses, Culross Abbey must, like other conventual establishments, have
consisted of a congeries of buildings—square, massive, and
imposing—enclosing a yard or cloister court, with the church forming one
side of the square, whilst the other three were devoted chiefly to the
secular requirements of the monks. Following the general rule, the Monastery
Church of Culross occupied the north side of the square, whilst it is
probable the chapter-house or council-chamber of the Abbey filled the
north-east comer, and the refectory or great dining-hall extended along the
south side in a parallel direction with the church.
As at present standing, the
buildings consist of the Monastery or Abbey Church, of which now only remain
the choir and central tower, with some fragments of aisles or chapels. The
choir serves as the present parish church, and is entered through the tower,
from which formerly the nave extended in a westerly direction as far as the
present churchyard gate. The nave has completely disappeared, with the
exception of the lower part of the south wall, which forms the south side of
the churchyard, and separates it from the old cloister court, now used as
the upper manse-garden. A doorway near the south-west extremity of this wall
had evidently given access to the nave from the cloister court, and at the
very end is a small fragment which marks the comer and formed a part of the
west front of the church. From this point the western range of the
conventual buildings extended southwards to a considerable distance down the
hill—as far at least, it would seem, as the southern boundary of the lower
manse-garden. They are now restricted to the present manse, which,
originally constructed out of the old convent buildings, abuts on the
south-west extremity of the churchyard, and, with its offices, adjoins the
only part of the monastic ruins that still preserves the appearance of their
original condition. These consist of a splendid vaulted chamber, which, with
its imposing groined roof and arches, may possibly have been the entrance or
great hall of the monastery. Behind it, and perhaps originally forming a
part of it, is a vaulted passage of a similar description, which leads
through a beautiful Norman doorway into the cloister court. At the entrance
of the hall is a staircase leading to an upper storey, which now presents
nothing but a bare flat roof, unprotected by any parapet, but which had
doubtless anciently contained the cells or dormitories of the monks. The
southern end of the great chamber or hall has been completely demolished,
and, standing on an elevated position, it takes the aspect, to a spectator
ascending the hill, of a vast yawning cavern, terminating in front in a
precipice. Beneath it, and stretching to an unknown distance, are a series
of vaults, which were formerly very extensive, but are now in great measure
demolished, and the remaining portion choked up with rubbish. Legendary lore
has not failed to include the vaults of Culross Monastery within its
domains, and the usual tale is recorded of mysterious subterranean passages
and communications. In one of these a man is said to be seated on a golden
chair, and has doubtless prizes of regal magnificence to present to the
courageous adventurer who may succeed in penetrating to his secret retreat.
The story is also told of a blind piper and his dog who entered the vaults
at the head of the Newgate, and was heard playing his pipes on his
subterraneous march as far as the West Kirk, three-quarters of a mile
distant. But the gnomes or subterranean demons got hold of him, and he never
again emerged to the upper air. His dog managed to effect his escape, but
the faithful animal of course could tell no tales.
The southern extremity of the
monastery has evidently thus been truncated for the purpose of constructing
the present bend at the top of the Newgate, which here diverges from a north
to a westerly direction. Formerly the road used to continue right up the
hill, and passed between the east end of the church and the present mansion
of Culross Abbey.
The monastery, as already
stated, extended a considerable way down the hill. Just at the point reached
by the presently existing ruins, a line of buildings forming the south side
of the cloister court, and supported on underlying vaults or arches,
extended from west to east. These have almost entirely disappeared, and not
a trace remains of the refectory, or great dining-hall, which doubtless
formerly existed here, and, like the Frater hall in Dunfermline, commanded,
from its elevated-terrace position, a magnificent view. Two fine arched
windows, which may have formed the west end of the hall, with the supporting
wall, remained till within the last sixty years at the west extremity of the
Abbey garden at the top of the Newgate, and were then removed by Sir Robert
Preston, in accordance with his usual spirit of vandalism. So strong and
compact was the masonry, that it resisted all the ordinary appliances of
pickaxes and other tools, and only yielded at last to the agency of
gunpowder.
The buildings of the
monastery, including the refectory on the south side of the cloister court,
as also the greater portion of those on the east side, seem to have been
removed at a very early period; and as tradition records that the mansion
immediately adjoining, now known as Culross Abbey, was
erected from the materials of
the convent, it is extremely probable that the portion in question was thus
utilised. And it is very likely that the demolition was still further
completed when the Newgate itself was formed in the latter half of the
seventeenth century. The old grammar-school which adjoined, the monastery,
if indeed it did not actually form a part of the building, may then have
been removed with the remaining ruins, and the new road carried on in a
north-easterly direction through the northwest angle of the Abbey garden,
and between the mansion of the Abbey and the eastern extremity of the
church.
Till at least the end of the
seventeenth century, and probably for a considerable time afterwards, a
large portion of the monastery buildings remained in continuation of the
ruins still existing, and extended southwards for a considerable distance
down the hill, presenting a very imposing castellated appearance. They are
shown in an engraving contained in the well-known collection of views
published by Slezer in 1693 in his ‘ Theatrum Scotiae.’ Slezer was a Dutch
officer in the service of King William, and a captain of artillery. He was
employed by Government to make drawings and surveys of the fortresses,
military stations, and other places in Scotland, and his work is both
extremely valuable and interesting in itself, and about the earliest
collection of the kind that was formed. It contains certainly the earliest
representation that we possess of Culross. I shall have occasion again to
CULROSS from the Water, as it appeared in 1693.
The Mansion and Gardens of
CULROSS ABBEY with Church and Ruins of Monastery, as they appeared in 1693.
The date at which this great
mass of buildings, including the original south front of the monastery, was
removed, cannot now be ascertained, but it doubtless took place when the
present bend at the top of the Newgate was constructed, connecting that
thoroughfare with the continuation of the main street leading northward up
the hill from Culross. This bend or turn passes right through, from east to
west, the site of the pile of buildings shown in Slezer’s view. The
principal object in this demolition and diversion was of course the
enlargement of the Abbey garden, and securing the privacy of the mansion by
shutting up the public road, which passed the latter in such inconvenient
proximity. But lest I should be doing an injustice to the proprietors of the
Abbey in thus ascribing to them exclusively the destruction of such
extensive remains of antiquity, it is only fair to state that the monastery
ruins, like so many others both in Scotland and elsewhere, seem to have been
regarded as a general quarry, which might be legitimately used whenever
opportunity offered or occasion required. Many walls, dikes, and buildings
about Culross bear evidence, in the fine-hewn stones which they display, of
the spoliation of the old monastery to supply these materials.
The buildings of the
monastery must both have covered the lower manse-garden, and likewise
descended beyond it into the garden of the Park, belonging to Dr R. H.
Davidson. These gardens are now separated by a vennel or narrow passage
connecting the Newgate with the causeway leading north from Culross. The
previous boundary, however, was a very old wall, which seems to have formed
part of the monastery buildings. It was taken down in 1833, and in its
demolition was laid open what seemed to be the remains of a gateway and a
flight of steps. There was also the fragment of -a pillar found there, said
to have been of beautiful construction ; but though some urgent
remonstrances were made on behalf of its preservation, it was ruthlessly
removed. More than twenty years afterwards a number of large stones, fully
six feet broad, were dug out of the original foundations and employed in
heightening the walls which enclose the Park garden.
The Monastery or Abbey
Church, at least the tower and nave, belongs to the same period as the
convent—that is to say, the beginning of the thirteenth century. The tower
is a very marked specimen of Norman architecture, having two fine door-ways
of' that style; one giving access to the porch, which forms its basement
storey—and the other directly opposite to it, leading from the porch to the
choir, which, since the Reformation, has been used as the parish church
Previous to that event the parish church was that now known as the West
Kirk, about half a mile to the west, on the old road leading from Culross
through the moor to Kincardine. It has already been and will shortly again
be referred to.
The nave of the Abbey Church
has now completely disappeared, with the exception of the south wall, which
extends westward from the tower to the churchyard gate, and now forms the
north boundary-wall of the upper manse-garden or old cloister court. Till
the middle of the last century it still presented on its summit a row of
Norman windows, which are exhibited in Slezer’s view of the church and
monastery ruins. They were removed, it is said, by Dr Erskine during his
incumbency as minister of the first charge, and their materials used for
constructing a dike on the south side of the Barcrook Park, where the road
to the West Kirk diverges. The jamb of one of the windows fixed to the
south-west corner of the tower still remains.
The lower storey of the
tower, which serves as a porch to the present church, is, on three sides at
least, and possibly also at one time on four, pierced with arches. On the
west is the fine outer doorway opening into the porch, and flanked by two
pointed openings now closed up. Adjoining the arch on the south side of the
door is an ancient piscina or recess in connection with an altar, where the
chalice was washed, and its rinsings emptied through a conduit in the
stonework. On the north side of the porch is an arched opening, now filled
in with glass and serving as a window, but which formerly opened into an
aisle or chapel on the north side of the tower, which had been lighted on
the west by a large window, of which part of the arch still exists. At the
same point are still to be seen the remains of an arch which had contained
the window at the northeast corner of the nave. The place where the roof of
the latter had rested on the tower is still distinctly visible; and a little
below, in the south comer, is seen' a closed-up doorway, which had probably
served as a communication between the upper part of the nave and the choir
by a passage or ledge in the south wall of the porch. To the north of this
opening, and right over the outer door of the tower, is a semicircular
opening, likewise closed up, which it is surmised may, in the days when the
church was entire and the nave served as the place of assembly for the
laity, have contained the rood or cross with its attendant images.
The porch or lower storey of
the tower (“ between the doors,” as it is expressed in the session-book) was
assigned by the ecclesiastical authorities in the seventeenth century as the
burial-place of the Prestons of Valleyfield. It has long been disused as
such, and no monuments or epitaphs of any kind are to be seen, though there
can be no doubt of some members of the family having been here interred.
The roof of the porch on
which the first floor of the tower rests is a fine groined vault, with an
opening in the centre. A staircase attached to the south wall leads to the
gallery of the church. On the inner west wall above the outer doorway is
sculptured a winged figure resembling an angel, and bearing a shield. On one
side is the letter A, and on the other what seems to be the letter M, in the
Old English character. They probably stand for Ave Maria, the Abbey Church
of Culross having been dedicated to St Serf and the Virgin.
The fact of the tower of
Culross church rising direct from the ground, and not springing at a
considerable elevation from the summit of lofty supporting arches, is said
to be unique, or at least rarely paralleled in other central towers. [It
must always be remembered that Culross tower is really a central tower,
between the choir and the nave, the latter having now disappeared. The
church towers which, like it, rise direct from the ground, are almost
invariably situated at the western extremity of the nave.] It consists of
three storeys, each of which is very lofty. The basement has already been
described. Immediately above it is a vast void apartment, in which it would
appear that those accused of witchcraft were formerly detained. It must have
been a weird-like dreary abode indeed for the poor creatures. Above this
again is the clock-room and belfry, and over all, the roof with its
bartizan. Access to all these stages is gained by a narrow spiral staircase
on the north side of the tower, opening from the churchyard. From the
bartizan a magnificent prospect is commanded, taking in the basin of the
Forth from Ben Lomond to the Bass, and extending over nearly thirteen
counties. Culross church tower, with its pinnacles, is indeed a landmark for
the country round, being visible from a great distance, and forming a most
picturesque object as it rises amid woods on the crest of the hill. This
very picturesqueness, however, is not altogether a matter for unqualified
approbation, as, to produce this effect, the old Norman character of the
tower was sacrificed, and the building, as far as its summit is concerned,
converted into a structure of the perpendicular order. Previous to 1824 it
was surmounted by a curious ark-like roof not unfrequent in old church
towers, and popularly known as the “ kae-house,” from its being the
favourite haunt of the “kaes” or jackdaws. This was surrounded by a walk or
ledge, which was unprotected by any parapet; and to run round the kae-house
was a favourite deed of daring on the part of the Culross boys. It is said
that Lady Hay, the last surviving niece of Sir Robert Preston, had
contemplated the restoration of this quaint structure, as well as the
completion of the quadrangle of the mansion of Culross Abbey, according to
the plan supposed to have been originally contemplated by the first Lord
Kinloss.
There are two bells in the
church tower of Culross —a larger and a smaller. The material of the former
is very ancient; and as it had become worn out in 1659, it was sent to
Rotterdam that year and recast. The latter was put up in 1685.
The old choir of the Abbey
Church, now fitted up as the parochial place of worship, has been so much
metamorphosed in the course of the alterations which at different times it
has undergone, that it is difficult now to understand the original condition
of the building. Entering it at present by the inner doorway of the tower,
we find ourselves in a very neat and comfortable-looking church, with
galleries at the east and west ends, and a north and south transept, which
as nearly as possible bisect the north and south walls of the edifice. Two
very fine Gothic arches, with corresponding pillars, form the entrances
respectively of the north and south transepts, and are almost the only
objects of antiquity that meet the eye in the interior of the church. There
is, indeed, a fine east window of an early English or semi-Norman character;
but this is almost entirely blocked up by the gallery and adjoining
staircase. The pulpit is placed within the arch at the entrance of the north
transept, whilst facing it is a gallery that spans the south transept and
its corresponding arch.
Both of these transepts
probably existed in ancient times as appendages to the choir; but it would
seem that about 1640 the north transept had either disappeared or become a
ruin, when it was reconstructed by the younger George Bruce of Camock, as
detailed in the session-books, for the use of the workmen employed at his
saltworks and collieries. It continued to be occupied by the same class of
worshippers down to the beginning of the present century, when a general
collapse took place in the mining operations about Culross on the failure of
Lord Dundonald. Situated behind the pulpit, it does not hold indeed a very
desirable position; and though it contains two ranges of pews, these are
scarcely now ever occupied.
The last remodelling of the
church took place about 1824, when the metamorphosis of the upper part of
the tower was effected, as already stated.
Previous to that its interior
has been described to me as an “ awfu’-looking kirk.” It must really have
been so, with its uncouth and unsymmetrical arrangement of seats, two tiers
of galleries or lafis piled above each other, dirt and cobwebs in good
store, and an open ceilingless roof, in which pigeons roosted, and made
their presence not only conspicuous, but felt by the worshippers, some of
whom we find on one occasion presenting a petition to the kirk-session for
liberty to erect a canopy of protection. A great improvement was doubtless
then effected, though it is just to be wished that it had been carried out
with a little more taste and a little less destructiveness.
It appears from the session
records that the term “ choir ” or “ quiere ” was, down at least to the
earlier half of the last century, given to the portion of the church
extending from the north and south transepts to the east wall. It seems to
have been separated from the rest of the church by a wooden partition or
screen, which very probably had existed in the old Eoman Catholic times,
when the choir, as the place where the musical part of the service was
conducted, was generally boarded off and enclosed for the exclusive
accommodation of the officiating monks and choristers. As commonly
understood, the choir denotes the whole eastern portion of a church
extending eastwards from the central tower or transept, just as the nave
designates the whole western division stretching from that point to the west
entrance. But in Culross, if we are to be guided by traditionary
nomenclature, the term had been restricted to the eastern extremity of the
choir,—to what, in short, in ordinary Episcopal churches, is known as the
chancel, and is railed off by a screen and gates. Possibly, indeed, the mere
general recollection of the term choir may have led to this restriction in
its application.
It is not improbable that the
south transept of the choir communicated directly in ancient times with the
chapter-house of the monastery, which may have immediately adjoined, forming
thus the northeast comer of the cloister court. In support of this evidence,
I may state that the same veteran who gave me the account of the appearance
of the church previous to its last remodelling, informed me that there used
to be near the extremity of this transept a massive pillar, which may have
been the centre column that we sometimes find supporting the roof of the
chapter-house.
At the end of this transept
or southern extremity of the church, on the outside, is a fine pointed arch,
entire, and the fragment of another, which had anciently formed part of the
series that had bordered the eastern side of the cloister court. These are,
strictly speaking, the only special remains that now exist as denoting this
enclosure,—though, from its position, with the monastery ruins on the
opposite side, and the fine Norman doorway entering from' them to the upper
manse-garden, there can be no doubt whatever of the latter and the cloister
court of the convent being identical.
The exterior of the church
now requires our attention. Beginning on the north side of the tower, where,
as already mentioned, there seems to have been an aisle or chapel, we pass
along the outer wall of the church till we reach the aisle or north transept
of the choir erected by the younger George Bruce. There is nothing in the
external aspect of the church here calling for special remark, as the
original windows or arches of the choir have been built up, though the
Bruce' aisle has rather a handsome one at its north extremity. Proceeding
still farther east we come to a vault attached to the north wall of the
church, and kept carefully locked. It is the family vault of the Bruce
family, including the great Sir George and his descendants, the Earls of
Kincardine. Latterly it was converted into his own mausoleum by Sir Robert
Preston on becoming proprietor of the Culross estate; and here both he and
his wife, Lady Preston, repose. Against the east wall, just opposite the
door, is a very fine monument, in alabaster, to the memory of Sir George
Bruce. The knight and captain of the industry of old Culross is represented
in a reclining position, while in front of him are kneeling figures, also in
alabaster, of his children. The diminutive scale on which the latter are
represented has procured for the group the popular appellation of “the
babies.” The monument itself, which reaches nearly to the summit of the
vault, is a close imitation of the monument of Edward Lord Kinloss, Sir
George’s elder brother, erected in the Bolls Chapel, Chancery Lane, London.
On the south wall of this
vault is perhaps the most interesting memorial connected with Culross. A
brass plate fixed in the wall above a projection resembling an altar has the
following inscription:—
“Near this spot is deposited
the heart of Edward Lord Bruce of Kinloss, who was slain in a bloody duel,
fought in 1613 with Sir Edward Sackville, afterwards Earl of Dorset, near
Bergen-op- Zoom in Holland, to which country the combatants repaired, the
one from England, the other from Paris, for the determined purpose of
deciding their quarrel. The body of Lord Bruce was interred in the great
church of Bergen-op-Zoom, where, among the ruins caused by the siege in
1747, are still to be seen the remains of a monument erected to his memory.
A tradition, however, existing that his heart had been sent over to his
native land, and was buried near that place, a search was made by Sir Robert
Preston of Valleyfield in the year 1808, when it was found embalmed in a
silver case of foreign workmanship, secured between two flat and excavated
stones clasped with iron, and was again carefully replaced and securely
deposited in the spot where it was discovered.
“For the particulars of the
challenge and fatal duel, in which the Lord Bruce was killed on the spot,
disdaining to accept his life from his antagonist, who was also dangerously
wounded, see Lord Clarendon’s ‘ History of the Rebellion/ B. L, and the
narrative published in Nos. 129 and 133 of the ' Guardian/ ”
The circumstances attending
the duel have already been detailed. An account of the discovery of the
heart is contained in two communications by Mr Begbie, Sir Robert’s factor,
made respectively in 1808 and 1815, to the Treasurer of the Society of
Antiquaries, Edinburgh Previous to being redeposited with great ceremony in
its original resting-place, the silver box containing it was exhibited to
the public in a room of Culross Abbey.
Quitting the Bruce aisle, we
find immediately to the east of it, behind the north wall of the church, the
ruins of what used to be denominated' the Old or Little Aisle. Nothing
remains of it now but a very fine fragment of a window of the decorated
order, and belonging apparently to a later period than any other part of the
ancient architecture of the church. It is said traditionally to have been
the burial-place of the Argyll family, who acted as hereditary bailies of
the Abbey in Roman Catholic times, and occupied the Castle of Gloom,
afterwards Castle Campbell, at Dollar. Several bodies enclosed in leathern
shrouds were a good many years ago dug up here, and are considered to have
been those of members of the house of Argyll.
There is little else in the
exterior of the church deserving of notice, unless it be the great east
window, which in the interior is almost wholly shut out from view by the
galleries. It is of considerable size, and, with its mullions in the Early
English style, and semicircular Norman arch, is the only window in the
church which has been preserved in its original form. The others are all
small, and of modem construction, with the exception of that in the north
transept behind the pulpit, which, however, dates only from the middle of
the seventeenth century.
Whilst the CuldeeB or early
Scottish clergy generally planted their establishments in bleak and desolate
situations, exposed to all the inclemency of the weather, and without any
attractiveness or amenity in their surroundings, the monks and
-canons-regular of a later date showed great discrimination in the sites
which they fixed upon, and improved, moreover, the natural advantages of the
locality by their ingenious and artistic industry. Culross bears striking
evidence of their judgment and good taste in these respects. Though the
braes which here border the shore of the Forth may in the dayB of St Serf
have presented, as the old legends inform us, but a desolate wilderness of
tangled scrub, they have a fine southern exposure, and the monks of medieval
times perceived well to what account they might be turned in laying out
their gardens. The “ convent yard,” as it is termed in old title-deeds and
legal documents, forms still, in part at least, the present Abbey orchard,
which occupies a considerable space on the slope of the hill in front of the
mansion of Culross Abbey. It is not unlikely that since the erection of the
latter it has been somewhat extended towards the east, whilst it may have
undergone a slight curtailment on the west side.
It is well known that ancient
monastic buildings had generally around them an enclosure, more or less
extensive, which contained, besides the gardens and pleasure-grounds, a
small extent of pasture-land, and also various domestic offices—all being
surrounded with a protecting wall. It is not possible to determine now the
limits of the wall of defence which thus enclosed the re/tew: or sacred
territory of Culross; but there can be little doubt of the north lodge or
portal having been at the spot now known as the Chapel Bam, close to the
west Abbey Lodge, and opposite to the entrance of the road leading to the
West Kirk. There is here to be seen an ancient wall of great thickness,
having its inner side turned to the road, and pierced by a doorway and a
small window or bole. Fixed in the upper part of the wall is the spring or
foundation-stone of an arch. The locality has long been known as the Chapel
Bam; and what is now the Abbey Lodge, on the other side of the wall, was, in
the memory of persons still living, a building—not, however, of great
antiquity—that was actually used as a bam. In ancient Scottish Acts of
Parliament and other old documents relating to Culross, the place is spoken
of as the Bar-chapel, or the chapel of Bar—whether from its proximity to the
rising ground immediately above, called Barhill, or from its being the port
or bar of the monastery territory, I am really unable to determine. There
had doubtless, however, been a chapel here, which it is extremely probable
was connected, as often happened in such cases, with a gateway and porter’s
lodge. A wall seems to have been continued eastwards from this point for
about two hundred yards, and thence to have been carried in a southern
direction till it reached the lower extremity of the churchyard in the space
between the present Abbey and the church. Traces of ancient foundations, as
well of walls as of what may have been circular flanking towers, have been
discovered along all these lines. How much farther south the wall extended
we cannot tell, any more than we can lay down with certainty the line of the
western boundary of the monastery territory. It may be mentioned here, that
according to the account of the Scotch antiquary Captain Grose, the house of
the Abbot of Culross was a detached building, situated a little to the west
of the present ruins, and was existing in the memory of persons living at
the close of the last century. Nothing is now known regarding it. The
present manse abuts on the south-west extremity of the churchyard, just
where the west front of the Abbey Church used to be when the nave was in
existence. It is extremely likely that its original walls, which are very
thick, were those of the old monastery; but extensive alterations and
additions have been made at different times. It bears the date of 1637, with
the initials “ J. D.,”— doubtless those of Mr John Duncan, who was then
minister of the parish. Below these is a second date—1752—which marks the
period of some alteration. The west wing is entirely modern, and was added
in 1824, when the church was remodelled.
The “monks of old” were not
only skilful architects and horticulturists, but were also noted for their
caligraphic abilities, which they displayed in the transcription of missals,
religious manuals, and other books connected with the service of the Church.
In this, indeed, a great part of their time was employed, and a particular
chamber in the monastery, called the scriptorium, was set apart for this
kind of work. We have authentic evidence, not only of the monks of Culross
having been engaged in this way, but likewise of their enjoying a great
reputation over Scotland for their caligraphic skill. In the preface to the
‘ Inventories of Mary Queen of Scots,’ Dr Robertson, the editor, remarks:—
“It is impossible not to
regret the service-books of the Chapel Royal destroyed by the Regent. We may
reasonably grieve for them as fine examples of the Scottish art of that
age—interesting proofs of the skill and taste of the monks of Culross and
the canons of St Andrews. Payments were made from the Treasury of £14, 8s.
to the bedell of St Andrews for a breviary to King James IV. in 1502-4; of
£14 to the monks of Culross for books to the Franciscans of Stirling in
1502-4; and of £24 to ‘Dene Mychaell Donaldsone, monk of Culross, for ane
grete anti-phonall bake’ for the Chapel Royal in 1538-9. In recording that
Abbot Thomas, who died in 1535, gave a missal and a gradual to his monastery
of Kinloss, his biographer is careful to add that both were written at
Culross (Ferrerii Historxa Abbatium de Kyrdos). A psalter, it would seem, of
the fifteenth century, now in the Advocates’ Library at Edinburgh, is
inscribed Mx fibbi fecit Ricardos Merchel quondam Abbas de Culenbos.”
A more interesting instance
still of the caligraphic skill of the Culross monks is furnished in a
beautifully written miniature Bible now preserved in the library of Traquair
House, near Innerleithen. It bears the inscription “Liber sancte Marie de
Culros in Scocia prope monasterium de Dunfermline.” And in concluding this
subject, I may quote the following statement from the Rev. W. Stephen’s MSS.
lectures on Culross, already referred to:—
“I have only another instance
to add of the existence in the present day of beautiful specimens of
penmanship by our old monks. Mr William Macdonald, late of Low Valleyfield,
an eminent virtuoso, told me that in the spring of 1869 he bought at the
sale of the library of the late Mr Johnston, Curator of the National Gallery
of Scotland, an illuminated Roman Catholic missal, written by the monks of
Culross, without date—a beautiful book—at the price of seven guineas; but
having been offered £11, 7s. for it by M. FourW, who was French tutor to the
Prince of Wales during his residence at Edinburgh University, he parted with
it to him for that sum.”
The monks of Culross belonged
to the order of Cistercians or White Friars (Monachi Alln). The Cistercians
were first established as a religious order in the year 1098, by Robert,
abbot of Molesme, in the diocese of Langres in France. The name is derived
from their chief house, Cistertium or Citeaux, in Burgundy; and they were
also called Bemardines, on account of St Bernard having, fifteen years after
the foundation of the monastery of Citeaux, betaken himself thither with
thirty of his companions. Here he conducted himself with such reputation
that he was elected abbot of Clairvaux, from which he generally takes his
designation. He founded no fewer than 160 monasteries of the Cistercian
order; and from his activity in thus extending its influence, its monks were
frequently called, after him, Bemardines. The dress of the Cistercians was
white, with the exception of a black cowl and scapular; whereas that of the
Benedictines was entirely black. They owned thirteen monasteries in
Scotland.
How the monks of Culross
conducted themselves, or what manner of life they led, we have scarcely a
shred of information. One specialty they seem to have been distinguished
by—their skill in penmanship, and the execution of illuminated manuscripts.
Another, of a different character, may with some likelihood be credited to
them—the art of representing and performing in mystery and miracle plays. It
is well known that in the middle ages the clergy were not only the mainstay
and supporters of the drama, but likewise acted as the performers in those
strange exhibitions of Scriptural narrative and ecclesiastical legend with
which they regaled the populace at set times as a sort of actual
presentation of the doctrines and morals which they preached to them in the
churches. The most solemn subjects were thus treated, and the exhibition of
the most sacred personages and themes was not unfrequently mingled with
gross and profane buffoonery. These mysteries and moralities were generally
performed in the open air; and as the actors were for the most part composed
of clergymen, they were greatly in vogue in the neighbourhood of any abbey
or conventual establishment, which could always, furnish a quota of
performers. A particular spot was commonly set apart for this purpose, known
as the Play-field, where the ground, either naturally or artificially, was
so constituted as to afford the necessary accommodation for the open-air
stage, and enable the audience to witness comfortably the representations
there performed. Perth, Cupar, Stirling, Linlithgow, and other places, had
all their playfields; and the exhibitions often acquired an additional idat
by the presence of the sovereign and his court.
There seems little reason to
doubt that the field on the sea-shore at the western extrejnity of the burgh
of Culross, immediately adjoining Balgownie stables, which bears to this day
the name of the Playfield, was in Roman Catholic times the scene of many
such representations, in which the principal parts were enacted by the monks
of Culross Abbey. It may also have witnessed the performance of Sir David
Lindsay’s plays, and similar satires on the corruptions of the Church and
the vices of the clergy, which are said to have materially contributed to
the accomplishment of the Reformation. The space in question is admirably
adapted for an open-air theatre, having a fine sunny sloping bank on the
north side, on which crowds of spectators could sit and view the performance
on the level space below. The ground is quite unfitted for athletic sports
or military exercises; and no other plays but those of the stage could ever
have been exhibited here with any sue-cess. In recent times it has been
converted into the orchard and garden attached to Balgownie House.
At the Beformation the rental
of Culross Abbey amounted, we are told, to £768, 16s. 7d. of money; 3
chalders,1 3 bolls of wheat; 14 chalders, 10 bolls, 2 firlots of barley; 13
chalders, 12 bolls, 3 firlots, 3} pecks of oats; 1 chalder, 2 bolls of salt;
10 wedders, 22 lambs; 7 dozen of capons; 28J dozen of poultry; 7$ stone of
butter; 79$ stone of cheese; and 8 trusses of straw. At its suppression the
monastery contained only nine monks, having probably for some time
previously been undergoing a gradual process of decay and diminution in the
number of its inmates. Of these nine who had thus lingered to the last in
the old cloisters, five embraced the Reformed doctrines, and had probably
some small pension assigned to them. Four, however, remained constant to
their old faith, and, we may conclude, were ignominiously extruded. In the
first volume of the burgh records, which dates from 1588, we find among the
inhabitants of Culross at that period one or two persons who are designated
“ priests,”—probably superannuated monks from the Abbey.
As regards the landed
property held by the monastery, it comprised lands not merely in the parish
of Culross, but in those of Torrybum, Saline, and others. The little parish
of Crombie, afterwards united to Torrybum, seems to have been almost
entirely the property of the convent. It is sometimes difficult to
distinguish between what actually was ecclesiastical property and what
amounted merely to a right of superiority or lordship involving the payment
of certain duties. Had the Culross Chartulary existed, many obscurities
resting on the subject might have been removed.
There is, however, a document
preserved among the Harleian MSS. in the British Museum which gives a
vidimus or synopsis of the revenues of Culross Abbey, which, it will be
remembered, was, on the suppression of the monasteries and annexation of
benefices to the Crown, formed into a temporal lordship, and bestowed on Sir
James Colville of Easter Wemyss, with the title of Lord Colville of Culross.
It seems to have been drawn up in 1630, on the occasion of a stent or
measure of taxation having been imposed in the time of James, or, as he is
there styled, John, second Lord Colville of Culross, and grandson of the
first lord. The title is, “Taxt Roll of the Abbaye of Culross, given up and
taxt in a Court, holden by John, Lord Colvill of Culross, for his Relieffe
of £344,8s. 10d., layd on the sd. Abbaye in anno 1630, himself and the whole
vassals almost compearing.” The various lands which paid tribute to the
monastery, with the names of the proprietors, and the respective amounts of
feu-duty paid by them to Lord Colville, are all stated in detail. The
account corresponds pretty closely with what has been already mentioned of
the revenues of Culross Abbey at the time of the Reformation. |
