The following year the Provost was sent to Edinburgh with
an unusual commission. He was authorised to procure an able physician to
reside in Perth, as also a schoolmaster; but we have no record of the result
In 1670 the collector of assessment produced his accounts and roll of
defaulters, and arms, and money, and was authorised to employ soldiers from
Edinburgh Castle to recover the same and to pay them twelve shillings per
day. In the matter of officers not putting decreets in execution, the
Council ordered that when such is proved, the officers are to be taken to
the Mercat Cross, their coats to be pulled off, their halberts to be taken
from them, and themselves to be imprisoned during the Council's pleasure.
David Smythe, son-in-law of John Mercer, Town Clerk, who
was elected to that office in 1623, was compelled by his father-in-law to
request William Graham to be deputy clerk and assistant, on account of the
Clerk's age. This request the Council refused, and suspended the Clerk for
contumacy for refusing to deliver the Town Charters and other papers. Mercer
was allowed to demit office. The Council paid him 1000 merks, and resolved
that his successor should pay this sum.
There is an entry as to taking the late Dean of Guild's
bed-fellow to prison for faults made out against her, and that the Dean did
most furiously deforce the officer by menacing words and drawing his sword.
No more is heard of this.
In 1671 the Council issued an order prohibiting
horse-hirers from letting horses on the Sabbath day, under a penalty of
forty shillings; and the following year they issued an order ordaining the
Fiscal to serve for five years gratis in respect of sums due by him
to the Corporation. They also gave orders to search out two able young men
to officiate as doctors in the Grammar School, the present two not being
sufficiently qualified.
On 16th November, 1673, the Council gave instructions to
provide eight dishes of good meat, moor fowl and the like, and a puncheon of
good wine, everything to be done to make the approaching visit of the
Convention of Burghs splendid The whole Commissioners were to be made
burgesses who are not such already. The Council further appointed Threipland
to go to Edinburgh to buy wine for the Convention—the best to be
obtained—also a puncheon of wine for the Communion. The sum of £345
was voted for this order. The Council at the same time ordered the
Castle soldiers to be quartered on those who were absent in the three
months, beginning with those of the greatest quality and able to pay. The
people were afterwards displeased at Threipland's arrogant conduct, and at
next election he lost the Provostship, and Patrick Hay was elected.
Unfortunately, there was a rule that no member of the Craft could sit as a
merchant Councillor, and only merchant Councillors could be Provost On this
point, Hay was unseated, and Threipland was restored to his chair.
Threipland was in great indignation at the insult of
being put out of the Provostship, and appealed the case to the Privy
Council, who awarded him £20,000 Scots against the burgesses. This seems in
the face of it a most unreasonable decision. Though Hay lost the Provostship,
he was restored to it in 1677. Threipland, however, was again made Provost
by James VII. There was no election ; he took the
oath that he was a true Protestant and not a papist Some years afterwards,
in 1689, he stood as a candidate for the Scottish Convention as member for
Perth, but was unsuccessful. The records of 26th May, 1675,
have a curious entry. An act was issued ordaining each of the
inhabitants to have a bonfire opposite his own door, in commemoration of His
Majesty's birth and restoration. If this order was obeyed, these fires must
have been a spectacle. The Council at the same time deposed George Lumsden,
tailor, from his office for abusing the Magistrates and drawing his dirk to
William Stewart, Fingarth, whereby his life was in danger. His seat at the
Council was declared vacant, and he himself was to remain prisoner till he
found caution that Stewart and his family should not be molested in future.
On 18th October, Bailie Craigdallie is requested to go to Edinburgh to
report to the Privy Council the form and manner of last election, that the
misrepresentations of Patrick Threipland may not be received by them as
truth: Further, there was produced a letter sent to the Duke of Lauderdale
and the Duke of Atholl as to ex-Provost Threipland having embezzled the
common good, and now to be pursued therefor, but on 6th March following
there was a decreet by the Lords reponing Threipland, and appointing the
Magistrates, Dean of Guild, and Treasurer, The Council at the same time
ordained the Postmaster to go to Edinburgh every Tuesday, and to have a
house there for delivery of letters, and return every Friday afternoon. On
February 7, 1681, there is an entry as to Henry Reid neglecting to furnish
the town with intelligence, it not being convenient on account of his other
business; the Provost to write him to continue till Whitsunday.
In 1680 there was a commission to Thomas Butter of the
office of Town Clerk of Perth. The Council met, and being convened in a
solemn manner, and taking full burden for the whole community, they elected
and appointed Thomas Butter, lawful son of the deceased George Butter, of
Clashbenny (of whose qualifications and good education they are assured), to
the office of Common Clerk of the said burgh, ad vitam aut culpam,
with all the emoluments pertaining to the said office, such as the deceased
John Tais, the previous Clerk, or his predecessors enjoyed, or that may
lawfully be due to him in the said office; and with power to appoint a
depute or deputes to serve in his absence through sickness or otherwise. The
commission states that he was formally appointed to the office by act of
Council on 20th January, when the following conditions were imposed:—(1)
that he should find caution for payment of 1,000 merks, bearing interest
from Candlemas next (now past), at Candlemas, 1681, with this provision,
that if he should die before Candlemas, 1681, he should not be liable for
payment of the said principal sum, but only for the interest thereof till
then; (2) that only £20 Scots be allowed to him yearly for chamber rent; and
(3) that he should make no claim to be clerk to the Guildry of the burgh
unless he shall be lawfully elected thereto, any practice to the contrary
notwithstanding. He had not received his commission then, but this present
deed bears the desire of the Council now to grant it It is not, however,
signed, attested, or sealed. Butter died in 1687.
In a vacancy which occurred in 1683 the procedure was
different, as will be seen from the following minute of the Town Council:—
We, the Provost, Magistrates, etc., of Perth, having
right to present a minister to the kirk of the said burgh and there being a
vacancy through the demission and translation of Alexander Ross; we being
therefore all of one mind have agreed to nominate present and appoint Andrew
Grant minister at the College Church of Edinburgh to the said Kirk of Perth
during all the days of his life; giving and granting him so long as he
remains minister the stipend of £600 usual money of Scotland (Scots) to be
paid at Martinmas and Whitsunday by equal portions together with four
chalders victual yearly between Yule and Candlemas, to be paid furth of the
parsonage tiends of the parish. Humbly therefore desiring the most reverend
fathers in God, Alexander Archbishop of St Andrews to authorise Andrew Grant
with his grace's usual courtesy and testimonial of admission to the ministry
and provision during his lifetime. (Here follow signatures of Magistrates,
Councillors and Deacons of Crafts.)
There was no free election in 1686, not only the
Magistrates but the Council being nominated by the King (James
VII.), who by his letter of 20th September
prohibited the Council to meet for the election of Magistrates until his
pleasure should be known, the Magistrates and every member to solemnly take
the test, which they all servilely did. In the former year the common jails
of Scotland were so crowded with prisoners, on account of Argyll's invasion,
that many were sent to Dunnottar, where they were confined in a loathsome
dungeon till they were transported or executed. This was a period
of great oppression in Scotland, the King on the one hand forcing episcopacy
on the people, and on the other hand punishing them if they dared to hold
conventicles to discuss the situation and defend themselves. In the midst of
this movement the King, as already stated, reserved to himself the right to
nominate and elect the Town Council of Perth or 1686, and he issued the
following edict:—
Forasmuch as it has pleased the King's Majesty by letter
dated 9th November to the Privy Council, signifying that he is now resolved
to nominate and appoint the Magistrates and other councillors and Deacons of
Crafts for the Burgh of Perth as under, being such as his Majesty judges to
be most loyal and ready to promote his rule, and most forward to support the
interest of the Burgh and he therefore authorises the Privy Council to that
effect Therefore the Privy Council in pursuance of his Majesty's commands do
hereby nominate and appoint—(here follows list of Council)—all which persons
are hereby authorised to continue in their respective offices in said burgh
and liberty thereof till Michaelmas next, and the said Lords appoint their
entrance and admission to office to be on Friday 7th November next and
recommend the Marquis of Atholl to be present, so that he may see his
Majesty's Royal pleasure regularly and opportunely put into execution.
In 1703 the Town Council, who at that time controlled the
Post Office, allowed £27 to James Dewar, postmaster, for postages,
parliamentary news and gazettes; William Paton, writer, was to get the news
letter from the Magistrates each Monday, and keep it for the inspection of
the inhabitants, and not to give it out The Council also discussed the
matter of a hangman for the town, and Lord James Drummond allowed them the
use of Donald M'Ara, his executioner in Crieff, the Magistrates and Council
undertaking to return him when required. Some years afterwards, in 1713,
Lord Breadalbane's executioner, John M'Ewan, was granted to the town on an
undertaking by the Magistrates to give the Earl the use of him at all times,
and return him if required. The extent to which executions were carried in
those days is not anywhere recorded, but that these two noblemen kept
executioners or hangmen for their own exclusive use, and that the town of
Perth had no less than three sets of gallows within the burgh, would seem to
indicate, if not the insecurity of life at that period, at least that the
number of executions was appalling.
In 1723, the Magistrates lost the power of trying cases
of life and death. An officer of a regiment stationed in Perth made himself
a pest to a dancing-school by his visits to a girl attending it. The master
and he quarrelled, after which, meeting incidentally, they drew their
swords, and the officer killed the master on the spot The Magistrates
sentenced the officer to be hanged. His friends appealed to the London
authorities for a pardon, and got it, but before they got to Perth the
officer was executed. This led to an Act of Parliament, which ordained that
no sentence of death should be executed north of the Forth under forty days.
In the same year street lamps were first erected in the
burgh, and in 1728 the Magistrates ordered a water-plough from London for
deepening the fords of the river. The treasurer was ordered to cut or carve
a unicorn, to be fixed on the spire of the Cross where the old one was; also
to take down the cock from the steeple, "as it has fallen down into the
sockets, and is not turned by the wind, whereby the steeple and spire are in
danger of ruin." In 1734 a committee was appointed to consider the enlarging
of the Skinnergate, but the proposal ended in seven tenements only being
demolished. The sum of £10 10s. was voted by the Council for encouraging the
Horse Races to be run in September, towards making up £75, as three purses
were to be run for. The following year they gave a fifteen guinea plate with
the town's arms to be competed for at these races.
The Porteous Roll appears amongst the Burgh Archives, and
gives a list of over 200 persons who must have been connected with that
memorable riot In 1764 three ministers were appointed for St John's. The
Magistrates and Council, aware that the number of the inhabitants in the
town and parish who attended public worship in the Established Church had
greatly increased, so that the two churches into which the parish was
divided could not conveniently accommodate them, they resolved to have a
third minister. In 1788, the town debt was £15,000. The town's salmon-fishings
were at that period let for terms of three years. It was afterwards thought
desirable to let them on a nineteen years' lease. The result was that the
rent rose from £582 to £1010 per annum under this arrangement.
In concluding these tit-bits from the records, we come to
a most remarkable event, the auditing of the town's accounts. Six of the
councillors were appointed to conduct this audit, but they evidently
quarrelled with the treasurer, refused to pass his accounts, rushed him by
physical force into the Tolbooth, and fined him £20. It was altogether a
ludicrous incident, and it is well told in the following official entry in
the Privy Council Register:—
Holyrood, 27th August, 1577. —Anent our Sovereign
Lord's letters raised at the instance of Andrew Ramsay, burgess of Perth,
against Patrick Whitelaw, one of the bailies of the said burgh, Oliver
Peebles, Dean of Guild, and certain others to the number of six persons
being nominated to be auditors of the treasurer's accounts for several years
bygone: appointed 15th March last, at which date the complainer at the
desire of the Provost compeared and produced his accounts as treasurer from
November 1567 to May following. The said auditors, by collusion among
themselves would not receive the complainer's accounts. Seeing which, and
that three of them had been treasurers before, and were to make their own
accounts and cover over every one with another, distributing the common good
each as he thought proper, the complainer assured them that he would declare
their collusion to the Regent and Lords of the Secret Council: and cause
each of these unlawful accounts to be audited again by neutral auditors,
whereby one treasurer would not be auditor to another. And then immediately
the said treasurer and Dean of Guild with their officers put violent hands
on the complainer, rushed him into the Tolbooth without any warning, would
take no bail, but detained him prisoner till the 29th of March last, and
then to colour their oppressive conduct gave in their complaint, judicially
alleging that the complainer had injured them and stopped their accounting:
therefore desired him to be punished in person, deprived of his freedom, to
pay £20 of fine and to be deprived for ever of holding office. Anent the
charge given to Peebles and other alleged treasurers and intromitters with
the Common Good these sixteen years by past, they to compear personally
before the Regent and Lords of Secret Council to answer to this complaint,
under pain of rebellion and putting to the horn, with certification if they
fail, etc. Andrew Ramsay compeared personally, and the other persons also
compeared. The Regent and Council willing to remove all occasion of sedition
that may arise within the burgh, and the removing of faction furth thereof,
ordained either of the said parties to nominate eight persons whom they
thought suitable to be present with the Lords' Auditors at the re-auditing
of the accounts of these treasurers for the aforesaid years. The Regent and
Council ordain letters to be directed charging the foresaid persons who were
treasurers, together with the other persons chosen for the hearing of the
said audit to compear before the Lords' auditors at Edinburgh the 8th
November next to audit of new their intromission with the Common Good under
pain of rebellion and putting to the horn.
This incident shows how corrupt was the system of
auditing in operation at that period. Every treasurer audited the accounts
of his predecessor, dealt with the common good as suited his convenience,
and evidently depended on the auditing being a mere farce.
{End of the Council Records.)
REGISTER OF THE PROVOSTS OF PERTH,
The Provosts of Perth were :—
From 1368 to 1500.—John Mercer, Laurence
Spence, William Mercer, Andrew de Martyn, John de Pitscottie, Andrew
Charteris, Robert Donyng, Andrew de Martyn, Richard de Strathearn, Alexander
Bunch, Thomas Peebles, Robert Mercer, Walter Ireland, Patrick Wells,
From 1500 to 1600. — Patrick Wells,
Robert Mercer, Andrew Charteris, John Charteris, Alexander Tyre, of Busbie;
Andrew Bunch, Alexander Blair, John Donyng, Patrick Charteris, Alexander
M'Breck, William, Lord Ruthven; Oliver Maxton, John Christison, William
Patullo, Patrick, Lord Ruthven ; Patrick, Master of Ruthven; Sir William
Murray, of Tullibardine ; William, Earl of Gowrie; John, Earl of Montrose;
John, Earl of Atholl; James Hepburn, James, Earl of Gowrie; John, Earl of
Gowrie.
From 1600 to 1700.—Sir David Murray,
afterwards Lord Scone; James Adamson, Viscount Stormont, Alexander Peebles,
Robert Arnot, Andrew Gray, Andrew Grant, Andrew Butter, John Paterson,
Patrick Threipland, George Threipland, Archibald Christie, Andrew Jackson,
Patrick Hay, Robert Lauder, John Glas, Robert Smyth, George Oliphant, James
Cree, David Murray, Patrick Davidson.
From 1700 to 1800.—George Oliphant, Patrick
Davidson, Alexander Robertson, James Cree, James Brown, William Austen,
Robert Robertson, Patrick Hay, William Ferguson, Colin Brown, Patrick Crie,
John Robertson, William Stuart, William Gray, John Stuart, Alexander
Simpson, George Fechney, Thomas Marshall, William Alison, John Caw,
Alexander Fechney, James Ramsay, Thomas Black, Thomas Hay Marshall Up to
this time the Provost was elected annually.
THE ANCIENT CRAFTSMEN, THE INCORPORATIONS AND MERCHANT
GUILDS.
A history of Perth would be incomplete without a chapter
on the Ancient Craftsmen, who may be said to have composed the life of the
city in the middle ages. The craftsmen and merchants were the two divisions
of the burgesses, and in the matter of municipal authority they were always
opposed to each other. The Merchant Guild was open to all burgesses until
trade interests and certain Acts of Parliament led to the formation of
Incorporations of Craftsmen. Nine such incorporations were formed in the
fifteenth century. In 1424, the Scottish Parliament, which met at Perth,
passed an Act declaring that every craft should have a Deacon and Council to
govern and test all work made by craftsmen, so that the lieges be not
defrauded. Up to 1469, the burgesses met in public and elected the provost,
bailies, dean of guild, and other officers of the burgh. This plan seems to
have become very unworkable, and another principle was adopted by which the
new Council was annually elected by its predecessor. The nine deacons of
incorporations usually secured a seat at the Council table, and in the
Council records the Council is stated to have been the provost, bailies,
councillors, and deacons of the crafts. A few years later, viz., at the
beginning of the sixteenth century, there was not a craftsman in the Council
except the deacons. At this period the Council is said to have been
composed of what was called co-operate members (members who had an axe to
grind), and this culminated in a serious appropriation of public property to
private uses.
This again led to an order from the King ordaining the
provost and bailies to select yearly four craftsmen of substance to sit at
the Council in order to counteract what was going on. One of these was to
have in his possession one of the keys of the closet in which the Common
Seal of the burgh was kept; and another to have the key of the outer door
where the chest stood, in order that the town's seal might not be put to any
improper use. Curiously enough, this royal decree was simply disregarded.
Craftsmen for some time had been a majority in the Council as against the
merchants. In 1530, however, under William, Lord Ruthven, as Provost, the
King's order was obeyed, and the result was to materially strengthen the
hands of the craftsmen. The following year it was tried to put a craftsman
in a bailie's chair. This move was successful, and John Balneaves was
appointed. On account of the ill-feeling which followed the election, the
opposition made choice of another set of magistrates. But the Lords of
Council and Session declared such election illegal, and the magistrates of
the previous year were reinstated. The Scottish Parliament in 1555 passed an
Act discharging incorporations from electing deacons, and after that date a
deacon could no longer be a member of Council, but two craftsmen were to be
chosen by the magistrates in place of the deacons. In the following year an
Act was passed by the Queen Regent, ordering the number of craftsmen to be
the same as the number of merchants at the Council board, and a craftsman
and a merchant to be in alternate years treasurer of the burgh. The Queen
Regent further ordained that should any craftsman be refused admission to
the Guildry, the Provost or any of the bailies was empowered to admit him.
In the reign of David I. (1124-53), foreign ships brought
to Perth dyed cloths and articles for domestic use, and carried away wool
and hides. The city being a seat of the Court whose residence was just
outside the northern wall, there were wealthy buyers for the imports of the
merchants. Skilled workmen from Flanders and Germany would appear to have
settled down in Perth at that time. That well-known merchant, Henry Bald,
goldsmith, had his booth at the east side of Skinnergate and High Street
Jewels for the Court ladies and money in exchange were supplied by him. The
house in which he lived had been granted him by King William for his public
services. At Bald's death it was left to the monks of Scone. In the reign of
Robert III. many of the merchants were in the habit of visiting Denmark,
Holland, and France, carrying with them not only their own goods but those
of their neighbours to sell in these countries. They also made purchases and
freighted vessels to carry the same to Perth. The purchases consisted of
dyed cloths, linen sheets, knives, soap, tar, wines, etc. The importing of
wine was of such moment that a committee of wine tasters was annually
elected. The exports from Perth harbour consisted of wool, hides, deer and
other skins, and barrels of salmon. Anyone buying goods in the country
before they were offered in town was liable in a heavy fine. The buying and
selling of skins, dairy produce, poultry and eggs, had to be done in the
open market
Wholesale buyers were not allowed to buy grain before
eleven o'clock a.m., and no meal before twelve. No burgess who had his
residence and booth in town was allowed to have a booth in the country. The
rules of the Magistrates were very drastic. On Wednesdays and Saturdays
burgesses could put their goods on trestles outside their booths, but on the
other four days this was not allowed. On these days the passage between the
eavesdrops of the doors had to be kept clean. The lines of shops stood some
feet back from the line of the flats above them and thus a covered way was
formed for passengers. On Saturdays business was carried on till midnight
Trade was keen. Not only did the merchants stand at their doors and ask the
passers-by "What do ye require?" but they would accost their neighbours'
buyers, and induce them to come to their booths. It was usual for booths to
be open on Sunday and for trade to be carried on in the town. In 1462,
however, the Guildry passed a resolution forbidding merchants to buy or sell
wool or skins on Sunday. And in 1504 the Guildry passed another resolution
suppressing Sunday trading and ordaining all Guild brethren to attend the
celebration of Holy Mass every Thursday. The bells were rung at 9 a.m. of
that day, the brethren ordered to appear in church, join the procession
following the eucharist round the church and hear devoutly the Mass. This
service was, after the Reformation (1559), succeeded by public worship in
the forenoon of Thursday till toward the close of the eighteenth century.
In 1531 the Guildry passed another resolution ordaining
that when any of the brethren or their wives were laid aside by illness, the
Sacrament was to be carried to their houses with two lighted torches in the
procession, the expense to be borne by the Guildry. In the case of death the
torches were to be kept burning beside the body till it was buried.
Various illustrations occur of the discipline of the
Guildry. Thus John Rait was guilty of contemptuous disobedience to the
deacon and brethren of the craft He was arrested and put in prison, besides
being fined 30s., which sum to be paid before he came out On coming out he
was to pass bareheaded before the deacon and brethren of craft through the
Watergate and by the Southgate (South Street) to his own booth door, and
there to ask God's and the deacon's forgiveness, all which had to be done
before he was allowed to resume business. Again in 1608 John Jamieson had
misbehaved with his tongue and "pointed a musket" at the deacon. He was
tried by the craft and sentenced to pass with musket in hand bareheaded
through the town and through the Rottenrow to the Mercat Cross, and there on
his knees ask forgiveness: then down the gate and through the Watergate to
his own booth door, and there on the "height of the causey" to ask
forgiveness, and pay £6 in cash. If any other member should do the
like he shall make a more humble appearance by passing through the town "sark
alane, bare fittet," and pay £12 in cash. A gate penny was charged on market
days for a stand on the street Midsummer and Andrewsmas markets were the
chief days of trade. The deacon and his assistants went to all sellers of
iron, pewter, and metal wares exhibited for sale, and received a payment for
the privilege of the market
When the Pomarium grounds, which had been the orchard of
the Carthusian Monastery, came to be built upon in the eighteenth century,
many persons not freemen took up their abode there and carried on their
calling. The incorporations raised actions against them for encroaching on
their privileges, and the matter went to the Court of Session, when the
dispute turned on the point whether the land was within the burgh. The
Glover Incorporation, being the superior of Pomarium, came to the help of
their feuars. After evidence had been led on both sides, the incorporations
lost their case, as the ground was declared to be outside the burgh. It is
recorded that the incorporations were careful to limit the number of masters
in each art to the wants of the lieges, so that there might be no
unprofitable competition. The members engaged in any one craft were at times
consulted before a new member was admitted to the same craft Some were
occasionally prevented from commencing business on their own account while
their fathers lived.
The "Beautiful Order" was at that period instituted, by
which the merchants were bound unitedly to vote for their party. The
firstfruits of this system was a tyranny, which ended in the rebellion of
half the merchant councillors, who, with the craftsmen, displaced Threipland
in 1675. The merchants resolved to bind every Provost by an oath not to hold
office longer than two years in succession.
The most notable contest between the contending parties
occurred in 1740, when the craftsmen in Council, having been joined by three
of the merchants, elected a Provost and Magistrates, who were not the
nominees of the merchants. The validity of the election was tested. The Law
Courts sustained the proceedings of the minority in the Council and the
incorporations had to pay the costs.
In pre-Reformation times there must have been a great
deal of life and activity in the Ancient Capital. The Incorporations had
their festival days when there were great processions perambulating the
town. Corpus Christi day, which fell after Whitsunday, was evidently
the greatest of these festivals, and the elaborate nature of the performance
indicates what an immense preparation there must have been to carry it out
in all its various parts. The authorities evidently disapproved of these
festivals as being hurtful to public morals, and they were ordered to be
given up. Corpus Christi was annually kept in Perth and celebrated by
all citizens —members of incorporations included This festival took the form
of a dramatic performance of a Scripture scene, preceded by a huge
procession through the streets, accompanied by the various incorporations,
the consecrated host being carried in the centre. Each incorporation
performed a play of its own. The day was the first Sunday after Whitsunday,
and the church services on that day were followed by processions through the
town. The mass bread was put into a silver box which a priest carried
through the streets under a canopy, followed by priests in uniform. In
presence of the canopy the town's people fell on their knees to do obeisance
to the sacred casket In pre-Reformation times this festival was probably the
greatest day of the year in Perth. Those who formed the dramatis persona
also took part in the procession in their official robes, bearing their
own special banners. The plays were performed in St John's Church, and in
the religious houses. The characters represented in a play acted in 1518 by
the Hammermen are recorded as follows:—
Adam—Eve.
St. Eloy—The Marmadin.
The Devil—His Man—The Angel—And the Clerk.
St. Erasmus—The Cord Drawer—The King—The Three Tormentors.
The Bearer of the best Banner—The Bearer of the other Banner.
The Stool Bearer—The Devil's Chapman.
The Minstrels.
This play was meant to represent the fall of man. The
same play appears to have been performed annually. The procession through
the streets must have been an imposing spectacle. We get an intelligent
description of it from a paper in the possession of the Perth Literary and
Antiquarian Society:—
Preparation of pageant for the procession of Corpus
Christi Day on which the glovers were to represent Adam and Eve with an
angel bearing a sword before them; the wrights were to represent Cain and
Abel with an altar and their offering; merchants and vintners Noah and the
ravens in the Ark apparently in the habits of carpenters
;
the weavers represented Abraham and Isaac and their
offering and altar. The smiths represented Pharaoh and his host, the
skinners represented the children of Israel; the gold-smiths were to find
the King of Edom (viz., one of the three kings). The coopers would represent
shepherds with an angel singing "Gloria in Excelsis Deo Corpus Christi."
Guilds were to find Christ in his passion with (Besides the Virgin, there
was Mary Magdalene and Mary of Bethany and the widow of Nain; all three
different persons, though they have been confounded with Mary Magdalene.)
The tailors were to represent Pilate, with his robes and his wife clothed
accordingly; the barbers Annas and Caiaphas; the merchants, the Prophets;
and the butchers, the Tormentors."
The Bakers acted a play in honour of St Obert on 10th
December annually, which was known as St Obert's Eve. This festival,
however, was clearly of less importance than Corpus Christi. Crowds
of persons perambulated the town in disguise on these occasions, dancing,
piping, and excited by the beating of the drums, carrying lighted torches in
their hands. One of the parties was clad in what was called the Devil's
Coat, and impersonated the devil Another was mounted on a horse shod with
men's shoes. This play, in spite of the Kirk Session, was annually performed
up to 1588, when the Bakers resolved to give it up. But we live in a
different age, and are content to regard these highly questionable
exhibitions as relics of the past They, however, are not without interest to
us as showing how our ancestors enjoyed themselves during pre-Reformation
times, and by what peculiar laws and customs trade and commerce were then
governed. It is evident that the greatest factor in the life of the
inhabitants at that period was the administration of the Town Council, the
appointment of its members, and the observance of its laws and ordinances.
All burgesses belonged to the Guildry or the Crafts, and the formation of
rules to guide these two bodies was a subject which gave rise to the most
interminable discussions and dissensions. These do not appear to have taken
end until the Convention of Burghs arrived on the scene, when a very
judicious and discreet code of laws was adopted for the future government of
the city.
THE VATICAN ARCHIVES.
It has always been supposed that important papers
concerning Perth and Scone before the Reformation were domiciled in the
Vatican Library ; but no substantial effort has ever been made to obtain
access to them. Until recently these papers have as a matter of fact been
quite inaccessible. By the friendly aid of the British Government and H. M.
Stationery Office, the difficulties in the way are now being surmounted, and
experts from the Record Office are now in Rome assorting these important
papers in order to make them accessible and suitable for public inspection.
Kalendars will be made up on the same principle as those at the Record
Office, London, and the Register House, Edinburgh. The authorities at the
Vatican are giving every assistance to help forward the work. We have made
inquiry into the matter with the view of reproducing any official or other
papers bearing on our own local history, so far as these could be obtained.
We find that there are no papers concerning Perth or Scone earlier than
1198; nor, so far as yet discovered, is there anything after 1410. The
papers affecting us are very few in number, and on the whole rather
uninteresting and unimportant Between 1198 and 1400 the following are the
papers connected with Perth and Scone:—
Kalendar of Papal Registry.
No. 1, dated 1207.—Litigation in which the
Abbot of Scone is a judge.
No. 2, dated 1219.—Mandate to the Abbots of
Cupar, Scone, and Dunfermline, to investigate and report to the Pope as to
the life and conduct of the Bishop of Moray. (See p. 387.)
No. 3, dated 1220.—Mandate to the Abbot of
Scone and others to grant dispensation to Thomas de Stirling to hold a
plurality of offices.
No. 4, dated 1235.—Mandate to the Bishop of
Moray and the Abbots of Arbroath and Scone in reference to a debt due by
Patrick, the clerk.
No. 5, dated 1237.—(Gregory
IX.)—Mandate to the Bishop of Dunkeld, the Abbot of Holyrood, and the
Prior of Scone to collect the whole ecclesiastical income of Patrick, clerk
of the Diocese of Glasgow, and pay it over to the Bishop and Chapter of
Glasgow, until satisfaction is made, deducting reasonable expenses, he
having, when their Proctor at Rome, defrauded them to the amount of over
1,800 merks, besides usuries and accessions.—5th April, Viterbo. (See
below, p. 388.)
No. 6, dated 1237.—Mandate to the Bishops of
Glasgow and Dunkeld in reference to the Bishopric of Dunblane, with power of
transferring certain rents and tithes to the monastery of Canons Regular of
St. John in the same diocese.
No. 7, dated 4th June, 1272.—Faculty to
the Dean and Chapter of Caithness to elect a fit person to be Bishop, their
election of Nicholas, Abbot of Scone, in the Diocese of St Andrews, having,
on its being presented to the Pope by Mr. Henry de Nottingham, been
cancelled on account of the Abbot's deplorable lack of learning. (See below,
p. 389f.)
No. 8, dated 1273.—Mandate to the Bishops of
Moray, Aberdeen, and Argyle to examine the merits of the Bishop elect of
Caithness, viz., Archibald, Archdeacon of Moray.
No. 9, dated 1275.—Mandate to the Bishops of
St. Andrews and Dunkeld to examine the election of the Bishop-elect of
Brechin, the See being void by the death of Dean William, Bishop-elect, on
which the Dean and Chapter appointed three of their number to take their
votes, when William Cumyn, a Friar preacher (Professor of Theology at
Perth), was chosen. They are to examine him, and consecrate him if they find
him fit, taking his oath of fealty to the Pope. (See below, p. 390f)
No. 10, dated 1290.—The Monastery of Lindores
has a toft in the burgh of Perth by the gift of the King.
No. 11, dated 1290.—Mandate to the Abbot of
Scone to sit as judge in a case.
No. 12, dated 1306.—William Henry, Abbot of
Scone, appointed by the Chapter of Caithness, along with another, to elect
the Bishop.
No. 13, dated 1345.—Mandate to the Abbot of
Scone in reference to John Peny, M.A.
No. 14, dated 1345.—Mandate to the Abbot of
Scone about the church of Thanethas.
No. 15, dated 1412.—Andrew de Burnes, priest
of the Diocese of Aberdeen, for the vicarage of Echt, on the presentation of
the Abbot and Convent of Scone. Petition on his behalf granted.
No. 16, dated 1381.—Petition on behalf of
Matthew de Cokborn, Canon Regular of Scone, for a benefice in the gift of
the Abbot and Convent of Jedburgh, value 100 merks.
No. 17, dated 1410—Robert, Duke of Albany, on
behalf of Richard de Mariton, canon of Scone, for the hospital of St.
German, in the Diocese of St. Andrews, value £50. Granted.
Translations of the more important of these official
documents are here appended :—
Honorius [III.], Bishop, etc., to the Abbots of
Cupar, Scone, and Dunfermline, of the diocese of St. Andrews, greeting—
Our beloved sons, the Archdeacon and Chancellor of the
Church of Moray, have written to tell us that their Bishop is intent only
upon the milk and wool that he can obtain from the flock entrusted to him,
and demands sometimes the eighth and sometimes the one-third part of their
revenues at his own will. He extorts money from them in name of
administration, although he discharges not the duty of visiting their
churches. Further, unmindful of the fact that our Lord drove forth from the
temple the sellers of doves, he not only takes money from those about to be
ordained, but he even exacts and extorts it, sometimes heavily burdening
them by frequent collections. And the money thus evilly obtained he
dissipates and spends in luxuries, sometimes with harlots, his association
with whom is matter of common report, while for a bribe he dissolves lawful
wedlock, and indulges that which is unlawful, dispensing with the sins of
the subjects, not for their penitence but for money. Upon which and other
accounts he lies under such public scandal that he presents rather a savour
of death unto death, than a savour of life unto life as he ought to do. And
although the said Archdeacon and Chancellor have in their love frequently
admonished him to lead a better life they have been able to effect nothing.
Unwilling, therefore, to ignore this state of matters, we, by our apostolic
writing, remit to your discretion, if you shall find the character of the
foresaid Bishop harmful in the matters above-mentioned, to make careful
inquiry regarding them, and that ye faithfully transmit to us, closed under
your seals, both the results of your inquiry, and whatsoever the said Bishop
may bring forward in his own defence, setting beforehand to the said Bishop
a competent term for his presenting himself before us that he may be dealt
with according to his deserts.—30th January, 1219. (Translated from
Theater's Vetera Monumenta Hibernorum et Scotorum Historiam illustrantia,
etc xxii. 9.)
Gregory [IX.] Bishop, etc., to the Bishop of Dunkeld, the
Abbot of Holyrood and the Prior of Scone, of the diocese of St. Andrews,
greeting—
He has been informed by the Bishop and Chapter of Glasgow
that Patrick, clerk of that diocese, who was appointed their procurator to
act for them at Rome, had squandered the sum of eight thousand merks and
involved the Church of Glasgow in other liabilities, which they may be
compelled to satisfy, while he has done nothing for the good of the said
church. Solicitous, therefore, for the welfare of the said church, he
ordains them, if matters be so, to attach the entire church revenues of the
said Patrick, and assign them by the apostolic authority to the foresaid
Bishop and Chapter until such time as they shall have been fully paid of the
money foresaid and satisfied therefrom for their losses and expenses;
provided that where any of his benefices include the cure of souls they
provide therefor by a competent vicar, and assign to him from the rents of
the said church a suitable maintenance.—Viterbo, 5th April, 1237.
(Translated and condensed from Theiner, op. cit.)
A. V. Reg. Vat. 37 (Gregorii
X. Bullar. An. I. ad IV.),
fol. 92, An. II, n. LIIII.—
To the Dean and Chapter of the Church of Caithness.
Your church having some time ago been deprived of the
consolation of a Pastor, you did unanimously and harmoniously choose as your
Bishop our beloved son Nicolas, Abbot of the Monastery of Scone of the
diocese of St Andrews. But on representation being made to us on your behalf
by our beloved son, Master Henry de Nottingham, priest, your Procurator, we
have, by the advice of our brethren and in the interests of justice,
annulled his election on the ground that the said Abbot was deficient in
learning, a defect not to be tolerated in a Prelate. Willing, therefore, to
do you a special favour in this matter, we accord to you, by these presents,
free permission again to choose a fit and proper person as Bishop and
Pastor.
Given at Rome, on the [second] day before the Nones of
June, in the second year of our Pontificate [4th June, 1272. Gregory
X. was consecrated 27th March, 1271].
Gregory [X] Bishop, etc., to his venerable brethren, the
Bishops of St Andrews and Dunkeld, greeting—
Although we are bound by our apostolic office to have a
continual solicitude for all the churches, as having the general oversight
of them, yet more especially do those which are immediately attached to the
Holy See demand our most careful attention, that by such fruitful diligence
they may be protected from injuries and their revenues, as given by the Lord
by a salutary foresight, conserved. Forasmuch as the Dean and Chapter of
Brechin have presented to us a petition setting forth that, the Church of
Brechin, which belongs immediately to the said See, being by the death of
William, Dean of Brechin, of good memory, who was elected to be Bishop of
Brechin, destitute of episcopal oversight, they had summoned all persons who
ought, should, or could have conveniently interest, upon a day previously
appointed for the election, and proceeding by way of scrutiny by three
trusty members of their college, unanimously chosen, who secretly and
individually required the votes of each person, and, faithfully recording it
in writing, thereafter published the results in the Chapter, having
diligently scrutinised the votes. Whereupon the Dean of Brechin, who was one
of the three, caused it to be published in his own name, and in the name of
the members of the Chapter and each of the Canons, that their choice had
unanimously fallen upon that religious man, Friar William Cumyn, of the
order of Friars Preachers, a man of honourable life, fame, and con-versation,
of lawful birth, mature age, skilled in letters, well known for integrity of
life, and circumspect in matters both spiritual and temporal. Him, being at
that time Regent of the Faculty of Theology in the house of the Friars
Preachers of Perth, after imploring the grace of the Divine Spirit, they
elected Bishop and Pastor of Brechin. They thereupon sent to us our beloved
sons, Gottifred and Reginald, Canons of Brechin, to entreat that we would
confirm their election of this person, and ordain some of the bishops of
those parts to bestow the gift of consecration upon him. Although much
occupied with great and important matters, because the business of this
election presses, and we desire to gratify the wishes of the aforesaid
church by a salutary provision, we ordain you, our brethren, to examine the
circumstances of the foresaid election, taking notice of the persons who are
known to have taken part therein, and if you are satisfied with the
procedure, when our said brother shall have obtained permission from his own
order to undertake the administration of the said church, you by the
apostolic authority shall confirm the same, and confer upon him the gift of
consecration, enjoining upon his subjects the showing to him due reverence
and obedience. You are to associate with yourselves a third bishop from that
kingdom, and to receive from the Bishop-elect the customary oath of
allegiance to us and the Roman See in accordance with the form herewith sent
The form of oath which he shall take ye shall transmit to us. If by any
means this election should be annulled, ye shall see that the Church of
Brechin is provided with a fit and proper person as its Bishop. . . . But if
any mortal contingency befal either of you, the survivor, having associated
with him two or three of the Bishops of those parts, shall faithfully carry
out the above mandate concerning the foresaid Bishop-elect— Dated at
Bellicadri, 9th June, 1275. (Translated and slightly condensed from Theiner,
op. cit.)
END OF VOL, I.
