Facts ana fancies 
 
 -aDout- 
 
 Kilmaoeonaia
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 FACTS AND FANCIES 
 
 LL\KED WITH FOLK-LORE 
 
 ABOUT 
 
 KILMAVEONAIG.
 
 Milne, Tannahill <* Methven, Prmterg, Perth.
 
 ^he New Reredos, A.D. 1912. 
 
 The. Crucifix from Oher-Ammergan. 
 The Altar Lights of Olive Wood carved in Jerusalem.
 
 Facts and Fancies 
 
 Linked with Folk-Lore 
 
 about Kilmaveonaig 
 
 By 
 
 Christopher I. K. Bowstead, M.A., 
 
 Priest-in-charge, A.D. 1899-1912. 
 
 Canon of St. Ninian's Cathedral. 
 
 Rector of Holy Trinity. Pitlochrle, A.D. 1891-98. 
 
 Publishers : 
 R. GRANT & SON. EDINBURGH.
 
 ®o mp 3r£UotD-(!Lbnstiana 
 
 in the Straths of the Garry, the Tummel, and the 
 Tay, and to all who are seeking the Vision of the 
 Holy Grail and the Blessing of Unity that will 
 follow, even Life for Evermore.
 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 KlL-MA-VEON-AIG, 1 
 
 S. COLUMBA, 9 
 
 Benedictine Monasteries, A.D. llOO to 1300, 32 
 
 The Parish of Kilmaveonaig, 1275, 39 
 
 Kilmaveonaig Restored, A.D. 1591, 51 
 
 Kilmaveonaig under the Penal Laws, A.D. 
 
 1689-1792, 66 
 
 Kilmaveonaig Rebuilt, 87 
 
 839108
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 The New Reredos, A.D. 1912, 
 
 " EccE Homo" Arch, 
 
 loNA Cathedral and St. Oran's Chapel, 
 
 One of the Sanctuary Crosses 
 
 Kirkton of Lude, as it was A.D. 1893, 
 
 The " BuiDHEAN," 
 
 Bell from Dunkeld, 
 
 Supposed Portrait of Rev. Duncan Stewart, 
 
 Baptism from the Gaol of Stonehaven, 
 
 Photo of Mason's Plan of a Restored Church, 
 
 March 14, 1794, 
 
 The South View, 
 
 Drinking Cup used by the Jacobites, 
 Memorial Ring of Robert Lyon, 
 
 The Church, A.D. 1893. 
 
 The Rev. Henry S. John Howard, LL.D., 
 Christopher I. K. Bowstead, M.A., 
 The North View of the Church, 
 
 The Altar, 
 
 An Etching of the Lude Gallery (East), 
 
 The Font, A.D. 1900, and West Gallery. A.D. 1794 
 
 The Door of the New Porch, A.D. 1899, 
 
 The Oratory in Dail-ant-Sagairt, 
 
 The Church and Churchyard, A.D. 1899. 
 The Altar Vessels, A.D. 1794 and 1898, 
 South- West View of the Church, A.D. 1899, 
 
 The Font, A.D. 1900, 
 
 The East End, A.D. 1912, 
 
 View of the Church and Lichgate, A.D. 1902, 
 Dail-ant-Sagairt, A.D. 1906, 
 
 Frontispiece 
 3 
 9 
 24 
 
 40 
 40 
 58 
 74 
 76 
 
 93 
 98 
 98 
 HI 
 115 
 115 
 115 
 118 
 118 
 121 
 121 
 123 
 128 
 129 
 130 
 131 
 132 
 133 
 134
 
 vn. 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 KILMAVEONAIG stands about 400 yards off the public 
 road near the Tilt Hotel, and about half-a-mile from the 
 Blair- Atholl Station. The church has not a commanding 
 exterior, but has a very interesting ancient history, and, 
 moreover, as was said to me by a friendly Presbyterian, 
 " a unique one " in that at the Revolution the Dis- 
 established Church retained possession. 
 
 This brought to birth my purpose which had stirred 
 within me since I became Rector of Holy Trinity, Pit- 
 lochrie, A.D. 1891, and was able to do something to 
 carry on the work of restoration begun by my prede- 
 cessor, the Rev. H. S. J. Howard, in 1866. The Rev. 
 Mr. Robertson obtained a Register containing the Minutes 
 of Meetings of The Episcopal Church in Perth (with 
 the signature of Robert Lyon, who was executed at 
 Penrith for following Prince Charlie). This Book 
 
 has entries of Baptisms and Confirmations A.D. 1812- 
 1830, and many interesting details copied from the 
 Lude papers, and when I found that Kilmaveonaig was 
 a Parish of some importance as early as A.D. 1275, and 
 that folklore connected the name of St. Adamnan — 9th 
 Abbot of lona — with the name " Kilmaveonaig," I felt 
 I had certain Facts to record which would form a sort of 
 seed-plot of Fancies, attractive to the reader, if not al- 
 ways accepted by the critical historian ; and further the 
 desire has grown within me, not only to offer to the reader 
 Facts and Fancies, but also to lead my fellow-Christians 
 to study with me that Foundation Fact which will help
 
 Vlll. 
 
 the aspirations, stirring within us to pray and work till we 
 come to " Oneness of the Faith and of the full Knowledge 
 of the Son of God," with regard to which we require 
 Divine Inspiration ; and may the one Bell, dated A.D. 
 1627, which calls us to Service from its little turret, 
 ever sound in our ears a Call to UNITY. 
 
 I desire gratefully to acknowledge the kindness of 
 those who from time to time supplied me with much 
 information which has added to the interest of my book. 
 Amongst many (I cannot remember all) I will mention 
 Miss Morehead, Mr. Dixon, The Rev. M. Donald, Miss 
 M'Inroy, Miss Keir, and last, but not least, Mr. Hugh 
 Mitchell, who was ever ready to impart to me things new 
 and old connected with the neighbourhood, which he for 
 many years stored in his mind for the benefit of a gatherer 
 of Facts and Fancies like myself. My indebtedness to 
 various writers I acknowledge in the course of the book. 
 
 I send forth my " wee bookie," to borrow an old 
 Title, asking for the kindly criticism of those versed in 
 Facts, and the forbearance of all my readers with my 
 Fancies, when deemed too fanciful to be at all worthy 
 of acceptance. 
 
 Any profits from the sale of this book may be applied 
 to the cost of a small window north of the Sanctuary.
 
 IX. 
 
 PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. 
 
 The very kind welcome given to " Facts and Fancies," 
 not only by personal friends and neighbours, but also 
 by visitors to Kilmaveonaig, and even by the general 
 public, has called for a new Edition. In this the only 
 alterations made are a few necessary corrections, and 
 the addition of a small paragraph which is concerned 
 with the matter kindly supplied to me by Mr. Mitchell, 
 of the Union Bank in Pitlochry. 
 
 A kindly review in the Church Times suggested that 
 I had travelled somewhat beyond the limits of my title. 
 I agree that for the ordinary passer-by a simple history 
 of the Church itself might be more useful, and I hope 
 it may be possible shortly to bring out an abridged edition 
 (at a smaller price) which \vill omit the less relevant 
 matter. 
 
 I have been very glad to gather from the few criticisms 
 received, that my main Facts are not disputed, and that 
 my Fancies are not deemed altogether fantastic. 
 
 Chr. I. K. B. 
 July, 1915,
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 KIL-MA-VEON-AIG. 
 
 VERY House of God that has been built, has 
 a local history, more or less full of interest, 
 but as ' Domus Dei,' it also is a witness to 
 ' Rcgnum Dei,' a kingdom of God, calling for 
 the loyal homage and service of those who 
 have made their home around it for daily life and work 
 and rest. In tracing the history of this Parish Church, 
 I desire to take my readers back in thought, through 
 all the troublous times of the Penal Laws, of the bitter 
 conflict between the Cathohc Church and the Cove- 
 nanters, between Episcopahans and Presbyterians, which 
 ended in the Revolution A.D. 1689, and the recognition 
 of the latter by the State— back to the 11th and 12th 
 centuries, which were noted for the building of Churches 
 and Benedictine Monasteries on the ruins of the Col- 
 umban, also noted for the spread of education and 
 civilisation and the submission to the Papal Power, 
 — ^back to lona calling to mind Columba, Adamnan, and 
 their fellows in frail coracles, carrying the Gospel of 
 Eternal Life to the Picts and other warlike and rude 
 inhabitants of our land — back to Britain before A.D. 410, 
 when the legions of Rome, having sought but in vain 
 to make their victory complete, evacuate their con- 
 quered Province — and thus lastly to Rome, the mistress 
 and proud conqueror of the nations round her, the in- 
 heritor of the wealth of other nations that had waxed 
 great and then had fallen a prey to nations strong in the 
 vigour of youth. 
 
 Let us pause and think on Rome and her Empire. 
 Many miles eastward lies the Land promised to Abram, 
 with Egypt to the South, where his seed were in bondage
 
 2 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 400 years — ^the land conquered by Pompey and annexed 
 to the Roman Empire about B.C. 100 — a startling fact 
 and a great trial to the Faith of Israel. The Land of 
 Promise contained within its borders the mountain on 
 which Abram at God's behest offered up Isaac, — ^the 
 mountain that became the seat of David's Kingdom, — the 
 Moriah on which Solomon built the Temple for the offering 
 of the divinely appointed Sacrifices, — the mountain that 
 witnessed so many futile attacks of hostile nations which 
 one after another passed away — that witnessed Israel 
 led captive for their sins and then again restored in the 
 Providence of God, Who remembered His mercy to 
 Abram and his seed — ^this mount becomes the abode of a 
 Roman Governor. What meaneth this ? Go back 
 to Adam made in the image of God, i.e. Righteous, and 
 therefore, possessing Prudence, Fortitude, and Temper- 
 ance, virtues recognised by the heathen as making the 
 true man. But when man, by disobedience, fell from 
 original righteousness, antagonistic seeds are planted 
 in God's World and the nations that spring therefrom 
 will war with each other till victory remains ^\^th the 
 Righteous One ; and every nation has become great 
 according as it has built its City on righteousness, for 
 " in every nation each individual fearing God and work- 
 ing righteousness is accepted with him " (Acts xi.). 
 Romulus, whether suckled by a wolf or by a human 
 mother, is the reputed founder of a Nation that has 
 been excelled by no other in the Gentile world for the 
 purity of its religion and the righteousness of its laws ; 
 at the zenith of her power she became corrupt in morals 
 and untrue to her standard of justice, and mark here 
 the mystery of God's good Providence ! He gives to 
 man freewill ; He gives to man the imperium (the com- 
 mand), but at the fall He promises the Seed Who was to 
 make " Imperium in Imperio " (an Empire within an 
 Empire), and thus when the governor sent by the Emperor
 
 " Ecce Homo' Jirch 
 
 in the Latin Church in Jeniaalcin, Iniilt on the site of niate'x Pyaetoyium.
 
 KIL-MA-VEOX-AIG 3 
 
 does the foulest act of injustice the Morld has ever seen 
 in dehvering up to death JESUS CHRIST to be crucified 
 — when before Pilate passes the sentence, he says to the 
 people (and surely to men of every age) " ECCE HOMO, 
 ECCE REX" (Behold the Man, Behold your King), 
 Rome co-operates unwittingly with the " determinate 
 counsel and fore-knowledge of God," Who willed that 
 by death His Only Begotten Son should redeem the 
 World, — should be made Sin for us, — should as Sin- 
 bearer " overcome him that had the Power of Death, 
 i.e. the Devil," and — should " rise from the dead to ascend 
 up far above all the Heaven that He might fill all things," 
 and have " all authority over things in Heaven and on 
 Earth." 
 
 The reader may think this a long digression from the 
 avowed purpose of this book, but I desire to show how 
 Rome, by her terrible act of injustice in conjunction with 
 the Jewish people, was instrumental in setting up in her 
 midst " Regnum Dei," the Kingdom of God ; that this 
 Kingdom would accomplish God's eternal purpose of 
 building the Holy City that had the foundations, — the 
 Society of men, " created after God in Righteousness 
 and Holiness of Truth," that this Kingdom would there- 
 fore offer to men of every race a government, under which 
 all that man's upright heart thirsted for, should be en- 
 joyed in Righteousness and Peace by all men, Jew and 
 Gentile, rich and poor, bond and free, without partiality 
 as set forth in Ps. Ixxii. Now, mark the growth of the 
 Kingdom of God, sometimes silent, sometimes manifest to 
 the World. JESUS, the crucified King, " is declared on 
 the Third day to be the Son of God with power by the 
 Resurrection from the dead " (Rom. i.), and about A.D. 34 
 He knit together His Elect into Union with Himself as His 
 Mystical Body by the descent of God the HOLY SPIRIT 
 at Pentecost ; and a few years later the flood of Roman 
 invasions of Britain reached their height under Ajiricola
 
 4 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 A.D. 85, and little by little a network of Roman roads 
 secured by strongholds spread over the land, and after 
 the lapse of centuries, there are still being unearthed 
 by casual workmen, villas and camps, and other Roman 
 work. We drive upon the roads, we excavate ancient 
 villas, and most notably, in our day are being excavated 
 parts of the Roman Wall from Wallsend to Carlisle 
 with its 70 camps, a mile apart, and numerous forts ; 
 and the KING, in His Wisdom, had used the works of 
 His rebel subjects to advance His Kingdom, while the 
 persecution of the Christian Church results in its growth 
 in the land. Joseph of Arimathaea is said to have 
 come to Glastonbury, and if St. Paul only reached Spain, 
 his companions at an early period reached our Britain ; 
 but more than this, as time went on, Roman soldiers 
 became Christians. In A.D. 316, three British Bishops 
 went to the Council at Aries and some to the Council 
 at Ariminum, A.D. 359, having their expenses defrayed, 
 being unable to pay it out of their own purse. This 
 shews that by the 4th century the Christian Church had 
 taken root in the land. On the Roman Wall there are 
 at least a few carved stones showing the Faith of a Chris- 
 tian, and before the withdrawal of the Roman legions 
 A.D. •410, there were many witnesses for Christ — (like St. 
 Alban) faithful unto Death. 
 
 But let us retrace our steps to Rome to see how the 
 Kingdom of God was spreading in the centuries up to 
 the sack of Rome by the barbarians A.D. 410. Let us 
 bear in mind that the Christian is a Man inheriting all the 
 virtues which made him like unto God, phis the Grace of 
 " the new man created in Righteousness and Holiness of 
 Truth," even the Gift of the Holy Spirit, so that Christians 
 have not only the grace to live a godly, righteous, and 
 sober life, but, as knit together for corporate Life in 
 Christ, have gifts for government, for the study of the 
 Arts and Sciences, and above all for that Science which
 
 KIL-MA-VEON-AIG 5 
 
 deals with heavenly Mysteries and spiritual gifts. 
 M' Gibbon, in his book on Architecture in Provence, 
 well expresses what is in my mind : he says — 
 
 " From the date of Constantine till the overthrow 
 of society, barbarism, paganism, and Christianity went 
 on side by side. While civilisation remained, and the 
 schools continued. Christians of ancient learning and 
 Pagan students discussed together the same problems of 
 philosophy, and the fathers endeavoured to reconcile 
 them with Christianity. But as successive waves of bar- 
 barism rushed over the land sweeping all before them, 
 almost every semblance of learning was swept away. 
 Hence arose a desire on the part of learned men to retire 
 from the anarchy and insecurity of the conditions around 
 them to some safe retreat where they might converse on 
 and study in peace those high problems which cccupicd 
 their minds. These Societies in the natural course of 
 events were by degrees converted into Monasteries. 
 The celebrity of the Eastern ascetics and devotees had 
 penetrated to Western Europe, but the solitary form of 
 religious observance did not at first meet with much 
 encouragement there. Societies of recluses were then, 
 however, also common in the East, and the Eastern 
 Monastery was the form adopted by the Western re- 
 cluses as their model, but Monasteries were not at this 
 time Religious Societies, nor were the Monks in Holy 
 Orders. They were simply associations of laymen who 
 wished to retire from the confusion and turmoil into 
 which all civil government was thrown and to find peace 
 for study and quiet for contemplation. Such was the 
 famous Monastery of the Lcrines, founded early in the fifth 
 century by St. Honorat, on an island off the coast near 
 Cannes, which soon became the most celebrated school 
 of learning and piety in the South of Gaul, and was as 
 great a blessing to the countries of the Mediterranean 
 as the similar Colony of St. Columba at lona was to
 
 6 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 our land. It is eas3% however, to fancy how, in the 
 midst of the strife and unrest of the fifth and sixth cen- 
 turies, such Societies tended to become rehgious and 
 thus obtain protection from the Church. This they 
 were finally compelled to do, although at the sacrifice 
 of their liberty, by placing themselves under the authority 
 of the Bishops, where alone they could find rest and 
 safety. For the barbarians, many of whom were already 
 Christians, stood in awe of the Church, and the Church 
 strove to secure her ascendency by maintaining the 
 independence of the spiritual power, and the incapacity 
 of the temporal powers to interfere with it, a doctrine 
 which afterwards led to the terrible struggle for supremacy 
 between the temporal and spiritual powers, represented 
 on the one hand by the Emperor, and on the other by 
 the Pope ; a struggle which lasted so long and involved 
 so many cities in the horrors of the factions of the Guelphs 
 and Ghibellenes." 
 
 The above extract shows that the Kingdom of God 
 was slowly making its conquest ^vith lovers of Wisdom 
 and seekers after Truth in the Gentile world : it also 
 shows the adaptability of " the Sons of the Kingdom " 
 to changing circumstances and trials, and their power 
 of extracting the good out of them ; the riot and unrest 
 resulting from the invasion of the barbarians leading 
 men to \nthdraw from the chaos of Society into seclusion, 
 paved the way for the Monastic life — not religious at 
 first — but soon developing into that monastic system 
 W'hich was destined to play so large a part in Europe 
 for good — but, alas, often for evil also, for " the Enemy 
 ever sows tares among the Wheat," as seen in the case 
 of Les lies de Lerins (the Lero and Lerina of the ancients), 
 which became as celebrated as a Monastery as lona, 
 being called by a modern ^vriter, " The lona of the 
 South." 
 
 This development of the Monastic Life combining
 
 KIL-MA-VEON-AIG 7 
 
 work with devotion, after a while as we shall see in God's 
 good Providence, found a centre in lona A.D. 563. 
 
 Note here a new stage in the growth of " Regnum 
 Dei " and its conquests. Rome's occupation of Britain 
 for four centuries ceased A.D. 410, leaving the Britons 
 a prey to their unconquered northern neighbours, the 
 Picts, still mostly heathen ! but, ere Rome departs, one 
 destined to lift up a standard for the people — St. Ninian is 
 born A.D. 350, son of a British Chieftain, goes to Rome 
 for fuller education, and is in due time consecrated Bishop 
 by Pope Siricius ; on his way back to his native country 
 he visits St. Martin in his monastery at Tours, and is said 
 to have brought back with him Masons, and the first 
 stone church, Candida Casa at Whithorn, so called because 
 of its white stone, is built A.D. 397. 
 
 In A.D. 430 another name comes before us — St. 
 Palladius. We quote by permission notes from Moulin 
 Parish Supplement, by Mr. Hugh Mitchell : — 
 
 "While the Southern Picts in the East of Scotland 
 from the Forth to the Dee embraced Christianity in the 
 time of St. Ninian, about A.D. 400, those dwelling in the 
 upper valleys of the Tay and its tributaries were left to 
 their native paganism until the time of St. Columba. 
 
 "St. Palladius would seem to have come to Scotland 
 about A.D. 435 on a visit to his friend Terrananus, who 
 at that time was Bishop of the Southern Picts, and had 
 his residence at Banchory-Ternan on the Dee. When on 
 this journey, St. Palladius made the Dell of Moness, near 
 Aberfeldy, his temporary residence, and near it he built 
 a small chapel, and although all vestiges have disappeared, 
 the site is still known as Raghra-na-Eaglais, or the Field 
 of the Church, while a Rock in the Den is still called Cais- 
 tcal Pheallaidh, which commemorates his name. Aber- 
 feldy is said to be a corruption of Aber-paldy, the name 
 of the Saint. St. Palladius journeyed eastwards till he 
 met his friend, and is said to have died at Fordoun in
 
 8 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 Kincardineshire where the Parish Church bears his name, 
 and the yearly market is known as Paldy's Fair. 
 
 " It has to be kept in mind that until the end of the 
 7th century, Celtic Churches were usually dedicated to 
 living Saints, and so their names are a fairly accurate 
 guide to the date when they were founded." 
 
 "Another notable name — St. Kentigern — better known 
 by his pet name, Mungo {i.e. dear) forms the connecting 
 hnk between St. Ninian and St. Columba. His work 
 was done amidst new conditions in the life of the country, 
 amid the political and social anarchy resulting from the 
 withdrawal of the Roman legions. Two kindgoms grad- 
 ually emerged from the confusion. That of Bernicia, ex- 
 tending along the East Coast South of the Forth, occupied 
 by non-Christian English Settlers from the Continent ; 
 and that of the Britons, called Cumbria at Strathclyde, 
 stretching from Dumbarton to the Derwent in Cumber- 
 land ; it was among the Britons that St. Mungo laboured. 
 After being educated in St. Serf's School, Culross, he goes 
 to Cathures (Glasgow) where he was chosen Bishop and 
 consecrated by a Bishop from Ireland. Before his death, 
 he met St. Columba on the banks of the Molendinar Burn 
 in Glasgow, and by the burn over which the Cathedral 
 of Glasgow was built, they, the representatives of the 
 Roman-British and the Celtic Churches, embraced and 
 exchanged pastoral staves, and thus we picture the 
 blending of the two currents of Christianity in the one 
 Church, Catholic in organisation, still free from that 
 as yet undreamt of and unasserted claim of Roman 
 supremacy." (" Short History of the Church in Scotland,"" 
 hy the present Bishop of Aberdeen).
 
 CO 
 
 I ^
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 S. COLUMBA. 
 
 And now after a lapse of 100 years, since the death 
 of St. Ninian, the great Columba comes before us, and we 
 pass from the scene of the labours of these early Christian 
 Missionaries — harassed and devastated after the de- 
 parture of the Romans — to Iona, to a small barren 
 island in sight of Ireland and close to Mull. 
 
 Here the King — once crucified and now ruling from 
 the right hand of God— begins to advance His Kingdom 
 by new methods and different weapons. Columba, be- 
 longing to the powerful Clan of the O'Donnells, was born 
 A.D. 521 of royal blood, and for those times, well educated 
 in Monastery Schools (five of his school-fellows arc men- 
 tioned by him — Cormac, Comgall, Brendan, Ciaran, and 
 Cainnech) ; he had the bard, Gemman, as his instructor in 
 literature, and after his ordination, he laboured in the 
 Gospel for 15 years ; and whether the oft-told tale be Fact 
 or Fancy, — that he made a copy of the Psalter unknown to 
 its owner, who claimed the copy as his, and the case being 
 laid before a Judge — that the verdict, " Every cow has its 
 calf " enraged Columba, and he raised a quarrel of which 
 the result was a battle in which thousands were slain, 
 Molaise, his confessor, imposing as penance upon him that 
 he should win many souls to Christ, even as many had been 
 slain in a battle, — it is a fact that in A.D. 563, Columba, 
 with 12 companions, sailed for Iona and began his work 
 which has hallowed the Isle to which Dr. Johnson in his 
 journey to Iona in 1773 thus refers : "We were now tread- 
 ing that illustrious Island which was once a luminary of 
 the Caledonian regions whence savage clans and roaming
 
 10 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 barbarians derived the benefits of knowledge and the 
 blessings of religion. To abstract the mind from all local 
 emotion would be impossible if it were endeavoured, and 
 would be foolish if it were possible. Whatever withdraws 
 us from the power of our senses, whatever makes the past, 
 the distant, or the future predominate over the present, 
 advances us in the dignity of thinking beings. Far from 
 me and from my friends be such frigid philosophy as may 
 conduct us indifferent and unmoved over any ground 
 which has been dignified by wisdom, bravery, or virtue. 
 That man is little to be envied whose patriotism would 
 not gain force upon the Plain of Marathon, or whose piety 
 would not grow warmer among the ruins of lona." 
 
 Here it may be well to describe from the Bishop of 
 Aberdeen's booklet, page 11, the manner of life of the 
 monks in lona and other Columban monasteries : "A 
 rampart enclosed the dwellings of the monks, the church, 
 the refectory, and the guest chambers, while outside were 
 the Mill, the Kiln, and Farm steading. Holy Scripture 
 was studied and copied possibly as early as St. Columba's 
 day. The young were educated. Most, if not all the 
 canonical hours of devotion were observed, Wednesdays 
 and Fridays were usually Fast-days. There were two 
 peculiarities brought from Ireland which afterwards 
 caused much trouble — {a) the Irish form of tonsure, the 
 shape like a crescent with a fringe of hair in the front, 
 and {b) a method of calculating Easter, different from the 
 Roman use. It was not till after the death of Adamnan 
 that the lona monks conformed to the Roman use, as 
 now observed by us." 
 
 Now let us picture to ourselves — and Fact and Fancy 
 may well go hand-in-hand — Columba and his fellow- 
 workers crossing seas and lochs in their curagh (coracle) 
 to make captives of the Picts in the King's Name. What 
 a contrast to the entry of the Roman legions in days 
 gone by. What a conquest greater than that of Rome,
 
 S. COLUMBA 11 
 
 who, after the great battle of Monsgrampius, could not 
 enter the country of the defeated Picts. 
 
 " Not by warriors spear and sword, 
 Not by art of human word ; 
 Preaching but the Cross of Shame, 
 Rebel hearts for Christ ye tame." 
 
 Let us note that Scots from Ireland (for the name 
 Scotland was not given to this country till a much later 
 date) had settled in Argyllshire, about 100 years before 
 St. Columba came and had founded the little Kingdom 
 of Dalriada north of the British Kingdom of Strathclyde, 
 so that Columba was related to its King and leading 
 people. The Highlands of Perthshire and the North of 
 Scotland, not the West, were still in Pagan darkness, but 
 the East, according to the Venerable Bede, was Christian 
 from the time of St. Ninian. 
 
 After visiting his fellow-countrymen in Dalriada, St. 
 Columba, about A.D. 565, decided to proclaim the good 
 tidings of the Kingdom of God to King Brude at Inverness. 
 
 A glance at the map will show how the chain of lochs 
 from the Clyde to Inverness form an almost continuous 
 waterway for Columba and his companions in their 
 coracle. Picture them as they step on shore and ascend 
 the hill to the Dun (or Fort) such as is described in "Branan 
 the Pict.'"* "About a mile and a half from Inverness 
 there is a vitrified fort on Craig Phadrig, which many 
 suppose to be the remains of the actual fortress of the 
 King, visited by St. Columba, known as Larach-an- 
 Tigh-Mhoir (the site of the Big House) . The hill on which 
 it is situated is about 550 feet above the level of the sea. 
 The conical top is still crovined by masses of solid masonry, 
 partly welded together by the action of fire. There 
 are many such vitrified forts in Scotland " ; and again 
 • By Miss On tram.
 
 12 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 quotinff, wc picture Columba approaching " the gigantic 
 wall of the Dun from six to ten feet in width, the whole 
 forming an imposing rampart from 50 to 60 feet high ; 
 a narrow winding way deeply cut out of the solid rock 
 or built up on either hand with stone work led up a 
 steep ascent to the inner gate of the Dun." 
 
 What a sight for the reverent imagination to picture ! 
 Columba, tall, of commanding mien, and with a voice 
 strong, penetrating, but sweet withal (so Adamnan de- 
 scribes him), he comes as the Ambassador of the King of 
 Kings, " with the praises of God in his mouth, and a 
 two-edged sword in his hand to execute vengeance on 
 the nations and to rebuke the people to bind their Kings 
 with chains," with the cords of a man, the bond of Peace 
 and of Love which is the Bond of Perfeetness ; yes, he 
 comes to break the spells of Witchcraft and the authority 
 of Darkness, with the good tidings of the World being 
 redeemed by the Blood of the King, Who on the Cross 
 became " the Propitiation for the sins of the whole world." 
 This Gospel had sweeter music for the heart of man than 
 the songs and sounds of the mere world of nature con- 
 trolled as the Druids taught by the Demons they wor- 
 shipped. In Branan the Pict, the scene at the gate 
 of the Fort is graphically depicted. King Brude advised 
 by Broichan, the Druid, had roughly refused Columba 
 admission, bidding him return to the land whence he 
 came. 
 
 " Colum-cille was weary with his journey, and had 
 sat him down by the side of the gate to await the king's 
 answer. As the rough message was shouted to him over 
 the wall, he rose from his seat and advanced to the wicket 
 of the great portal. Then knocking loudly, he laid his 
 hand, as if to push open the doors. At once the bolts 
 shot back, and the great gates swung open, leaving the 
 way free for the holy man to enter with his train. Whether 
 it Avas the guard who feared his curse and unbarred the
 
 S. COLUMBA 13 
 
 doors, or that the gates opened of tiieir own accord, I 
 know not, suffice it that to Colum-cille the fortress had 
 surrendered at his touch. Boldly he advanced up the 
 narrow winding ascent till he gained the enclosure above. 
 By this time one of the guard had run to bring the king 
 tidings of what had happened, for he was sitting in 
 council with his lords within the hall. Then were they 
 all greatly affrighted, and rose up to meet the man of 
 God with reverence and awe, and Brudc spake gentle 
 words of welcome to atone for the rude rebuff he had given 
 him at the first. Straightway did Colum-cille preach 
 Christ unto the king and seek to win him to the faith, 
 and from that day to this does Brude greatly honour the 
 Teacher who came to him armed with the authority and 
 power of the Most High God." 
 
 This made the Druid furious and he did his utmost 
 to frustrate the teaching and influence of Columba. 
 Columba at eventide would sing the Vesper praises of Gk)d 
 outside the walls of the Dun, and as the story goes, when 
 the sweet music came floating on the air, " a clamour arose 
 in the air, and I heard the noise of drums and horns and 
 hoarse chanting of incantations as Broichan and his 
 fellows issued in solemn procession from the fort, and 
 drew nigh to the little band of worshippers. With cries 
 and tumult they sought to drown the sound of prayer 
 and praise, so that the heathen who lingered around should 
 not be able to hear. As I listened and wondered at the 
 loud discordant tones, the voice of Colum-cille rose high 
 above the unseemly din, so that the very words he sang 
 could be plainly distinguished even from the distance 
 at which I stood : — 
 
 " My heart is inditing of a good matter ; 
 I speak of the things which I have made unto 
 the King." 
 
 "Verse after verse rang out into the still air, like
 
 U FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 trumpet notes echoing through the skies. What mattered 
 it that the Druids did their utmost to hinder the work 
 of God, when the heavenly King gave His Ser^'ant so 
 marvellous a power Avith which to silence the opposition 
 of His foes ? I tell thee, fear fell on all those who heard 
 the wondrous psalm that day." 
 
 Here it will be helpful to quote from the lectures 
 delivered in St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, about thirty 
 years ago ; the account of the Druid teaching and practice 
 shew what Columba and his followers had to confront, 
 and how the Word of God offers to man all that is true 
 in his half knowledge, with all the perfect knowledge 
 which God alone can reveal of Himself and Jesus Christ 
 Whom He has sent. This Gospel has won its way into 
 Man's heart in every age, because it is the knowledge 
 of Life, not temporary, not partial, not limited in its 
 sphere, but Eternal. The following somewhat lengthy 
 quotation is apt and full of interest : — 
 
 " Many allusions are found in old manuscripts to the 
 necromancy of the Druids, and to their different spells 
 and incantations. A favourite method of divination 
 with them was by sneezing, or by the song of a bird 
 perched on a tree. In an old poem attributed to St. 
 Columba, these and other similar practices are referred 
 to and abjured. ' Our fate,' sings the poet, ' depends 
 not on sneezing ; 
 
 ' Nor on a bird perched on a twig. 
 Nor on the root of a knotted tree. 
 Nor on the noise of clapping hands ; 
 Better is He in Whom we trust, 
 The Father, the One, and the Son.' 
 
 and in another verse of the same poem, he says : — 
 
 ' I adore not the noise of birds. 
 Nor sneezing, nor lots in this world,
 
 S. COLUMBA 15 
 
 Nor a son, nor chance, nor woman — 
 My Druid is Christ, the Son of God.' 
 
 The rcHgion of the Northern kingdom of the Picts 
 and Scots, of which the Druids were the Ministers, was 
 in itself, as might be expected from what we have said, 
 of a very debased and grovelHng kind. It seems to have 
 been mainly a kind of fetishism, an adoration of natural 
 objects, and of the powers of the external world — the 
 rocks, the wind, the thunder ; and if the people rose in 
 thought above what came within the knowledge of the 
 senses, it was only to people the material world with 
 demons and malignant spirits to whom all phenomena 
 were attributed, and whose aid was to be sought or whose 
 wrath was to be averted by means of charms and magical 
 spells. Among the pagan Scots, pillar stones were objects 
 of worship and were either overthrown or consecrated 
 with the sign of the cross by the early Christian Teachers. 
 
 The Sidhe were spirits who were supposed to haunt 
 nature and to dwell underground, and a belief in their 
 dread power remained long after Christianity had obtained 
 a firm hold on Scotland, and lingers in some parts of our 
 country to the present day. St. Columba seems to have 
 had full belief in the existence of these demons, which 
 were believed to have their usual dwelling-place in 
 fountains and green hillocks, and he delighted in exorcising 
 them. These invisible spirits pervaded the elements of 
 Nature — the clouds, the waters, the earth, the trees, and 
 in a striking poem said to be by St. Patrick, there arc 
 signs that even he had not altogether shaken himself free 
 from a sense of the mysterious power of the elements of 
 nature. He says : — 
 
 ' I bind to myself to-day 
 The power of Heaven ; 
 The light of the Sun ; 
 The whiteness of the Snow :
 
 16 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILIVIAVEONAIG 
 
 The force of Fire ; 
 The flashing of Lightning ; 
 The velocity of Wind ; 
 The depth of the Sea ; 
 The stability of the Earth ; 
 The hardness of Rocks.' 
 
 He invokes these with Christian powers, such as the 
 power of Christ's Incarnation, Crucifixion, and Resurrec- 
 tion, to defend him from the magical and evil influence 
 by which he believed himself surrounded. 
 
 ' I have set around me all these powers, 
 Against every hostile savage power 
 Directed against my body and my soul ; 
 Against the incantations of false prophets ; 
 Against the black laws of heathenism ; 
 Against the false laws of heresy ; 
 Against the deceits of idolatry ; 
 Against the spells of women and smiths and Druids ; 
 Against all knowledge which blinds the soul of man.' 
 
 . . . With mysterious and weird prophecies like 
 these, familiar to them, sung by their bards, repeated by 
 their priests, — our forefathers found themselves face to 
 face with Christianity and its message of Hope. 
 
 . . . Christianity took up and consolidated the 
 national characteristics of our forefathers. Among the 
 Celts, it enlisted the spirit of clanship in the service of 
 Christianity. Among the Saxons it allied itself with what 
 was dearest and what was highest — with their homes, their 
 assemblies, their cro^Mis, their graves. It fused the dif- 
 ferent races — Picts, Scots, Britons, Saxons, into one great 
 strong people, through the idea of a spiritual society 
 which it inculcated and held up before them, the purest 
 which ever drew men together. They seem to have
 
 S. COLUMBA 17 
 
 embraced Christianity with wonderful facihty when it 
 was presented to them, and though there were occasional 
 relapses into paganism, and some heathen practices were 
 tenaciously retained, the converts appear to have adhered 
 with wonderful constancy to the rites and worship of the 
 new faith. Their teachers were gentle with them, tender 
 to their superstititions, and forbearing with native 
 usages of which they might not altogether approve. 
 ... In an ancient Gaelic poem, the heathen poet, Ossian, 
 is represented as holding a dialogue with the first Christian 
 teacher of the Scots — St. Patrick, and it must, I think, be 
 regarded as the last voice of Celtic heathenism. The old 
 bard rejoices in the worship of nature, and records the 
 prowess of his historic forefathers ; the Missionary tells 
 of the power of God beyond all visible things and speaks 
 in dogmatic terms of the future state. 
 
 ' Patrick of the solemn psalms,' begins the old 
 pagan, ' how great your love for God must be, since you 
 do not close your book and listen to the voice of the 
 blackbird ! Sweet blackbird, high on yon bending bough, 
 how soothing is your song ! Although you have never 
 heard Mass said by Priests, how delightfully you whistle.' 
 He then goes on to tell of the music of his warlike an- 
 cestor, Fionn, ' He played melodiously with the harp 
 while I am here in grief with the Clergy,' and then he 
 sings in heroic strains of the prowess of his forefathers, 
 and mourns that he should have survived them and fallen 
 on an evil time. ' When I think of the men who were so 
 brave, I feel cheerless without friendship for my heart. 
 Here I am weak, living after the Fenii and Fionn Mac 
 Cumhal. Small is my esteem for thyself and clergy, oh 
 holy Patrick of the Crosier. I have greater regard for 
 the white-handed King of the Fenii — but he is not near 
 me now.' The Saint has little sympathy with his regard 
 for the heroes of other days — he warns his listener that 
 he has not long to live — his great forefather died a pagan 
 
 B
 
 18 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 and is in hell, and he will soon follow him unless he accepts 
 the Christian Faith. 
 
 . . ' I would rather be in Fionn's court hearkening 
 to the voices of hounds in the morning and meditating on 
 hard-fought battles, than in the Court of Jesus Christ.' 
 The dialogue goes on at great length. What we have 
 quoted is probably sufficient to indicate its character — the 
 heathen clinging to his old beliefs ; the saint entreating 
 him to ' smite his breast and shed tears and believe in 
 Him Who is above him.' It exhibits in poetic form the 
 meeting of the old and new. It belongs to the transition 
 time, the dawning hour, the twilight of Scottish Chris- 
 tianity." 
 
 I also quote the following : " In a Council of the 
 wise men of the Court of Edwin — who gives the name 
 to our own city — of his aldermen, and thanes and nobles, 
 the Christian teacher stood ready to plead his cause. No 
 scene in the history of missions is more full of romance 
 than that which ensued. Coifi, the high-priest of Woden, 
 arose and confessed that he was moved by the new 
 doctrines. He had served his gods long and faithfully, 
 yet there were those in the kingdom who were richer and 
 greater than he — if the deities had power he would have 
 been richest and greatest of all. He asked that the new 
 doctrines should be explained to them. The missionary 
 explained his message to the assembly, and at the close of 
 his address, the high-priest exclaimed, " Long since have 
 I known full well that what we have been worshipping 
 is naught, and the more diligently I sought after truth 
 therein, the less I found it, but now in what this stranger 
 preacheth, I openly confess there shineth forth such 
 truth as can confer on us life, salvation, and eternal happi- 
 ness ; I advise, therefore, O King, that we straightway 
 break and burn down these temples and altars which we 
 have hallowed and whence we have gained no good " 
 (Bede). . . . Before this demolition of shrines was
 
 S. COLUMBA 19 
 
 agreed to, one of the assembled thanes gave his opinion in 
 words that are full of deep feeling, and cannot fail to 
 touch us still, though so many centuries have passed away 
 since they were spoken. They are words which speak on 
 the one hand of the hopelessness of the old religion and of 
 the gleam of hope which the new threw on the life and 
 destiny of man. " The Ufe of man in this world, O King," 
 said the speaker, " may be likened to what happeneth 
 when thou art sitting at supper with thy thanes in the 
 time of winter. A fire is blazing on the hearth, and the hall 
 is warm, without the rain and the snow are falling and the 
 wind is howling. There cometh a sparrow and flieth 
 through the house. She cntereth by one door and goeth 
 out by another. While she is within the house, she feeleth 
 not the howling blast, but when the short space of rest is 
 past, she flieth out again into the storm and passeth away 
 from our eyes. Even so it is with the brief life of man ; 
 it appeareth for a little while, but what precedcth it or 
 what cometh after it, we know not at all. Wherefore if 
 this new lore can tell us aught, let us hearken to it and 
 follow it." 
 
 . . . The contrast between the paganism of that 
 time and the civilisation of to-day is so overwhelmingly 
 great as to be indescribable. The change in social life, 
 political organisation, the rise of art, the discoveries of 
 science, these things mark the distance we have travelled 
 since the first Christian missionary set foot upon our 
 shores." 
 
 Yet as we recall Columba, Adamnan, and many other 
 Saintly names, who by God's Blessing on their self- 
 surrendered, self-denying, and self-sacrificing lives, made 
 a conquest of our forefathers in the service of our King, 
 are we not stirred to pray that once more " the Counsels 
 of Perfection " may be responded to by many true 
 disciples who, in our own day, ask of their Divine Teacher, 
 " What lack I yet ? " We shall see as we pass from
 
 20 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 the Columban period to the Benedictine that " the 
 corruption of the world through lust " (desire to please 
 self rather than God) remains and will remain to the 
 end. Did not Columba and Adamnan apply to their 
 own times and temptations Ezekiel's words, "Woe to 
 the women who sew pillows to all armholes " (Chap, 
 xiii.), and the words of our Lord, "Woe to the rich " 
 (St. Luke vi.), using the simile of the camel trying to pass 
 through the Needle's Eye (the small postern gate seen in 
 Eastern gates as a part of the larger one) with its load on 
 its hump ; while Margaret, the sainted Queen of Scotland, 
 shewed it was possible for one of rank and wealth to follow 
 the Counsels of Perfection. 
 
 I here insert a prayer formerly used by all the children 
 of lona in school, which I bought when I paid my first 
 visit to lona, A.D. 1888. The Gaelic of the verse is 
 taken from MacLean's History of lona, and he copied 
 them in A.D. 1832 from an MS. school book which was 
 the one book then used in the one school in lona, though 
 the Bible was no doubt used also. The English transla- 
 tion is by Mr. MacCormick Eionphort Ross, of Mull. The 
 verses are interesting as shewing that Columba's name was 
 kept green in the hearts of the young. 
 
 URNUIGH PHAISDEAN I. 
 
 Tha sinn cruinn ann a d' lathairsa 
 
 (We infants feeble and mild are gathered) 
 
 Paisdean lag tha 
 
 (Together in Thy presence) 
 Tighinn a dhiarraidli ort eolais 
 (We come to seek knowledge of Thee) 
 
 Ann an oige ar la 
 
 (In the morning of our days) . 
 O Athair na trocair 
 (0 Father of mercy)
 
 S. COLUMBA 21 
 
 D'am, buin morchuis gun chrioch 
 
 (Whose magnificence knows no bounds) 
 Seall a nuas ann an caoimhncas 
 (Look Thou down in kindness on the) 
 
 Air naoidheanan I 
 
 (Babes of lona). 
 
 Ann an linn cholum-chillc 
 (In the days of St. Columba) 
 
 B'e so innis an aigh 
 
 (This was the happy isle.) 
 Bha e ainmeal ann an eolas 
 (It was reputed for its learning) 
 
 Mar tha aolaich ag radh 
 
 (As the learned do aver.) 
 O, Athair gach troeair 
 (O Father of Mercy) 
 
 Ann a d' mhorachd gun chrioch 
 
 (Still in Thy infinite dignity) 
 Seall fathast an caoimhneas 
 (Look down in kindness on the) 
 
 Air naoidheanan I 
 
 (Babes of lona.) 
 
 The following lines embody a prophecy of olden 
 times : — 
 
 Scachd Bliadhna roimh'n Bhrath 
 Thig muir thar Eirinn re aon trath 
 'S thar He ghuirm ghlais 
 Ach snamhaidh I. Choluim cleirich. 
 
 Seven years before the end of the world 
 A sea shall cover Ireland and green Islay 
 But the island of the venerable Columba 
 will swim. 
 
 From St. Columba we pass to St. Adamnan, 9th
 
 22 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 Abbot of lona, in whom wc arc specially interested, as the 
 Saint, it may be, by whom or in whose name, after his 
 death, Kilmaveonaig was built. A brief notice of some 
 names of note in the country after Columba's time will 
 be useful. 
 
 " St. Fillan is said to have been a grandson of the 
 King of Leinster, and to have come to Scotland about 
 A.D. 615. Strathfillan bears witness to his work — he also 
 came North to the Garry and founded the Church of 
 Struan. A well at Struan, probably the old Pagan well, is 
 still known as ' Tobar Faolen ' or St. Fillan's Well, and 
 the ancient bell known as the ' Buidean ' (an engraving 
 is inserted by the kindness of the Laird) is preserved at 
 Ludc. His crosier and his arm bone, enclosed in a shrine 
 known as the ' Breachbennoch,' were taken to Bannock- 
 burn and received the credit of the victory which remained 
 with Robert the Bruce, who, as a mark of gratitude, built 
 a Priory at Strathfillan and dedicated it to St. Fillan. 
 
 Another name of note is St. Aidan, a monk of lona, 
 consecrated A.D. 635, in lona, as Bishop of Northumbria. 
 On his way thither he stayed at Fortingall. While at 
 Fortingall he founded the Church of Kenmore, where 
 the Tay issues from Loch Tay. 
 
 The next Saint whose labours are handed down to us 
 is St. Cedd (St. Chad) a disciple of St. Aidan and educated 
 at Lindisfarne, and in the controversy that arose about the 
 keeping of Easter, he accepted the Roman use (our present 
 one) and set out to lona to win them over to adopt it. 
 They stopped him when he had got as far as Fortingall, 
 where he laboured with much success. He founded the 
 Church there (which is dedicated to him) also that at 
 Logierait. This name from old documents is a corrup- 
 tion of ' Logie-ma-Cedd ' or the Hollow of St. Cedd. 
 
 We may here mention that the Church of Moulin, 
 which was built on what was a peninsula of the shore 
 of a small loch which at one time surrounded the Black
 
 S. COLUMBA 28 
 
 Castle of Moulin, was probably dedicated to St. Colman 
 because Moulin market is known as ' Feil-na-Chalmaig ' 
 or Market of St. Colman. It was usual for local markets 
 to be held on the name day of the Saint to whom the 
 neighbouring Church was dedicated." 
 
 St. Cuthbert, the saintly Bishop of Durham, born 
 about A.D. 625, was a shepherd boy in Lauderdale, and 
 spent some time in Dull before he entered the Monastery 
 at Ripon. I only mention him here as one of those 
 whose names prove Dull to have been the centre of Chris- 
 tian work before or about the time that Adamnan (or 
 Eonan) began his work there. A glance at the map will 
 show that Glenlyon, the longest glen in Scotland (30 miles), 
 was a natural highway or bye-way from the West, which 
 led to Perthshire, probably being a centre of work for the 
 Abbots of lona, and thus in writing of St. Adamnan, whom 
 we are glad to think of according to Folklore as our 
 Patron Saint, — we recall the saying by our Lord, " One 
 soweth and another reapeth." 
 
 Next to St. Columba, the Saint best known and 
 revered in the North of Perthshire, was St. Adamnan or 
 St. Eonan, as he was affectionately named by the people. 
 He was born in Ireland about A.D. 624, and received his 
 training in lona, of which he became 9th Abbot in 679. 
 The controversy between the Columban and Roman 
 Catholic clergy regardmg the proper date for celebrating 
 Easter was then at its height, and Northumbria, which 
 had been converted to Christianity by St. Aidan of lona, 
 had, after the Synod of Whitby in 664, adopted the Roman 
 or Canonical custom. St. Adamnan with the object of 
 obtaining fuller knowledge, visited Northumbria in 688, 
 and became a convert to the canonical rule. He returned 
 to lona but was unable to get the monks to conform, and 
 was either expelled or found it desirable to leave. 
 
 On his way to and from Northumbria he had passed 
 through Glenlyon, where St. Cedd had some 20 years
 
 24 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 previously been successful in convincing the people of the 
 truth of the Roman custom regarding Easter, and St. 
 Adamnan no doubt thought he would find there a sym- 
 pathetic people. He entered Glenlyon by the Larich 
 Pass from the head of Loch Tay and settled at the Bridge 
 of Balgie about the centre of the Glen where his first work 
 was to restore the old church of St. Brendan (one of the 
 early pre-Columban missionaries) and to erect a mill, 
 still kno^vn as Milton Eonan. This Mill, though now 
 partly a ruin and no doubt often renewed, was for upwards 
 of 1000 years the chief mill of Glenlj'^on, and yearly on the 
 Saint's day (6th October) the mill was kept closed and 
 silent. 
 
 When the great plague visited Glenlyon towards the 
 end of the 7th century, it is said to have wiped out all 
 the population in the lower part of the Glen except one old 
 woman, who with her horse gathered the dead together : 
 and St. Adamnan, from a rock near the Bridge of Balgie, 
 prayed that the plague should go no further. The plague 
 stopped there, and the rock is known as Craig Dianaidh, 
 or the Rock of Safety. 
 
 Leaving Glenlyon, St. Adamnan crossed the hill to 
 Loch Tay, where he built a church at Ardeonaig, ' Eonan's 
 height,' and thence he went eastwards to Dull where he 
 founded a Monastery ^vith a Collegiate Church and a right 
 of Sanctuary, marked out, it is said, by four crosses, one of 
 which stands with an arm broken off by the roadside in 
 Dull village, and two are in Weem Parish Church. 
 
 Concerning the Sanctuary Crosses, Dr. Anderson, 
 formerly Curator of the Museum of Antiquities in Edin- 
 burgh, kindly wrote to me as follows : — " Three of them 
 are known and are figured in Stuart's sculptured stones, 
 they are, however, no longer in their original sites. Dull 
 was an early monastic settlement of the Celtic Church, 
 founded by or dedicated to St. Adamnan. The Preceptory 
 of the Knights of St. John at Torphichen in Linlithgow-
 
 One of the Sanctuari; Crosses, 
 
 •itli (III (iniu hrolu'u I'll, ill the village of Dull.
 
 S. COLUMBA 
 
 25 
 
 shire had four girth crosses marking the limits of its sanc- 
 tuary some of which still remain on their original sites." 
 
 Mr. Cameron, architect in Aberfeld5% has also favoured 
 me with the following notes about these crosses : — 
 
 " There are two ancient crosses inside the Church 
 at Weem, of which I have pleasure in giving you these 
 rough sketches and measurements. These are ^ ^ 
 
 roughly shaped out of hard schist rock which, _/>;^ 
 may be found in the district. Both stand • ' ■ '' 
 upright, and from the ease with which one can 
 move them, there would appear to be no base 
 plinth to either of the stones. There is no 
 sculptured work on either of them beyond the 
 small bas relievo circle, with some trace of an 
 incised cross, as suggested on No. 1. 
 
 There are two partially sunk small holes 
 on the face of each stone, and in connection with 
 these is an interesting local story, viz. : — One of 
 the Menzies Factors, who appears to have had a 
 practical turn of mind, was in need of two gate 
 
 f6i€'^'l€-W, 
 
 m 
 
 pillars, and selecting these two crosses said to '-f^.fj}.,^\i 
 
 have been at Dull, he had them perparcd and ^<-^' K^^^y 
 
 erected at the entrance gate of his house. On 
 
 that same day he attended a farmers' dinner 
 
 in the Breadalbane Hotel, Aberfeldy, after which 
 
 he rode home in the small hours of the morning, 
 
 and his lifeless body was found at his entrance 
 
 gate the same morning. This sad end appealed 
 
 to those concerned, and the two crosses were 
 
 removed to their original place 
 
 
 iSli 
 
 at the Village of Dull. In olden 
 times Weem Kirk was knoAMi as 
 St. David's Church, and Alban 
 Butler writes that St. Dabius 
 was an Irish priest who 
 preached with great success in 
 his own country and in Alba. 
 
 Foce 
 
 4 
 
 
 '5 2' 
 
 
 s ^
 
 26 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG. 
 
 He is patron of Donach-Cloncy in the County of Dowrt, 
 and of Kippen in Scotland, where a Church is dedicated 
 to him by the name of Movean. In the Parish of Weem 
 his holy well is pointed out ; and tradition relates that he 
 had a Chapel on the shelf of the rock still called ' CRAG- 
 NA-T'SCHEAPAIL ' or the Chapel rock. Here also 
 was a burial ground called ' CILL-DAIDH.' 
 
 An important market, known as ' Feill Eonan ' 
 was at one time held at Dull on 6th October (old style), 
 the name day of the Saint. Going still eastwards, St. 
 Adamnan founded a Church at GrandtuUy, which was 
 dedicated to him, but in 1533 the present Church was built 
 on the old site and dedicated to St. Mary. 
 
 From GrandtuUy, St. Adamnan went to Forfarshire, 
 where he built the Church of Tannadicc, and the place 
 where he sat and taught the people is still known as 
 ' St. Eonan's Seat.' 
 
 He seems to have made a prolonged sojourn in the 
 North-Eastern counties, and founded many Churches — 
 The Church of Kinneff in the Mearns, the Churches of 
 Forgue and Aboyne in Aberdeenshire, and the Church of 
 Forglen, formerly known as Teunankirk or Kirk of St. 
 Eonan in Banffshire, all were dedicated to the Saint, 
 and preserve his memory. 
 
 He then seems to have retraced his steps and passed 
 up the valleys of the Tummel and Garry to Bridge of 
 Tilt where he is said to have founded the Church of Kil- 
 maveonaig, and this Church and ancient Parish are named 
 after him. He traversed Inverness-shire by Badenoch 
 and the Valley of the Spey, and made his way across the 
 river Ness to Glen Urquhart and Glen Moriston, the 
 district lying on the North side of Loch Ness, where there 
 is some evidence of Christian Churches having been founded 
 in the time of St. Ninian. In Inverness-shire on the shore 
 of Loch Insch, he founded a Church on a small height, 
 known as ' Tom Eonan,' and the Bell of St. Eonan is
 
 S. COLUMBA 27 
 
 still there. It was once stolen, but as the only sound 
 it would then give when rung was ' Tom-Eonan, Tom- 
 Eonan,' its captors hastily returned it. In Glen Urquhart 
 and Glen Moriston, the dedications to the Saint were a 
 Chapel at Abriachan, and a Chaplaincy and a Croft at 
 Kil St. Ninian. 
 
 An Irish Life of the Saint is preserved in an Irish 
 MS. which is in the Royal Library at Brussels. A 
 translation has been made, but the life abounds in so much 
 that is miraculous, that it is difficult to separate the real 
 from the fanciful. One fact is however clear, that St. 
 Adamnan was recognised by all, both in Ireland and 
 Scotland as the leading Ecclesiastic of his day, that he 
 wielded great power both temporal and spiritual, and that 
 his influence with the Saxons of Northumbria was such 
 that they yielded up to him all the captives they had taken 
 iti one of their raids in Ireland. 
 
 St. Eonan died in 704, at his beloved Milton Eonan, 
 and by his dying commands, his remains were borne down 
 Glenlyon by his young disciples and buried in the Church 
 of Dull. 
 
 There are many traces of St. Eonan around Dull. A 
 well, called after him, still exists in the old manse garden 
 (so Mr. Hugh Macmillan asserts) to which we refer later on. 
 In the time of St. Cuthbert, who passed through it, it 
 seems to have been a place of considerable importance, 
 with an educational establishment and civic jurisdiction. 
 
 St. Cuthbert (whose death is said to have taken place 
 in 687) is reported to have lived for a while as a solitary 
 near the Village of Dull. About a mile from the Village 
 there is in the woods a steep hill now called the rock 
 of Weem, on the summit of which he erected a little cell. 
 Here at his prayer a spring of pure water gushed forth 
 from the hard rock, and he erected a large stone cross, 
 and close to it an oratory of wood. The cliff of Weem 
 rises to a height of about 600 ft., and in many places
 
 28 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 it is so steep as to be almost perpendicular. 
 
 Adamnan was evidently possessed of many singular 
 gifts as well as of Irish royal blood (a cousin of Columba), 
 and it is worthy of note that in those days " many noble 
 were called to leave all and follow Christ." Adamnan 
 is known as the biographer of Columba, and as the writer 
 of a book concerning The Holy Place based on a narrative 
 given him by Bishop Arculf — who was shipwrecked 
 on the Scottish Coast — both which mark him as a man 
 of some literary merit ; his influence at the council of 
 Birr in Ireland A.D. 697 enabled him to get " the laAv 
 of Adamnan " enacted, freeing women from obligation 
 to military service. Thanks be to God for the humanity 
 as well as other good qualities that marked our Patron 
 Saint, but let us not forget that Avomen, as well as men, 
 girls as well as boys, at their Baptism, are signed on the 
 forehead with the Sign of the Cross, as being enrolled 
 as Soldiers of the Prince of Peace to " wrestle not with 
 flesh and blood, but with the World-Rulers of the 
 darkness." 
 
 And here we leave Adamnan, whether, as Folklore 
 has it, laid to Rest as regards his body at Dull, or as the 
 Irish aver, in his native land. We insert the fine hymn 
 we sing (Tune 148 A. & M.) on September 23rd, when we 
 thank God for St. Adamnan, as one of the "choice vessels 
 of God's Grace, and of the Lights of the world " who 
 caused our land to shine with the light of the Everlasting 
 Gospel. 
 
 Lo, our fathers have declared 
 
 How the Lord hath done of old, 
 How His servants He hath guided, 
 
 How He kept and keeps His fold. 
 Lo, they tell that He is glorious, 
 
 Chiefest in His chosen saints ; 
 In their battles and self-conquest, 
 
 In the love that never faints.
 
 S. COLUMBA 29 
 
 O, 'tis sweet to tell their story, 
 
 Fragrant with celestial grace ; 
 Shining with increasing brightness 
 
 From the higli and holy place. 
 Thus, to-day, the blest Adamnan 
 
 Comes by faith before our eyes, 
 With dear record of another 
 
 Sainted long in Paradise. 
 
 Now he shares the peaceful glory 
 
 In the Lord's Own Presence bright ; 
 Now he tells the story wondrous, 
 
 Joyful 'mid the Saints in light. 
 There Adamnan and Columba 
 
 Meet before the Throne on high. 
 Ever surely interceding 
 
 For those loved so tenderly. 
 
 O that soon the holy places. 
 
 Scattered o'er our sea-girt isle. 
 May arise from out their ruin 
 
 And on land and ocean smile. 
 So once more may Saintly praises 
 
 Ring forth joyful through the air. 
 And the evening and the morning 
 
 Mark again the day of prayer. 
 
 Thus at every holy Altar 
 
 May Thy Priests be seen to stand, 
 Pleading aye before the Father 
 
 For the Church's ransomed land. 
 Hasten it, O God, the Father, 
 
 Thro' Thy well-beloved Son, 
 Sanctify, O God, the Spirit, 
 
 Ever Three and ever One. Amen.
 
 30 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 But if we thank God for lona and its Abbots, do 
 they not also warn us to be sober and watchful against 
 the Adversary ? Is it not strange that, with the warnings 
 of History, Christians, at least as a corporate body, 
 have not seen within, as well as around them, " the mind 
 of the Flesh which is emnity against God ? " Modem 
 Tyre, modern Babylon turning the blessings of civilisation, 
 the inventions that save labour and alleviate suffering, 
 into a curse by misuse and abuse ; the Fridays and all 
 Fast Days, — the helps to keep the King's rule of " daily 
 self-denial " — neglected, and the result of this being 
 that the demon powers which Columba and his " fellow- 
 workers unto the Kingdom of God " had to confront 
 in the Druid system, now are at work in an even deadlier 
 form in the luxury and selfishness of modern society, 
 and in the slums thronged with the defiled in body, 
 often, alas, tenanted by souls that are bound by Satan 
 from childhood, often, alas, the sport of men and women 
 whose " wisdom is that from beneath, earthly, sensual, 
 devilish," — and whose fault ? Is it not the fault of those 
 who profess to be lovers of God, but seeing their brother 
 (or sister) in need, shut up their compassion from him 
 (or her) ? Are we Christians guiltless in the matter 
 as regards what we have left undone in past 3'^ears, as 
 well as in this our Day of Grace ? Now, as in St. Paul's 
 day, it is a shame even to speak of the things done by the 
 godless in secret. Is it not ceasing to be a shame to 
 know that these are done without our sighing and crjing 
 before God for these abominations ? (Ezek. ix.). 
 
 I must not pass from this period without referring to 
 the Culdecs — a small body of anchorites not to be con- 
 fused with the Abbots of lona. " They lived in separate 
 cells in the same enclosure with their fellows. The 
 name in Scotland was spelt ' Keledci ' ; in Ireland, 
 ' Cele-De,' meaning Ser\'ants or Friends of God. The 
 Latin form was Cultores Dei. Their desire seems to have
 
 S. COLUMBA 31 
 
 been to live a life of greater seclusion in devotion to God's 
 service. After a time they were supported by endow- 
 ments or otherwise for the conduct of public services 
 and private devotion, and they were often entrusted with 
 important Churches ; but, alas, they shared in the general 
 decay which set in in the 9th and two following centuries ; 
 noble ideals gradually disappeared, ' Laxity ' displaced 
 primitive discipline, and love and fervent zeal grew cold. 
 The Abbot often held the endowment as private property, 
 but appointed Priors, usually j^residing over 12 Culdees 
 and fulfilling the efficient duties."
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 BENEDICTINE MONASTERIES, A.D. 1100 to 1300. 
 
 The Kingdom of God — Regnum Dei — which we have 
 traced thus far, we shall now see developed as to its civil 
 life : joined in holy and happy alliance with the temporal 
 power it becomes ' Civitas Dei,'' the nation becomes Chris- 
 tian under the rule of Malcolm, and so the dark sad scene 
 with which the last chapter ended, was but, in God's 
 good Providence (which by His mercy never faileth), 
 a passing cloud to issue in yet brighter days. " There 
 is a tide in the affairs of men " which ebbs and flows 
 by the law given to it, and when the ebb has come the 
 new flood of healthy life begins. The Ebb " Man's 
 Extremity " is " God's Opportunity " for a new Flood 
 of Blessing, and in this case the Flood came from the 
 great centre of Church Life, the Roman Empire, where, 
 as we have seen, the Monastic life began and where it was 
 now being stirred into more vigorous life, and it is wonder- 
 ful, but universally true, that all true life is " loving and 
 giving," and that God generally calls one true-hearted 
 man or woman to carry out His loving purpose. In this 
 case, Bernard, Abbot of St. Cyprian in Poitou, was the 
 "Vessel of God's choice," and we shall see that it is 
 probably to him that we owe the building of a Benedictine 
 Monastery {i.e. a Monastery in which the rules of St. 
 Benedict were observed) on the ruin of that of St. Adamnan 
 at Dull. 
 
 I quote from Gordon's " Monasticon " : — 
 
 " Tiron was in the Diocese of Chartes, where, A.D. 
 1100, St, Bernard, Abbot of St. Cj-prian, in Poictou, had a 
 settlement given him by the Earl of Perche. 
 
 After a time he adopted the principles of a sect.
 
 BENEDICTINE MONASTERIES 38 
 
 endeavouring to effect a reformation of Monastic disci- 
 pline, and joined the society of the itinerant Archdeacon 
 of Rennes. Bernard, desirous of retirement, and dis- 
 approving of some fanatical practices of the Archdeacon, 
 withdrew from the Society andiinally settled in the woods 
 of Tiron, where they formed themselves into a religious 
 fraternity under the rules of St. Benedict, with some 
 regulations of his own added, viz. : — that each of the 
 Brethren should practise within the convent whatever 
 mechanical art he knew, both to preserve them from the 
 corruptive power of idleness and to provide, by useful 
 industry, for the maintenance of the community, poor 
 at its beginning. Accordingly the monks of Tiron and 
 the other monastries of this order consisted of painters, 
 carvers, carpenters, smiths, masons, vinedressers, and 
 husbandmen, who were under the direction of an elder, 
 and the profits of the work were applied to the common 
 use. 
 
 Six monastries are said to have belonged to this 
 order in Scotland, but others think that Dull was also 
 one, for Dull had the names of different localities (for 
 which there existed no other cause from time immemorial), 
 as the Smith Street, the Mason Street, and other trades 
 which point to the labours of the monks (in GaeUc) . 
 
 The Minister of Dull (Mr. Macfarlane) kindly sent me 
 from the Manse, the following bits of Folklore about 
 Dull, which seem to indicate that it was once a pretty large 
 ecclesiastical settlement : — 
 
 " There is The Ladies' or Nuns' Walk, an avenue of 
 very old ash trees, by Drumdewan Farm, near to which 
 local tradition assigns the site of a nunnery. It also 
 assigns sites to the Monastery — ^to the College (said to 
 be the rudiments of St. Andrews University) to ' Baile 
 Beag ' or the Little Town of Dull (where the lay sers^ants 
 and artizans connected with the settlement had their 
 quarters) — to ' Carsemuckie ' (Carse A Bhuicie) (where 
 
 c
 
 34 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 the Manse now is) The Buck's Close or Deer-park, con- 
 nected with the Monastery. The Farm below the Manse 
 is ' The Carse ' or grazing ground. The Farm to West 
 of Manse is ' Tegarmuchd ' (old spelling Tigarmank), 
 said to be from Tiggar Monk or mendicant friars' hospice. 
 The hill on opposite side of River 'Tullichuill' or Tullich. 
 Dull, where the flocks were driven to Summer Pasturage 
 and herded by the younger brethren, who lived in 
 ' Sheilings.' These are a few of the place names, which 
 indicate the uses to which the different places were put. 
 A few of them I had from the late Rev. John M'Lean of 
 Grandtully, who was somewhat of an authority on the 
 subject." 
 
 This tide of revival of Christian life which in those 
 days was, as we have seen, largely Monastic, reached our 
 land about the time of the Norman conquest, and we 
 cannot fail to see the directing power of the ascended 
 King using " the things of Caesar " to advance his own 
 Kingdom in the world. William the Conqueror brought 
 to England a great company of Norman nobles and clergy 
 with their more advanced learning and civilisation, and the 
 Norman conquest was also the indirect means of changing 
 the whole character of the Scottish Church, hitherto ruled 
 from lona, which had only slowly and in part, yielded to 
 Roman practice {e.g. the keeping of Easter and the form of 
 tonsure), but Edgar Atheling, the claimant to the English 
 Throne, with his two sisters, was driven to seek refuge in 
 the Court of Malcolm, who A.D. 1058 began to reign over 
 a kingdom which had been gradually enlarged by the 
 cession of the English Lothian, and an alliance in marriage 
 with the Ruler of Strathclyde ; the result of the wel- 
 come which Malcolm Canmore gave Edgar and his sister, 
 was that Malcolm made a conquest — after many attacks 
 on the citadel — of Margaret's heart. Is not the con- 
 trast striking between Columba of Royal Irish Blood, 
 who by his monastic and ascetic life won Scotland from
 
 BENEDICTINE MONASTERIES 35 
 
 the Druids for his King and Lord, and Queen Margaret 
 who — as wife and mother, but no less ascetic than Columba, 
 — established the Catholic Church in her adopted country. 
 Her influence over Malcolm " was as beautiful as it 
 was great. The rough soldier, ferocious in time of war, 
 was softened and subdued by his wife's goodness. Unable 
 to read himself, he would kiss her favourite books and 
 cause them to be ornamented with gold and gems. She 
 taught him to pray with earnestness and to practise 
 works of justice, mercy, almsgiving, and other virtues, 
 while the dread of offending her exercised a potent 
 influence over his rugged character. Her care for the up- 
 bringing of her children was no less admirable." Three 
 of her sons, Edgar, Alexander, and David, grew up men of 
 upright character, and did much for religion and education 
 and the well-being of the people, and one of her daughters 
 became " the good Queen Maud of England." 
 
 To understand the history now before us we must 
 remember that the usage of the Celtic Church — now be- 
 coming lax and wanting in discipline — had no associations 
 for Margaret, while it seemed to her that Roman customs 
 should take their place. But let us not confuse Rome 
 in that day, with Rome as it was at the Reformation. 
 The Church was Catholic in early times ; it was by errors 
 and corrupt practices against which we protested at the 
 Reformation, that the term " Roman " is one against 
 which a true Catholic must protest. We see therefore 
 in the 11th century the Celtic Church crumbling away, 
 and assimilated in its practices to the sister Church in 
 England. 
 
 Under Queen Margaret, and her sons who came to 
 the throne in turn after the death of Malcolm, we see the 
 Kingdom of God becoming " Civ it as Dei," i.e. a Kingdom 
 gradually established by wise legislation executed in 
 righteousness, and loyally obeyed by law-abiding citizens, 
 and thus the Kingdom of God founded on Calvary in the
 
 36 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 midst of Imperial Rome grows, spreads, goes forth 
 conquering and to conquer, by the corporate Life and 
 Witness of the Soldiers of the King, till it wins Kings to 
 be the Nursing Fathers and Queens the Nursing Mothers 
 of the Church, and a Christian State is the result — the 
 Benedictine monasteries, the Abbeys, the Parish and 
 Collegiate Churches, the Legislative — all unite in one 
 aim, viz., the growth of the Kingdom of God in the land. 
 What a change since Columba knocked at the fortress 
 of King Brude in the name of the King of all the earth ? 
 Yes, " ECCE HOMO ! ECCE REX " echoes on through 
 the ages ; the King in the person of His Mystical Body 
 stands before men for acceptance or — God forbid — ^for 
 rejection. 
 
 We must keep our thoughts on Calvary and realise 
 that the Only Begotten of the Father became Man in 
 order by Death to abolish Death, and that until the 
 " mortal has put on immortality," it will be age after 
 age growing old, yet to be always renewed unto new 
 life ; otherwise it will depress us thus to see Columba's 
 work an apparent failure, and the glory of lona passing 
 from it to Dunkeld (which then became the seat of the 
 Bishop). But now in faith we leave Columba, Adamnan, 
 and their fellows resting from their labours in " sure 
 and certain hope of the Resurrection at the Last Day," 
 and we turn cheerily in renewed hope that now the turn 
 of the tide has come. Yes, the King on His throne 
 sitteth above the waterflood — 
 
 " From age to age more glorious, 
 All blessing and all blessed, 
 The tide of Time shall never 
 His Covenant remove ; 
 His Name shall stand for ever. 
 His changeless Name of Love."
 
 BENEDICTINE MONASTERIES 37 
 
 On the sites of the Monasteries built by St. Eonan 
 and others of mud and other more or less perishable 
 materials, S. Bernard built his more permanent structure 
 of stone, no doubt larger and more suited to the modern 
 life. The number of monks varied from 50 to 60, and 
 up to as many as 200, it is said in Melrose. The last 
 Abbey founded in Scotland was in Galloway in A. D. 
 1275, called "Sweetheart," it is said because the foundress, 
 the daughter of the Lord of Galloway, and wife of John 
 Baliol, had her husband's heart embalmed after his death 
 and placed in a coffin of ivory " which at her death should 
 be buried with her and placed upon her breast " in the 
 Abbey she had founded. 
 
 Before we pass from the subject of Monasteries, let 
 us consider their great use in the fresh vigour of their 
 religious life ; their abuse will be seen later on — alas, 
 which at the Reformation blinded men's eyes to the good 
 they had done. We find they required manual labour, 
 specially as we see in the Tironences, where every monk 
 must have a trade. The monks were the friends of 
 the serfs, the poor and the helpless ; they not only gave 
 much attention to agriculture, but were the first to grant 
 long leases of their lands on easy terms to tenants, who 
 were not, as a rule, like lay proprietors, obliged to give 
 military service. Each was a centre from which educa- 
 tion, religion, and civilising influence radiated to the 
 country round. The Scottish Baron of the time not only 
 could not sign his name, but looked upon such an act as 
 only a monkish accomplishment to be despised. In the 
 monasteries then we may see that the flickering lamp of 
 knowledge was kept burning till brighter times came. 
 What a change since then to our day ! Now we need in a 
 different way the Lamp to give that true knowledge 
 which alone is " Life Eternal," lest we lapse into worse 
 than Pagan darkness. 
 
 What brought the evil days on the monasteries ? —
 
 38 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 riches hoarded up, instead of being used for the brother 
 in need, the want of simplicity of life, the acquiring of 
 property contrary to the rules of Benedict, the well- 
 stored cellars, and the relaxing of discipline — these and 
 such-like made the communities a proverb and a byword 
 which were at first a blessing. The monasteries were 
 largely abolished at the Reformation, but have we, — 
 " the children of the Reformation " — renounced the 
 luxury and self-indulgence we professed to condemn, 
 and ruled our lives by the Master's words, " If any one 
 wills to come after Me, let him deny himself and take 
 up his Cross daily and follow Me ? " Let the conscience 
 of each one of us answer in the words of our Christian 
 Poet :— 
 
 " Seek we no more ; content with these, 
 Let present rapture, comfort, ease. 
 As Heaven shall bid them, come and go, 
 The secret this of Rest below." 
 
 We turn in the next chapter to the earliest date of 
 Kilmaveonaig, A.D. 1275.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 THE PARISH OF KILMAVEONAIG. 1275. 
 
 We now come to our first Fact about our " unique " 
 church, for it is mentioned in an old register in Edinburgh 
 as a parish. In Grub's History we read that in A.D. 
 1275, the Pope sent a nuncio, Boiamund de Vicci, to collect 
 a tithe from the parishes of the Scottish Church for the 
 rehef of the Holy Land ; we know that Peter the Hermit, 
 in the twelfth century, by his account of the sufferings 
 of Jews and Christians under Turkish rule, stirred Chris- 
 tian Europe to undertake another Crusade, soldiers going 
 forth with the Cross as an outward earnest of victory ; 
 and in this roll commonly called Bagimont's Roll (for 
 the man and his work were not popular) are inscribed the 
 names of the Parishes and the tithes paid by them. The 
 Roll was headed Taxatio Beneficiorum Praeter Prelacias 
 Scotiae in decima parte earundem. 
 
 The late Bishop of Edinburgh, Dr. Dowden, most 
 kindly sent me the following details : "At the Vatican 
 there is a record of Boiamund's Taxatio in 1275 and 1276. 
 In the Collection " Decima in Episcopatu Dunkeldense 
 pro primo anno," I find " Ecclesia de Kylnevenet 1 marc." 
 The final " t " of Kylnevenet is doubtless an error for 
 " c," nothing is more frequent than the confusion of 
 " " and " t " in medieval script. The 1 marc for 
 tithe gives us 10 marcs — 6 lib. 13 shilUngs and fourpence. 
 This was a fairly good benefice for the day. 
 
 " Ecclesia de Weem " paid as tithes 30 sol., giving 
 revenue of 15 lib. In the second year's account the 
 church appears as " Kilmevonoc" and again pays 1 marc. 
 In 1276 there is the following entry : —
 
 40 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 de Lod 9 Sol 4 den. 
 
 de Leod 9 sol. 4 den. paid as tithes on revenue. 
 
 de Mulin " " 
 
 de Kylmichael 4 lib. 2 sol. 8 den. 
 
 The above notes are from Theiner's Monumenta, page 112. 
 
 The " Lod " is the same as Kirkton of Lude, the old 
 ruin well known to us, and it is interesting to find this 
 as an ancient parish mentioned in the same Roll as paying 
 this tithe. 
 
 We have therefore here clear proof not only of 
 Kilmaveonaig being an ancient parish church, but also 
 that it had been formed some years before 1275, for the 
 Bishop says that the tithe paid proved it to be a parish 
 of some importance. This probably arose from its 
 connection with the Robertson clan, and its early link 
 with lona. 
 
 It is also interesting to note that Kirkton of Lude, 
 of which we are able to give a photograph of the ruins, 
 is mentioned in the old Register. 
 
 Kilmaveonaig being mentioned in the Register gives 
 us the House of God, Domus Dei as a fact. The King 
 when He founded His Kingdom on Calvary " had not 
 where to lay his head," but when His Kingdom comes 
 into the land, His Ministers have " gifts of government " 
 amongst the spiritual things given to them at Pentecost, 
 and a Kingdom becomes a State {civitas) and of course as 
 Solomon built Him an House, so Christian kings and nobles 
 did likewise. Is it not pleasant to let Fancy roam back 
 to the dim past, and picture perhaps first the mud or 
 wooden church of S. Eonan's day, and then later on one of 
 stone maybe built by Patrick or some other early forebear 
 of the Robertson clan ! Thus may not Fancy revel o'er 
 the " auld lang syne " of the palmy lona days ? 
 
 Doubtless then, as now, the Fender fell into the Tilt, 
 the Tilt into the Garry, the Garry into the Tummel, and
 
 "STje Buidhean," 
 
 or S. Lilian's Bell of Stroicaii. 
 
 The Jlcll idiiic into Mr. M' Inroy's possession when the present 
 Church of Stroivau was hitUdiiig. He provided the bell {the nciv bell), 
 and received the old in exc/iaiise. — Liide. lS2fi."
 
 PARISH OF KILMAVEONAIG 41 
 
 the Tummel into the Tay ; and methinks I see a man of 
 reverend mien and simple dress, with shepherd crook 
 in hand walking up and down the Strath, perchance 
 giving to some native the rites of Christian burial in the 
 ground where Mr. Christie now has his farmstead, where 
 there are still graves to be found, and which some people 
 think was a sacred spot in old Pagan times ; the old stone 
 now standing there is thought to be Druidic, and in the 
 noontide heat I think I see a man resting on the ground, 
 from old times known as Dail-ant-sagairt (the field of the 
 priest). Is the figure I picture here dear Eonan ? Why 
 not ? And when eventide comes, as Strowan had an old 
 bell (of which Miss Nora M'lnroy has kindly furnished 
 me with a small photograph), so may not one at St. 
 Eonan's Church be heard calling to prayer ? 
 
 " Be the day weary and be the day long, 
 At length it ringeth (or weareth) to evensong." 
 
 And it is interesting to note how the monks of those olden 
 times have left their seal on the country round, e.g. they 
 would often retire to some secluded desert place, as in 
 the Gospel story, for rest and quiet, and in the name 
 " Dysart " we have in our neighbourhood the record of a 
 desertum. Dysart was the old name of Faskally. 
 
 The following quotation shews that in the Columban 
 Church there had been no Parishes and no Dioceses, but 
 with the influx of Saxons and Normans from England 
 and the Benedictine Monks from abroad, the Church 
 system familiar to us took its rise : — 
 
 " The remodelling of the Scottish Church was carried 
 out mainly by the establishment of Parishes and the 
 introduction of Diocesan Episcopacy, and the Bene- 
 dictine Monastic Orders from abroad. 
 
 " The organisation of the Celtic Church was monastic, 
 not parochial. In many cases, a tribe or a province 
 possessed its own monastery, endowed by some former
 
 42 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 chief, and supplying Christian rites to people around. 
 There were also foundations which did not possess this 
 tribal character. Sometimes a monastery had under its 
 charge a group of neighbouring churches. Mortlach, in 
 Aberdeenshire, with its five churches, was an instance of 
 such an arrangement, and also Scone with its eleven 
 Churches, the first it is to be noted of the Benedictine 
 Monasteries, founded in Scotland A.D. 1115. . . . We 
 can often recognise the name of the first evangelist 
 of the district in the Saint to whom its church was after- 
 wards dedicated, or in the well at which he baptised 
 his converts, or in the ' fair ' or festival (for such is the 
 original meaning of the term) held on his ' day,' and 
 still known by his name, or in the stone seat on which 
 the good man was wont to rest, or in the cave to which 
 he retired for shelter or meditation ; but parochial 
 Churches in the proper sense, mainly supported by 
 tithes drawn from the district which they supply, were 
 almost unknown till about the beginning of the twelfth 
 century. The formation of parishes was promoted 
 by the sovereign, whose efforts were zealously seconded 
 by the Norman and Saxon settlers. 
 
 " The proprietor of a manor built a church, or en- 
 dowed one already existing for the use of himself and his 
 people with the tithes of his land, and nominated a priest 
 with the sanction of the Bishop to serve it. His manor 
 came to be regarded as a Parish, and this was the origin 
 of Parishes, Tithes, and Patronage. 
 
 "... The Institution of Parishes was the most 
 valuable part of the organisation of the Medieval Church, 
 and it has proved to be the most lasting. 
 
 " Another part of the process of assimilating the 
 Scottish to the English Church was the introduction of 
 Diocesan Episcopacy which, it is now generally believed, 
 had no existence in Scotland till the twelfth century. 
 
 " The only Bishopric created after David's reign was
 
 PARISH OF KILMAVEONAIG 43 
 
 that of Lismore or Argyll in 1222. It was formed out 
 of the Diocese of Duukeld and embraced the mainland 
 of Argyll ; this made the thirteen pre-reformation sees, 
 Edinburgh being formed in the reign of Charles I." 
 
 By the Fact that Kilmaveonaig was a Parish Church 
 A.D. 1275, and paid a tithe collected by the Pope for the 
 rehef of the Holy Land, we are brought face to face with 
 the claim of Rome to supreme authority over the Cathohc 
 Church : methinks, therefore, that some reference to 
 authority comes within the scope of this book, for there 
 can be no lasting unity without authority. 
 
 Let us note first what the Word of God saith about 
 "Authority." " There is no authority but from God — the 
 authorities that exist are ordained by God " (Romans xiii., 
 R.V.), so that God has from the beginning ruled the world 
 by delegated authority. We must distinguish between 
 authority and power — physical or moral. Two Greek 
 words are often translated by one English (see Acts i.), but 
 S. Peter speaks of two ranks of spiritual beings "Authori- 
 ties and Powers " (I. Ep. chap. iii.). Observe then that 
 God delegates His authority {a) by Priority of Existence — 
 "Adam first formed," by seniority (elders, etc.), by parents; 
 (b) by legally constituted authority — ^kings, governors, 
 elected by the people, also by any meeting electing a 
 chairman, and when there is no " King in Israel," everyone 
 does right in his own eyes, and disorder and possibly riot 
 ensues. Or again, a divided authority, or usurpation of 
 it, weakens its power to enforce its decrees, and in the one 
 case or in the other leads to defiance or rebellion. We see 
 this in the Scottish history before the Revolution, and are 
 there not ominous signs around us now in some difficult 
 problems before Parliament ? 
 
 Mark then the unique claim made by our King after 
 His crucifixion and when about to take His place on the 
 Right Hand of Power — "All Authority is given unto Me 
 in Heaven and on Earth." He claims to be Monarch not
 
 44 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 only over Israel, not only over earthly rulers, not only over 
 loyal subjects, hut also over the rebellious, whethel" men 
 or angels. Here then we have delegated authority centred 
 in one Person, and as the Head of the Church, which is His 
 Body, He exerts that authority ministerially, and we are 
 confronted with the question of vital, of primary import- 
 ance, "How is the Church to minister it?" "Who 
 gave thee this authority ? " is the question that in daily 
 life is asked of everyone who in matters great or small 
 ventures to interfere or to give an order more or less 
 autocratically. " Who made thee a ruler or a judge ? " 
 asks one. " Mind your own business," says another. 
 " Who sent you ? your orders are not valid," saith a third. 
 Therefore to ensure obedience the authority of the person 
 or Society must be recognised, and we are fallen upon times 
 perilous through defiance of authority ; it is most urgent, 
 therefore, that the authority of the Church must be plainly 
 delegated to Her by Her King. The claim of Rome must 
 therefore be either right or a usurped one. If it is the 
 latter we are ^vrong in admitting it. I wish here to in- 
 troduce the reader to Bryce's " Holy Roman Empire," 
 a most interesting book, and I hope the following extracts 
 will lead to a careful study of the book, as well as justify 
 my quoting it. 
 
 The first extract shows how the Roman Empire at- 
 tained its proud position of mistress of the world, and that 
 stability of power which gained for Rome the title of 
 " The Eternal City." Then other extracts will show how 
 Christianity, as the Kingdom of God, rose out of the ruins 
 of the Empire of the Caesars, and ended by embracing and 
 transforming it. The first extract is as follows out of 
 Chapter I. : — 
 
 "Among the institutions of the Middle Ages there is 
 scarcely one which can be understood until it is traced up 
 to either classical or primitive Teutonic antiquity. Such 
 a mode of enquiry is most of all needed in the case of the
 
 PARISH OF KILMAVEONAIG 45 
 
 Holy Empire, itself no more than a tradition, a revival of 
 departed glories. In order to make it clear out of what 
 elements the imperial system was formed we might trace 
 Rome in her developing legislation and the growth of her 
 power and her conquest of surrounding tribes, but let it 
 suffice to glance at her condition in the third and fourth 
 centuries of the Christian era. We shall then see the old 
 Empire, with its scheme of absolutism fully matured, and 
 we shall then mark how the new religion rising in the midst 
 of a hostile power, ends by embracing and transforming it, 
 and we shall be able to understand what impression the 
 whole huge fabric of government, which Roman and 
 Christian had piled up, made upon the barbarian tribes." 
 
 The letter of Athnulf, the successor of Alaric, records 
 his wish to restore the Roman power. He writes : — 
 
 " It was at first my wish to destroy the Roman name, 
 and erect in its place a Gothic Empire, taking to myself 
 the place and the powers of Caesar Augustus. But when 
 experience taught me that the untameable barbarism of 
 the Goths would not suffer them to live beneath the sway 
 of law, and that the abolition of the institutions on which 
 the State rested would involve the ruin of the State itself, 
 I chose the glory of renewing and maintaining by Gothic 
 strength the fame of Rome, desiring to go down to pos- 
 terity as the restorer of that Roman power which it was 
 beyond my power to replace. Wherefore I avoid war, 
 and strive for peace." 
 
 Then later on we read : " The conception of that 
 Empire was too universal, too august, too enduring. It 
 was everywhere round these barbarians, and they could 
 remember no time when it had not been so." 
 
 " There were especially two ideas whereon it rested, 
 and from which it obtained a peculiar strength and a 
 peculiar direction. The one was the belief that as the 
 dominion of Rome was universal, so must it be eternal. 
 Nothing like it had been seen before. . . "
 
 46 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 The empire " of the Italian city had for fourteen gen- 
 erations embraced all the most wealthy and populous 
 regions of the civilised world, and had laid the foundations 
 of its power so deep that they seemed destined to last 
 for ever." 
 
 " From the end of the republican period her poetry, 
 her orators, her jurists, ceased not to repeat the claim of 
 world dominion, and confidently predict its eternity." 
 
 The proud belief expressed by Virgil that the Empire 
 would last for ever (imperium sine fine) "was shared by the 
 early Christians, who prayed for the persecuting power 
 whose fall would bring Antichrist upon earth." 
 
 In early Christian times " Lactantius writes: — ' When 
 Rome, the head of the world, shall have fallen, who can 
 doubt that the end is come of human things, aye, of the 
 earth itself. She, she alone is the state by which all things 
 are upheld even until now ; wherefore let us make prayers 
 and supplications to the God of Heaven, if indeed His 
 decrees and His purposes can be delayed, that the hateful 
 tyrant come not sooner than we look for, he for whom are 
 reserved fearful deeds, who shall pluck out that eye in 
 whose extinction the world itself shall perish.' " 
 
 And S. Paul is considered by the early Christian 
 writers to refer to the removal of the Roman power as 
 making way for " the Lawless One " (2 Thess. ii.). 
 
 The following extracts refer to that wonderful Provi- 
 dence of God whereby the Church, at the conversion of 
 Constantine, A.D. 313, entered on the inheritance of that 
 authority and power of the Empire which the barbarian 
 conqueror resolved to perpetuate : — 
 
 "With the triumph of Christianity this belief had 
 found a new basis. For as the Empire had decayed the 
 Church had grown stronger ; and now while the one, 
 trembling at the approach of the destroyer, saw province
 
 PARISH OF KILMAVEONAIG 47 
 
 after province torn away, the other, rising in stately youth, 
 prepared to fill her place and govern in her name, and in 
 doing so, to adopt and sanctify and propagate anew the 
 notion of a universal and unending state." 
 
 The chief elements that gave strength and stability 
 to the Church lay in the fact of her association with the 
 Emperor as a Christian. The Emperor, standing in his 
 splendid isolation, not only as the centre of civil power but 
 as supreme Pontiff, gradually had divine honours paid him 
 — the worship of the Emperor was the only worship com- 
 mon in the whole Roman world, and thus, when the seat of 
 Empire was removed to Constantinople, it left the Bishop 
 of Rome practically a temporal, as well as a spiritual, ruler, 
 and the Goth who at Constantinople exclaimed, " Without 
 doubt the Emperor is a God on earth " was also struck 
 with a deeper awe as he gazed on the crowding worshippers 
 and stately ceremonial of Christian worship in the Churches 
 of S. Sophia and of Milan. Thus the glory and power 
 of the Roman Empire, which had ceased to be more 
 than a memory, is revived in the Christian Church, and 
 Rome as the seat of the Catholic Church becomes in a 
 wider sense " The Eternal City," and in the coronation 
 of Charles by the Pope at Rome on Christmas Day, A.D. 
 800, we see the temporal and the spiritual powers united, 
 each giving to and receiving from the other something of 
 glory and influence in the eyes of the people. The Pope 
 in crowning Charles assumes authority over the earthly 
 monarch, and Charles in being crowned by the Pope can 
 claim a certain "jus divinum.^^ In succeeding ages we 
 see how circumstances led to the developing of the claim 
 to Papal supremacy, which began in germ on that memor- 
 able Christmas Day. 
 
 We have now seen how the Pope was led to claim 
 supremacy, but to my mind (I only speak for myself as 
 being a Catholic, while I protest against the Roman claim) 
 the claim comes out more clearly as antagonistic to the
 
 48 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 universal authority of our Lord (S. Matt, xxviii.) for (a) 
 the claim was not made by the first Bishops of Rome ; 
 (b) it is contrary to the analogy of God's law in family life, 
 the eldest son is not the autocrat of his younger brothers ; 
 the will of the Father — interpreted by the whole family 
 according to the varying needs — is the authority ; (c) the 
 Roman Church stultified herself at the Reformation by 
 refusing to " return unto the Way of Righteousness " ; 
 {d) if our Lord gave supreme authority to S. Peter would 
 S. James have been first Bishop of Jerusalem ? (Acts xv.), 
 would S. Paul have withstood him ? (Gal. ii.), and surely 
 Peter himself would in his epistle have asserted his 
 authority. 
 
 My contention is that the Risen Lord, to Whom The 
 Father gave all authority, must rule in His Mystical Body 
 after the Law by which He rules in Family Life. The 
 different branches of the Family are ruled by the head of 
 each Family, so in the life of the Mystical Body, the rule 
 must be according to the tradition summed up in the words 
 of S. Vincent of Lerins, " quod ubique, quod semper, quod 
 ab omnibus," and for the elder branch of the family to 
 claim supremacy is usurpation of authority, and therefore 
 to be resisted as contrary to the Will of God. When 
 " the Lawless one " appears, a recognised Authority over 
 all Christians will be essential to order and to Unity, and 
 therefore to the strength necessary to " overcome evil in 
 the good." For this let us pray, believing that our King 
 in supreme authority will gather us into His Presence 
 to tell us " all things whatsoever He commands." 
 
 Now as to the meaning of Kilmaveonaig : — as far as 
 I can estimate the divers theories set forth, that most held 
 by folk-lore and by the best historians is as follows : — KIL 
 (cell) MA (Saint) V (a consonant inserted before a 
 vowel) EON (Eunan, a well-known variation of Adamnan) 
 AIG (a Gaelic word expressive of affection). It is 
 evident that the family of lona did endear themselves
 
 PARISH OF KILMAVEONAIG 49 
 
 to the people by " going about doing good," as their 
 Divine Teacher was wont to do, healing their bodies as 
 well as bringing peace to their souls ; and then sometimes, 
 even in the lifetime of the Saint, a House of God would 
 be built and named after him or her. There is another 
 explanation put forth by Bishop Forbes in his " Book of 
 Scottish Saints " that the words mean " the Church of 
 the Beloved Bishop John." There was a noted Bishop 
 John of Dunkeld — John, the Englishman who divided 
 the Diocese of Argyll (or Lismore) from that of Dunkeld, 
 and afterwards became Bishop of St. Andrews ; he has 
 ever been held in the highest reverence. In the end he 
 retired to the Cistercian Abbey of Newbattle, and died 
 A.D. 1203. And there is a well at Lude known as 
 " Bishop's Well," also the Village Fair is in an old book 
 called FEIL-Espog-EON (The Fair of Bishop John). 
 The true explanation may be found in the following note 
 sent to me : — 
 
 " Granting that there was really a Fair instituted in 
 memory of this Bishop, John of Dunkeld, it is natural 
 enough if the Fair used to be held at the Church grounds, 
 to suppose that in course of time the name of the Bishop 
 got transferred to the Chm'ch, and that thus the people 
 took into their heads that some Bishop John was their 
 Patron Saint. In no other way does it seem credible 
 that the name of a Bishop could become used as that of 
 the Patron Saint? No Bishop, in consecrating a Church, 
 would have dedicated it to another Bishop of so (com- 
 paratively) recent date as the 13th Century, and the 
 sentence quoted from Forbes anent ' Feil Espog Eoin ' 
 was originally supplied along with other dates of Athole 
 Fairs, to Dr. Joseph Anderson, Keeper of the Museum, 
 who holds that Skene probably got these names and 
 dates of the Fairs from the people of the district by 
 word of mouth, and that if written down at all by any 
 
 D
 
 50 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 one who gave them, they would be spelt phonetically.''^ 
 
 In " Historic Scenes in Perthshire " we find reference 
 made to the old burying-ground referred to as at the back 
 of the Tilt Hotel, not the site of an old church as some 
 have supposed, but Clack-GHIL-AINDREAS is the 
 cemetery of St. Andrew's disciples ; at the latter place 
 many bones have been found entire in coffins made of 
 planks, and to the south, in the olden times, was held 
 Andrewmas Market. The Annual Fair was held in the 
 City of Perth. 
 
 That the Blackwood, as it is called, was an old 
 burying-ground is proved by excavations that were made 
 about the year 1840, as mentioned in a letter sent me by 
 Miss Hay, November 26, 1912. She wrote : — 
 
 " Somewhere about 70 years ago Mrs. Mclnroy, Lude, 
 having reason to think that burials might have taken 
 place in the Black Wood, sent men to dig in different 
 spots there, with the result that more than one stone 
 coffin of a simple type, consisting of 6 loose slabs, were 
 discovered. In one at least of these coffins was a skeleton 
 still possessing teeth and long hair. The bodies had been 
 doubled up in the coffins. The coffins and bodies were 
 not disturbed, but covered up again."
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 KILMAVEONAIG RESTORED, A.D. 1591. 
 
 The next Fact with regard to the Church is the re- 
 building of it, A.D. 1591 (as shown by the stone in the 
 South wall) by the Robertsons of Lude, on whose pro- 
 perty the Church stood. But before we refer to this, 
 let us glance at the state of Scotland, and note some 
 changes that took place before this date and afterwards. 
 In the reign of David, " a sair sanct to wear a crown," 
 events of far-reaching consequence took place. Rome 
 was appealed to instead of Canterbury, with regard to the 
 filling of vacant Sees, and a Papal Legate was called in for 
 the first time, and thus recognition of Roman authority 
 began, and lasted for weal or for woe during four centuries. 
 
 Then again, A.D. 1225 the First Annual Provincial 
 Council was held according to the provision of the 
 Fourth Lateran Council, A.D. 1215, which enacted that 
 Provincial Councils should be held annually throughout 
 the Church, and the Bishop of Aberdeen points out in 
 his book that it illustrates — happy omen ! — " how 
 Episcopacy might be combined with the General Assembly 
 system in the event of a large Ecclesiastical Reunion 
 taking place in Scotland." 
 
 Again, we find history repeating itself. The renewed 
 life resulting from the work of the Benedictine and Cis- 
 tercian monks began to lose force. As long as they hon- 
 estly made S. Paul's teaching as to labour their rule — " Let 
 him labour, working with his hands the thing which is 
 good that he may have to give to him that needeth " (Eph. 
 iv.), all went well, but when the deep-seated selfishness 
 of our fallen nature had again asserted itself, and the 
 object of all Christian labour (to give to him that needeth)
 
 52 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 was set aside, and the monks planted and builded and 
 laboured and hoarded up their gains for their own use, 
 " the corruption through lust " got the upper hand — 
 " the jolly monks of old " became a proverb often voiced 
 in song, and a selfish and debased living gave an excuse 
 to the Ahabs of the time, to despoil and appropriate 
 Naboth's Vineyard for themselves ; side by side with 
 this the Church at large is marked by error in doctrine, 
 no less than by viciousness of life. Luther hfted up 
 his voice in indignant protest in the 15th century, and 
 the tide of what we know as " The Reformation " set in, 
 and in due time reached Scotland. John Knox, a parish 
 priest, " a Minister of the Holy Altar," feels its influence. 
 Driven abroad for the part he took with some rebel 
 spirits of the time, he returns A.D. 1559 to his country. 
 It is not my purpose, of course, to write a history of that 
 troubled time, I only cull from the Bishop of Aberdeen's 
 most interesting booklet (which I commend to those who 
 desire to grasp the facts) what bears upon Kilmaveonaig 
 in the 16th century. 
 
 In the two centuries after the Battle of Bannockburn 
 we see the gradual growth of those forces which we have 
 now before us — the growth of ignorance and turbulence 
 amongst the nobles (whose best blood had been shed 
 in the wars with England, especially on Flodden Field), 
 and the generation which followed being, to a great 
 extent, " ignorant and uncultured, of headstrong character 
 and disloyal to principles, caring only for their own 
 aggrandisement." The boast of James I. that " if God 
 spared his life, there should not be a spot in his kingdom 
 where the key should not keep the castle, and the furze 
 bush the cow," suited not the lawless spirit in the land, 
 and his brutal murder was the result in Perth, A.D. 1437. 
 
 In Church matters, things were no better. We see 
 the growth of avarice on the part of Pope, king, and 
 nobles, specially in the usurpation of church patronage ;
 
 KILMAVEONAIG RESTORED 53 
 
 with a celibate clergy often openly immoral in their 
 lives, and giving to the king the things not only that were 
 Caesar's, but also those due to the King of Glory, the only 
 Head of the Church — and with luxury, sloth and laxity 
 in the Monasteries, while outside them real religion was 
 starved and neglected, what wonder that righteous wrath 
 was roused among the people ! but the wrath of fallen man 
 never has, and never will, except as God's sword, " work 
 the righteousness of God." It is indeed a dark picture. 
 Let us note now the strange story with the chief dates, 
 which culminated in the Revolution A.D. 1689. 
 
 A.D. 1560, John Knox preached his famous sermon 
 in S. John's, Perth, which roused his hearers to begin 
 the work of destruction ; this was in May, but the Re- 
 formers found they had to deal with a French King who 
 helped the Catholic party, so the Reformers appealed 
 to England for aid, and war followed, but a treaty was 
 made at Edinburgh on July 8th, at which it was stipulated 
 that " the question concerning reUgion should be settled 
 by a meeting of Parliament " ; at this only a few 
 ecclesiastics were present, and when the petition was pre- 
 sented, craving for reformation in doctrine, discipline, 
 the administration of Sacraments, the power of the 
 Pope, and the patronage of the Church, the Bishops 
 were silent (well earning, alas, Knox's epithet of dumb 
 dogs), and thus on August 17th, 1560, Parliament set 
 aside the old Catholic order for the new system, viz., 
 Superintendents (in place of the Bishops), Ministers, and 
 Readers, which last we shall find referred to in our notes 
 later on. 
 
 The words of the Earl Marischal will make clear to 
 us the attitude, or rather the inaction of the Bishops 
 at this time which helped to bring about the Reformation. 
 
 " Seeing that my Lords the Bishops, who for their 
 learning can, and — for their zeal that they should bear 
 to the verity — would, as I suppose, gainsay anything that
 
 54 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 directly impugns the verity of God — seeing, I say my 
 Lords the bishops speak nothing to the contrary of the 
 doctrine proposed, I cannot but hold it to be the very 
 truth of God, and the contrary to be deceivable doctrine. 
 And yet more, I must vote, as it were by way of pro- 
 testation, that if any persons ecclesiastical shall, after 
 this, oppose themselves to this our Confession, they have 
 no place or credit, considering that they, having long 
 advisement and full knowledge of this our Confession, 
 none is now found in this lawful, free, and quiet Parliament 
 to oppose themselves to that which we profess." 
 
 After the 17th day of August, 1560, the Pope's 
 authority and jurisdiction in Scotland were abolished, all 
 former Acts of Parliament contrary to the Confession 
 and God's Word were rescinded, and the administration 
 of the Sacraments was restricted to those admitted for 
 that purpose, mass being forbidden under penalty of 
 confiscation of goods for the first offence, banishment 
 for the second, and death for the third. 
 
 It is a sad fact that the Medieval Church of Scotland 
 passed away " unable to raise one brave word of defence 
 or testimony, with no one bishop or priest ready to lay 
 down his life on her behalf, falling to the ground, dis- 
 honoured, disinherited, and undone." 
 
 But the coming of Queen Mary from France, on the 
 death of her husband, Francis, did something to stem 
 the tide of reform, and it became clear as time went on 
 that the new system was not a success, and A.D. 1572 
 (20 years after Knox's sermon), the Convention of Leith 
 was held — a meeting of Superintendents, Commissioners, 
 and Ministers — the chief act of which was to restore in 
 name Episcopacy ; this was known as Titular Episco- 
 pacy, i.e. the Bishops had their titles, but they were sub- 
 ject to the General Assembly, and Consecration of the 
 Bishop was disregarded as non-essential. The acceptance 
 by Robert Montgomery of a vacant See offered by the Duke
 
 KILMAVEONAIG RESTORED 55 
 
 of Lennox (who kept the revenues for himself, only paying 
 a yearly stipend of £80), gave rise to the name " Tulchan 
 Bishops," which was thus explained by the Moderator 
 in the Assembly, A.D. 1639 : "When a cow will not 
 give her milk, they stuff a calf's skin full of strae and set 
 it down for the cow," and that was called a Tulchan ; 
 so these Bishops, possessing the tithes and the benefits 
 without the office, they wist not what name to give 
 them, and so they called them " Tulchan Bishops." 
 This pseudo-Episcopacy found its champion in Patrick 
 Adamson, Archbishop of St. Andrews, and a vigorous 
 opponent in Andrew Melville, who came off victorious, 
 and on the petition of the Assembly, Parliament formally 
 established Presbyterianism in Scotland. 
 
 But Episcopacy was not quite driven out ; four years 
 later the influence of Melville and his party was on the 
 wane, and the way was prepared, little by little, for 
 the establishment of a vahd Episcopacy. James VI. 
 succeeded to the throne of England, but the Hampton 
 Court Conference, A.D. 1604, expressed his opinion of 
 Presbyterianism with force and freedom, and we find that 
 in A.D. 1610 the Assembly of Glasgow restored Episco- 
 pacy, and shortly after that three titular Bishops were 
 duly consecrated in London by the Bishops of London — 
 Ely, Rochester, and Worcester — thus for a time Episco- 
 pacy was restored, and with tact and patience the Presby- 
 terians might have gradually looked with favour on 
 Episcopacy of the " Ignatian model " ; " Martin Mar- 
 prelate " might have shown himself not otherwise than 
 " Philo-Episcopus," but the high-handed autocratic 
 rule of James and his son Charles, again roused the dis- 
 contented and rebellious spirit, and the introduction of 
 the Scottish Liturgy, A.D. 1637, hy Royal Proclamation 
 at the Market Crosses of Scotland, was the spark which 
 lit the flame of revolt, and the Assembly of Glasgow, 
 A.D. 1638, condemned Episcopacy, which from 1638 to
 
 56 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 1660 was silent and crushed into inaction ; however, 
 Cromwell takes matters into his owa hands, and disbands 
 the General Assembly, A.D. 1653, and his death A.D. 
 1658, was soon followed by the Restoration, and by the 
 re-establishment of Episcopacy, both in England and 
 Scotland ; Douglas, the Presbyterian leader, declared 
 in a letter written A.D. 1660 that " the generality of this 
 new upstart generation have no love to Presbyterian 
 government, but are wearied of that yoke, feeding them- 
 selves with a fancy of Episcopacy or moderate Epis- 
 copacy." 
 
 A.D. 1661, four Bishops, James Sharp of Crail, Andrew 
 Fairfoul of Duns, James Hamilton of Cambuskenneth, 
 ministers in those places, and Robert Leighton, Principal 
 of Edinburgh University, were consecrated in London 
 (Sharp and Leighton being first ordained to the diaconate 
 and priesthood). These with Sydserf, the sole survivor 
 from A.D. 1638, and Wishart and Mitchell, two exiled 
 Episcopalians, formed a restored Episcopacy ; but 
 " wisdom was not " that by which the restored King 
 reigned, and the accession of James II., A.D. 1685, as an 
 avowed Romanist, soon revived the hatred of Protestants, 
 and they hailed with joy the landing of William of Orange, 
 November 5, 1688, which brought about the conflict 
 between Scottish Catholics and Presbyterians, culminating 
 in the Revolution, A.D. 1689 ; this we must consider in 
 the next chapter. 
 
 The following extracts will show the working of the 
 system of the General Assembly at Blair AthoU, the office 
 of Reader being part of that system : — 
 
 From " The Miscellany of the Wodrow Society " 
 Vol. 1. p. 356. 
 
 The Register of Ministers and Readers in the year 1574. 
 
 Cluny, Kilmawenok, Blair in AthoU, Strowane, Lude, 
 Rannoch.
 
 L89 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 
 
 k.l. 
 
 &c. 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 
 
 k.I. 
 
 &c. 
 
 KILMAVEONAIG RESTORED 57 
 
 Maister John Bartane, minister, 
 Johnne Neillis, reidare at Cluny, 
 Johnne Leslie, reidare at Kilmavenok 
 Alexander Stewart (and Thomas 
 
 Currour) reidare at Blair in 
 
 Atholl, 16 
 
 Duncane Robertson, reidare at 
 
 Strowan, 14 17 9^ k.l. &c. 
 
 George Makintosche, reidare at Ludc, 16 k.l. &c. 
 Patrik Williamson, reidare at 
 
 Rannoch, 20 merks k.l. &c. 
 
 In the outer columns " k.l." stands for kirk-land ; 
 and " &c." implies that some kind of victual was paid 
 in addition to the stipend in money. 
 
 From " Old Statistical Account of Scotland " 
 Vol. 11. p. 461. 
 
 Article on Parishes of Blair-Atholl and Strowan 
 by the Rev. Mr. James M'Lagan. — 1792. 
 
 These parifhes commonly go by the name of the united 
 parifhes of Blair Atholl, and Strowan. They confifted 
 formerly of the parifhes of Blair-Atholl, Strowan, Lude, 
 and Kilmaveonog. Blair (Blar) properly fignifies a 
 plain, clear of woods and other incumbrances ; but the 
 Celtae, of whom the Gael were a branch, in general, 
 chufing fuch plains for their fields of battle, Blar came 
 at length to fignify a battle. Strowan (Sruthain) fignifies 
 ftreams, fo called from the confluence of the Garry and 
 the Erochty at that place. Thefe ftreams feem to have 
 given that parifh its name, and Robertfon of Strowan, 
 (in Englifh, Robertfon of the Streams), his title. Kil- 
 maveoneg, fignifies the place of worfhip or burial place 
 of St. Eonog, or Veonog. Lude (Le'oid) feems to fignify 
 declivities, where a plough could bring a furrow only 
 one way.
 
 58 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 This list of names of persons appointed to be 
 " Readers " after 1560 when Episcopacy was suppressed 
 is taken from Dr. How Scott's " Fasti Ecclesiae Scoti- 
 lanae," Vol. ii., page 704. 
 
 KILMAVEONAIG. 
 
 1576. THOMAS M'GIBBOUN trans from Moneydie ; 
 Blair-Athole, Strowane, Lude, Rannoch, Moneydie, 
 and Kinclevin being also in the charge. He was 
 re-trans to Moneydie after 1580 (Reg. Assig). 
 
 MONEYDIE. 
 
 Was disjoined from the Presb. of Dunkeld and annexed 
 to that of Perth by the Gen. Assembly, 3rd June, 1578. 
 1567. THOMAS ROBERTSON, alias MAKGIBBON 
 removed from Auchtergavin pres. to the parsonage 
 of this par. by James VI 2nd Jan. 1574. Kin- 
 clevin and Auchtergavin were also in the charge, 
 trans, to Kilmaveonag prior to 1576, but returned to 
 Moneydie without other addition on his pres. to the 
 Vicarage by the King 8th May 1583 ; he removed 
 to Moulin in 1595, but returned and died in July 
 1596 ; His buikis were estimat at jc. merks, uten- 
 cills and domicillis xx li, Frie geir d.d. iijc. Ixxxvj 
 li. vje. He married Barbara Justice who survived 
 him and had a son William, and a daughter Violet. 
 
 LUDE. 
 
 The parish was supplied by GEORGE MAKIN- 
 TOSCHE, reader from 1574 till A.D. 1627. 
 
 (Reg. Pres. and Assig. Test. Reg. Wodrow Miscell 
 
 &c.). 
 
 A.D. 1627. This date is found on a Bell in the Belfry 
 which still peals over " hill and dale " and as the inscrip- 
 tion shows, was originally put up in the Church of Little 
 Dunkeld. The inscription is as follows — "W. Glas. min.
 
 Bell from Dunkeld. 
 
 Inscription— "W. Glas. Miii., Lit. Diukeld. A.D. 1629.
 
 KILMAVEONAIG RESTORED. 59 
 
 lit. Dinkel 1627." The story goes that Mrs. Glas, wife of 
 the minister gave a bell to her husband's church, but on 
 his forsaking the old paths she said the bell shall not 
 ring for Presbyterian service, and the Bell was apparently 
 sold to Kilmaveonaig, and thus we have the privilege 
 of having an ancient bell which links us with "Auld 
 Lang Syne." 
 
 The following lines — certainly not evidencing a re- 
 verence for holy things — in rude verse, are supposed to 
 refer to our bell : — 
 
 Oh, such a people, oh, such a people. 
 Oh such a people of Little Dunkcld ; 
 They have stickit their minister, 
 Drooned their Precentor, 
 Dung doon the Steeple, 
 And druncken the Bell. 
 
 We are glad to be able to give the accompanying 
 photograph of the bell, and if the above story be true, it 
 shows that at this time strife had entered even into 
 Christian homes. 
 
 Having given this short sketch of these troubled times, 
 we now give some details of the Robertson Clan, commonly 
 kno^NTi as Clan Donnachie. They are the most numerous 
 Clan in Atholl, and by tradition they are said to be a 
 branch of the Macdonalds of the Isles, and to have made 
 their way into the Atholl district towards the end of the 
 reign of William the Lion, who died A.D. 1214. 
 
 The eldest Cadet of the house was Patrick Robertson, 
 of Ludc. He seems to have acquired the lands of Lude 
 as his property and barony about A.D. 1358, and to 
 their influence as old landed proprietors, we, in God's 
 good Providence, owe our possession of our " unique " 
 Church. I propose not, of course, to write a history 
 of the Clan, for which I have neither the knowledge nor
 
 60 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 the space, but only to give such details as are linked 
 with the memorial dates preserved in the walls of our 
 " Holy and beautiful House," wherein our fathers praised 
 God and which — like that in Jerusalem where God had 
 placed His Name — was, in the troublous times, " burnt 
 with fire " (Isa. Ix.). 
 
 The dates are as follows : — 
 
 1. On the South Wall— A.R.A.G., 1591. 
 
 2. The death of Alexander Robertson their son, in 1639, 
 
 is recorded on a stone mentioned later on. 
 
 3. On four wooden Tablets in order of date (now recorded 
 
 on one Oak Tablet and placed on the North 
 side of the Sanctuary) as follows : — 
 
 Alexander Robertson died 1673 Buried here. 
 His wife, Cath Campbell, 
 
 sister of the Earl of 
 
 Breadalbane ., 1699 ,, Finlarig. 
 
 Their coat-of-arms is on a 
 
 stone slab on the north wall. 
 
 John Robertson died 1731 Buried here. 
 
 His wife Marg. Farquhar- 
 
 son, of Invercauld, ., 1751 
 
 r John Robertson and ., 1741 
 
 -| his wife the Hon. Char- 
 
 l lotte Nairn 1785 
 
 {James Robertson and ., 1803 
 Margaret Mercer of Aldie 
 his wife „ 1802 
 
 Col. J. Robertson their 
 
 2nd son „ 1820
 
 KILMAVEONAIG RESTORED 61 
 
 Gen, William Robertson died 1820 Buried here. 
 Margaret Haldane of Glen- 
 
 eagles his first wife ,, 1805 ,, 
 
 William James Robertson 
 2nd son of Gen. Robert- 
 son ,, 1813 „ 
 
 Col. J. A. Robertson their 
 
 eldest son „ 1874 
 
 A brief sketch of the Robertsons of Ludc will be 
 interesting to our readers. The first ancestor of the 
 family (I quote from the "Earldom of AthoU " by J. A. 
 Robertson) was ANDREW de ATHOLIA, which title he 
 would hold as being in the Earldom of Atholl, who must 
 have been the proprietor within the Earldom in the 13th 
 century ; his grandson, Robert, said to be so named by 
 the desire of King Robert the Bruce, had property pro- 
 bably consisting of the two Parishes of Strowan and Lude 
 and Strath Tummel (also a Feu Charter in the reign of 
 David II. records a Grant to Andrew of the lands of 
 Dischenar and Twchenar* (Disher and Toyer) , the present 
 Kenmore parish. His son Duncan also got a Charter 
 for the lands of ApnaduU from John Bishop of Dunkeld, 
 A.D. 1355. They are contiguous to the property of Dull, 
 and the Bishop and Chapter of Dunkeld had rights in 
 them. This Duncan also got extensive estates in Rannoch 
 and Fortingall by his first wife — according to tradition 
 a daughter of Malcolm, Earl of Lennox. 
 
 Duncan by his second marriage (as stated in the 
 lona Club transactions) to a daughter of Angus More, 
 Lord of the Isles, had by her — 
 
 1. Patrick de Atholia, who got the property of Lude 
 from his Father. 
 
 • Disher meaas with South aspect, and Toyer looking North.
 
 62 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 2. Thomas de Atholia, who had a Crown Charter 
 
 from Robert III. for the lands of Strowan. 
 
 3. Gibbon. 
 
 The Robertsons of Strowan, the head of the Clan 
 (known as the Clan Donnachaidh) appear to have had their 
 first dwelling-house at Strowan from which place the Chief 
 takes his name. The site of the old House known as 
 Tigh-na-mohr on an artificial mound can still be seen ; 
 their next family-house was Inverack on the south side 
 of the river from Blair Castle, where the site of the old 
 house can be seen a little to the West of Inverack Farm. 
 
 Then mention must be made of John Robertson who, 
 after the battle of Pinkie in 1547, married Beatrix Gardyn, 
 widow of Findlay More, and his son, Alexander Robertson, 
 acquired the lands of Kilmorick (by the Ratification by 
 Colin Campbell of Glenlyon), given to him and his spouse 
 Agnes Gordon by his eldest son, Duncan Campbell. 
 This Alexander Robertson and his wife are the two whose 
 initials are in the stone already mentioned ; he was the 
 first to give up patronymics (the using his father's name 
 in addition to his own). In 1565 he entered into a bond 
 with the Duke of Atholl to defend each other, and he 
 acquired the Church lands of the Bishopric of Dunkeld 
 from Queen Mary. Their grandson, Alexander, married 
 Catharine, daughter of Sir J, Campbell of Glenorchy, 
 and sister of the first Earl of Breadalbane (see Memorial 
 Tablet). He raised 3000 men for Gustavus of Sweden 
 A.D. 1627, and he was called to the Privy Council at 
 Holyrood A.D. 1633. 
 
 It must be noted that the reason for rebuilding the 
 Church in 1591 was evidently that the Robertsons had 
 shortly before that moved from the mansion-house of 
 Balnagrew, near Kirkton of Lude, which then was allowed 
 to go to ruin, and the present house was built.
 
 KILMAVEONAIG RESTORED 63 
 
 Then his son, Alexander Robertson, died very sud- 
 denly in 1639 at Dulcaben (Dalcapon), and the deaths 
 of himself and his mother, Agnes Gordon, are recorded 
 on the stone in the following curious terms : — 
 
 HEIR LYIS HONORABIL PERSONS AGNES 
 
 GORDON SPOVS TO ALEX? ROBERTSON 
 
 OF INCHMACRANOCH DOCHTER LAV ^ 
 
 (D 
 
 FVL TO THE LARD ABERGELDY DECESSIT < ^ 
 
 CO oc 
 
 9DECMBI634: ANDANEVORTH J > 
 
 O g 
 E MAN ALEXANDER ROBERTSON THAIR SO Q 
 
 Z 
 
 N LAIRD OF LVDE ^ 
 
 MAREIT HIS TVA DOCHTERS VEIL DESSIT 
 IN GREAT FAME FAVR AND VELTH 3 FEB 1639 
 
 Alexander Robertson, son of the last-named Alex- 
 ander Robertson, though quite a youth, joined the great 
 Montrose and was with him at Tippermuir, as the Master 
 of Madderty and others in their evidence state they saw 
 him in Highland " weeds." This Laird was served heir to 
 his father (owing to the state of the times) by a Colonel 
 Daniel who was Cromwell's Governor at Perth. 
 
 (As recorded in Lude Charter Chest). 
 
 John Robertson, his only son, succeeded him, and 
 was only a few years in possession when he died, leaving
 
 64 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 five children, his eldest son, James Robertson, a minor. 
 This Laird was 62 years in possession, and was succeeded 
 by his eldest son, General Robertson, by whom the Estate 
 of Lude was sold in 1820 to the father of Mr. J. P. M'Inroy, 
 whose son is now the Laird of Lude. 
 
 Here it is of interest to note that the first so-called 
 Robert of Strowan was the son of Duncan de Atholia, 
 designed Dominus de Rannoch, so called because of his 
 large possessions. In 1436 he is mentioned as having 
 apprehended some of the murderers of King James I., 
 and A.D. 1451 he got a Crown Charter for all his estates 
 in which King James II. speaks in very flattering terms 
 of him, stating that he grants the Charter for the love 
 and favour he bore to Robert in having with much zeal 
 arrested the traitors concerned in his father's murder. 
 For this he received the honourable augmentation to his 
 coat of arms of a " man in chains " and as motto, the 
 words, "Virtutis gloria merces." 
 
 Wc now give briefly the details about the family of 
 Lude. Donald, eldest son of Patrick, was succeeded 
 by his son, John, who got the Charter under the Great 
 Seal, creating the lands of Lude into a Barony proceeding 
 on his father's resignation, dated March 31st, 1448. The 
 Barony of Lude is stated to be within the Thanedom of 
 Glentilt, and contained Lude, Brae of Lude, Little Lude, 
 and Kirkton of Lude, the lands of Dalginross and Campsie, 
 of Brakochs, Kincraigie, the two Molochs, and Toldunie 
 Easter and Easter Monzie, Shinigag More and Beg, 
 Aldtalloch and Carryneroch, Urrard More and Beg, 
 Cluniemore and Cluniebeg, Levages (now Strathgroy), 
 Kindrochet Balnagrew (here the mansion-house of Lude 
 had been for a very long period), Balnakeilly, Balanot, 
 these all forming the two parishes of Lude and Kilma- 
 veonaig within the Thanedom of Glentilt and the Earldom 
 of AthoU.
 
 KILMAVEONAIG RESTORED 65 
 
 In this chapter wc have realised our Church life up 
 to the Revolution, and have sketched the history of the 
 Robertson Clan, whose position in the country preserved 
 us through the terrible stress of penal laws, which is 
 related in the next chapter.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 KILMAVEONAIG UNDER THE PENAL LAWS, 
 A.D. 1689-1792. 
 
 In the previous chapter we saw the struggle going on 
 between the Scottish Catholics and the Covenanters, but 
 the abdication of King James, and the landing of William 
 of Orange filled the latter with fresh hope of the triumph 
 of their cause. The strife of the last century or more 
 had created a thirst for revenge in both parties, which 
 either party was seeking to satisfy when occasion serv^ed ; 
 and the close of A.D. 1688 saw the Church party very 
 roughly handled by their opponents. Christmas time 
 in particular was anything but " a time of peace to men 
 of goodwill." Some 300 clergy were driven from their 
 homes and their furniture often destroyed. About this 
 time Bishop Rose went to London and met the king at 
 Whitehall, who said to him, " I hope you will be kind to 
 me, and follow the example of England," meaning that 
 they were to acknowledge him as King. The Bishop 
 replied, " Sir, I will serve you as far as the law, reason, 
 or conscience shall allow me." The Bishop felt that the 
 king looked upon this as refusing his claim to allegiance, 
 so he returned to Scotland, and he and the other Bishops 
 refused to take the oath of allegiance to William and 
 his heirs. This sealed the fate of Episcopacy, and at 
 the Parliament which assembled in Edinburgh to pro- 
 claim William king it was declared that the government 
 by Bishops was " contrary to the inclination of the 
 generality of the people." 
 
 Then came the appeal to arms in the Pass of Killie- 
 crankie. 
 
 The Battle of Killiecrankie, July 27, 1689, between
 
 UNDER THE PENAL LAWS 67 
 
 Graham of Claverhouse with his Highlanders and the 
 English soldiers under General Mackay (in which "Bonnie 
 Dundee," though victorious, lost his life), sealed the fate 
 of our Church. It is said that he was wounded by a bullet 
 shot from Urrard as he was holding up his hand to give 
 a signal to his men. With this the fortunes of the Stuarts 
 were doomed, and at the same time the old Church of 
 Scotland was replaced by the Presbyterian form of govern- 
 ment as the National Church. Dundee, who lived only 
 twenty minutes after he was shot, was carried along the 
 old military road which went past the village of Kil- 
 maveonaig (lying to the west of the Church) across the old 
 bridge of Tilt, to Old Blair, and was buried in the vault 
 in the Church. The inscription can be seen on the wall. 
 The present Factor's house stands on the site of the old 
 Village Inn. 
 
 The death of " Bonnie Dundee " having sealed the 
 fate of the Jacobite cause, Parliament in the next year 
 formally established Presbyterianism in the country, 
 and the clergy were ejected from their parishes, but 
 only very slowly in the country north of the Tay. In 
 A.D. 1695 an Act was passed by Parliament forbidding 
 " outed " ministers, i.e. ministers ejected from charges 
 to baptize or marry, the penalty threatened being im- 
 prisonment or perpetual exile. As time went on Pres- 
 byterianism gradually made its way even in the districts 
 which were the stronghold of the church. 
 
 The accession of Queen Anne, A.D. 1702, brought us 
 more toleration, and A.D. 1712 the Toleration Act passed 
 the British Parliament, securing to members of the Epis- 
 copal Church in Scotland the right to the worship of God 
 as " in the old paths," provided that the clergy officiating 
 had taken the oaths, and would pray for the Sovereign 
 during Divine service. About A.D. 1705, " the five 
 surviving Bishops determined to consecrate two of their 
 clergy to keep up the succession, and thus laid the founda-
 
 68 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 tion of that great company of Missionary and other 
 Bishops (notably Bishop Seabury, consecrated in Aber- 
 deen, November 14, 1784) who, in our day, represent 
 Christ in every land, in a church free, and deriving none 
 of their authority to rule from either King, Parliament, or 
 State." 
 
 But alas, this time of toleration is once more disturbed 
 by the Jacobite Rising of 1715, during the first year of 
 the reign of George I. At the Battle of Sheriffmuir, the 
 victory again lay with the Government, and on the 
 line of march the public devotions were conducted by 
 our clergy, and this marked out the Church as an object 
 of attack. A.D. 1719, a Law was passed making it penal 
 for any clergyman to officiate where nine or more persons 
 were present in addition to his own household, without 
 praying for King George and abjuring the exiled Stuarts. 
 Thirty years later, A.D. 1745, Prince Charles Edward 
 made a last attempt to win back the kingdom for the 
 Stuarts, " seeking," he said, " a crown or a coffin." 
 
 It will be interesting here to insert extracts from the 
 Lude papers, and other papers sent me, which give some 
 details of local persons and events. 
 
 Mr. Meldrum, late parish minister at Logierait, sent 
 me the following notes about Church matters at this 
 time : — 
 
 " For some years after 1688, the four churches of 
 Blair Atholl, Struan, Old Lude, and Kilmaveonaig, 
 continued to be separately used, and I should say that the 
 Presbyterian form of worship became at once established 
 in the two former, while Episcopacy held on to the two 
 latter. I am not sure as to the date when the four 
 Churches were united under the designation of Blair 
 Atholl and Struan, anyhow old Lude and Kilmaveonaig 
 Churches were shunted off by the Heritors as not re- 
 quired, while the Laird of Lude — Robertson — chose
 
 UNDER THE PENAL LAWS 69 
 
 to take, or rather was tacitly allowed to take a personal 
 interest in Kilmaveonaig, and with the co-operation of 
 neighbours (notably Urrard, Faskally, Kynaehan, etc.) 
 he carried it on on his own account. After the Union 
 of the Parishes, all the Presbyterians in Blair Atholl 
 worshipped either at Old Blair, or at Struan, and the Parish 
 Minister officiated at the two places. The Church at 
 Old Blair continued in use for Presbyterians, and they 
 regularly worshipped there until the present Church was 
 I think, erected in 1823. From this date, the Old Blair 
 Church was disused. 
 
 Here follow notes of the Stewart family, three mem- 
 bers of which seem to have had charge of Kilmaveonaig 
 in succession for more than a century. 
 
 " From A.D. 1660-1689 Episcopacy was in the 
 ascendency in Scotland, the ministers of Blair Atholl (the 
 parish united about A.D. 1632) for this period were 
 probably Episcopalians. A.D. 1614 Walter Stewart 
 was then incumbent of Blair Atholl, and had also under 
 his care Lude, Struan, and Kilmaveonaig. He died be- 
 tween 1643 and 1647. There exists a paper headed, 
 'Proof taken by Alexander Robertson of Lude before the 
 Rev. Walter Stewart, Minister of Blair in Athol, dated at 
 Invertilt, 10th Sept., 1621 ' ; ' Isobell Peibles Relict.' 
 
 Then there is mention of a Walter Stewart of Orchill 
 having been ejected at the Revolution, 1688-9, from 
 the incumbency of Blair Atholc who 'Carried on services 
 in the Chapel at Aldclune till his death, 1727,' but the 
 name Walter may have been confused with that of 
 Duncan, for in Sinclair's " Schiehallion," page 280, the 
 following reference is made to Duncan Stewart : — 
 
 " The Rev. Duncan Stewart, M.A., ancestor of the 
 present Stewart of Inverchadden in Rannoch and of 
 Strathgarry in Atholc. 
 
 Parson Duncan was the second son of the Laird of
 
 70 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG. 
 
 Invernachyle, and so was the cadet of the Stewarts of 
 Appin. In 1690 he was obliged to leave the Parish of 
 Dunoon, of which he was minister, on account of his 
 avowed attachment to his great chief, the exiled king, 
 and he came to reside in Blair Athole, in the Church of 
 Kilmaveonaig he continued to officiate till his death in 
 1730 (1727 ?). He was an able man and an accomplished 
 scholar, and aspiring to be a political leader as well as a 
 preacher of the Gospel, he exercised an immense influence 
 over the Jacobites of Perthshire, and was largely respon- 
 sible for the rising of 1715. He even went so far as 
 to read the Chev^alier's Proclamation from the pulpit of 
 Kilmaveonaig. This warlike parson was a man of means, 
 and, when in the early part of 1703, the Marquis of 
 Athole had intimation given him that he was to be raised 
 to the Dukedom, it was the Revd. Duncan that supplied 
 him with the ready money required for the journey to 
 London, and to defray the expenses connected with the 
 investiture. For this money Mr. Stewart obtained in 
 security wadsetts over Inverchadden in Rannoch and 
 Strathgarry in Athole, and these lands were in 1738 ac- 
 quired by the Stewarts in freehold property." 
 
 A.D. 1728 a Walter Stewart is invited by the Congre- 
 gation to come from Doune, and in the Lude Papers, 
 we have two amusing letters, the first not sent, as having 
 some expressions not quite respectful, inviting Walter 
 Stewart to come from Doune to be their Minister. The 
 two letters are as follows : — 
 
 To the Rev. Walter Stewart 
 
 Minister oftJie Gospel att Doun 
 
 Deverend Sir 
 
 After several Meetings of the Gentlemen concerned 
 in our Meeting House we have all unanimously made 
 choice of you as the properest and most acceptable to be
 
 UNDER THE PENAL LAWS 71 
 
 our Pastor And therefore now for ourselves and in the 
 name of the Gentlemen and Commons of our Meeting 
 House in the Parish of Blair Athole (Kilmaveonaig) doo 
 hereby most heartily call and invite you to be our Minister. 
 And for your encouragement we promise you £25 sterling 
 yearly to be paid out of our hand — which is as much as 
 you get where you are. We expect your satisfactory 
 answer with the Bearer. Our Congregation is very much 
 to be simpathised with by all good Men and we are hope- 
 ful! that the good Gentlemen you live amongst (tho they 
 may be sorry to part with you) will not only part with you 
 willingly, but press your coming to such a Congregation 
 as we have which may by the Blessing of God be for the 
 good of Church and State. We know no scruples you may 
 have against coming if it is not being out of use of the 
 Irish tongue, but you'll soon overcome that difficulty 
 by a little practice and in the meantime your English 
 discourse will attone sufficiently for that little defect. 
 And your countrymen hope now that we unanimously 
 make choice of you that you'l frankly imbrace this our 
 cordial Invitation home to your Native Country and 
 prevent our asking the Interposition of the Bishop's 
 Authority which we are determined to have if you refuse 
 our kindly call 
 
 We are, 
 
 Reverend Sir, 
 
 Your most humble Servants 
 
 (Signed) J. Robertson of Lude 
 „ A. Robertson of ffaskaliie 
 
 John Stewart of Kynachan 
 
 Blair Athole, October 19th 1728
 
 72 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 This rather imperious call seems not to have been sent, 
 doubt being expressed as to its being quite respectful in 
 a letter written by Lude's Son to Faskally as follows : — 
 
 Sir 
 
 Before Kynachan went from the place he took 
 occasion to shew me a letter writ to Mr. Walter Stewart 
 and after reading it once or twice he and my Father tho 
 they both signed were satisfied there were some expressions 
 in it not over seemly to a Minister such as "And for your 
 encouragement we promise you £25 sterling which is as 
 much as you get where you are " and to mention but one 
 more "And prevent our asking the Interposition of the 
 Bishop's Authority " before he had once refused their 
 kindly call and they agreed that there should be another 
 letter writ a draught whereof is sent enclosed which if 
 you like you may sign if not appoint a time and place 
 where you and my Father may cause another be writ 
 to both your likings. Hoping you'll pardon this trouble 
 and be so good as offer all our Services to your Lady and 
 Family. 
 
 I only add that I am Sir 
 
 Your affectionate Cousin and most humble Servant 
 LuDE, October 22nd 1728 
 
 Copy of ' draught ' 
 Reverend Sir 
 
 Tho ever since the death of our late Minister we 
 have had an eye on you as the properest person and most 
 acceptable to the generality of those concerned in our 
 Meeting House of Athole. Yet having reason to believe 
 that your present auditory would be very unwilling to 
 part with you and you as loath to leave them we have 
 hitherto deferred writing to you upon the subject but now
 
 UNDER THE PENAL LAWS. 73 
 
 since we see the difficulty of finding any other of equal 
 merit who knows the language and genius of the people 
 we take upon us in the name of all the Gentlemen and 
 others of our persuasion in this Country to call and invite 
 you to be our Minister and hope the desire of promoting 
 the universal good of the Church will make the Gentlemen 
 with whom you now reside not only forgive but even 
 forward our proposal for we are persuaded they'd be sorry 
 to see so considerable a number who incline to adhere 
 to the Church disappointed of so laudable a Design as 
 that of having a Minister amongst them. 
 
 You may perhaps be apprehensive of being molested 
 by those who are disaffected to our Party but we see no 
 reason why you should entertain any such thought for 
 not to mention some circumstances which we reckon will 
 secure you our late Minister lived without any Distur- 
 bances of the kind. It is true he had some difficulty in 
 uplifting his small salary from several hands but now we 
 have resolved upon an effectual method of preventing 
 that trouble to his Successor by making one of the number 
 answerable for £25 sterling a year. 
 
 We expect an answer by Bearer and if you incline to 
 comply with our desire which we earnestly wish we make 
 no doubt of the Bishop's concurrence. 
 
 Meanwhile we are 
 Reverend Sir 
 
 Your most humble Servants 
 Signed by Lude Faskally and Kynachan 
 
 To the Rev. Walter Stewart 
 
 Minister of the Gospel at Doun in Monteith 
 
 Note. — Apparently this last letter was sent and 
 favourably answered, the Settlement bearing date October 
 29th 1728.
 
 74 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 The above-mentioned Walter Stewart was probably 
 nephew to Walter Stewart, his predecessor in the charge 
 at Kilmaveonaig, and brother of the Laird of Orchill. 
 The hope expressed in the letter inviting him to come 
 back to his native country — that he would not be molested 
 — was not realised, for he was put in prison in 1752 
 for Nonconformity. He is frequently mentioned in 
 Parish Records as having condoned culprits who were 
 under Church discipline in neighbouring parishes. 
 
 Above the village of Aldclune, the site of the chapel at 
 Aldclune is made into a garden, but there remains an 
 enclosure with tombstones, one of which is thus marked ; — 
 
 C.S. 1760, and a Lochaber Axe cut on it 
 
 and is said to be the tomb of a sister of the above- 
 mentioned Walter Stewart. 
 
 The portrait we here present to our readers there 
 seems good reason for believing to be that of either Duncan 
 Stewart or this Walter Stewart who succeeded him. The 
 portrait was bought by Mrs. Douglas of Killiechasie at the 
 sale of the effects of the late Walter Stewart of Kynachan, 
 on September 19, 1877, in Aberfeldy, and Mrs. Douglas 
 kindly had it photographed for me. The portrait, there- 
 fore, is evidently that of an ancestor of the owner of 
 the portrait, and by his dress being evidently a minister, 
 it seems probable that it was that of one of these Stewarts, 
 who were such strong personalities. 
 
 The following notes were sent to Dr. Howard about 
 a Miss E. Stewart, evidently a descendant of the above- 
 mentioned Walter Stewart : — 
 
 3rd June, 1872. 
 
 " The late Miss Elizabeth Stewart's Father was 
 Charles Stewart, who married Euphemia, daughter of 
 Stewart of Bohally. Her paternal Grandfather wais Niel
 
 Supposed Portrait of the Rev. Duncan Stewart, 
 
 ■■:ho read the Chevalier'^ rrorldiiiatii^ii in Kilnim'eonain, A.D. 171S.
 
 UNDER THE PENAL LAWS. 75 
 
 Stewart, and his Father, Chas. Stewart, was a younger 
 Son of Stewart of Urchil (a Family now extinct in Athole) ; 
 this Charles Stewart was Brother of the Rev. Walter 
 Stewart, the nonjuring Clergyman of Kilmaveonaig. 
 Walter Stewart was married and had one Son, ' who was 
 a Captain in the 42nd Regt. and died without issue ' ; 
 and two Daughters, one was married to M'Duff of the 
 M'Duffs of Balinloan in Strathbran and had a Family 
 who predeceased her. The other Daughter (yet remem- 
 bered by the very old people of the Country) was Miss 
 Betty Urchil, and a strong-minded, clever, but eccentric 
 woman." 
 
 These extracts show that Kilmaveonaig was in 
 the person of her clergy closely linked with the cause of 
 the Stuarts. Prince Charles Edward is said to have 
 honoured Lude with a visit, where he spent the night 
 preceding his appearance at Dunkeld en route to Edin- 
 burgh. His last attempt to win the Kingdom being a 
 failure, the result was the passing of a more severe Act 
 of Parliament, A.D. 1746, which made it illegal for one of 
 our clergy to minister to a congregation of more than 
 five persons, the penalty this time extending to the con- 
 gregation also, so that the clergy had the choice be- 
 tween the oath, a convict settlement, or imprisonment 
 for life ; the sting in this Act was that it included the laity, 
 who were not only liable to a fine, but were cut off from 
 all civil and official employment, e.g. from a seat in 
 Parliament, or the right to vote. The severity of these 
 penalties proved too much for some congregations, and 
 with little backbone and less conscience they consented 
 to take the oath and to pray for the King in public worship, 
 and so were called " English." This title later on, as 
 also the gradual use of the English Prayer-book in Scot- 
 land, led to the Scottish Church being called English, 
 even when these lapsed congregations had returned to 
 link themselves again to the Scottish Church on the
 
 76 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 repeal of the Penal Laws. We still have some trouble in 
 repudiating the name " English " and in claiming for 
 ourselves to be a native church in our " ain countrie," 
 not exotic, but hardy enough to have endured keen blasts 
 of persecution, often " seven times heated in the furnace," 
 and ever remaining true to the Faith of our Fathers. 
 That clergy and people were true is proved at least in 
 one case, by the act of one of our clergy in Stonehaven 
 Gaol, baptizing from the prison bars an infant held up 
 to him in a fish creel, of which we give a portrait. 
 
 This dark picture, and it is dark, has its bright side, 
 as has always been seen in human life, for necessity is 
 found to be the mother of invention ; it is true that our 
 churches were burnt by the English soldiers, as in the 
 case of Kilmaveonaig and at Aldclune after 1745 (Aldclune 
 was then on the Lude estate, there was also a pre- 
 reformation chapel at Old Faskally, of which the ruin is 
 still to be seen ; it contains in the north side of the 
 chancel a niche to hold the consecrated elements), yet 
 many of the lairds and people were Episcopal and con- 
 tinued so for many years — and when burnt out of their 
 churches Mother Necessity suggested houses with several 
 rooms opening into the hall, and by having five people in 
 each room they could minister to thirty or forty people 
 without infringing the Act. The Jacobites' way of 
 drinking Prince Charlie's health is worthy of note as being 
 extremely canny : — 
 
 God bless the King, God bless the Faith's Defender ; 
 God bless — there's na harm in blessing — the Pretender ; 
 Wha the Pretender is and wha the King, 
 God bless us all — that's quite another thing. 
 
 The following extract from the Baptismal Register at 
 Muthill is interesting : — 
 
 " Gathering M'Laren, wife to Charles M'Glashan, 
 Wright at Kilmaveonaig, Blair- Atholl Parish, and
 
 "Baptism from the Gaol oj Stonehaven, 
 
 an iucidciit duriiin the persenition nf the Epixcopa/ Clev^v in ]74(-i. 
 
 'Many II child icas held up to the hriys nf the prison windoiv to 
 receive the Grace of Ix'egeneration.' — 
 
 Extract from ' The Prisoners of Craigmacaire,' "
 
 UNDER THE PENAL LAWS 77 
 
 Catherine M'GIashan, wife to Alexander M'Glashan, 
 Wright in Dahiruick, Moulin Parish, who had been both 
 only sprinkled in the schism were privately baptized 
 at Kilmaveonaig before witnesses Charles M'Glashan 
 and John M'Glashan on the 5th of April, 1787." Other 
 similar cases follow. Canon Meredith wrote to me with 
 regard to the entries : — " At one time it was proposed that 
 Muthill should be cared for by the Priest, whose work 
 already extended from Blair Athole to Appin ! and it 
 occurs to mc that these baptisms may have taken place 
 when that good man had departed, and Cruickshank 
 (whose coming here saved, under God, our Congregation 
 from extinction) may have gone on a journey to look after 
 your folk. Bur perhaps you may know a better explana- 
 tion. The case of baptism of those ' sprinkled in the 
 schism ' is frequently entered in our register at this time." 
 It is a case which shows how vainly one might sometimes 
 look for entries in a local register. Who would have 
 dreamed of looking in old Muthill register for baptisms 
 at Kilmaveonaig ! 
 
 There are references in Moulin Kirk sermons to 
 immoral persons, renegades from discipline, repairing 
 to the Rev. Walter Stewart at Aldclune for Baptism. 
 
 These extracts indicate that there was no Episcopalian 
 Clergyman resident in the neighbourhood in 1787. 
 
 The words " sprinkled in the schism " were commonly 
 used by the Scottish Church after the Revolution to 
 express with some contempt, their opinion of the non- 
 validity of Baptism under the new order. With what 
 thankful hearts we now rejoice in the " Entente Cordiale," 
 and our endeavour to keep the Unity of the Spirit in the 
 Bond of Peace. We have buried the hatchet, and to 
 our delight find the handle to be of olive wood, and a 
 green sprout forecasts a Life of Peace. 
 
 That Kilmaveonaig was not an utter ruin at this time
 
 78 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 is proved by the fact that in 1758 the family at Bonskeid 
 came over the hill one Sunday to service, and some of 
 them came to the Episcopal service. The famil}' returned, 
 alas, to Bonskeid, to find it in flames. This is recorded 
 in a memoir of Mrs. Sandeman by Mrs. Barbour. 
 
 In this dark period when the Scottish Church is 
 described as being reduced to " the shadow of a shade," 
 we rejoice in having some Bishops as shining lights and 
 true Fathers in God. Bishop Rattray (who died A.D. 
 1743) did a great work in printing the ancient Liturgy of 
 St. James, which is the basis of our present Liturgy. A.D. 
 1722, Bishop Gadderar published a reprint of the Com- 
 munion Office, this being the first of what were called 
 " The Wee Bookies " ; the Liturgy of 1637 had been 
 already used at Tranent. Soon there was a call for a 
 print of the Services as commonly used. A.D. 1735, this 
 demand was met by the venture of two printers. Other 
 editions followed in 1752, 1759, and 1764, this last giving 
 us the form most familiar to us. 
 
 With the accession to the throne of George III., A.D. 
 1760, we see the dawning of peace on the horizon. The 
 last of the House of Stuart passed away, A.D. 1788, and 
 thus the Jacobites had no longer cause for refusing to 
 take the oath to the reigning sovereign. 
 
 In the next chapter we shall find the act passed which 
 removed the Penalties hitherto in force. 
 
 The following letters bearing upon the ministry of the 
 Rev. George Robertson in Strathtay give us a glimpse 
 full of interest into the difficulties in our Church life at 
 the 1715 rising, and also of the appreciation of this 
 ministry under such difficulties. They were copied from 
 papers in the house at Edradynate into the Register in 
 the Church at Strathtay, which was for a brief period in 
 my care in A.D. 1904. The old spelling is very quaint, 
 and to the ordinary reader not always intelligible.
 
 UNDER THE PENAL LAWS 79 
 
 Note. — The letters, though not in order of date, are 
 inserted so as not to interrupt the Kilmaveonaig notes. 
 
 What follows is a true copy of documents in possession 
 of Stewart Robertson, Esq., of Edradynate. 
 
 Copied this 29th day of May, 1872. 
 Certified by 
 
 ERNEST C. TOLLEMACHE, 
 
 Priest in charge of the Church in Strath Tay. 
 
 Reverend Brother, 
 
 As I am much affected from the great discourage- 
 ments yr congregation and Flock is put under so I cannot 
 but greatly rejoice by finding them so stedfastly adhering 
 to you and your ministrie and (as I am informed) their 
 being so well satisfied with your officiating among them, 
 wherefor seeing by the Divine providence and the ap- 
 pointment of the Church such a worthy and well principled 
 people ar fain under yr charge I hope as yow will apply 
 yrself with all due care to feed them with all wholsom 
 Doctrin, go befor them as a good example and patem 
 of all manner of piety, so you will cleave closs by them 
 with no Less stadfastness than they have adhered to 
 yow, remembring that no man putting his hand to the 
 plough and Looking back is fit for the Kingdom of God. 
 I pray God to bless yr people yrself and yr Labours 
 among them I am 
 
 etc. etc. 
 
 March 8th To Very affectionat brother 
 
 1715 the reverend & servant 
 
 Mr Georg Robertson Alexr Edinburgen 
 
 at Logierate
 
 80 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 By William Marquees of Tullibardinc. These are 
 ordering & impowering you to preach every Lords day 
 and other solemn occassions in the Church of Logyreat 
 and to exercise all the other parts of the ministerial 
 function within that parish as you be answerable at your 
 Peril ffor doing of which this shall be to you a sufficient 
 Warrant Given at Logyreat the 12th day of December 
 1715 years. 
 
 To the Reverend 
 Mr. George Robertson Tullibardinc 
 
 Minister of the Gospel 
 
 Scone March jr. 25th 1715. 
 
 Rev. Sr. 
 
 I have seen yours to Mr. Gerard bearing date 
 ye 20th of this month ; it were a great injustice not to 
 acknowledge that you have done eminent service to ye 
 Church by preserving the meeting house in Logierait, & 
 I'm sensible you have lay'd a particular obligation on 
 all the friends of it who are concerned in that Parish. 
 I have commenced a process for the Patronage, w'hich 
 is still depending, as soon as my right is declar'd you may 
 assure yourself I will employ' it for your encouragement ; 
 in the meantime I desire you may send to Mr. Gerard a 
 particular account of the proportions of Stipend that are 
 pay'd by the several Heritors. I wish you all success 
 in the good work you've engaged in & am 
 
 To the Reverend Rev. Sr. 
 
 Mr. George Robinson Your aff friend 
 
 Minister of the Gospell & serv 
 
 att Logereat Stormont
 
 UNDER THE PENAL LAWS 81 
 
 We George by the Mercy of Gd bishop off Aberdeen 
 fforasmuch as Severall presbitors in the presbitry off 
 Dunkeld hav examined and Tryed George Robertson 
 Master of Arts in order to his being licensed to preach the 
 Gospel and now hav reported that he was putt to several 
 Try alls & exercises required and usuall in our Church. 
 And in each of thes Tryalls had well acquited himself 
 and given good satisfaction & is off a Christian sober 
 liff & good Conversation — hcrupon he is recomended to 
 us ther being no bishop off Dunkeld to grant him a licence 
 to preach & therefore we hereby doe authorize the abov 
 named Mr. Robertson to preach the Gospell and by these 
 doe license him to preach wher he shall be legally and 
 orderly calld for serving the 
 
 this is WTit subd at Dunkeld 
 
 March twenty fifth 1715 
 
 Geo. Aberdonen. 
 
 We under Subscribers doe hereby bind and oblidge 
 us our heirs Executors Intrometters with our goods and 
 gear whatsomever to content and pay to Mr. George 
 Robertson Minister of the Gospel at Lydnack or his 
 Assigney yearly at terms of Whitsunday and Martinmas 
 by equal portions the several proportions & Quotas of 
 Stipend annexed to our respective Subscriptions during his 
 preaching the Gospel to us our families tennents & followers 
 every third Sunday at Culna-Sauch in Murlaggan. Be- 
 ginning the first terms payment of the sd Stipend at the 
 term of Martinmass next to come for this Current Years 
 Service and to furth yearly thereafter, at the sds terms 
 during his serving the Cure in manner foresaid and no 
 longer consenting to the Registration hereof in the books 
 of Council & Session or oyrs competent to have the 
 strength of a decreet Interponed ther to that letters of 
 Horning & oyrs necessary may pass hereon on Six days 
 charge we ther to Constitute. 
 
 F
 
 82 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 Our prors & in witnes whereof We have subscribed 
 thir presents (writtn on Stampt paper by James Stewart 
 in Inverhadden at Culna Sauch the Sixth day of August 
 one thousand seven hundred & thirty two years Before 
 these witnessess, David Stewart younger of Kynachan 
 & Alexander Robertson son to Alex Robertson of Drum- 
 achine. 
 
 J. A. Stewart in Inverhadden 
 for three pounds Seots 
 
 Obligation 
 owan & others 
 to 
 Mr. George Robertson 
 1732 
 
 A. Robertson of 
 for five Jer 
 S 
 John Stewart of Kynachin 
 twelve Pounds Scots 
 Dun Robertson of 
 Achleeks 
 6 lb. Scots. 
 
 Alcxr Mackglashan two 
 Pounds Scots 
 enquire 
 Niel Stewart in Lassentullich 
 eleven pound Seots money 
 Alexr Stewart in Inverhadden 
 for three pounds Scots 
 Pat c Robertson for two 
 punds Scots 
 John Mc Donald for two 
 pund Scots money 
 J. Stewart in Croftinloan 
 for three pound Scotts. 
 
 The first Jacobite rising, which took place shortly 
 after the date of two of the above letters, no doubt made 
 Mr. (Jeorge Robertson's ministry one of great difficulty 
 and danger.
 
 UNDER THE PENAL LAWS 83 
 
 This Chapter may fitly be brought to a close by 
 giving extracts from speeches made at a Conference in 
 Perth in 1868, convened by the Bishop of S. Andrews, 
 Dunkeld, and Dunblane, where testimony is given to our 
 Scottish Church at the Revolution being in the majority, 
 and to the hold it maintained in the early part of the 
 18th century, at least north of the Tay, over the popu- 
 lation. 
 
 " It must be observed that when Presbytery was 
 re-established in Scotland at the Revolution, more than 
 two-thirds of the people of the country, and most of the 
 gentry were Episcopals ; the restoration of Presbytery by 
 WiHiam being (he proceeds) chiefly owing to the Dukes 
 of Argyle, Marchmont and Stair, and other leading nobles, 
 who had suffered under Charles and James, and who had 
 promoted the Revolution with all their interest and power" 
 (thus Dr. Carlyle wrote). 
 
 The Bishop spoke of the 
 
 Number of Easter Communicants at Kilmaveonaig. 
 
 " Our first duty is to arrest the dying out of congre- 
 gations where they already exist, as in the case of Blair- 
 Athole, where I find (from a former register of the Diocese) 
 that not more than thirty years ago there was a return 
 of nearly fifty communicants at Easter, a season which 
 would imply that they were mostly, if not all, natives. 
 From the same authority I learn that Strathtay and 
 Tummel Bridge returned at the same time 76 com- 
 municants. 
 
 The Rev. Charles Robertson, of Rannoch and Tummell 
 Bridge, referred to 
 
 Church Membership at Rannoch. 
 
 " In the memory of those still living, and who are 
 members of the congregation, the Church in Rannoch
 
 84 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAICx 
 
 embraced a vast numerical majority of the resident 
 proprietors and others connected with the district. Sixty- 
 years ago the roll of members and adherents in a thinly- 
 peopled district numbered 180. Circumstances, however, 
 over which the Church appears to have had no control, 
 reduced this congregation to a minimum." 
 
 He also referred to 
 
 Prayer Book in Gaelic and English. 
 
 " Traces of her former condition are still abundant 
 in the district ; there is hardly a home there which has 
 not its prayer-book in Gaelic and English, which is still 
 regarded with something like veneration as an heirloom 
 of the family." 
 
 Lord Rollo spoke on the 
 
 Hateful effect of the title " English " Church. 
 
 " Nothing has more hindered the advance of our 
 Church than its being looked upon as a mere offshoot 
 of the Established Church of England, its members as 
 those who, by education or subsequent ties, are members 
 of the Church of England, and its houses of God as 
 " English Chapels." If Episcopacy is to advance among 
 our countrymen, it must present itself as an indigenous 
 and national institution, an independent branch in this 
 country (as the Church of England is in England) of the 
 great Catholic Church of Christ." 
 
 Testimony of General Mackay. 
 
 " But I would beg to produce a testimony which is 
 not so well known, viz., that given by the opponent of 
 the great Dundee, General Mackay of Scourie, the op- 
 ponent of him who met his death at Killiecrankie, >vith 
 these words on his lips, ' For God and the Church of
 
 UNDER THE PENAL LAWS 85 
 
 Scotland.' He says in a letter written to the Laird of 
 Grant, on the 4th of Dec., 1690, 'Let men flatter them- 
 selves as they will, I tell you, who know Scotland, and 
 where the strength and weakness of it doth lie, that if I 
 were as much an enemy to the Presbyterian interest as I 
 am a friend, I would engage to form in Scotland a more 
 formidable party against it, even for their Majesties' 
 Government (that is even in the Orange interest) than for 
 it.' Thus much for ' Scouric' Mackay was a member 
 of a Whig clan, and a Presbyterian. Now let us hear the 
 testimony of one who, ecclesiastically, had no bias in either 
 direction, although, politically, he was favourably disposed 
 to Episcopacy, Viscount Tarbet, afterwards Earl of 
 Cromartie. Writing in the summer of 1689, he says : 
 ' The matter of Church Government hath been a pretence 
 for the troubles of Scotland now for a hundred years. 
 Episcopacy appears insufferable to a great party, and 
 Presbytery is as odious to another. The Presbyterians 
 are more jealous and hotter, the other more numerous and 
 powerful." (Leven and Melville Papers, p. 125). 
 
 The above quotations sound rather oddly when con- 
 sidered in connection with the assertion, that the Scotch 
 insisted on the establishment of Presbyterianism because 
 it was more consonant with their genius and character 
 than Episcopacy. We have now had the evidence of a 
 minister, a soldier, and a politician. Let us hear the testi- 
 mony of another Presbyterian minister, the accomplished 
 historian of Moray, the Rev. Lachlan Shaw, who was born 
 in 1690, and must, therefore, have been perfectly cog- 
 nizant of the state of affairs in Church and State at the 
 Revolution. I do not cite him so much with the view 
 to prove the numerical superiority of Churchmen over 
 Presbyterians at the Revolution, as to show what the 
 opinion of a learned Presbyterian of less than two cen- 
 turies ago was, as to the alleged unconquerable bias 
 of the Scottish mind towards Presbyterianism. " It
 
 86 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 appears," he says, " that all along, since the Reformation, 
 the Clergy looked upon Chureh government as alterable 
 or ambulatory, or made little aeeount of the difference 
 between Presbytery and Episcopacy, notwithstanding 
 the wranglings about the jus divinum. The zealous 
 Prelatists, before 1638, fully complied with Presbytery 
 and the Covenant, and the bigoted Covenanters as readily 
 complied with Prelacy in 1662. And if, at the Revolu- 
 tion " — notice his words — " few conformed to Presbytery, 
 it was because they were allowed their benefices for life, 
 upon qualifying to the Civil Government." 
 
 With these quotations, inserted here as collective 
 evidence given at the Conference as summing up in 1868 
 our position in 1689 and afterwards, we propose to con- 
 sider in the next chapter the Peace and renewed Church 
 Life, resulting from the olive leaf brought over the Border 
 on dove-like wings to us as now trusted loyal subjects.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 KILMAVEONAIG REBUILT. 
 
 A.D. 1792 was a red-letter year in the history of our 
 Scottish Church. Since the accession of George III. 
 (A.D. 1760) a hope of better things had sprung up. The 
 Bishops and others had made an effort to get the Penal 
 Acts repealed, and the dawn grew brighter, till at last, 
 in the year of Grace, 1792, the Church found herself 
 free to worship openly according to the dictates of con- 
 science, and the Church that had been (through much 
 tribulation) true to the Faith of her Fathers, proved her 
 vitality by setting to work " to restore (rebuild) the 
 waste places " ; this was so with us, for we read that 
 Robertson of Strowan gave the timber, and the congre- 
 gation worked with him. Soon after I became Rector 
 I was in the vestry of our old church one day, and saw 
 a piece of, what I thought waste paper lying there, but 
 on taking it up I found it to be about a hundred years 
 old, being the identical paper on which the joiner in 1794 
 had drawn his plan for the rebuilding of the Church, and 
 on it were words in his own handwriting. I give a photo- 
 graph of it, adding a copy of the writing, now not very 
 legible, which is as follows : — 
 
 Middletown Derculich, March 14, 1794 I Chas. 
 Robertson, Mason on Clochfoldich ground do hereby 
 declare that the plan contained in this sheet is the one 
 referred to in my missive letter of this date to the Rev. 
 Mr. Robertson in Middletown Derculich. As witness 
 my hand 
 
 Chas. Robertson, Mason
 
 88 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 Kilmaveonaig, March 15 1794 I John Stewart WTight 
 declare that this is the plan referred to in my missive 
 letter of this date to Mr. Robertson the amendments 
 proposed by the said Mr. Robertson shall be done to his 
 satisfaction Witness my hand 
 
 Signed John Stewart. 
 
 The east loft contains 66 persons at the Reat of 18 
 ins. Bottom to each person 
 
 The west loft contains 42 persons at the same reat. 
 
 The back gallery contains 44 at the reat of 17 ins. 
 to each person. 
 
 The low area contains 108 at the reat of 17 ins. to each 
 
 Total of persons at the room above mentioned 258. 
 
 The plan contains (a) the elevation ; [b) the gallery 
 plan, with section of roof ; (c) the ground plan. 
 
 The exact details as to the space allotted to each 
 person — 17 inches in one gallery, 18 in another — puzzled 
 me for a while, till someone said to me, "Why, it was the 
 ' quality.' " "Of course," I said, " the laird and his 
 friends had 18 inches, and the others 17 inches." Then 
 the seating for 258 people by means of three galleries, one 
 at the east, over what was called the " Robertson's 
 vault " ; one at the west, which remains and is seen 
 in one of the photographs ; and one on the north side, 
 joining the other two — ^this surprised me till the present 
 Laird kindly showed me in 1898 a copy of the minutes 
 of the Session held about 1823, to decide on the site of a 
 new Presbyterian Church, which was rendered necessary 
 by the present high-road being made in 1820, When 
 someone at the meeting suggested Blair Atholc as the 
 best site for the new Church, as having the bulk of the 
 people near it, the reply was that " out of 1100 people 
 in the place, 550 are Episcopalians and they have a
 
 - - ^^— ^ '■W' ^- iiSl^ 
 
 ..'-^- 
 
 'v^-^i:9i.ifi:j 
 
 «' 
 
 *:. v-r'-fe-^ --C^ 
 
 Plwto or Masons Plan ol a Restored Church. March 14. 1794. 
 
 ^ 
 
 d
 
 KILMAVEONAIG REBUILT 89 
 
 Church to worship in " ; so that explains the seating 
 of the chureh for 258. I then learned that I was priest- 
 in-eharge of a Church which was not a transplant from 
 England, not an exotic unused to the ' cold blasts ' of 
 the north, but a plant of hardy native growi:h rooted 
 in our soil in the days of "Auld lang syne." 
 
 Let us pause and picture the scene. The ancient 
 building, scarred with the soldiers' marks in 1745, the 
 old military road running (as seen in an old map) past 
 the churchyard and the little village lying to the west, 
 and so on over the old Bridge of Tilt, to St. Bride's 
 Church at Old Blair. The Church was evidently rebuilt 
 from the ground ; I was satisfied of this when, under 
 the wise guidance of the Rev. E. Sugden, I began to 
 restore the Church, A.D. 1893, for the three large windows 
 with big panes of glass would never have been found 
 in an old Highland Church (small windows were a help 
 for defence in times of danger) ; one of the three windows, 
 the most eastern, was added to the plan at the request 
 of Mr. Robertson, the minister (see words on the 
 plan) . 
 
 As we picture the walls rising — " everyone having a 
 mind to work " as in Ezra's time at Jerusalem — and when 
 finished the date 1794 being placed on a stone in the west 
 wall, our thoughts may wander back to byegone centuries, 
 to the end of the 4th and St. Ninian's building of Candida 
 Casa, to the end of the 6th and Columba's death at lona, to 
 the end of the 11th with our saintly Queen Margaret 
 passing to her rest, and to the 14th, the close of a period 
 to which all Scotchmen must look back with honest 
 pride and thankfulness for many blessings ; and then 
 lastly, with the 15th century, we see the growing weeds 
 of " error in doctrines and viciousness " (or, at least, 
 a sad lack of sterling righteousness) of life which, in the 
 strife that follows, showed not the desire to maintain 
 Catholicity on the one hand, or to see the triumph of the
 
 90 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 Reformation on the other ; but as Longfellow puts it 
 for us : — 
 
 " The longing for ignoble things, 
 
 The strife for triumph more than truth, 
 The hardening of the heart, that brings 
 Irreverence for the dreams of youth." 
 
 And so, for two centuries. Christians " bit and de- 
 voured one another," and then for another century 
 Might claimed to be Right, till gentler counsels — counsels 
 of Peace — prevailed. With the 16th century then 
 beginning, and now passed with its fellows into Eternity 
 — how do we regard the past ? As a mistake ? as 
 a shame on our Christian name ? as a blot upon our 
 escutcheon ? Yes, surely, therefore, let us now make 
 peace, pursue love, and seek to " speak the truth in love " ; 
 controversy there must still be, earnest contention 
 for " the faith once delivered to the saints " ; but the 
 smoke of byegone battles is gone, we fight now with smoke- 
 less powder, we see the issues at stake more clearly, we try 
 to see the apple of truth from the side of those we differ 
 from ; we see the wrong we have done to each other 
 (certainly to ourselves) and to our common Christianity, 
 and the dishonour we have done to our God and King, 
 Whose Name is blasphemed through us by those who eye 
 us with dislike. The study of history is said to be the 
 best tonic for drooping spirits, but it is surely also the 
 strongest incentive to humble confession that the remem- 
 brance of the past is grievous, and the burden is intolerable. 
 Let us desire to respond to the exhortation of St. James, 
 " Confess your faults one to another that ye may be 
 healed " ; then the strength to rise and walk in love 
 will follow, and the prayer for unity will be answered 
 by the Spirit of Truth, "Who maketh men to be of one 
 mind in an house." The words of the old Jacobite song 
 roused many to loyalty to Prince Charles : —
 
 KILMAVEONAIG REBUILT 91 
 
 Wha wadna fccht for Charlie ! 
 Wha wadna draw the sword ! 
 Wha wadna up and rally 
 At the Royal Prince's word ! 
 
 Shall not we, shoulder to shoulder, in our Christian 
 warfare, up and rally at the Word of the Prince of Peace, 
 Whose "Divine Right " we all acknowledge ? 
 
 Satan has somewhat shifted his strongholds ; they 
 are no longer inside the Fort of King Brude, no longer 
 so much among the Pagans, the untaught countryfolk, 
 but he has entrenched himself in the crowded slums of our 
 large towns, in dens of physical and moral filth, and in the 
 hearts, alas, of those he has enslaved with love of money 
 and of pleasure, and like Columba we must, with Cross in 
 hand, demand an entrance for the Gospel of our King into 
 the hearts of Satan's slaves. Yes, " like a mighty army 
 we — will we not ? — go forth girded with humility " ; 
 we will, like our King, stoop to conquer, and in Him, con- 
 quer we will, if " faithful unto Death." 
 
 We have now in thought journeyed together to 
 Imperial Rome and to the City of the great King, where 
 on Calvary — the Mount Moriah of ancient times — ^the 
 King began to reign. We have traced his progress — 
 Regnum — CiviTAS — DoMUS — Dei — the Kingdom, de- 
 veloping the Commonwealth established in the land, then 
 the building the House of God, where the citizens as- 
 semble to worship the King. Now, as we look on the 
 restored Holy, and — no doubt in some measure, beautiful 
 House where our Fathers praised God, let us seek — say 
 on the eve of the Dedication (perchance July 27, 1794) — 
 to see a Vision of Unity. 
 
 The Kingdom of God is not of this worlds " our 
 Commonwealth is from Heaven," the true House of God is 
 one " not made with hands, eternal in the Heavens." 
 What do we see through the "Door opened in the Heaven?"
 
 92 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 A Lion Which (as in dissolving views), changes to " a 
 Lamb, standing as It had been slain." 
 
 The Vision is (1st) of Royal Authority — of sacrifice 
 to be offered and then eaten — and of renewed life. (2nd), 
 The Vision is of the Faithful Worshippers — a Kingdom of 
 Priests, a mystical Body to reign and to offer spiritual 
 Sacrifices to God, through Jesus Christ (Rev. ch. v. 1. 
 1 Pet. i.). and this mystical Body changes in Vision into 
 the Wife of the Lamb — a Holy City built upon apostles 
 chosen by the King, and the citizens are " called, chosen, 
 and faithful." May I say to my Scottish fellow-Christians 
 what the Vision teaches me ? First, a Divine model, 
 as a pattern was she\Mi to Moses in the Mount, and to 
 David and to Ezekiel, so " The Body is of Christ," 
 and embodies all that is gone before ; therefore the 
 spiritual pattern must be of Divine Order. The High 
 Priests, Priests, and Levite — the Apostles, Presbyters, and 
 Deacons — seem to me to have the Divine Seal on them, 
 therefore I cannot give them up as merely human, And 
 mark how much more of common ground we see now 
 that we know each other better. Presbyters of the 
 second order are associated with the Bishop in the 
 ordination of Priests (see rubic), and Presbyterian elders 
 might well find their counterpart in the fuller recognition 
 of the confirmed as endowed with the sevenfold gifts 
 for service, especially in the Laj^ Reader and all re- 
 cognised lay work. 
 
 Once more, this Church (Ecclesia) is " a Kingdom of 
 Priests," every one baptised into Jesus Christ is a King 
 and a Priest in virtue of his or her share in the corporate 
 life. "Ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord, men 
 shall call you the Ministers of our God " (Isa. Ixi,). If, 
 therefore, every Christian is a King and a Priest, can the 
 one ordained to the Priesthood be otherwise than a Priest 
 to offer sacrifices as the Representative of the corporate 
 Body ? Does it not then follow that I am both Priest
 
 KILMAVEONAIG REBUILT 93 
 
 and Minister, and that where I consecrate the Bread and 
 Wine, there is an Altar as well as Holy Table ? 
 
 Why is it supposed we hold to Apostolical Succession ? 
 Is it merely that there never has been in Christendom 
 a break in the succession of Bishops set apart in the 
 Catholic Church by the laying on of hands ? Surely 
 not, when S. Paul wrote to Titus " for this cause left 
 I thee in Crete that thou mightest ordain elders," he did 
 so believing in the Lord of Glory, Who, as " Priest for 
 Ever," as well as " King for Ever," never faileth to breathe 
 forth the Holy Spirit for the orderly governing of His 
 Church. There can be no intermittanee of His action ! 
 
 If you ask me why I write this, it is because the ancient 
 House of God seems to bid me say it, and I rejoice at 
 having the opportunity to tell my brethren of the Pres- 
 bjrterian Churches, yea all that are seeking the Vision 
 of Unity, why I claim to be a Catholic, not only as we all 
 are by baptism, but as regards Catholic Orders. From 
 what I read and hear it is clear that many Christians still 
 hold Priest, Altar, and Sacrifice to be terms not admissible 
 in the ministry of the Gospel. On this point then, many 
 are not at one, often, alas, hotly opposed, and as we 
 have ceased to fight, thank God, let us pray for grace to 
 " Speak the Truth in Love, and to see eye to eye " ; 
 guided by this Spirit of Truth, then sometime we shall 
 " all come into the Unity of the Faith," and those that eye 
 us with suspicion shall echo the words of the heathen of old, 
 " See how these Christians love one another." One last 
 word about the word, " Holy." I have learnt that this 
 word is often understood as implying inherent Holiness, 
 so that I should be claiming an inherent superiority over 
 others, as I once heard a friend exclaim, " Here comes 
 Holy CathoUc Church." Now even in jest this shews 
 forgetfulness of the first meaning of Holy, i.e. set apart 
 for God's service ; e.g., The House of God is set apart 
 for the service of God only, and the assumption of in-
 
 94 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KIL^IAVEONAIG 
 
 hercnt Superiority would be inconsistent with Cliristian 
 humility. M«^y the Vision of the Beauty of Hohness 
 be ever more and more clear, and may it ever be seen 
 by us when in Kilmaveonaig we seek to behold the Glory 
 of God in the Face of Jesus Christ. 
 
 We have no notes of when the Church was ready for 
 re-opening, but with the date A.D. 1794 in the West Wall 
 under the belfry as a Fact, Fancy can picture the De- 
 dication by the Bishop of the Diocese, the priest- in-charge, 
 Mr. Robertson, and doubtless a goodly number of those 
 who contributed " money, material, and labour," who 
 now with one mind and one mouth glorify God for their 
 freedom of worship without fear of pains and penalties. 
 It will be of interest here to insert a few dates and MSS. 
 sent me as to Persons and Places in that glad New 
 Century. 
 
 First, as to the Priest-in-charge. We conclude he 
 was the Rev. John Robertson, mentioned in the plan, 
 as residing at Middlcton Derculich, one or two of whose 
 letters we copy from the Lude papers. He was at this 
 time in charge of Strathtay and Strathtummel, and our 
 own Church. He came every third Sunday to each 
 place, and was made Dean of the Diocese, A.D 1808. 
 He died A.D. 1829, and was buried in Logierait Church- 
 yard, the following inscription appearing on his tomb- 
 stone : — " Erected to the Memory of the Rev. John 
 Robertson, late Episcopal Clergyman in Strathtay, who 
 departed this life on the 4th day of October, 1829, aged 
 67." And on the back of the stone : — "Audivi Vocem e 
 coclo Dicentem mihi, Scribe, Beati ab hoc tempore mortui 
 qui in domino moriuntur." 
 
 The following letters written by him speak of an 
 accident he met with, which may have shattered his 
 health and hastened his end ; —
 
 KILMAVEONAIG REBUILT 95 
 
 , PiTCASTLE, I9th Jan., 1826. 
 
 The unlucky accident that happened to me in 
 going last to Athole has ever since confined me to my 
 room, and I am sorry to say still does. The swelling is 
 consi(5erably abated, but the pain still remains that I 
 cannot walk through the room without the help of a 
 staff, so that you cannot expect me on Sunday. I wish 
 I were in a situation to do duty the first Sunday in the 
 Strathtay Chapel. Please God to spare me and be in 
 such a state that I can safely venture from home, I 
 propose and shall endeavour to be at Kilmaveonaig 
 Sunday first come three weeks, and with good wishes to 
 all my friends, and prayers to God for their health and 
 happiness, both here and hereafter. 
 I remain. Yours sincerely, 
 
 (Signed) JOHN ROBERTSON. 
 
 , PiTCASTLE, 8th Feby., 1826. 
 
 John, -^ 
 
 The unlucky accident I met with in going to 
 
 Athole 31 Deer., has confined me ever since to my room. 
 
 I certainly thought when I wrote you last that I would 
 
 be able to be at Kilmaveonaig Sunday first the 12th 
 
 Febry., but that I cannot think of. About two weeks 
 
 ago I ventured out about a mile, and I returned home 
 
 rather worse than I was ; indeed, so much so, that my 
 
 servants had to assist me into the house so that as I 
 
 cannot venture to the Chapel here as yet, I cannot fix 
 
 a day to go to Kilmaveonaig, but please God to enable 
 
 me, I shall endeavour to be with you Sunday first come 
 
 three weeks, and 
 
 I remain, Your Well-wisher, 
 
 (Signed) JOHN ROBERTSON. 
 
 To Mr. M'Glashan, 
 
 Wheelwright, 
 
 Kilmaveonaig.
 
 96 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 The Old Register must now be referred to, being 
 the quarry whence I got the first materials for my book, 
 and which roused me to further search for precious 
 lore, hidden elsewhere. It was the Minute Book of 
 the Jacobite Congregation in Perth from 1739 to 1746, 
 and contains the signature of Robert Lyon, who was 
 colleague of the Rev. Laurence Drummond ; he, alas, was 
 executed at Penrith for following Prince Charlie. Dean 
 Farquhar refers to this in his interesting book, " Epis- 
 copal History of Perth." 
 
 This Register, we know not how, got into the pos- 
 session of Mr. Robertson, who from 1812 to 1830 used it 
 as a Register for the Baptisms and Confirmations of the 
 three districts which he shepherded (which Register I 
 published last year in a separate book) ; there were from 
 16 to 24 Baptisms every year and perhaps half that 
 number confirmed, which is a striking witness to the vigour 
 of our Church life early in the 19th century. Unfor- 
 tunately no entries were made after 1830. This old 
 book has many things copied into it by Mr. W. Atkinson, 
 Churchwarden and Vestry Clerk of Holy Trinity, Pitlochrie, 
 after Dr. Howard's death. 
 
 The Register has at one end the Perth minutes I have 
 referred to, while at the other end apjiear lists of the 
 sums paid by the congregation for the minister's income 
 in 1786. Apparently the persecuted Jacobites began to 
 forsee better times, and again were venturing to meet 
 openly for worship. We append the notes of the last 
 meeting at which Robert Lyon was present. 
 
 Perth, Tuesday, 29th January, 1745. 
 
 The Ministers and other Managers of the Episcopal 
 Meeting-House having this day inspected James Bayne, 
 your Treasurer's accompts for the last year find the 
 Charges amount to seventy-eight pounds nine pence and
 
 KILMAVEONAIG REBUILT 
 
 97 
 
 five sixths of a penny Sterling, and the Discharge to 
 Eighty three pounds one shilling nine pence and five- 
 sixths of a penny Sterling, by which it appears that the 
 House is due to James Bayne a Balance of Five pounds 
 one shilling Sterling as will appear by his accompts 
 docket by us of this date, and recommend to the said 
 James Bayne to recover a Deficient List of former years 
 amounting to Four pounds thirteen shillings and two 
 pence, signed by the last Managers the 31st of January, 
 1744, as likewise we recommend to him to recover a 
 Deficient List amounting to One pound eighteen shillings 
 Sterling for the year immediate last by past, signed by 
 us of this date, and order him also to prepare a List of 
 the whole Hearers to be laid before the next General 
 Meeting. 
 
 (Signed) LAW. DRUIMMOND. 
 
 ROBERT LYON. 
 
 J A. SMYTH. 
 
 GEO. STIRLING. 
 
 JOHN STEWART. 
 
 /Facsimile of his\ 
 V Signature. / 
 
 The above copy of the Minutes of the Annual Meeting 
 of the Congregation will hardly be complete — at least 
 for our readers who are of Jacobite sympathies — without 
 a brief reference to Robert Lyon. 
 
 Of his parentage, he himself seems to have only 
 recorded (I quote from the " Episcopal History of Perth " 
 by the present Dean of the Diocese) that he was of Scottish 
 birth, well educated, and was elected by the Jacobite 
 Congregation in Perth to be coadjutor of the Rev. Laurence 
 
 G
 
 98 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 Drummond, and appeared as such at the Meeting, Nov. 
 15, 1739, having been ordained Priest. 
 
 In his ministry he shewed himself to be one of the 
 " Usagers," i.e., the CathoHc party, there being then, as 
 ever since the Reformation, those who held the Catholic 
 Faith, and those who protested against it because they 
 held it to be tainted with the errors and superstitions of 
 the Roman Communion. He was engaged to be married 
 to Miss Stewart Rose, daughter of the Bishop of Fife ; 
 alas the marriage never took place, owing to his loyal 
 and avowed attachment to the Stuart cause. Mr. Erskine 
 in a letter dated Sept. 25, 1744, wrote from Perth, "What 
 I hear bodes little good to Robert Lyon." When Prince 
 Charles Edward entered Perth, Robert Lyon illuminated 
 his house, and was outspoken in the loyalty of his welcome. 
 He accompanied the Prince's army to Prestonpans as 
 a chaplain. He had enemies watching him, and when 
 the Duke of Cumberland came to Perth in 1746, Robert 
 Lyon was imprisoned in Carlisle with 77 others, and 
 was sentenced to death. A ring in the possession of 
 Miss Bruce of Demmarles, bears the inscription : — " Mr. 
 Robert Lyon, E.S.P.,* 28th October, atat 36 1746." 
 
 The ring is a gold hoop, set with a piece of rock crystal 
 covering a little hair — we presume the hair of the martyred 
 priest. On the outside it is enamelled in black with the 
 inscription in raised gold letters, at the end of which 
 there is the figure of a skull, also in raised gold, and inside 
 is an incised inscription, " Pro Rege et Patria Trueidato." 
 Mr. James Bruce, W.S., of Edinburgh, has kindly had the 
 ring photographed for me. 
 
 This is one more proof, of which history is full, that 
 those who, for conscience sake, and in loyalty to their 
 cause, shed their blood, do thereby enshrine their memories 
 in the hearts of generations to come, and it was well that 
 
 • E.S.P., i.e., Ecclesiae Scotianae Presbyter.
 
 Drinking Cup used bp the Jacobites 
 
 I'heu driiiliiug Prince Charlie's health — see page 76. 
 
 Jftemorial Ring of Robert Lvon.
 
 KILMAVEONAIG REBUILT 99 
 
 Mr. Lyon, by his dying words on the Scaffold, and while 
 suffering for his loyalty to the Stuart cause, should declare 
 himself a Priest of a Church " happily governed by her 
 own truly primitive Bishops, and whose Creeds demon- 
 strate the soundness of Her Faith " : the Catholic Church 
 has ever stood for " Evangelical Truth and Apostolic 
 Order," and the strife of Christians in the past for their 
 own piece of the Apple of Truth, has in our day in God's 
 mercy, led them to bring the pieces together to be the 
 Apple of Concord, for which Faith, whole and undefiled, 
 we desire to be Martyrs even unto Death. 
 
 In addition to the ring, there is another very in- 
 teresting Jacobite relic bearing Mr. Lyon's name, namely 
 a pin-cushion, stuffed with sawdust, from the scaffold at 
 Carlisle, bearing the names of the 75 Jacobites who suf- 
 fered there and at Penrith and other places in 1746 for 
 their loyalty to the House of Stuart at that time. The 
 pin-cushion is oblong, measuring about 4 inches by 3. It 
 is covered with white satin with blue silk tassels at the 
 comers. In the centre of each side there is a Jacobite 
 rose, and round it the inscription " Mart : for K : and 
 Cou : 1746." The names of those commemorated are 
 placed on each side of the j^in-cushion in four concentric 
 circles round the rose and inscription. 
 
 They run as follows : — On the one side — 
 
 First or Outer Circle. — The Rev. R. Lyon, Roe, 
 Clavering, Reid, Eaton, Heys, Brady, Ogilvie, Roper, 
 Brand, Swan, Holt, Hunter, Mitchell, Nicholson, 
 Matthews, Hunt. 
 
 Second Circle. — J. Wallis, J. Henderson, J. M'Naugh- 
 ton, J. Roebottom, H. Cameron, J. Innis, J. Harvie, 
 D. Fraizer, B. Mayson, Donld. M' Donald. 
 
 Third Circle. — M. Deliard, C. Gordcn, Cap. M'Donald, 
 Cap. Wood, Cap. Lcith, Cap. Hamilton, Dan M' Daniel.
 
 100 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 Fourth or Inner Circle. — Col. Townley, Sir J. Weder- 
 burn, Sir A. Primrose, F. Buchannan, Esq., J. Hamilton, 
 Esq. 
 
 On other side — 
 
 First or Outer Circle, — Eudsworth, Sparks, Horn, 
 D. Morgan, Esq., C. Gorden, S. M'Kenzie, J. M'Clan, 
 T. M'Genis, J. Tompson, Murry, Mayne, Stevenson, 
 M'Donald, Dempsey, Conolly. 
 
 Second Circle. — P. Keir, J. Read, The Revd. T. 
 Coppock, T. Park, A. Blyde, P. Taylor, P. Lindsey, A. 
 Kennedy, J. M'Gregor, A. Parker. 
 
 Third Circle. — J. Berwick, Ja. Bradshaw, J. Dawson, 
 T. Deacon, T. Syddall, T. Chadwick, G. Fletcher. 
 
 Fourth or Inner Circle. — Earl Kilmarnock, Earl 
 Derwentwater, Ld. Lovat, Ld. Balmerino. 
 
 In a note to the Dying Declaration of Mr. Lyon, 
 contained in copies of the Dying Declarations of Jacobites 
 reprinted at Edinburgh, 1750, Mr. Lyon is designed 
 " Priest of the persecuted and afflicted Church of Scot- 
 land." The note reads thus : "As Mr. Lyon frequently 
 administered the Holy Eucharist to his fellow-prisoners 
 in Carlisle Castle, so particularly upon Wednesday, the 
 15th of October, 1746, he had the happiness to communi- 
 cate above fifty of them among which were Mr. Coppock, 
 the English Clergyman, and Mr. Buchannan of Arnprior, 
 and upon the 26th of the same month, being the 22nd 
 Sunday after Trinity, he also administered the Holy 
 Sacrament of the Lord's Supper to a great number of 
 Communicants, his fellow-prisoners, using the Liturgy 
 which had been proclaimed at the Market Cross by 
 order of Charles I." 
 
 We here resume the Church notes from page 94. 
 A.D. 1820. This was a year which brought many
 
 KILMAVEONAIG REBUILT 101 
 
 changes to us. General Robertson sold his property 
 at Lude to Mr. Mclnroy, the grandfather of the present 
 Laird. The house was some years after rebuilt, a new 
 road with a lodge was made to approach it from the 
 west, after the present high road was made in 1820, 
 and the old mihtary road running past the church was 
 discontinued. New cottages were built on the road, 
 now known by the name of BaUintoul, so that gradually 
 the old village was allowed to fall into decay. 
 
 The village stood here until 1833 or 1834, the school- 
 house to the east of the Church remaining for a time 
 after the houses were removed. There was also a forge, 
 and a service was held by the Baptists here for some years. 
 Charles M'Glashan, and other old people lately passed 
 away, told me that they worshipped in the Church in 
 their youth. "A man, called Seaton, who was much 
 injured by a fall over the rocks at Tuldunie, taught here. 
 Also from the cow-path at Lude came down the rammer 
 from the cannon when firing a salute, and an accident 
 occurred, causing death to one man and the loss of an 
 arm to another." 
 
 The following list (obtained from the Laird's sister) 
 of Custodians of Kilmaveonaig from about 1820, is 
 interesting, as shewing the links we then had with the 
 people of the soil. " Sandy a'thing " ; what a com- 
 prehensive title for a Storekeeper ! 
 
 Alexr. Stewart, " Sandy a'thing," Merchant, New Bridge 
 
 of Tilt. 
 Alexr., his son, who retired from the shop to the farm of 
 
 Strathgroy ; his widow now lives in Pitlochrie. 
 Alexr. 's Nephew, John Campbell, who farmed for Mrs. 
 
 Stewart, and died at Strathgroy. 
 Neil M'Glashan, BaUintoul (who lived at Kilmaveonaig 
 
 until the Houses were removed).
 
 102 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 His Sons, John, Peter, and Neil, had all Office connected 
 
 with the Chapel. The last survivor of the three 
 
 brothers died at Esingal. 
 John M'Glashan, Balintoul, who brought up his Family 
 
 at the Village of Kilmaveonaig. 
 Charles (who seems to have been confirmed in 1819), his 
 
 Son still lives in the old home at Balintoul. 
 Donald M'Glashan, late Farmer, Balrobie. 
 Angus Stewart, Kincraigie. 
 Duncan Stewart, Fender Bridge. 
 Robert Robertson, for many years Miller at Lude, and 
 
 afterwards in Pitlochry, died 2 or 3 years since. 
 John Robertson, Keeper, Esingal. 
 His Son ; the Family now live at Craig Urrard, Pitlochry. 
 
 A.D. 1825. The following is an extract from a letter 
 sent me by Miss Keir about the village : — 
 
 " Old Duff said that when he was a lad about 12, there 
 were six or seven small cottages in which small farmers 
 lived. He was working with them and going to school, 
 which was a little way to the west of the Church (about 
 120 scholars) and James Seaton and Mr. Stewart, Ardenlea, 
 were on the roll with him. 
 
 There was a Baptist congregation and Mr. TuUoch 
 was the name of the minister. He never heard of any 
 one being immersed there. They had a place in the 
 river for that." 
 
 Mr. Tulloch is an instance of what can be done by 
 a man of strong religious conviction. He came to the 
 neighbourhood towards the end of the 18th century, and 
 his preaching evidently bore fruit. It is well to correct 
 here a popular misrepresentation of the Church's teaching 
 as regards Immersion which is recognised by her as the 
 right form of administering the Sacrament (see Rubric
 
 KILMAVEONAIG REBUILT 103 
 
 in Baptismal Service, where it is added that " if the 
 parents certify the child is weak it shall suffice to pour 
 water upon it.") Unfortunately we have got to assume 
 that every child is weak. 
 
 The Rev. John Robertson was succeeded by Rev. John 
 Macmillan, and it is interesting to note how the Scottish 
 Church, in her revived life, took special care in providing 
 for the income of her pastors, as will be seen by this list, 
 A.D. 1830 :— 
 
 "We, the undersigned Members of the EjDiscopal Con- 
 gregation, assembling for the worship of Almighty God 
 in the Chapel of Kilmaveonaig, being desirous of securing 
 for ourselves and Families the benefit of the Regular 
 Ministration of an Episcopal Clergyman. 
 
 Do hereby agree and bind ourselves to pay to the 
 Revd. John M'Millan, our present Pastor, during his 
 Incumbency, the sums here afixed to our respective 
 names. 
 
 The sums to be paid in equal moieties twice a year, 
 viz., at the Terms of Whitsunday and Martinmas. The 
 first payment to be made at the ensuing term of Mar- 
 tinmas, 1830," 
 
 Donald Stewart, Farmer, Kincragie, 
 Miss Ann Cameron, Middlebridge, 
 Alex. Stewart, Merct., Bridge of Tilt, 
 Peter and John M'Glashan, Bridge 
 
 of Tilt, 
 
 Alex. M'Glashan, Strathgroy, 
 James M'Intosh, Balenald, ... 
 John M'Glashan, Balintoul, ... 
 W^idow Stewart, Strathgroy,... 
 Janet Robertson, Balintoul, 
 
 £0 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 

 
 104 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 Mr. MacMillan left for Dunkeld in 1834, and before he 
 went away he gave to the Church a Prayer-Book and 
 Bible, a bound copy of the Scottish Liturgy, beginning as 
 usual with the Exhortation, and a small oak Table for 
 the Altar, with an inscription as follows : — 
 
 " This Altar is dedicated without reserve to the public 
 Celebration of the Eucharist in the Scots Epis- 
 copal Church, and is subject, with this sole 
 limitation to the disposal of the Rev. William 
 Cowper Augustine Maclaurin, present Incum- 
 bent of Kilmaveonaig, in the Parish of Blair 
 Athole, Perthshire, or in case of his decease, 
 to the disposal of such person or persons as 
 he may appoint, Sept. 1834." 
 
 This Altar I found in the vestry, and taking it to be a 
 common table, was going to put a drawer to it. when the 
 joiner, on turning it up found the above inscription. 
 I then had it encased in oak, and it now stands in the 
 vestry of the Church, fit for use if that should ever be 
 used as a Side Chapel. 
 
 He was succeeded by the Rev. William C. A. Mac- 
 laurin, who remained six years, 1834 to 1840, and had 
 quite a well-filled Church. In 1840 he went to Elgin and 
 was succeeded by the Rev. Thomas Walker, who, un- 
 fortunately, gradually alienated his congregation and 
 declining to retire, the Bishop in 1856 locked the Church. 
 Mr. Walker must have been a man of some parts, and 
 was very musical. 
 
 Canon Meredith sent me interesting evidence of 
 our recognised congregational life in 1837, as follows : — 
 "At the end of Lawson's History, 2nd vol., is an appendix 
 giving information from evidence given to (and accepted 
 by, I presume) the Commissioners appointed by Parlia- 
 ment to enquire into the state of Religious Instruction,
 
 KILMAVEONAIG REBUILT 105 
 
 whose first report was ordered by the House of Com- 
 mons to be printed in 1837. I should think that it 
 might be quoted for our side in case of any dispute about 
 the rights to the Church of Kilmaveonaig. 
 
 ' Blair Athole. — Established shortly after the Revolu- 
 tion. The congregation assembles for public worship in a 
 chapel which was rebuilt about 1797 at Kilmaveonaig ; 
 cost not ascertained. No person has any right over the 
 Church but the clergyman for the time being. It is 
 applied to no other purpose. Number of sittings about 
 200. The stipend is £30, chiefly derived from the Scottish 
 Episcopal Church Society. Divine service performed 
 twice every Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday, and 
 Ascension Day, and once at least six other days throughout 
 the year.' — Evidence by the Rev. W. C. A, M' Laurin, 
 M. A., Rector at this date." 
 
 Amid the many and divers notes with which the story 
 of Kilmaveonaig in the first century of her newly-regained 
 freedom is strown, it is pleasant to find an Aberdonian, 
 from the city of Bon Accord (the father-in-law of the 
 present Dean of Edinburgh), wending his way up Strath- 
 Garrj% from Dunkeld, where perhaps the Rector, Mr. 
 Macmillan, had told him of " dear Kilmaveonaig," and 
 when he had realised it embosomed among the mountains 
 and half circled by the Tilt and the Garry, he returns to 
 Dunkeld, and musing — maybe, by the fireside— of the old 
 church nestling under the hill, he forecasts the winter 
 tempests rushing down from snow-capped Ben-y-Gloe (as 
 indeed they did in March, 1883, and November, 1893), and 
 the waters of the Tilt and the Garry in spate, and his poetic 
 fire kindles into verse — "Ye winds," he cries, " blow soft, 
 ye waters of Atholl ne'er depart from your banks, lest 
 sadness ye carry on ' the place of my heart.' " The verses 
 below are very descriptive of the beauties of the Strath ; —
 
 106 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 KILMAVEONAIG. 
 
 Lines written at Dunkeld on returning from a visit to Blair A thole 
 in September, 1841. 
 
 Dear Kilmaveonaig, thy braes are reposing 
 On Athole's broad bosom, so sunny and still, 
 
 I grieve that the winding Strathgarry is closing 
 Their light from my vision with forest and hill. 
 
 O'er hill and o'er forest, by distance decreasing, 
 Schiehallion heaves proudly to view thee below ; 
 
 O'er hill and o'er torrent, that rushes unceasing. 
 
 Looks down from his lonely height grand Ben-y-Gloe. 
 
 Like giants o'erwatching an infant in slumber. 
 The old mighty mountains stand silent around. 
 
 While songs from the streams, flowing by without number. 
 At noontide and midnight thy lullaby sound. 
 
 Ye waters of Athole. the Tilt and the Garry, 
 
 Oh ne'er from the banks that embrace j-ou depart, 
 
 Lest danger and ruin and sadness ye carry 
 On Kilmaveonaig, the place of my heart. 
 
 Ye winds that in glen and in corrie are swelling. 
 Blow soft as ye cross it, or harmless, if shrill. 
 
 But chasing the blight from the leaf, or dispelling 
 The cloud with its tempest, or mists that would chill. 
 
 And I, if misfortune befall not to wither 
 
 The feelings that spring as its beauty I praise, 
 
 Maj' often be journeying joyfully thither, 
 
 With a heart that is fresh as the green of its braes. 
 
 N. Clyne. 
 
 A.D. 1856. On the departure of Mr. Walker this 
 year regular services were impossible, and the Church for- 
 feited the income it had drawn from the Society, and it 
 has never been recovered. This was, of course, fatal to our 
 retaining the congregation, and many at this time went 
 to the Presbjrterian service, and never came back to 
 us. But church life, if it dies down in one place, springs 
 up in another, and it is interesting to record the efforts 
 made at this time to start a Congregation in Pitlochrie. 
 Amongst the chief movers were Mr. John Troup and 
 Colonel Drummond Hay. Mr. Robson was the clergy- 
 man who ministered to the congregation, and the only
 
 KILMAVEONAIG REBUILT 107 
 
 building they could secure for service was a carpenter's 
 shop, which it is said they were obliged to leave ready 
 for carpenters' work on the Monday morning. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Robson was appointed to Pitlochrie, 
 A.D. 1856, and when able to do so held services at Kilma- 
 veonaig, but tired of waiting in the years preceding, many 
 persons had joined the other churches in the neighbour- 
 hood, and instead of being the principal church, it became 
 quite secondary in importance, and services were held so 
 irregularly that it was difficult to gather together any 
 congregation. The late Mr. M'Inroy, with others, re- 
 paired the Church between 1830 and 1840, and he built 
 the surrounding wall ; before that the wall on the north 
 side had extended further up the hill. 
 
 (Communicated by Miss M'Inroy, the Laird's sister). 
 
 The letter written by Mr. Robson to the Bishop, gives 
 some interesting details. I am sorry that only part of it 
 was given to me. 
 
 Pitlochrie, July 7th, 1856. 
 My Dear Lord, 
 
 Having now been a week in these parts, it is 
 time that I should acquaint you with my mission acts, 
 however scanty, during that time. I lost no time in 
 introducing myself to Mrs. Murray at Cluny Cottage, 
 where I met with a very hearty welcome. She and her 
 two daughters are very anxious to see a Mission es- 
 tablished here, as they feel so isolated, and although careful 
 to avoid personal remarks, they speak rather woefully of 
 the present condition of things at Blair. Of Miss Murray 
 I have seen very little, as she has been absent since Monday 
 last, but the younger daughter is most enthusiastic, and, 
 withal, a very sound and sensible Churchwoman, with 
 whom it is a satisfaction to meet. They, unfortunately, 
 had no longer at their disposal the room which was for- 
 merly mentioned to you, and the innkeeper, in whose
 
 108 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 hands it is now, has it let along with the house to which 
 it is attached, and it is now used as a part of a Lodging- 
 Housc. He would have given me a room in a new building 
 which he is adding to the Inn, but there are neither floors 
 nor windows in it as yet, but after searching about through 
 the village, I had almost despaired of finding any place 
 for service, but at last have got the use of a carperter's 
 shop. The owner is a member of the Free Church, who 
 had formerly lent Mr. Walker a room in his house for 
 service, and he was most ready and willing to give his 
 shop, and as Miss Murray happily remarked, " a carpenter's 
 shop was far from a bad omen as a beginning." We had 
 a space cleared out at one end and fitted up with some 
 rude benches and a few chairs, and yesterday we made 
 on the whole a very successful beginning. In the morning 
 we had a congregation of 14 adults and three children, 
 all members of the Church except one (my servant), and 
 all visitors, except Miss Susan Murray and her two 
 servants and one party of four staying at the Inn ; 
 another party of three ladies, Mrs. Forbes (wife of Professor 
 Forbes, Edinburgh) and three children, and a young 
 gentleman, unattached. I was pleasantly surprised at 
 the numbers, as the season is only beginning here, and I 
 was not aware that any of the present visitors were mem- 
 bers of the Church. They all joined very heartily in the 
 service, and in a Psalm which we sang. In the evening 
 a number of the villagers attended, and the congregation 
 amounted to 39, besides some children, who all behaved 
 very reverently. Eleven of these were Church people, and 
 the heartiness of their responses quite enlivened the 
 service. There is this advantage for the Evening Service 
 that the Parish Church is a mile off, and there is only a 
 mid-day service there. On the whole I consider this 
 commencement under the circumstances, most satis- 
 factory. I am unable to say what prospect of support 
 there would be from the neighbouring proprietors, who are
 
 KILMAVEONAIG REBUILT 109 
 
 supposed to be members of the Church, as they are all 
 absent just now. Captain Jack Murray, of Croft-in-loan, 
 is engaged upon a revenue situation, and has let his place 
 for a year to a Mr. Cowan, Edinburgh. Colonel Drum- 
 mond of the Guards has been in the Crimea." .... 
 
 The Church was consecrated in August, 1858, and 
 it is a matter of great thankfulness to see how Holy 
 Trinity Church has grown under the present Rector, 
 Canon Cooke, to such proportions, having a Roll of about 
 170 members. 
 
 During the period of the ten years' vacancy, those 
 interested in Kilmaveonaig (as is shown by the following 
 paper, in the possession of Mr. Robertson at the Union 
 Bank) met to arrange for the repair of the wall of the 
 churchyard (Nov. 1861) and some trees were cut down, a 
 committee being formed for the purpose. The following 
 paper gives the list of names and subscriptions : — 
 
 A Committee of those having right of burial in the 
 Kilmaveonaig Church Yard, consisting of the following 
 Gentlemen — 
 
 Messrs. Niel M'GIashan, Balintoul ; 
 Donald M'GIashan, Balrobie ; 
 Angus Stewart, Kincriaige ; 
 Duncan Stewart, Bridge of Fender ; 
 Charles M'GIashan, Bahntoul ; 
 Alex. Stewart, Bridge of Tilt ; 
 Robt. Robertson, Old Bridge of Tilt ; 
 
 met in the Bridge of Tilt Hotel, Nov. 1861, and it was 
 unanimously agreed upon that a Subscription List 
 should be opened among the Members having the right 
 of burial for the purpose of repairing its wall, which had 
 been found in a very dilapidated condition. At the 
 same time a motion had been proposed and carried 
 that several of the trees growing within that place of 
 interment should be removed and disposed of by public
 
 110 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 sale, the proceeds of which will be found in the list of 
 Subscribers, for the purpose of gaining more space, as 
 well as contributing much to its symmetry and effective 
 appearance. Accordingly a suitable mason (Mr. Donald 
 Seaton) was selected to reconstruct all the breaches in 
 the building, and carefully apply a coating of lime to such 
 portions of it as too evidently evinced the rapid progress 
 of decay. The sum expended on masonry amounted to 
 £4 10/- stg., and a handsome Iron Gate was fitted up, 
 the value of which along with other matters of expenditure 
 will be seen in the list of expenses. 
 
 SUBSCRIPTION LIST. 
 
 Neil M'Glashan, Balintoul, 
 Donald M'Glashan, Balrobie, 
 Angus Stewart, Kineraigie, 
 Duncan Stewart, Bridge of Fender, 
 Charles M'Glashan, Balintoul, 
 Alexander Stewart, Bridge of Tilt, 
 John Robertson, Baluainc, ... 
 Mrs. D. Robertson, Middlcbridge, .. 
 James Seaton, Airdqualiek, 
 Neil Forbes, Eidtean, 
 Donald M'Intyre, Strowan, 
 Robert Robertson, Old Bridge of Tilt 
 Peter Eraser, Glen Tilt, 
 Alexander Seaton, Bridge of Earn, 
 Mrs. Fisken, Perth, ... 
 Donald Seaton, Bridge of Tilt, 
 WiUiam Reid, Bridge of Tilt, 
 James Stewart, Strathgroy, 
 John Shaw, Marrach Dhu, ... 
 John Stewart, Clanmore, 
 Donald Menzies, Aldclune, 
 Alex. Stewart, Aldclune, 
 William Forbes, Aldclune, ... 
 
 . £0 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 c 
 
 C 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 i) 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 G 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 It, 
 
 G 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 . 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 6 
 
 6
 
 KILMAVEONAIG REBUILT 111 
 
 James Seaton, Aldgirnaig, ... 
 
 Donald Forbes, Invercroskie, 
 
 John Campbell, Dundee, 
 
 Robert Stewart, Aldandulach, 
 
 Donald Stewart, Kirkton of Lude, 
 
 Alexander Robertson, Seek, 
 
 John M'Lean, Tomnabrack, 
 
 Hector M' Lean, 
 
 James M'Inty re, 
 
 James Robertson, Calbruar, 
 
 Neil Stewart, Dalnaboa, 
 
 Archibald Seaton, 
 
 Alexander Stewart, Strathgroy, 
 
 Donald Forbes, Invervack, ... 
 
 J. & R. Menzies, Scone or Perth, ... 
 
 Mrs. Hill, Navie-dale, Sutherland, ... 
 
 John Robertson, Easangael, 
 
 Peter Stewart, Runmore, 
 
 Duncan Robertson, Bridge of Tilt, ... 
 
 Robert Robertson, Old Bridge of Tilt 
 (see before). 
 
 John Campbell, Bridge of Tilt, 
 
 James Seaton, Aldgirnaig, 
 
 Mrs. Anne Stewart, Dingwall, Ross- 
 shire, 046 
 
 July 31st, 1864— 
 
 James Cameron, Glentilt, Belfast, 
 
 Ireland, 5 
 
 £0 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 A.D. 1866. The appointment of the Rev. Henry 
 St. John Howard to the Church at Pitlochrie once more 
 gave the old Church a fresh start. 
 
 The following notes of the repairs and restoration 
 which Dr. Howard did between 1866 and 1874, are in 
 his own handwriting : —
 
 112 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 " When I was appointed to the Incumbency of Pit- 
 lochric in 1866 I found this Chapel at Kilmaveonaig in 
 a shocking state of neglect and internal unrepair — ^the 
 flooring had almost all rotted away, exposing the bare 
 earth ; the passage was flagged with large undressed 
 flags full of deep inequalities ; there was a descent of 
 several inches at the door from the Churchyard into the 
 Chapel ; the walls were mostly green with damp ; between 
 the two large windows there was a pulpit nearly as high 
 as the gallery, and in front of it a small table covered 
 with a moth-eaten piece of green baize, which was in- 
 tended for an Altar. 
 
 1866-1869. — I burnt the pulpit, placing a decent 
 Wooden Altar — raised on steps and on a foot pace — where 
 it had stood ; removed the narrow pews, refloored the 
 Chapel, took up the flag-stones and laid down tiles ; 
 placed chairs for seats. 
 
 1870. — Took away the old stairs which were built 
 against the outside for ascending into the gallery, and 
 substituted a wooden one, the former being a conductor 
 of damp ; repaired roofs and placed rain spouts. 
 
 1871. — Built a porch and coal-cellar ; erected a stove 
 in the former ; repaired the Vestry within and without. 
 
 1872, Easter. — The mice having eaten holes in the 
 covering of the Altar I had given in 1866, Mrs. Cunyng- 
 hame (Kindrochet) presented a handsome green cloth one 
 with red super-frontal and a green dossal with a worked 
 cross thereon. The flower vases were also her gift. 
 
 1873. — Small stove in Vestry in lieu of wide grate. 
 
 1874. — Brass Alms dish bought from Hardman & 
 Co., with a Baptismal fee of £2 from Mr. Wm. Atkinson." 
 
 A.D. 1870. The Church was in use for Divine Service, 
 and the following notice appeared in the " Scottish 
 Guardian," Oct. 1st : —
 
 KILMAVEONAIG REBUILT 113 
 
 " Blair Athole, Kilmaveonaig. At the Chapel here 
 in connection with Holy Trinity Church, 
 Pitlochrie, Sunday morning services have for 
 some weeks been conducted by the Rev. J. 
 Horner Hewlett, M.A., Oxon., curate of 
 S. Luke's, Chelsea." 
 
 At this time Mr. Howard had a small resident congre- 
 gation, the stationmaster, Mr. Dunn, was a member of 
 the Church, and had a small family. 
 
 The following note, dated 29th May, A.D., 1871, is 
 interesting : — 
 
 " Valuation of lands and heritages. The Episcopal 
 Chapel, Kilmaveonaig, the incumbent for the 
 time being in trust for the Bishop and Synod 
 of the united dioceses of S. Andrew's, Dunkeld, 
 and Dunblane." (Out of Blue Book, A.D. 1874). 
 
 A.D. 1883. In March, a violent storm blew down a 
 large ash tree, which fell on the belfry, and the bell was 
 removed by Mr. Howard to Pitlochrie, where it was put 
 up and tolled for the funeral of Dr. Anderson's wife. 
 Correspondence ensued between Mr. Eraser, the minister 
 of the Estabhshed Church, and Dr. Howard, which resulted 
 in the bell being restored to its own church. 
 
 The following weights and measurements seem to have 
 been taken at the time : — 2 x 2f x 3^, height top from 
 wood ; 4j St. weight and 13f in. in diameter across 
 mouth ; 14 J in. from the ground. 
 
 The inscription, "Wilham Glas M. of Little Dinkel, 
 1629." 
 
 On the 31st inst. a meeting of the persons interested 
 in the Church is on record, as taking place. 
 
 At a Meeting of the Committee, Subscribers, and 
 others interested in the Kilmaveonaig Burying-Ground, 
 
 H
 
 114 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 held in the Bridge of Tilt Hotel, Blair Athole, on Saturday, 
 the 31st March, 1883, at 7.30. 
 
 Present. 
 John Stewart, Clunemorc. 
 Charles M'GIashan, Balintoul. 
 Duncan Robertson, Bridge of Tilt. 
 Alexander Robertson, Miller, Pitlochry. 
 William Robertson, Carpenter, Aldclune. 
 John M'Intyrc, Settoch. 
 Peter Stewart, Garryside. 
 Duncan Stewart, Fender Bridge. 
 William M'GIashan, Balrobbie. 
 Robert Robertson, Shierglass. 
 James Robertson, Craigurrard, Pitlochry. 
 John Campbell, Strathgroy. 
 James Reid, New Bridge of Tilt. 
 Mr. John Stewart, Clunemore, was appointed Chairman. 
 
 Appointment of Committee. 
 
 The Meeting appointed all the above-named as a 
 Committee for the purpose of looking after the interests 
 of all parties having a right to the Burying-Ground, and 
 also to see that the Burying-Ground boundary wall 
 and approach thereto are put into proper order, and 
 thereafter kept in a neat and ornate condition under their 
 supervision. 
 
 Burying-Ground Dyke Walls. 
 
 The Chairman called the attention of the Meeting to 
 the dilapidated and ruinous state of parts of the wall, 
 and, after consideration of the matter, they unanimously 
 agreed to get the same restored and put into thorough 
 repair. Mr. Duncan Stewart, Fender Bridge, was en- 
 trusted with the work, with instructions to proceed 
 therewith as soon as the weather would permit. The 
 attention of the Meeting was also directed to a large
 
 ^he Rev. Henri) John S. Howard, LL.D., 
 
 Rector of Holy Trinity, Pitlochrie with Kilmaveonaig, A.D. 1866-1891.
 
 Christopher J. K. Bow stead, M.A., 
 
 Rector, A.D. 1891-1899. 
 Priest-in- Charge of Kihnaveovaig, A.D. 1899-1912. 
 Canon oi S. KiJ'uiyfs Cai]fiV\n], A.D IS 
 
 °iL 
 
 C^.^^^'vr^i^
 
 
 II
 
 KILMAVEONAIG REBUILT 115 
 
 ash tree which had been blown over by the wind, thereby 
 damaging the Belfry of the Church and a number of 
 tombstones. The Meeting resolve to restore the Belfry 
 and to have the tree removed and sold, to defray expenses. 
 
 Planting of Trees. 
 
 The Meeting took into consideration the advisability 
 of planting rows of trees round the Burying-Ground, 
 and after discussing the matter, they resolved that this 
 should be done. 
 
 Roadway to Burying-Ground. 
 
 The Meeting then proceeded to consider the present 
 state of the road to the Burying-Ground, which is very 
 much cut up, and in wet weather very muddy and dis- 
 agreeable for funeral parties who bury there. 
 
 This state of the road is principally caused by the 
 Tenant of the Farm of Bridge of Tilt continually carting 
 on the road and ploughing his land (which adjoins within 
 the statutory distance of the centre of the road) and 
 should he continue to do so in future, the Meeting think 
 it is only fair that he should keep the road leading to the 
 Burying-Ground in a good state of repair at his own ex- 
 pense. 
 
 The Meeting instructs the Clerk, Mr. James Robertson, 
 to make Mr. Stuart, the Tenant of the Farm of Bridge of 
 Tilt, acquainted of this. 
 
 Cleaning of Burying Ground. 
 
 The Meeting resolved also to get the Burying Ground 
 cleaned and put into a state more becoming the last 
 resting-place of the departed. 
 
 No. II. 
 
 At a Committee Meeting of the Subscribers and others 
 interested in the Kilmaveonaig Burying-Ground, held at 
 Bridge of Tilt, on the 19th Janr., 1884, at 7.30.
 
 IIG FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG. 
 
 Present. 
 
 John Stewart, Clunemore. 
 Wm. Robertson, Aldclunc. 
 Alex. Robertson, Pitlochry. 
 Robt. Robertson, Shierglass. 
 John Campbell, Strathgroy. 
 Duncan Stewart, Fender Bridge. 
 Peter Stewart, Garryside. 
 Dun. Robertson, Bridge of Tilt. 
 John M'Intyre, Settoch. 
 Jas. Reid, Bridge of Tilt. 
 Jas. Robertson, Pitlochry. 
 
 Mr. John Stewart, Clunemore, was appointed Chairman. 
 
 The Minutes of last Meeting were read and approved of. 
 
 Burying-Ground and Walls. 
 
 The Clerk reported that, as instructed at last meeting, 
 the Walls and Gate of the Burying- Ground had now been 
 put in a thorough state of repair, that the ash tree had 
 been cut and put up in lots and sold by public roup, and 
 realised £4 16s 4d. The Burying-Ground had also been 
 cleaned and rows of ornamental and other trees had 
 been planted round the wall, where considered necessary. 
 
 Roadway to Burying-Ground. 
 
 The Clerk reported that Mr. Stewart, the Tenant 
 of Bridge of Tilt, still continues to cart his farm produce, 
 etc., and drive his cattle on the road leading to the Burying 
 Ground, and that the road was still in a very muddy state 
 and very disagreeable for Funeral Parties going to the 
 Burying-Ground. The Clerk was instructed to communi- 
 cate with Mr. Stewart, with a view of getting him com- 
 pelled to keep the road in proper order, otherwise not to 
 use the same in connection with his Farm.
 
 KILMAVEONAIG REBUILT 117 
 
 Belfry of Church. 
 
 The Meeting then proceeded to consider whether they 
 should restore the Bell in the Belfry of the Church, or 
 whether they should hang it in a tree, and after full 
 consideration of the matter, they unanimously resolved 
 to rebuild the Belfry, as formerly, and hang the Bell 
 therein, and they instruct the Clerk to get in offers for 
 the work and proceed with it at once. 
 
 Clerk Accounts. 
 
 The Clerk laid before the Meeting a statement of his 
 Accounts, shewing a Balance due to him of 11/2, which 
 the Meeting found correct, and are to subscribe at a future 
 meeting. 
 
 The above is satisfactory proof that the lay members 
 of the Church took some care of the building when there 
 was no " Cure " to do his part. 
 
 A.D. 1891. In the Spring of the year. Dr. Howard 
 died, and having helped him for a few weeks in the 
 Summer of 1888 and 1889, the Vestry asked me to succeed 
 him as Rector, and early in June, 1891, I came to the 
 rectory. I had become much interested in the old Church 
 — where I took a morning service and Celebration of the 
 Holy Eucharist in 1889, when Miss Forbes kindly played 
 the harmonium, a service which gave me great pleasure, 
 little thinking that I should soon become Rector and in 
 a position to restore and beautify the ancient House of 
 God — and it was not long before I saw my way to go on 
 with the work begun and carried on at some self-sacrifice 
 and toil by my predecessor. The accompanying view, 
 produced from photographs taken by Miss Forbes, gives 
 an idea, but of course imperfect, of the interior. There 
 were three galleries, the North one joined to the East 
 and the West, that at the East being over the Vault 
 where the Robertsons had been buried ; the Altar was
 
 118 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 at the South side, between two windows, as seen in the 
 engraving. There were some pews of common wood, 
 which with some chairs faced different ways. A coat-of- 
 arms on the East gallery (now removed to the West) 
 had the motto — somewhat full of omen as to trouble that 
 arose in 1898 about disturbed bones — " Dinna wauken 
 sleepin' dogs." The Vestry, entered by a door under the 
 North gallery, with a coal cellar in the corner, was damp 
 and dungeon like. An old motto, " Mens sana in corpore 
 sano " suggested a New Vestry. I was very fortunate 
 in having kind helpers in the tenants at Ludc. Mr. Low 
 was tenant in 1891-2, and Mrs. Low gave me a subscription, 
 which she continued for a time after she left. Mr. 
 Anthony Gibbs, of Tyntesfield, came the next year, 
 and he gave me the generous donation of £50. With 
 this 1 soon raised about £130, pulled down the North 
 gallery, and entirely rebuilt the Vestry and put in stone 
 mullions into the centre one of the three South windows, 
 as shewn in the small photograph. I had the great 
 help of the Rev. Edward Sugden, Rector of Coupar- 
 Angus, who trained as an architect before he took Holy 
 Orders ; the men that worked under him testified to his 
 accuracy and good judgment in all that he did, and to 
 him I feel that much of the interior dignity and good taste 
 of the Church is due. After this I kept in view a fuller 
 restoration. Mr. Sudgen said a new roof would soon be 
 necessary. I printed a short appeal for funds, and sent a 
 copy to the families mentioned on the tablets and to others, 
 whom I hoped would favour the good work, and I received 
 many subscriptions, often with affectionate remembrance 
 of services in the Church in days gone by. I also banked 
 the surplus of the alms at the extra summer service at 
 10 o'clock. In A.D. 1898 I felt I could undertake the 
 desired work. (I hope before the Summer is over to be 
 able to print a list of the sums given). Suffice it now to 
 say that on July 28, 1 898 (the day after the Anniversary
 
 c/i 

 
 CO 
 
 e . 
 
 ^ o 

 
 KILMAVEONAIG REBUILT 119 
 
 of the Battle of Killiecrankie) the Church was ready to be 
 redcdicated. The work of restoration consisted in the 
 Church being new roofed and new slated, the harling 
 removed from the walls and the stones repointed ; stone 
 muUions put in the other two South windows (the old 
 windows consisting merely of panes of common glass). 
 Inside, the plaster ceiling was replaced by an arched 
 wooden roof, and the East gallery was taken down and 
 a Sanctuary, raised 2 ft. C ins., took its place ; a new 
 wooden floor being laid and seated with chairs. The 
 West gallery was left partly to retain somewhat of the 
 old work, and also to provide about 25 more seats (see 
 view of West End). The wood of the East gallery was 
 used to form a " Lude Seat " at the West End for the 
 Laird and his family. As a Congregation we are deeply 
 indebted to the Laird and Mrs. M'Inroy who gave their 
 consent to the East Gallery being taken down, under which 
 the Robertsons mentioned in the Tablet had been buried ; 
 and many of the old residents have said, " Eh, but ye have 
 made it a bonnie place," and Presbyterians, as well as 
 Church visitors have admired the devotional aspect of the 
 interior. I here briefly allude to trouble that occurred 
 through a mistake about some bones, Avhich came to light 
 in the re-flooring of the building ; these bones were 
 supposed to have been taken out of the Vault under the 
 East Gallery which I had promised not to disturb. I 
 was reported in the Dundee Advertiser as having " dese- 
 crated the Church and the graves." Happily the work- 
 men employed by Messrs. Leith & Lumsden gave an 
 undertaking that the Vault had not been disturbed, 
 the bones having been found near the surface towards the 
 West end. On my supplying the Laird with this written 
 declaration he was able to appease the other — at first 
 wrathful — Heritors, as well as some members of the Clan 
 Donnachie Society. Truly, the motto on the gallery, 
 " Dinna wauken sleepin' dogs " is sage advice, and I shall
 
 120 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 always gratefully remember the goodwill of the Laird 
 in the matter, and his eourtesy and willingness to meet 
 my wishes with regard to the Auld Kirk, whose restora- 
 tion has been to me a labour of love. 
 
 The Church was rc-opened on Thursday, July 28, 
 by the Bishop of the Dioeese (Bishop Wilkinson, after- 
 wards Primus), who celebrated the Holy Eucharist at 
 8 a.m., and at 11.30 a.m., the Clergy, duly vested, who 
 had come for the occasion, preceded the Bishop and his 
 Chaplain, the Rev. A. E. Davies, up the road leading 
 to the Church, singing hymn 215, " The Church's One 
 Foundation." The Clergy present were the Revs. Canon 
 Hunter, Edward Sugden, Charles E. Cooke, G. E. W. 
 Holmes, John Harrison, G. D. Philip, John Ste\'enson, 
 Francis Burdon, and E. J. S. Tcviotdale (Dundee), E. A. 
 Ommanney (Southsea), and the Priest-in-Charge. We 
 entered the Church chanting Ps. xxi\'. The service 
 appointed for use at the restoration of a Church was 
 used, the hymn 397 for the Restoration of a Church being 
 sung. The Bishop gave an impressive address on Rev. 
 iv. : "I looked and lo ! a door opened in Heaven." 
 Before the end of the service the Bishop committed the 
 restored House of God to my care. With the singing of 
 the " Te Deum " and hymn (A. & M.) 379 we ended the 
 service in praise to God for His many mercies. A large 
 congregation filled the Church, among whom were the 
 Laird and Mrs. M'Inroy, their family, and many friends 
 from Pitloehrie. Our festal morning ended with a 
 gathering of the Clergy and friends at the Tilt Hotel. 
 
 The sum of about £100, which was required to clear 
 the Church of debt was nearly realised by a Sale of Work 
 (in my new house, finished but not furnished) the week 
 after the Re-dedication. Four rooms were filled with 
 Guernsey Cans, Worcester China, and the many gifts 
 sent for sale by kind friends. Miss Forbes, Miss More- 
 head, Miss Tuttiett, Miss Brook, Miss Nevill (and other
 
 me Door of the New Porch, A.D. 1899, 
 
 with the Laird's Place of Burial in the background.
 
 
 
 -to 
 
 CO 
 
 to 

 
 KILMAVEONAIG REBUILT 121 
 
 visitors) presided in the rooms assigned to them, and the 
 sum of £90 in two days was the happy result. 
 
 The following gifts were dedicated by the Bishop at 
 the beginning of the service : — The Altar of Oak, in 
 memory of a beloved sister whose body was laid to rest in 
 Holy Trinity Churchyard, Pitlochrie, October 17, 1894 ; 
 a Silver Paten and ChaUce of a 14th century pattern, 
 given by Miss Morehead, who afterwards enriched the 
 Chalice with some topaz and cairngorm stones. The 
 Vessels were the work of Miss Meta Napier-Brown, of 
 Edinburgh, who also carved the Re-table. The next year 
 the Porch, designed by Mr. Sugden, was added at the cost 
 of £150, to make room for a Font. Over the Porch is 
 an inscription in the stone, as follows : "To the Glory 
 of God, Kilmaveonaig Restored, 1899,— G.H.W. Bh., 
 C.I.K.B." In A.D. 1900, a beautiful Font of Purbeck 
 Marble, a reduced copy of one in Galway Parish Church, 
 with old Celtic carving, was given by Miss Molyneux. 
 The following year a Lichgate was put up at a cost of 
 £85, partly given by those who had laid loved ones to 
 rest in the Churchyard. The great gale of Nov. 17, 
 1893, had broken off a large branch of the tree close 
 by, and this had injured the iron gate which I bought 
 and put up at my house. In the course of the next 
 few years an Oak Lectern was given by Mrs. Inglis, two 
 Banners by Miss Morehead, also a Litany Desk by the 
 sons and daughters of Mrs. Evans, who died at the Bridge 
 of Tilt, where she had spent her honeymoon. The 
 Brass Altar Cross was given by Mr. Baxter and other 
 visitors at the Tilt Hotel, and the Altar Lights by Rev. C. 
 L. Broun ; when the Reredos was put up, these, with the 
 consent of the principal donors, were sent to Chanda. 
 A beautiful Stained-Glass Window (not ready for dedi- 
 cation, 1898) by Clayton Bell, was given by Miss Tuttiett, 
 in memory of her father, who resided in Pitlochrie after 
 he resigned the charge of S. Andrews. The three Lights
 
 122 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 contain figures of S. Ninian, S. Columba, and Queen 
 Margaret. 
 
 A new Sanctuary Floor was laid of oak to replace 
 the one of common wood, and on it was placed an Altar- 
 base made of Cyj^rus with three Crosses of Ebony and 
 Rosewood inlaid. An Aumbry was also placed on the 
 south side of the Sanctuary (taking the place of a stone 
 slab removed to the north side near the Robertson Tablet) . 
 The Aumbry was given by Miss M. Anderson in memory 
 of her nephew. On a Memorial Brass are these words : 
 " Beati Mundi Corde In piam Memoriam Findlay T. M. 
 Anderson, at Rest Sept. 12, 1903, aetat 17. "With 
 Me in Paradise." Miss Anderson also gave New Oak 
 Altar-rails. The Diocesan Guild gave us two Prayer 
 Desks, Mr. and Mrs. Richardson, a Credence Table ; 
 and Miss Nevill (now gone to her rest), a Sanctuary Chair. 
 We also received the following gifts of Needlework : — 
 A beautiful green Stole, worked by Mrs. Presslie-Smith, 
 the first wife of the Dean of Argyll and the Isles, also 
 gifts from Miss K. Campbell, Miss Wilkie, and Miss 
 Wilkinson. 
 
 A.D. 1906. — It was decided to enlarge the Vestry 
 so as to enable the gallery to be entered from it by a 
 staircase (the iron spiral one in the Church being very 
 inconvenient). The work — including a small Priest's 
 chamber, useful for quiet reading or sleeping — cost 
 nearly £100. A donation of £15 from Mr. and Mrs. 
 Penton of Goring, and the proceeds of two or three Sales 
 got up by Miss Morehead, Miss Barbara Peddie, and other 
 kind helpers, gradually reduced the debt, and one of the 
 last items was given by Mrs. Farquhar, who gave the 
 proceeds of one of her attractive entertainments, where 
 the kind fairies helped a " Poor Highland Shepherd " 
 in his need. 
 
 A.D. 1908. A generous donor gave the three 
 Altar Panels (the Agnus Dei in the centre, and Angels
 
 ^tie Oi'atoj'g in Dail-ant-Sagairt, 
 
 With the Paten and Chalice belonging to the Church, and the_Meinorial 
 Cross to Dr. Howard oil the right side.
 
 KILMAVEONAIG REBUILT 128 
 
 in the two side Panels). The work was well executed 
 by Messrs. Bridgeman of Lichfield, who also made the 
 small Pulpit which fills the North corner, close by the 
 Memorial Cross, and is a decided improvement. The 
 Processional Cross was made in Ober-Ammergau, and 
 was subscribed for by a few friends who desired that there 
 should be some memorial to Dr. Howard, to whose care 
 and diligence we owe the House of God, rescued from the 
 unrepair in which he found it. The beautiful hymn 
 (397) we sign every anniversary, well voices our praise 
 for the Repair that has been continued since 1866 ; 
 
 When the years had wrought the changes, 
 
 He, our own unchanging God, 
 Thought on this, His habitation, 
 
 Looked on His decayed Abode, 
 
 and the last verse lifts our hearts in holy aspiration to 
 our God who is building us — if our wills respond to His — 
 " as living stones " into one Holy Temple acceptable 
 for Him to dwell in. 
 
 Threefold Power of Grace and Wisdom 
 
 Moulding out of sinful clay. 
 Living stones for that true Temple 
 
 Which shall never know decay. 
 
 The Bishop (the successor of Bishop Wilkinson, 
 Primus in 1907) dedicated these gifts, and preached in 
 the new Pulpit at Evensong on our Patronal Festival 
 (Sept. 23). Before the service we had a Recital of Sacred 
 Music really beautifully rendered by some kind friends 
 and visitors. 
 
 Then A.D. 1912, on the Thursday in Whitsun Week 
 (May 30), the Bishop again came to dedicate the crown 
 of our efforts — the beautiful Reredos and the Oak PanelHng 
 of the Sanctuary. This had often been in my mind as
 
 124 FACTS & FANCIES ABOUT KILMAVEONAIG 
 
 desirable, partly because the colour wash on the walls 
 needed to be done again and again, and the fund had 
 reached about £20, when Miss Hamilton Beattie, who 
 had come as an invalid visitor, died and left us £50 in 
 her will, A.D. 1910 ; this seemed to make the Reredos 
 possible, and while I was in charge of S. Adrian's, Gullane, 
 I met Mr. Robert Lorimer (since then knighted), who 
 very kindly gave me the benefit of his valuable advice, 
 the result being the Sanctuary as seen in the photograph. 
 The Crucifix was ordered from Ober-Ammergau. On 
 either side of it we see an angel holding a cup (the artists' 
 design as I have been told being to receive the drops 
 of precious Blood) ; at either end is an Angel ^vith a 
 Trumpet, and near the base of the Reredos are the words, 
 " Ecce Homo," " Ecce Rex," the third " Ecce Agnus 
 Dei " being in the Altar Panel. Looking down upon 
 this is the representation of our Lord enthroned in Glory. 
 The whole of the work, except the Crucifix, is of oak, 
 done under Sir Robert Lorimer's direction in Edinburgh. 
 This description will give our readers some idea of what 
 has been done to beautify God's Sanctuary and the 
 Mercy Seat, over which the King communes with His 
 People. The Bishop based his address on Ps. Ixxii. 
 " The Mountains shall bring Peace," and helpfully linked 
 the mountains round us and those at Ober-Ammergau 
 with that of Calvary. Since the dedication, two Olive 
 Wood Candlesticks, carved in Jerusalem, which I gave the 
 order for when in Jerusalem in the Easter of last year, 
 have been placed at each end of the re-table, suggestive 
 both of Christ as the Light of the World and also as sending 
 The Holy Spirit, by Whose Anointing we know all things. 
 And now our journey together to the Holy Mount 
 and back is ended. We have traversed Highways, 
 Byeways, and Waterways. We have learnt much — 
 at least I have — and I have not failed in my purpose if I 
 have interested you with some Facts and Fancies, even
 
 KILMAVEONAIG REBUILT 126 
 
 though you may dispute some Facts, and cast some of 
 the Fancies into the waste-paper basket, reserved for 
 things not to be kept. The patches of Hterary merit 
 that I have taken out of various books will, I hope, be 
 welcome, in spite of my clumsy piecing together, and I 
 shall feel rewarded if our " Unique " Church has made 
 clear some points in those troublous times, which now 
 may bring us together, and shew us in Catholic Order and 
 Protestantism (as represented in the Presbyterian form of 
 government), what there is, which can and therefore, 
 ought, to be truly builded together to make the one 
 Holy Temple of the Lord, in which He will dwell for 
 evermore. 
 
 I would add that where I have dealt with points of 
 difference, I have only expressed my own personal 
 conviction, and that only, so far as I hoped to make clear 
 my position in Scotland as a Catholic protesting against, 
 as I believe, Roman non-Catholic errors. 
 
 I wish to end with three terse sayings in Latin (be- 
 lieving that Scotland likes to keep a link with the tongue 
 of the learned in the olden times) which seem to exhort 
 us when aiming at any goal in life's journey : — 
 
 To find guidance in each step taken. 
 
 To learn the paradox of hastening slowly — and so To 
 pluck the fruit of each day^s journey. — 
 
 SoLViTUR Ambulando — Festina Lente — Carpe Diem. 
 
 FINIS,
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 1. The Church and Churchyard, A.D. 1899, \vith Old I"ir Tree 
 
 near the gate, perhaps jilanted A.D. 1794. 
 
 2. The Altar Vessels. 
 
 At the back the Paten and two Cups, the one on the right 
 (facing yon) pewter, more than 100 years old ; the 
 other apparently bought to match, probably A.D. 
 1794. 
 
 Also a Flagon, an Alms Dish, and a Watcr-Crnct of the 
 same metal as the newer Cup. In front of these 
 are the Silver Paten and Chalice, given by Mrs. 
 Morehead, A.D. 1898. 
 
 3. South West View of the Church, with the Porch added 
 
 A.D. 1899. In tlie back ground are seen the graves 
 of Mr. M'Inroy (who purchased Lude, .\.D. 1820) and his 
 descendants. 
 
 4. The Font, of Purbock Marlilo, witli old Celtic Carving, a reduced 
 
 copy of that in the Parish Cliurch, Galwaj- — given bj' 
 Mrs. Alolyneux, A.D. 1900 ; the cover, added the next year, 
 is of oak, surmounted bj- a Cross resting on the orli. This 
 is known to us as part of the Regalia presented to the 
 Sovereign, with the words, " Receive the orb with the 
 Cross set upon it in token that the whole world is subject 
 to the Empire of the Redeemer." 
 
 5. The East End, panelled with oak ; the Crucifix in the centre 
 
 being carved at Oberammergau (see note in letterpress). 
 On the North is the large Stone Slab referred to in 
 Chap. vi. The large Cross by the pulpit was carved at 
 Oberammergau and placed as a memorial to Dr. Howard. 
 On the South of the Sanctuary is the Aumbry, given by 
 Miss May Anderson, in memory of her nephew, FindJay 
 Anderson. 
 
 fi. View of the Church and Lichgate, 1902. 
 
 7. Dail-ant-Sagairt, built A.D. 190fi. The Oratory, which is 
 seen on the left, was brought from my lir.sl house In my 
 present one, A.D. 190fi,
 
 me Church and Chiirchi;ard, A.D. 1899.
 
 CO
 
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