Welcome to Our Past History
This website contains a comprehensive guide to responsible Metal Detecting in England and Wales as well as some history and archaeology from England, Scotland and Wales.
The Portable Antiquities Scheme funding is at risk - see here for more information and to see how you can help
This web site is archived by the UK Web Archiving Consortium, consisting of the British Library, The National Library of Wales, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru, JISC, The National Archive, The National Library of Scotland and The Wellcome Trust at:
http://www.webarchive.org.uk/index.html
Metal Detecting
I’ve only been detecting for a couple of years or so, but before that, when I was looking into the pro’s and con’s of taking up this hobby, I found it very hard to find any comprehensive information online on detecting in the UK – especially for beginners like me!
I had joined various detecting forums but the advice given to beginners was diverse and confusing. There are also lots of enthusiast’s websites, but mainly from the USA and these were not really relevant to the detecting situation in this country. I also spent a bit of time going to various detecting rallies to really see if this was really what I wanted to do and what type of people these detectorists really were.
It was at two of these rallies that I bumped into staff of the Portable Antiquities Scheme – who were there recording finds made on the day. I decided to build a website for people like myself who wanted to detect, but wanted to have the knowledge to be able to do it in a responsible way by recording finds with the Portable Antiquities Scheme, detecting in a way that did not cause any damage to underlying archaeology below the plough soil and recording an accurate findspot using GPS.
Once I had taken the plunge and bought a detector, I joined a local detecting club in Colchester which gave me access to various “club sites” to detect on and also membership of the National Council for Metal Detecting which provided me with insurance cover.
On one of these "club sites" I bumped into a gentle giant of a man detecting alone by the name of Terry who was a massive help to me as a beginner. From then onwards Terry and I have detected together most Sundays – normally on one farm in Essex where we have thoroughly enjoyed discovering more about the history of the area and sharing this information with the landowner – and the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
The majority of our finds are returned to the landowner after recording, as he is very interested in the history of his land.
We both record all of our finds with the Portable Antiquities Scheme – even the grotty bits – as they all help us to understand and build a picture of the history of the area we detect in. This includes finds made by eye only too – such as pieces of worked flint, pottery etc.
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Tags: balmerino, battlefields, bibliography, caesar, cantiaci, cathedral, church, corinne, da vinci, detectorists, dvrobrivae, england, metal detecting, metal detecting club, metal detecting rallies, metal detector
Balmerino - Postcards of the area
One hundred years ago collecting postcards was a widespread and popular pursuit. Postcards were collected by all walks of people, young and old, men and women, and it was commonplace and indeed fashionable among the middle classes to have an album of these mementoes.
Many a card bore the message 'here is another one for your collection' or 'I was very pleased with the last card you sent me as I did not have it'. Postcard collecting was the hobby everyone could afford and enjoy.
Today these postcards offer a window into the social history of the time and to what changes have taken place in local areas.
The following pages show you some old postcards from Balmerino and the surrounding area.
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Balmerino Postcards
At Balmerino
Chestnut Tree Balmerino Abbey
Kirkton, Balmerino
Kirkton from East, Balmerino
Balmerino
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Scottish Abbeys Churches and Monastic sites
History of Balmerino Abbey
Lindores Abbey
The Italian Chapel Orkney
Glasgow Cathedral
Paisley Abbey
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Fife’s Grand Old Cleric – The Story of a varied career
(adapted from an article in the People’s Journal on March 28 th 1914)
Beloved as the faithful pastor of a rural parish for over forty years, famed as an army chaplain who underwent dire privations in the dark days of the Crimean War, respected as an author of no means standard, and noted as an authority on Church history, there were few more interesting men in Fife in 1914 than the Rev. James Campbell, D.D., Seacraig, Newport, who was waited upon by a deputation from the Cupar presbytery and presented with a congratulatory address on the occasion of his attaining the sixtieth year of his ministry in the Church of Scotland.
The life of this veteran cleric was indeed an interesting and varied one. A native of Perthshire, Mr Campbell was a student at St. Andrews University, where he graduated M.A. in 1847. After being licensed as a probationer he took up duty as assistant to Dr. Adie in Dundee Parish Church. After two years of untiring labour in Dundee he was in March 1854 ordained chaplain to the Highland Brigade. The Brigade was then under orders to proceed to the Crimea, and only a few weeks after his appointment, the young chaplain sailed from Southampton to take up his trying post in the gloomy Crimea.
Through the Crimea
Dr. Campbell with the modesty of all really great spirits, was always reluctant to say much of the many exciting experiences which were his during the progress of the Crimean campaign. In 1880, however he was persuaded by the Editor of “Life and Work” to contribute to the sailors and soldiers supplement of that magazine a series of articles descriptive of the fortunes of the Highland Brigade from the time when, under the command of Sir Colin Campbell, they sailed up the Mediterranean and landed at Scutari. There are those who extol short religious services at all times, but in his early days in the Crimea, Dr Campbell had no choice in the matter. Brevity was the necessity, for the heat was so great that it caused much sickness amongst the soldiers, and the services, which were conducted in the open air, were consequently often very short indeed.
Describing the inspiring and impressive services which it was his lot to conduct, Dr Campbell says :- “When the weather was fine those assemblages presented a picturesque and interesting sight. The troops as they arrive at the place appointed are formed in a hollow square. The officiating chaplain takes up a position within, and close to one of the sides of the square, where he can best be heard according to the direction of the wind. Before him a regimental drum stands on its end, covered by a military flag. This serves as his pulpit or bookstand. Sir Colin Campbell and his staff stand nearby. To the centre of the square is a choir of singers, along with several members of the regimental band, having their musical instruments – at that time an innovation in Presbyterian worship.
Writing to the Soldier’s Relatives
Naturally, however, conducting services was but a small part of the duties which devolved upon the young chaplain. “No small part of our work” he said, “consisted of correspondence with soldier’s friends at home. Sick and dying men frequently asked me to write to their relatives; and I had the melancholy duty of conveying to them to last wishes of a husband, brother or son, whom they were never to see in the old home. Many and touching were the letters I received in reply”
On his return to Scotland at the end of the campaign, Mr Campbell became assistant in St Georges, Edinburgh. His stay here, however was short, for in 1857 the lovely rural parish of Balmerino, situated on the southern estuary of the Tay, became vacant and to this charge he was presented by the Crown. Mr Campbell found outlet for his untiring energy by devoting himself to antiquarian research, the ruins of Balmerino Abbey furnishing him with ample opportunities for such work, Nor were the results of his research long kept from the world at large, for in 1867 “Balmerino and its Abbey” was published, and in this work Mr Campbell graphically described the history fo the Abbey from its foundation in 1229. On Church history too, he came to be a recognised authority, and contributed a valuable volume of the “History of the Celtic Church” to, “The Church of Scotland, Past and Present” published in the early 1990’s under the editorship of Principal Storey
A Faithful Pastor
Perhaps it is as a faithful and devoted minister to the Balmerino flock that Dr. Campbell – the degree of D.D. was conferred upon him by St. Andrews University in 1876, is best remembered and loved in Fife. He was a kindly pastor, and under his ministry the church and parish made marked progress. The beauty and comfort of the church, and the existence of the church hall, were due to his energy, and in all the varied work of the rural parish minister he did good service during his long ministry.
In 1904 he retired from active work, having completed fifty years as a minister of the Church of Scotland and forty-seven years as minister of Balmerino.
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Medieval Architects in Scotland - Introduction
An important change in outlook on medieval architecture has become apparent in the last few decades, due partly to the influx of continental scholars but mostly to the study of documents to put the subject on an adequate historical footing. We now know much more about the medieval building industry and about the master masons - the men responsible for the buildings that have come down to us. In England as long ago as 1762-71 Horace Walpole , in his "Anecdotes of Painting" made some attempt to identify individual artists; he was followed by others, and in the 20th century great advances were made, culmination in the important works by Harvey and Salmon.
The general lack of study of Scottish Architecture is chiefly no doubt due to the lack of documents. Very few have survived comparable to those found in England. However despite this nearly two hundred masons and carpenters who worked in Scotland before C 1550 are known by name. The majority have no remaining work associated with tem , but this is a large enough number to deserve careful study.
Too much emphasis has been sometimes placed on mere names. To know the name of the master mason of a building is interesting but not very illuminating unless his name can be linked with some other building, or something discovered of his personality which is almost always impossible.
In Scotland too, quite early interest was taken in this subject. JS Robertson seems to have been the first in the field with his two papers published in 1851, but these made little useful contribution, and did not even seem to arouse any interest. Towards the end of the 19th century , Mylnes valuable work and P MacGregors Chalmers interesting attempt to identify the work of John Morrow both appeared. The latter is interesting in that it shows complete acceptance of the architectural function of the master mason. McGibbon and Ross were less sure of this , but devoted some space to the subject.
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A History of Balmerino Abbey - preface
The following attempt to elucidate the history of the Parish and Abbey of Balmerino had its origins in a Lecture on that subject which the Author delivered in the parochial School-House in the year 1863, embodying the result of enquiries which he had been making for some time previously. Having promised to comply with a desire expressed by many, that the lecture should be printed, he proceeded to make further researches, with the view, merely, of rendering it more complete before committing to the press. But so many new materials were thus eventually collected, that he resolved to alter this plan, and prepare a systematic work. This course seemed the more appropriate from the circumstance, that the ample materials available for the illustration of the history bit of the Abbey and Parish, contained in the Abbey Chartalary, and in the records of the Kirk-Session, Presbytery, and Synod, had not previously been turned to account in that way.
The Author’s aim has accordingly been to construct a work which should embrace whatever information of any interest he could gather concerning the Parish, from the earliest times of which any memorials exist down to a recent period, with such illustrative documents appended to it as could be contained within reasonable limits. With what success this design has been executed he must leave the reader to decide. He may state, however, that he has left unexplored no likely source of information which was accessible to him. He regrets that the difficulty of prosecuting such inquiries has so much retarded the completion of the work; but he ventures to hope that’s its greater comprehensiveness, as now issued, will be regarding as compensating for the delay which has occurred.
It is well known that, by publication, in recent years, of the registers and Chartularies of the ancient Scottish Bishoprics and Religious Houses, and of a great variety of Diaries, Family Documents, and National Records, many new materials have been provided for the illustration of the local, as well as of the general history of the country. These sources of information- from which there are few parishes whose history might not receive illustration – were generally not accessible to the Authors of Statistical Accounts of Scotland. From this circumstance, as well as from the necessary restriction of their limits, these works, though valuable for the views which they present of the state of the several parishes at the periods of their publication, are, in most cases, very deficient in historical and distinct from statistical information. The time appears therefore to have come for the preparation of Parochial Histories, properly so called. The multiplication of such works would be attended with several advantages: intelligent interest in particular localities would be promoted amongst their inhabitants: the student of Scottish history would be enabled to form distinct conceptions of great national movements by observing their effects within the limited area of the district with which he may be most familiar: and the general history of the country – more especially in reference to social progress – would profit by the light thus made to converge upon it from many different quarters.
It is almost unnecessary to say that in trasversing the extensive period of time, and in dealing with the considerable variety of subjects, which this book embraces, the Author has freely availed himself of the labours of previous explorers in the same fields; and he believes that no apology will be required for the insertion, on a work of this kind, of so many extracts from old Authors and Records, whose quaint and racy language is so much more interesting than would be any mere paraphrase or abridgement of it.
It is necessary to explain that the title of Part III. Was chosen with reference to the prevailing character of its contents. The other matters than those strictly corresponding with the title have been occasionally introduced in that portion of the work, is due partly to the circumstance of their being found in the Records from which the notives of the ministers and ecclesiastical affairs of the Parish are drawn, and partly to the difficulty of arranging them in a separate section. It is necessary to state that the engraving of the Common Seal of the Abbey, which is inserted on this page (click here) is considerably reduced in size, the original being about two inches and three quarters in length, and one inch and three quarters in breadth.
A brief account of the Abbey Chartulary, the substance of which is incorporated into the following pages, may not be out of place here. The existing MS, which is preserved in the Advocate’s Library is a small octave volume of twenty-six and a half leaves of parchment, containing sixty-nine documents in the Latin language. The writing is beautifully executed in the Old-English character, and probably belongs to the latter half of the fourteenth century. The Colophon, which is twice repeated on the fly-leaves on the volume, and is executed in a hand-writing evidently more recent that the body of the MS, is as follows:- Liber Sancte Marie de Balmorinach. Qui eum alienaverit sit ipse alienatus a regno Dei. Scriptum est how per fratrem Laurencium predicti loci. Anno Domino M CCCC sexto X. Amen. The Chartulary was printed in 1841 for the Abbotsford Club, the “Book of Lindores” being included in the same volume. The Editor, the last Mr W.B.D.D.Turnball, has appended to the Balmerino Chartulary twelve documents referring to the Abbey, collected from other quarters. The contents of the Chartulary relate almost exclusively to the endowments and privileges of the Monastery, and throw little light on its internal economy. The Chartulary is evidently incomplete even in respect of the period, and the kind of transactions which it embraces, while its most recent date appears to be not later than the middle of the fourteenth century. The Editor in his introduction, has succeeded in making out a copious, though incomplete, list of the Regular Abbots and Commendators, to which several additions have been made in the present volume. It is to be regretted, however, that Mr Turnbull’s pages are disfigured by his intense Romish bigotry, and hatred of the Scottish Deformation, as he styles the great ecclesiastical Revolution of the sixteenth century, and which he characterises as “one of the most atrocious events recorded in the history of the last thousand years.”
The Author desires, in conclusion, to return his best thanks to many gentlemen who have kindly advised him in his inquiries. He has mentioned several of these elsewhere,* and will therefore not repeat their names here. Amongst others to whom he has been indebted, he may be permitted to record his special obligations to the late lamented Dr Joseph Robertson of the General Register House, Dr David Laing of the Signet Library, and Samuel Halket, Esq., of the Advocates’ Library, for their valuable counsel and assistance in his researches amongst the Collections under their charge; to Professor Lorimer, Lyon Clark, for heraldic information regarding many of the landed proprietors of the Parish; to Robert Dickson Esq, Surgeon, Carnoustie, who has not only furnished the Author with much information regarding the lands of Barry Parish – once the property of the Abbey – but has generously presented him with the requisite number of fac-similes of the Monk’s Signatures executed by himself in Photo-Lithography, from a charter in his possession; and to Mr Frederick Johnston, M.A., a parishioner, whose pencil has supplied the spirited sketch of the Abbey Ruins, which has been engraved as the Frontispiece to this volume.
BALMERINO MANSE;
20th November, 1867
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PART 1 - CHAPTER I - PRE-HISTORIC PERIOD
The Globe are but a handful to the tribes
That slumber in its bosom”
BRYANT
In attempting to trace the history of “OUR PARISH” from the earliest times of which there exist any memorials, we are at the outset met by the questions, Who were its primitive inhabitants, and what can be learned regarding them? In order to give some intelligible answer to these questions it will be necessary to view the Parish in conjunction with the surrounding district and the country at large.
Proceeding all written records of Scotland, there is an unwritten, but, as far as it goes, perfectly trustworthy history, which is now attracting much attention. Materials for this history, strange to say, have been found chiefly underground. The ancient warrior had his weapons and personal ornaments buried beside him, as if for use in another world; and to this custom we owe much of our information regarding the earliest inhabitants of Scotland. Thus from grave-mounds and stone-cairns, and also from peat-bogs, drained marshes and lakes, and remains of ancient dwellings, numerous relics have been obtained which give us interesting glimpses of a race, or races, who peopled these islands many ages before the Christian era. Archaeologists have divided this unwritten history into three periods, and these they have named from the materials of which were formed the implements used by the people. The oldest depositaries contain only weapons made of flint, horn, and bone, proving that the use of metal was then unknown; having been; doubtless, lost, as we know many other arts were lost, in the migration of previous ages. This is called the STONE PERIOD. Afterwards, when the art of working in metals was introduced, a compound of copper and tin was that first employed, and the oldest metallic implements which have been found are of this material, which gives its name to the BRONZE PERIOD. The introduction of iron followed, and then commenced what is called the IRON PERIOD. Each of these periods must have been of great length – how great there are not as yet sufficient materials for determining *
In the earliest ages burial was practised by depostiting the body in a cist, or coffin, made of detached slabs of unhewn stone. Cists were of two kinds – the full-sized, and the short cist. In the latter the body was placed in a sitting position, with the knees drawn up to the breast. The weapons placed beside the deceased were arrowheads, knives, celts or battle-axes, hatchets, and wedges, all made of flint. A huge mound of earth was then heaped over the body. This is called a barrow, which may be described as a gigantic grave-mound. Sometimes an immense cairn of stones was raised over the cist. A third form of sepulchre was the cromlech, consisting of a large table or block of stone resting on three or four unhewn columns, within which the body was deposited. The cromlech, like the cist, had sometimes a barrow raised over it, and both were occasionally surrounded with those circles of “standing stones” which are commonly called Druidical temples, though only some of them appear to have been used in connection with religious rites. Such monuments were, apparently, reserved for persons of distinction.
At a later period, and probably contemporaneous with the introduction of bronze, was commenced the practise of burning the bodies of the dead, though not to the exclusion of former methods of internment. The ashes were now deposited in the cist, after having been collected into an urn made of stone or clay. During this period the huge barrows, cairns and cromlechs were generally abandoned. The weapons were now chiefly of bronze, though flint was still used; and the warrior’s sword was broken and laid beside him in his grave.
When the use of iron was subsequently introduced – perhaps by the Celtic race, whose smiths were famous in ancient times – bronze weapons gave place to those made of that material. From its liability to waste by rust, fewer implements of iron are found than of bronze. Along with the body of the dead chief were now buried his horses, harness, and dogs, with many ornaments of the precious metals, which have been found in considerable quantities.
All over the country there are numerous remains of places of defence belonging to these remote ages. The ancient British forts were generally erected on the summits of hills; many of them consisting merely of small circular mounds of earth and loose stones, within and around which flint arrows and other weapons have been found.
That the people, some of whose customs we have thus described, whether belonging to the Celtic or earlier races, inhabited this district of Fife, is evident from the numerous memorials of them which have been found. Thus, at East Flisk and Belhelvie, at Starr and Drumnod in Kilmany parish, at several places in the Parish of Forgan, at Parbroath and Balmeadowside in the Parish of Criech, and at Creich Manse, there have been dug up, at various times, cists, urns, and calcined bones – some of them having been inclosed within cairns and tumuli.* In the last named parish there were found in 1816 small circles of standing-stones at two different spots, which are supposed to have marked the tombs of distinguished chiefs. One of these monuments was, for better preservation, carefully removed by the Rev. Alexander Lawson to a spot behind his manse, where it may still be seen with the stones replaced in their original relative positions. It consists of two concentric circles, with a cylindrical stone in the centre. The outer circle contains thirty-two, and the inner sixteen stones about a foot and half in height; those occupying the cardinal points being larger than the others. Within the circles there is a flag of freestone having rude carvings on it, under which human bones were found. The whole may be found described in Mr. Lawson’s Statistical Account of the Parish of Creich, and figured in the Edinburgh Magazine of December 1817. On the Greencraig, in the same parish, are two concentric circles of loose stones, one at the summit, and the other at some distance below, the remains of an ancient fort. An extensive fort may be traced around the summit of Norman’s Law. In the highest part of Drummond Wood, in Kilmany parish, are three circles of standing stone, of no great height, adjacent to each other. One of them, which is tolerably complete, is about forty feet in diameter. Last year there were found at Newport, nine urns arranged in a large circle, and presenting the “zig-zag and herring-bone ornament” round their upper part. They were embedded in a mass of charred wood – no doubt the remains of the fires with which the dead bodies were reduced to ashes.
In the parish of Balmerino there were, up to a recent period, several of those monuments of antiquity, though most of them have disappeared in the course of agricultural improvements. On the summit of the Greenhill, near Cultra, there are still visible what appear to be the remains either of a small fort or a cairn, which is said to have been once larger than at present. It is a circular mound of stones, about fifty feet in diameter, the outer ring being composed, in part, of large stones set on edge. A similar mound is said to have existed on the top of Airdie Hill, on the farm of Grange, before the ground was ploughed up. Between Birkhill House and the Tay urns made of clay were found a few years ago. On Gallowhill, near the eastern boundary of the parish, there were several cairns, which, when cleared away, were found to contain urns, none of which, unfortunately, could be preserved. Some other cairns and grave-mounds, which are probably to be referred to a much more recent period, shall be noticed in a following chapter.
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PART 1 - CHAPTER II - CELTIC PERIOD
Were Albyn's earliest priests of God
Ere yet an island of the sea
By foot of saxon monk was trod"
CAMPBELL
It is in the works of Caesar, Tacitus, and other Roman authors that the written history for our country beings. Julius Caesar invaded the southern shores of England in the year 55 b.c. but he knew nothing of Scotland. It was not till the year 81 of the Christian era that the Romans under Agricola penetrated into the northern division of the island. The campaigns of this general are described and embellished by his son-in-law Tacitus in a most interesting memoir of his life. About that period Scotland appears to have been inhabited by twenty-one Celtic tribes, of whom sixteen, who were called Caledonians, possessed the districts north of the Forth & Clyde. The tribe who peopled Fife was the Horestii. In the year 83 Agricola, having crossed the Forth at Queensferry, attacked and vanquished this tribe at Loch Orr. He then proceeded to reduce Fife, and subsequently enrolled a large body of the conquered natives as his auxiliaries – a plan resembling that pursued by the British in India. It appears probable that the Romans occupied our district of Fife. At Craigiehill, in the parish of Leuchars, there was laid bare in 1808 an earthern jar containing nearly a hundred Roman coins of the reigns of Severus, Antoninus, and others. Near the village of Balmerino a silver coin of he reign of Tiberius was found in a good state of preservation about forty years ago.
The religion of the Celtic tribes was the same as that of the ancient Gauls, to whom they were allied in race. Their priests were called Druids, from a Celtic word, signifying a sage. They taught the existence of one God, whom they named Bel or Be’al, a word apparently akin to the Phoenician Baal. It is believed that they did not bow down to idols. No “graven image,” worshipped by them, has ever been found in our island. They believed in the immortality of the soul so firmly, that it is said they gave each other loans of money, to be repaid when they should reach the Island of the Brave – their so-called heaven. They held the oak and mistletoe in great reverence; and their temples were merely groves of oak trees, within which were erected circles of “standing stones,” with a large one in the centre, on which, as some assert, they offered their sacrifices. On certain great occasions they filled with living human beings huge images of wickerwork, and then set them on fire to propitiate the Deity. They had two great annual festivals. One was held on the first of May, which was the beginning of their year, when they kindled a large fire on the top of a hill in honour of the sun, which luminary they regarded as a symbol of the Deity. This festival was called Beltane, or fire of Bel, which was till recently in the Lowlands, and still is in the Highlands, the name for Mayday. Their other chief festival was called Samhainn, or fire of peace, at which justice was administered, and disputes settled. It was held on what is now called Hallow E’en, which is still called Samhainn in the Highlands – a proof how slowly ancient customs yield to change.
About the year 364 the inhabitants of Fife appear under the name of Vecturiones, who, no doubt, were also Celts. Soon afterwards the name of Caledonians disappears from history, and the people are called Picts. Fife formed the most important portion of the Southern Pictish Kingdom, of which Forteviot first, and afterwards Abernethy was the capital until the year 843, when the Pictish rule gave place to that of the Scots, and the name of Picts fell into disuse.
In the year 685, the Saxons of Northumbria, whose kingdom extended to the Forth, fought a battle with the Picts at a place called Dunnechtan, when Bridei, the Pictish King, slew Egfrid, King of the Saxons, and thus preserved to the Picts the dominion of Fife. Mr Leighton thinks that the scene of the battle was Naughton, in Balmerino parish; but Chalmers, the learned author of “Caledonia,” and [one of] the best authorities, with more probability identify it with Dunnichen in Angus, which is believed to be a corruption of Dun-Nechtan, the fortress of Nectan.
At what period the inhabitants of this district first received the Christian faith it is impossible to determine with certainty. We know, however, that their primitaive clergy were the Culdees, a word derived either from a Celtic word cealdeach meaning a recluse, or monk, or from Gille De, which signifies servants of God. The conversion of the Pictish people of Fife, and the origin of their Culdee clergy, are by some of our old historians traced to St. Regulus, or St. Rule, and by others to St. Columba.
According to the well known legend, Regulus, bishop of Patrae, in Achaia, in the fourth century, having in his custody the bones of St.Andrew the apostle, was directed by an angel to sail with these relics to the west, and wherever his vessel should land, to build a church in honour of St. Andrew, He accordingly sailed westward through the Mediterranean and having reached the German ocean, he and his companions were wrecked in the country of the Picts at a place called Muckross, afterwards Kilrymont, and now St. Andrews; but they succeeded in saving the precious relics. They afterwards travelled through the Pictish territory, and founded churches at various places. The first place they visited was Forteviot. Thence they went to “Monechatu, which is now called Monichi,” and from that to “Doldancha, which is now called Chondrochedalvan,” situated beyond the “Moneth,” an ancient name for the Grampians. Returning to Kilrymont, they dedicated a church there to St Andrew, to which King Hungus, at the same time, gave a large territory as its “parish.” This district is described as including “all the lands lying betwixt the sea called Ishundenema and the sea called Sletheuma, and in the adjacent province, bounded by a line drawn from Largo to Ceres, and thence to Hyatnacten Machchirb, which is now called Hadnacten. [Naughton].” Such is the legendary origin of St Andrews and of the Culdees of Fife.
The editor of Sibbald’s history of Fife interprets that author as asserting that one of the churches said to have been founded by Regulus was at Naughton, which he identifies with the place called Doldancha or Chondrochedalvan; and from this source has been derived the statement contained in several recent works that there was anciently an establishment of Culdees at Naughton. But Dr. Adamason is here in error, having been misled by Sibbald’s careless style and punctuation. It does not appear that Sibbald ever intended to identify Chondrochedalvan with Naughton; and if he did so, the extracts which he quotes from the old Register of St. Andrews would not substantiate their identity. It is plain that Chondrochedalvan was somewhere north of the Grampians. Mr Skene supposes it to have been Kindrochet in the Brae of Mar, which was dedicated to St. Andrew.
As to the value of the legend itself, that part of it which narrates the bringing of the relics of St. Andrew to Scotland itself is apparently fabulous. But from the circumstantial manner in which the latter part of the legend is told, it is difficult to avoid the conviction that it rest on a basis of facts. The lists of the Pictish Kings – whatever value is to be attached to them – contain no such name as that of Hungus in the fourth century. But there is a Hungus who resigns from 820 to 834; and it was in all probability he who founded St. Andrews (where there was certainly a Culdee establishment in the ninth century), attached the above mentioned district to it, and adopted St. Andrew as the patron saint of Scotland. We may therefore reasonably conclude that Naughton was known by a name of which its present one is an abbreviation as early as the middle of the ninth century; and that, though not then the site of a church, it was included in the district placed under the care of the Culdee clergy of St. Andrews. This is the first mention made of it in any writing, and it therefore comes into notice by name at an earlier period than any other place in this district.
The origin of the Culdees, who were undoubtedly settled in Fife long before the ninth century, is more probably to be traced to the celebrated Columba and his followers, whose missionary labours, from near the end of the sixth century onwards are well known. His clergy lived in monasteries, generally to the number of twelve in one place, besides the abbot; but they practised neither the austerities nor the vices of Romish monasticism. They were not bound to celibacy, and where wholly independent of, and differed in many respects from, the Church of Rome. Their monasteries may be described as missionary colleges, and they had large grants of land made to them. But their practise of transmitting the office of the ministry by hereditary succession, and other causes eventually led to their degeneracy, and to their being supplanted by the Romish monks and clergy.
Whatever was the origin of the Culdees – for the name seems to have been applied to the early Christian teachers of Scotland generally – it is certain that they has an establishment at Abernethy more than two centuries earlier that than at St. Andrews is known to have existed; that is, towards the end of the sixth century. It is a curious fact, however, that our knowledge of the state of Christianity in Scotland before the seventh century is much greater than during the four or five centuries following, which were ages of darkness and confusion. During that long period Scottish church history present almost a complete blank, so that we are unable to follow out the progress of Culdee evangelisation. But it shall be shown in the sequel that about the end of the twelth century the lands forming the original parish of Balmerino probably belonged to the Culdees of Abernethy. At what period this connection of Balmerino with Abernethy began we do not know, and it would be vain to form decided opinions as to the events of a period of six centuries of which so little is known. Yet is seems not an improbable supposition that our parish may have been Christianized by the Culdees of Abernethy long before Naughton was placed under those of St. Andrews. We may at least conclude that it was from one or the other of those venerable Christian establishments that the light of the gospel first penetrated into this district, and that the period was not later than the ninth century.
Near the end of the tenth century the Danes, who harassed Scotland by repeated incursions on its coasts, appeared with a numerous fleet in the Tay, but after a fierce battle, with heavy loss on both sides, were defeated near Luncarty. Traditions asserts that during their retreat they were several times attacked by Kenneth III on the south bank of the Tay, and, amongst other places, on a eminence west of the village of Gauldry, still called Battle Law, and compelled to take refuge in their ships. In confirmation of the tradition, cairns existed till recently on this field, which, when cleared away, were found to contain human bones. At the east end of Gauldry there were also several mounds called the “Graves,” in which, when opened, were discovered “stone coffins” or cists, human bones, and broken swords. On the farm of Peacehills, about a mile and a half north-east of the Battle Law, and in the line of retreat which the Danes would probably pursue, two ornaments of pure gold, valued at about £14 sterling, were found, one in 1818, and the other in 1826. One of them was a ball, which appeared to have formed the knob on the hilt of a sword; and the other, which is in the possession of Mrs. Morison of Naughton, is a hollow cylinder of a curved form, tapering towards each end, and having a rod of copper running through it, and three rows of raised reticulated work from one end to the other on the outer side of the curve. It probably formed an ornament on the helmet of some chief who had fallen in the retreat. Cairns or mounds at the same place were found to contain several human skulls, each being enclosed in a square cist formed by four stone.
Other antiquities, commonly assigned to the period of those Danish inroads, exist in the neighbourhood. Near the western side of St Fort woods, in Forgan parish, there is an ancient camp still in excellent preservation. It is of an oval shape, and surrounded by two, and in some places by three, trenches. On the northern side it is further defended by a steep bank, with a small sheet of water at its base; and on the south by a gentler declivity across the Leuchars road. There are entrance-ways at both the east and west ends. Its traditional name is the “Danes” Camp.
To the same period are commonly assigned the forts on Norman’s Law, and on the chain of heights running eastward from it, as well as several of the other prehistoric memorials which have been mentioned in a previous section.
Some of them may, however, be of vastly older date. This opinion is much strengthened by the fact that the ancient British name of Norman’s Law, now fallen into disuse, was Dunmore, meaning the “great stronghold, or fortress” and pointing to a period probably long anterior to that of the Danish inroads. Popular explanation, seeking to account for things by the easiest method, frequently assigns such antiquities to some event well known in history, with which they have, in many cases, been proved to have no connection.
This remark holds true especially of sepulchral memorials, which are generally referred either to the Roman or Danish periods, as if there had been no battles or deaths in this country till the Romans and Danes landed on its shores. Most of the ancient forts, also, are more probably of British than of Danish origin, and older than the time of the Danish invasions.
The native tribes had internal, as well as foreign foes to resist, and it may be presumed that those who occupied the country for so many ages would leave more numerous traces of their presence than would mark the hasty incursions of strangers from beyond the seas.
Tags: balmerino
PART 1 - CHAPTER IV - ANCIENT ESTATE, CHAPEL AND CASTLE OF NAUGHTON
"Blest is this Isle - our native Land:
Where battlement and moated gate
Are objects only for the hand
Of hoary Time to decorate"
WORDSWORTH
About the beginning of the twelfth century the history of Scotland emerges from the obscurity of the preceding ages, and that of this Parish and district soon thereafter shares in the illumination. There are various facts which show that about the period referred to a new era has commenced. Besides the arrival of a foreign race (which has, not inappropriately, been called the Saxon Conquest, though it was achieved by peaceful means), writing is now becoming common (though still practised only by Churchmen), and land is held by written tenures. The people are all professedly Christian, and the now effete Culdee establishments are everywhere giving place to the Romish system. From this period the Records of the various monasteries and bishoprics furnish many interesting materials for parochial history, which have not yet been turned to sufficient account by our local historians. From the Register of the Priory of St. Andrews and the Chartulary of Balmerino Abbey we obtain authentic notices of this Parish, by means of which we are able to understand the more general features of its civil and ecclesiastical state, and to make out a tolerably complete list of its landholders. These notices commence about the middle of the twelfth century.
In relating the facts we have gleaned we begin with those relating to NAUGHTON, which is earliest mentioned. And here the subject of Parishes first presents itself.
It is somewhat uncertain at what period Parishes began to be formed in Scotland, but there is not doubt that they were generally known in the twelfth century. Till that time the ecclesiastical system of Scotland was monastic, not parochial; and the Culdee clergy lived together in humble colleges scattered over the country. The origin of parishes, tithes, and patronages was generally this – a landlord built a church for the people living on his estrate (its site being often, as at Creich, close to his residence), endowed it with the tithes of his land, and nominated a priest to be its pastor, under that sanction of the bishop of the diocese. He and his successors thus became patrons of the church and his lands constituted the Parish. This accounts for the irregular shape and fragmentary character of many parishes at the present day. The Norman and Saxon settlers from the south were the great promoters of church building and endowment.
The estate of Naughton, as appears from the St. Andrews Priory Register, was anciently very extensive, and constituted a “parish” of the same name, whose church was however called, perhaps from its situation, that of Forgrund, now Forgan. Even down to the sixteenth century the barony of Naughton comprehended the superiority of a great part of the parish of Forgan, in which it was still included. In the twelfth century it was in the possession of a family, apparently Norman, of the name of De Lascels, several members of which were benefactors of the Priory of St. Andrews. Alan, son of Walter de Lascels, grants to the Priory “two acres of his arable land in the parish of Naughton, viz., those two which are near to the “vill” of Culbakin [Cowbakie] extending northwards from the road which leads from Alan’s own vill to Culbakin; with one acre of meadow land measured westward from Culbakin, between the said two acres and the land of Malcrether belonging to the Canons of the said Priory.”
The church of Forgan with its revenues (according to the system then practised of increasing the revenues of bishoprics and monasteries by granting to them the tithes of parochial churches) was first conferred on St. Andrews Priory by King David I. (1124-1153) no doubt on the usual condition that the Priory should supply it with a vicar. The gift was confirmed by Malcolm IV. (1153-1165), who also bestowed on the Priory a carucate (104 acres) of land in Naughton estate, called Melchrethre, mentioned above. This latter grant was confirmed by William the Lion and Alexander II., and by bishops Richard, Hugo, and Roger of St. Andrews between 1163 and 1202.
Both of these grants were also said in the same Register to have been made by Alan de Lascels, son of Alan already mentioned. Thus between 1188 and 1202, Alan, son of Alan de Lascels and of his wife Juliana de Summerville, with consent of his own wife Amabilla, gives and confirms to the Priory “the mother church of his estate of Naughton, viz., the church of Forgrund, with the chapel of Naughton adjacent to the said church. Bishop Malvoisine of St. Andrews (1202-1238) grants and confirms to the Priory “the mother church of Naughton, with all its just pertinents, which Alan de Lascels granted to it, as his charter shows.” There is further recorded in the Priory Register the testimony of Laurence, Archdeacon of St. Andrews, that he had heard from trustworthy men that the church of Naughton had been formerly conferred on the Priory by a noble man, Alan de Lascels, its true patron, and that he knows that this gift was confirmed by Bishop Malvoisine. In charters of Peter Hay and others (to be afterwards noticed) it is repeatedly stated that the carucate of land, which had belonged to Forgan church was conferred on the Priory by Alan, son of Alan de Lascels. It is not easy to reconcile those statements with the original grants by David I. And Malcolm IV. The explanation probably is, that the estate of Naughton belonged, in the former monarch’s reign, to the crown (whether by forfeiture or other cause); and that subsequently the King (Perhaps William the Lion) gave a grant of the estate to a family of Norman settlers (the Lascels), who then confirmed, or repeated, the former gifts to the Priory of church, tithes and land
We have a notice of two of the incumbents of the church about the same time. Bishop Malvoisine admits, on a presentation to the Prior and canons, Richard Thouni to the parsonage of the church of Forgrund, who shall hold it, with the chapel of Naughton, its lands, tithes, &c.; reserving the life-interest of Gervasius de Nealfa, the vicar, who shall receive from Richard twenty silver merks annually in name of pension.
When or by whom this chapel of Naughton was built, we know not. In the Taxatio Antiqua, or Old Valuation of the church livings of the diocese of St. Andrews, inserted in the Priory Register and others, and believed to respesent a period as remove as the reign of King William, Naughton chapel is not mentioned, though Forgan church is. If Sibbald is correct in fixing 1176 as the year to which the Valuation refers, we might conclude that the chapel was built between 1176 and 1202, at which latter date it certainly was in existence. We are equally ignorant of the site of this chapel. The expression “adjacent to (adjacentem) the church of Forgan” might suggest the inference that it was in the immediate vicinity of that church, if not part of the same building; and from the boundaries of Alan de Lascels’ grant of two acres, it might almost appear that his own “vill” and manor house were near Cowbakie, and not where Naughton House now stands. But the language used is by no means decisive of either of these conjectures. There was anciently a chapel, called St Thomas's of Seamylnes, at Newport, but there is nothing to identify it with the “chapel of Naughton,” though it would appear to have been within the barony of that name. It is more natural to suppose that Naughton chapel was near the western extremity of the estate, and intended for the use of the people residing in that remote part of Forgan parish; and that Naughton, though scarcely to be recognised in some of the forms in which it was then written, denoted the place still called by that name.
The “Grange of Naughton” is also mentioned as belonging to the Priory of St. Andrews, and is specified in Bulls of confirmation of the Priory lands by no fewer than five Popes between the year 1187 and 1254. Perhaps is comprehended the lands of Peasehills, Byrehills, and Cathills, which according to Martine, anciently belonged to the Priory, though there is no mention of them by these names in the existing Register. This “Grange” must not be confounded with the present Grange, or New Grange, which belonged to Balmerino Abbey.
According to Sibbald, Robertus de Lundon built a tower on Naughton rock, which, from the difficulty of access to it on all sides, was admirably adapted for a stronghold in those turbulent times. When or how he got possession of the place does not appear: perhaps it was given by King William, when the estate of Naughton was conferred in the De Lascels. He was a natural son of that monarch, and marrying the heiress of Lundin, near largo, assumed that name, and carried on the line of the family of Lundin or Lundie, which is now represented by Lord Willoughby de Eresby, through his late motherm, Lady Clementina Sarah Drummond. (For continuation of the history of Naughton see Part IV, Chapter I.)
Tags: balmerino
PART 1 - CHAPTER V - ANCIENT PROPRIETORS AND CHURCH OF BALMERINO
And feudal rapine clothed with iron mail
Came ministers of peace, intent to rear
The Mother Church in yon sequestered vale"
WORDSWORTH
The first undoubted proprietor of BALMERINO whose name we meet with is mentioned in the Abbey Chartulary as living in the time of William the Lion (1164-1214). Henry de Reuel received from that monarch a grant of Cultrach, with the customary feudal privileges and duty attached to it. Though Cultrach is alone mentioned in the grant, the barony of that name seems to have included the lands of Balmerino, Balindard, Balindean, and Corbie, since the last three of these place are described in the Foundation Charter of the Abbey as “pertinents” of Cultra and Balmerino; while in a charter obtained by Richard Reuel, Balmerino and Balindard are stated to have been held by Henry Reuel along with Cultra.
This Henry de Reuel married Margaret, daughter of Orm, who was the son of Hugh of Abernethy, with whom he got “ a ten merk land of old extent, a merk being then a third of a pound weight of silver”. * As we find Laurence, son of this Orm, afterwards resigning to Balmerino Abbey whatever interest he and his heirs had in the lands of Cultra, Balindean, Balindard, Corbie, and Balmerino * (which Henry Reuel’s heir had sold to Queen Ermengarde towards the foundation of the Abbey), we may conclude that it was these land which came to Henry Reuel as his wife’s dowry, and that the crown charter which he had obtained was merely a charter of confirmation. It thus appears that nearly all the lands forming the original parish of Balmerino were anciently included in the great lordship or territory of Abernethy. But this Laurence was Abbot of Abernethy, and seems to have held these lands as head of the Culdees there. He lived as a baron at Kerpul (Carpow), the old castle or mansion of the lords of Abernethy, leaving his duties as abbot to be performed by one of the Culdees called the Prior, and like later abbots and bishops, appropriating to himself the greater part of the church lands.* The Balmerino Chartulary shows that he was frequently at court. Mr. Innes considers that the ancient Culdee house of Abernethy survived King David’s church reform, and was still in existence; having in Laurence its hereditary abbot, who styles himself, and acted as, lord of the abbey territory. In the Arbroath Register Laurence appears as granting tithes; and in the Balmerino Chartulary as giving away lands; in both cases asserting the subject of gift to be the inheritance of him and his heirs. * All this suggests the inference that the above mentioned lands in Balmerino parish were part of the ancient endowments of the Culdees of Abernethy. The family of Laurence assumed the local designation of Abernethy as their sirname.
Henry de Reuel and Margaret his spouse granted to the Priory of St. Andrews fifteen acres of land which are described as lying “north of Cultra, and west of the road leading from Balmerino to Cultra, as perambulated by the said Henry, Richard Reuel his nephew, Matthew the canon, and his “good men;” and also the common pasture pertaining to that extent of land.”* Amongst the witnesses to the charter are Ralph the chaplain (perhaps the incumbent of Balmerino Church); Josius (or Jocelinus) de Balindard, and Adam de Ardist; who are, in all probability, the “good men” (probi homines) who joined in the perambulation.* Adam de Stawel, brother of Richard Reuel, afterwards confirms the grant.
This Richard Reuel, Henry’s nephew, sometime after 1214, obtained from Alexander II, a charter of confirmation of his uncle’s lands (Cultra, Balmerino, and Balindard being alone sprecified), with similar privileges and duty as before. He had also received previously from King William a grant of Easter Ardint, which was now likewise confirmed to him. If this was the same place as “Ardist” (now Airdie?), Adam de Ardist was probably Richard Reuel’s predessor in that property.*
The duty attached to Henry Reuel’s grant was that he should render to the king half the service of a knight (land then being held by military tenure); and this was increased in Richard Reuel’s case to the whole service of one knight. Along with their lands they acquired the usual baronial rights of sac and soc, tol and tehm, infangenethef, and pit and gallows. These feudal terms signify the right of holding courts, deciding please, imposing fines, taking tolls upon the sale of goods, and punishing capitally the thief caught with thr stolen property, or the homicide taken “red-hand,” within the limits of the manor. The men were executed on gibbets and the women were drowned in draw-wells, which all barons were ordained to make for these purposes. Every freeholder entitled to hold a court was then to a great extent a petty sovereign within his own estate. The “Gallowstone” on top of Cultra Hill* marks, no doubt, the place of execution for those condemned to death in the court of the proprietor of Cultra or Balmerino, and in that of the Abbot’s Bailie of later times; while “Gallowhill” must have been the place of doom for the barony of Naughton.
Another baronial privelege was the right of holding in bondage persons called nativi or velleins, with their children; a great portion of the rural population being still in a state of serfdom to the lords of the soil, and liable to be transferred, by sale or gift, along with the lands which they cultivated. Velleinage died out abut the fourteenth century.
Sometime before 1225 Adam de Stawwel, brother of Richard Reuel, succeeded to his lands above mentioned. From this Adam’s charter of resignation of these lands to Queen Ermengarde in 1225 we obtain the first notice of “the Church of Balmerino,” of which he was patron. We may presume that his predecessors also enjoyed the right of patronage, and that his lands constituted the Parish. This church is not mentioned in the old valuation already referred to in connection with Naughton Chapel. In the Foundation Charter of the Abbey it is called the “Mother Church of Balmerino,” which mode of expression is usually employed in contrast to that of “chapel.” But there is no mention of a chapel as attached to it in any of the records of that period.
From a charter in the Arbroath Abbey register, by which Laurence of Abernethy grants to that house, in the reign of King William, the whole tithes of the territory of Abernethy except those belonging to the churches of Flisk and “Cultram,” and certain others, it would appear that there and anciently a church at, or at least of Cultra, if, as is probable, that is the place signified in the charter.
Since the estate of Cultra seems to have included the lands of Balmerino and others, the “Church of Cultra” and the “Church of Balmerino” may have been one and same – the Church of the estate of Cultra, whether situated there or at Balmerino.* However this may be, the mention of the churches of Flisk and Cultra, as included in the territory of Abernethy, confirms the view previously suggested, that the ancient parish of Balmerino (in which Naughton was not included), and we may now add, that of Flisk, formed part of the endowments of the Culdees of Abernethy, having been in all probability Christianised by them at a very early period.
We have notices of some other proprietors in the Parish about the beginning of the thirteenth century.
Jocelinus de Balindard, who witnesses the grant of land be Henry Reuel to St. Andrews Priory, is also mentioned in the Balmerino Chartulary. The situation of Balindard is now unknown. As it appears also amongst the possessions of the Reuels, it was perhaps as their vassal that Jocelinus held it. There was another property of the same name in the parish of Arbirlot, Forfarshire, and it has been conjectured that it was a descendant of this Jocelinus who conferred upon the estate the name of the Fifeshire property of his ancestor.* John de Balindard died about 1280. His great-grandson, about 1350, exchanged his lands at Arbirlot for those of Carnegie in Carmylie parish, and hence the family name was changed to Carnegie of that Ilk. The head of this family now is the Earl of Southesk, who is thus descended from the De Balindards, and, if the above conjecture be correct, Jocelinus is the first of the family of whom we have any genuine notice.
Thomas de Lundin also possessed property somewhere about Balmerino. He bound himself to pay the Abbey of Cupar (Angus) one silver merk annually “out of his lands of Balmerino.” For this he was allowed a place of sepulture at the door of that Abbey, where he was buried in 1231, as was his more celebrated son Alan in 1275.* This family was connected with the Lundins, near largo. In the reign of Malcom IV. (1153-1166) two brothers, Philip and Malcolm de Lundin, received grants of land from the king; the former, the lands of Lundie in Fifeshire; and the latter those of Lundie in Forfarshire. It was the heiress of Philip’s line whom Robertus, natural son of William the Lion, already mentioned in connection with Naughton castle, married. Thomas de Lundin was the son of Malcolm. He held the office of Ostiarius or Doorward, to King William, and also to Alexander II; and hence his family took the name or Dorward, or Durward, which is still common in this district, though it has now descended to the humbler ranks of people.
By putting together the various facts we have thus gathered, we get a list nearly, if not quite complete, of the landholders of the Parish (as at present bounded) between six and seven hundred years ago – that is, in the latter half of the twelfth, and the earlier portion of the thirteenth century.
We shall here present them in one view:-
Orm, son of Hugh of Abernethy, appear to have possessed, as the Culdee Abbot of that place, Corbin, Cultra, Balindean, Balindard, and Balmerino. These lands pass, in all probability with his daughter Margaret, to Henry de Reuel. His nephew Richard Reuel afterwards succeeds to them, and, besides, acquires Easter Ardint, which was perhaps previously possessed by Adam de Ardist. He is succeeded by his brother Adam de Stawel, who is patron of the “Church of Balmerino,” as were also, no doubt, the Reuels before him.
Jocelinus appears to possess, perhaps as Henry Reuel’s vallas, Balindard.
Thomas de Lundin, the King’s Doorward, possesses certain lands about Balmerino.
The estate of Naughton (then in Forgan parish) is held by the De Lascels.
Naughton Castle belongs to Robertus de Lundin, who built it.
St. Andrews Priory has the “Grange of Naughton;” Naughton chapel; fifteen acres of arable land, with pasture, lying north of Cultra, and west of the road leading thence by Balmerino; and (the time being, however, in this case uncertain) the lands of Peasehills, Cathills, and Byrehills, if these were not identical with the “Grange of Naughton.”
With the exception of the history of the Lairds of Naughton whatever if known concerning the Parish of Balmerino from near the beginning of the thirteenth century to the Reformation connects itself with the Abbey, in whose possessions the whole of the original parish was ultimately included.
To the history of the Abbey we now, therefore, proceed.
Tags: balmerino