Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland

GLASGOW
the Roman Church, and probably also in the com-
motions and strife produced by the incursions of the
Danes, as well as in the contest in which the king-
dom of Strathclyde disappeared and the country passed
under the sway of the king of the Scots. Whatever
the cause, so at least it was ; and, just as in the case
of Lichfield, the records of the see of Glasgow dis-
appear for full 500 years. 'After St Mungo,' says
M'Ure, a quaint early historian of Glasgow, ' for many
ages the Episcopal see was overrun with heathenism and
barbarity till the reign of Alexander I. ' When Alex-
ander succeeded to the throne in 1107, he bestowed
on his younger brother David, Prince of Cumbria,
all the territory S of the Forth except the Lothians ;
and as David inherited all his mother's zeal for reli-
gion, he set himself to look after the spiritual condition
of his subjects as vigorously as after their temporal
welfare. The saintly character of St Mungo, and his
connection with Glasgow, very soon attracted David's
attention, and in 1115 he restored the see, and ap-
pointed his tutor and chaplain John (commonly called
Achaius) the first of the new line of bishops. John,
who was a man of learning and ability, as well as with
considerable knowledge of the world, for he had tra-
velled extensively on the Continent, was at first some-
what unwilling to accept the proffered promotion, but
at last yielded to the prince's wishes, and was consecrated
by Pope Paschal II. , to whom he was well known. An in-
quisition ' concerning the lands belonging to the church
of Glasgow,' a copy of which exists in the chartulary of
Glasgow, was made in 1120. In this it is set forth that
'various disturbances, everywhere arising,' had 'not
only destroyed the church and her possessions, but,
wasting the whole country, driven the inhabitants into
exile;' and that the inhabitants, thus left to them-
selves, had followed the manners of the Gentiles and
lived ' like brutes ; ' but that now ' God sent unto them
David as their prince,' who was to set this scandalous
state of matters right, and who for that purpose had
appointed John as their bishop. John, it goes on to
say, was frightened at their barbarity and their abomin-
able sins, but had been constrained by the Pope to enter
upon the burdensome charge ; and so the Prince had
caused all the lands formerly belonging to the church
of Glasgow to be found out and made over to the new
bishop, that he might have sinews for his struggle with
the wrong. The bishop had more trouble, too, than
what merely arose from the condition of his see, for he
got involved in a quarrel about church supremacy with
the Archbishop of York, who claimed to be metropolitan
of Scotland, and adduced in support of that claim a
record (strongly, and with good cause, suspected of being
a forgery) of three bishops of Glasgow consecrated at
York in the 11th century. John resisted the York
claims, and was so sorely tried that he quitted his see
for the purpose of proceeding to the Holy Land. The
Pope, however, ordered him to return, and 1124 found
the good bishop not only settled again, but beginning
to replace the primitive church of St Mungo by a statelier
erection, of which some parts were of stone. The new
cathedral was consecrated in presence of his royal
patron, who was now King of Scotland, on 7 July 1136.
The Prince had, on his accession to the throne, made
large donations to the establishment, and he now further
conferred on it the lands of Perdeyc [Partick], which
still form part of the episcopal belongings, though they
have passed into the hands of the University. Accord-
ing to the Begistrum Episcopatus Glasguensis, 'the
king, David I., gave to the church the land of Perdeyc
[Partick], which was soon afterwards erected, along with
the church of Guvan [Govan], into a prebend of the
cathedral. In addition to the long list of possessions*
* ^v ' : ~ CarlCTie n, Camcaw, Camcahethyn, Lengartheyn, Pathel,
Asserhe Canelut, Chefernenuat, Carnethevn. Carvil, Quendal,
Abercarf, Meeheyn, Planmichel, Stobo, Penteiacob, Alnerumba,
Keveronum, Lilleseliva, Hodelm, Edyngahum, Abermele, Drives-
dale, Colchtam, Kevertrole, Aschib, Brumeseheyd. Keversgyrt ;
in Poeblis, one carucate of land and a church ; in Kincayrd, one
carucate of land and a church ; in Mereboda, me carucate of
land and a church.
GLASGOW
restored to Glasgow upon the verdict of the assize of
inquest, this saintly King granted to the bishop the
church of Renfrew ; Guvan, with its church ; the church
of Cadihou [Cadzow] ; the tithe of his cane or duties
paid in cattle and swine throughout Strathgrif, Cuning-
ham, Kyle, and Carrick ; and the eighth penny of all
pleas of court throughout Cumbria (which included the
greater part of Scotland S of the Forth and Clyde, as
well as the English county of Cumberland). The bishop
also acquired the church of Lochorwort, near Borthwick
in Lothian, from the Bishop of St Andrews, the King
and Prince present and consenting.' David, the sainted
son of St Margaret, was the greatest benefactor known
in the annals of the see of Glasgow, and this is only
one example of that liberality in gifting royal posses-
sions to the Church which earned him from James VI.
the character of 'ane sair sanct for the croon.' At the
time of the consecration of the cathedral, 'the diocese
was divided into two archdeaconries of Glasgow and
Teviotdale, and for the first time there were appointed
a dean, sub-dean, chancellor, treasurer, sacrist, chanter,
and sub-chanter, all of whom had prebends settled upon
them out of the gifts received from the King.' Bishop
John died on 28 May 1147, after having held the see
for the long period of thirty-two years. He was suc-
ceeded by Bishop Herbert, in whose time the strife with
York was finally ended by Pope Alexander III., who
decided that the only controlling power over the Church
of Scotland was the see of Rome. He died in 1164, in
which year also Malcolm IV. made proclamation that
tithes were to be paid in the bishopric of Glasgow just
as elsewhere. Herbert was succeeded by Ingram, who
died in 1174 ; and was in turn succeeded by Joceline,
abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Melrose, who was
consecrated at Clairvaux, in France, on 1 June 1175, by
Esceline, the Pope's legate. He is reputed on all hands
to have been a worthy and liberal-minded prelate, and
his actions prove him to have been one of the greatest,
if not the greatest, of the occupants of the episcopal
throne of Glasgow. Above all others ought he to be
held in happy remembrance by the citizens of Glasgow,
for, by a charter obtained from William the Lyon about
1180, the first start was given to the growth of Deschu
into something more than a village. By this charter
Glasgow was constituted a burgh of barony, holding of
the bishop ; and the King granted and confirmed ' to
God and St Kentigern, and Joceline, Bishop of Glasgow,
and all his successors for ever, that they shall hold a
burgh at Glasgow, with a weekly market on Thursday,
fully and freely, with all freedoms, liberties, and customs
which any of my burghs throughout the whole of my
kingdom enjoy.' Subsequently^ about 1190, the bishop
obtained for his burgh the further privilege of ' a fair to
be kept at Glasgow, and to be held every year for ever,
from the octave of the Apostles Peter and Paul, for the
space of eight days complete, with ' the King's ' full
protection, and with every freedom and all other liberties
belonging and granted to fairs throughout the whole of '
his ' dominions, as fully and freely as all fairs are or
ought to be held in any of his 'dominions.' The
octave of St Peter and St Paul fell on 6 July, and on
that date the fair is still kept up with unfailing regu-
larity, the only difference from the olden time being,
that, instead of being held for business purposes, it is
now characterised by the total want of it, Glasgow Fair
being in those days the annual holidays, when labour is
suspended and the industrious thousands enjoy a few days'
recreation. While thus mindful of the temporal benefit,
of those under his charge, he was no less diligent in
matters relating to their spiritual care. In 1192 the
church built by Bishop John was burned, and so com-
plete was the destruction that it is evident the greater
portion must have been constructed of wood, though,
judging from the fragments of Norman architecture that
have since been dug up, some part at least was of stone.
Joceline at once set himself to the task of rearing a new
and more substantial edifice. He obtained a royal edict
from his ever-ready patron, King William, which ex-
pressed the King's sympathy with the ruined condition
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