Imperial gazeteer of Scotland, or, Dictionary of Scottish topography > Volume 2

WHITHORN.
850
WHITHORN.
akin to that contended for in the usual monkish
style of ecclesiastical history, they could scarcely
have failed to set up their series of bishops as
formally and distinctly as the Saxons. But about
the year 1124, or from that to 1130, nearly 3£ cen-
turies after the disappearance of the Saxon ' bishops'
of Candida Casa, forth came David I. warm in the
blush of championship for the pomp of Romanism,
and set up at Whithorn an undoubted episcopal see,
which, under the wide name of the bishopric of
Galloway, held coeval sway with that of popery and
of Stuart prelacy till the final triumph of presby-
terianism in 1689. This bishopric comprehended
the whole of Wigtonshire, and by far the greater
part of Kirkcudbrightshire, or all of it lying west
of the river Urr ; and it was divided into the three
deaneries of the Rhinns, Farines, and Desnes. lying
westward respectively of Luce- bay, of the Cree, and
of the Urr, and corresponding proximately, though
not quite, to the limits of the respective existing
presbyteries of Stranraer, Wigton,andKirkcudbright.
Gilla Aldan or Gilaldan, the first bishop, was con-
secrated by the archbishop of York ; and his suc-
cessors looked to that arch-prelate as their proper
metropolitan till at least the 14th century. The
bishops of Galloway afterwards, like all their Scot-
tish brethren, became suffragans of St. Andrews ;
but on the erection of Glasgow, in 1491, into an
archbishopric, they, along with the bishops of
Argyle, Dunkeld, and Dunblane, passed under the
surveillance of that arch-see, and on account of
their being the chief suffragans, they were appoint-
ed vicars-general of it during vacancies. The
canons of Whithorn priory formed the chapter of
the Galloway see, their prior standing next in rank
to the bishop ; but they appear to have been some-
times thwarted in their elections, and counterworked
in their power, by the secular clergy and the people
of the country. The revenues of the bishopric,
which had previously been small, were, in the be-
ginning of the 16th century, greatly augmented by
the annexation to them of the deanery of the cha-
pel-royal of Stirling, and some years later, by that
of the abbey of Tongland. In a rental of the bish-
opric, reported, in 1566, to Sir William Murray, the
queen's comptroller, the annual value, including
both the temporality and the spirituality, was stated
to be £1,357 4s. 2d. Though the revenues were in
a great measure dispersed between the date of the
Reformation and that of James VI. 's revival of
episcopacy, and though they again suffered diminu-
tion in 1619 by the disseverment of the deanery of
the chapel-royal, in order to its being conferred on
the see of Dunblane ; yet they were augmented in
1606 by the annexation of the priory of Whithorn,
and afterwards by that of the abbey of Glenluce ;
and, in 1637, by the accession of the patronage and
tithes of five parishes in Dumfries-shire, which had
belonged to the monks of Kelso. At the epoch of
the Revolution, the net rent amounted to £5,634 15s.
Scottish ; and exceeded that of any other see in
Scotland, except the archbishoprics of St. Andrews
and Glasgow.
During the reign of David I., Fergus, Lord of
Galloway, founded at Whithorn, a priory for canons
of the Premonstratensian order. The church be-
longing to it — and neither the original nor a renova-
tion of the edifice founded by St. Ninian — seems,
from its size, to have been used as the cathedral-
church of the bishopric, setup by David I. Adjoin-
ing the cathedral stood another church, called the
Outer-kirk, or the Cross-kirk; and at some distance
on the hill stood the chapel. In the cathedral and
in the Outer-kirk were various altars, the offerings
made at which, during ages of superstition, formed
the principal revenue of the priory. Excepting
that of Morice, who swore fealty to Edward I. in
1296, the names of none of the early priors of Whit
horn have survived. James Beaton or Bethune,
who was prior during some time before the year
1504, and uncle of the infamous Cardinal Beaton,
whom he acquired influence to place in his chair
of tyranny at St. Andrews, acted a conspicuous,
and, in some particulars, an inglorious part in the
history of his country, and rose to the highest offices
in both church and state, — becoming successively,
in the one, bishop of Galloway, archbishop of
Glasgow, and archbishop of St. Andrews, and in
the other, lord-treasurer and lord-chancellor of the
kingdom. Though he had the honour, such as it
was, of making elegant alterations on the cathedral
of Glasgow, and of founding St. Mary's college in
St. Andrews, he must be ever infamous in Scotland
as the murderer of Patrick Hamilton, and other
early Scottish martyrs, and for setting the bold ex-
ample of truculent oppression, which was so fear-
fully copied . by his sanguinary though ill-fated
nephew. Gavin Dunbar, who succeeded Beaton as
prior of Whithorn, was tutor to James V., and rose
to be archbishop of Glasgow, lord-chancellor of the
kingdom, and, during one period of the King's ab-
sence in France, one of the Lords of the Regency.
The last prior, Mancolalyne, was present at the trial
of Sir John Borthwick in St. Andrews for alleged
heresy. At the epoch of the Reformation the rental
of the priory, as reported to Government, amounted
to £1,016 3s. 4d. Scottish, besides upwards of 15
chalders of bear, and 51 chalders of meal. The
property, as we have seen, was given by James VI.
to the bishops of Galloway ; and it afterwards fol-
lowed the same fates as that of the parish-church
of Whithorn.
The canons of Whithorn, however individually
shrouded from the knowledge of posterity, collective-
ly loom largely in fame as adepts in the art of
monkcraft. Pilgrimages, at all times and by all
classes of persons, from a short period after the
founding of the priory onward, were made from
every part of Scotland to the shrine of St. Ninian at
Whithorn. In 1425, James I. granted a protection
to all strangers coming into Scotland as pilgrims to
the shrine; and in 1506 the Regent Albany granted a
general safe-conduct to all pilgrims hither from Eng-
land, Ireland, and the Isle of Man. Many of the most
distinguished personages of the kingdom, including
kings, queens, and the highest nobles, visited Whit-
horn on pilgrimage. In 1473, Margaret, the queen
of James III., made a pilgrimage hither, accompa-
nied by six ladies of her chamber, who were furnished
on the nonce with new livery gowns. Among other
charges in the treasurer's account, for articles pre-
paratory to her journey, are 8 shillings for " panzell
crelis," or panniers, 10 shillings for "a pair of Bul-
gis" and 12 shillings for "a cover to the queen's
cop." James IV. made pilgrimages to Whithorn,
generally once and frequently twice a-year, through
the whole period of his reign. He appears to have
been accompanied by his minstrels, and a numerous
additional retinue ; he made offerings in the church-
es, at the altars, and at the reputed saintly relics of
Whithorn ; he gave donations to priests, to min-
strels, and to pilgrims, and, through his almoner, to
the poor ; and, in his journey both hither and back,
he, in addition, made offerings at various churches
on his way. In 1507, after his queen had recovered
from a menacing illness, he and she made a joint
pilgrimage, and occupied 31 days from leaving
Stirling till they returned. They were accompanied
by a large retinue, and processed in a style of regal
pomp. In 1513, the Old Earl of Angus, Bell-the-