Moodie book

The Moodie Book. 5
of place to quote the following account of an endowment in connection with the
Monastery of St Anthony at Leith made by the Bishop in 1469. The account is
taken from the " Index to the Charters" in the Register House, Edinburgh, and
the date of the Charter is an indication that Bishop Keith, the historian of the"
Scottish Bishops, is in error in assigning Bishop Mudie's death to the year 1460 : —
' 25th July 1469.
1 Charter whereby William, Bishop of Caithness, for the salvation of the souls of his
brother gertnan, Gilbert Mudie of Caldwell ; the late James, Bishop of St Andrews ; and
Agnes Crownar, wife to the said Gilbert ; and of all to whom the granter is in debt, or whose
goods he is in possession of, etc., grants to the Virgin Mary, St Anthony, and Mary Magda-
lene, for the support of one chaplin to minister in things divine at the altar of the blessed
Mary Magdalene in the Church and Monastery of the blessed Anthony, near and adjacent to
the town of Leith, the anuual rents following (here are detailed several items of property in
the vicinity of Edinburgh). Willing, granting, and ordaining moreover that the presentation
to the said Chaplaincy shall pertain to the granter during his life, and after his death to the
said Gilbert Mudie and his heirs of the surname of the Mudies, presenting within 40 days, as
often as the same shall fall vacant. And if he or they shall fail, the presentation shall belong
to the provost, bailies, councillors, and community of the burgh of Edinburgh. And if it
shall happen that the preceptor and brethren, canons of St Anthony, carry themselves un-
graciously to the said chaplin or his successors in the payment of the said annual rent, and
also shall fail to satisfy and pay annually the contributions formerly granted by them to the
said chaplin and his successors, viz., 40s Scots yearly, a convenient chamber for the said
chaplin, and a piece of garden, as more fully appears by a public instrument made thereupon,
then it shall be lawful to the said Gilbert and his heirs, and also to the said provost, bailies,
councillors, and community, to transfer the said chaplin and his services from the place of St
Anthony and the altar of Mary Magdalene to the Church of St Giles, Edinburgh, aud to
whatever altar and whatever other church they may please.'
"The charter is attested by Gilbert Mudie, and by one David Mudie, the
latter, no doubt, another relation, and probably the same David Mudie who was
bailie of Bishop Mudie's Cathedral city of Dornoch in 1505.
" After a considerable amount of research, I have come to the conclusion
that the Caldwell of the charter was the place of that name in Ayrshire, 1 now
wholly, and for many centuries in part, the property of the Mures of Caldwell.
It is probable that towards the close of the fourteenth century, when the first
Mure of Caldwell is said to have acquired a portion of the estate, through
marriage with a daughter of the Caldwells of that ilk, this family of Mudies
acquired another portion, through marriage, it may be, with another daughter of
that house. That this is the Caldwell in question, at all events is, I consider,
conclusively proved by the fact that the arms of the Moodies of Melsetter bore
1 Caldwell was an estate in the parish of Beith, near the boundary of Ayr and Renfrew. It was
divided into Easter and Wester Caldwell. Easter Caldwell was obtained in marriage with a daughter
of Caldwell of that ilk by Gilchrist Mure early in the 14th century. In 1753 Wester Caldwell was
purchased by Baron Mure of Caldwell from the Duke of Hamilton. The latter is, uo doubt, the
portion once held by the Moodies. Vide " Scottish Nation," under Caldwell and Mure. There was,
however, another place called Gallis Caldwell, in another part of Ayrshire. The only other approach
to Caldwell to be found in Scotland is a single instance of the corrupt spelling of Caldell or Calder
(Norse Kalfadal) in Caithness. This place, however, was never held by the Moodies.