History of the Fife Pitcairns

LORD ROBERT PITCAIRN. 79
doubt see the king's funeral procession as it wended its way
to Holyrood, to be buried beside his first wife Magdalene,
daughter of Francis I. of France, who " had loved him well."
Robert Pitcairn's grandfather having married Egidia Mel-
ville, and his mother being a Dury, also one of a noted family
of ecclesiastics of the time (George Durie being Abbot of
Dunfermline when Robert Pitcairn was born), may explain
why Robert, at quite an early age, was appointed Archdean
of St Andrews, a most important appointment in those days,
as St Andrews Cathedral, founded in 1159 by Bishop Arnold,
was one of the largest and most magnificent in Scotland,
and the Universities too were there. The cathedral re-
mained in a state of entirety until 1560, at the time of the
Reformation, when it was destroyed by an infuriated mob,
excited by a sermon preached in the parish church by John
Knox against idolatry. 1
In front of the old Episcopal Castle of St Andrews, on an
open space, the burning of George Wishart the Reformer took
place, by the order of Cardinal Beaton, Archbishop of St
Andrews, who was himself in turn surprised and assassin-
ated within the walls of his castle by Norman Leslie and
his associates. It may be that having witnessed Wishart's
martyrdom decided Pitcairn to take the side of the
Reformers.
In St Andrews Robert Pitcairn had several possessions
of houses and lands, which he granted by charter to his
brother John, 12th Feb. 1578. The charter says that —
The King confirmed the Charter of Mr Robert Pitcarne " Arch-
dean of St Andrews, who with the consent of John, Archbishop
of St Andrews, and the Commendator and Convent of St Andrews,
for gratitude, and for services rendered, gave Mr John Pitcarne,
his brother-german, his heir and assigns, the building, with gardens,
trees, and land, located in the Archdeaconry and town of St
Andrews. The dwelling of Henry Kayrnis, the dwelling of the
Prior of Pitmoak, the dwelling occupied by David Colyng, Thomas
Durie, and James Geddie, the dwelling occupied by Joseph Reid
and the dwelling called the Auld Innis," &c.
1 Black's Guide to Scotland.