Series 3 > Charters of the Abbey of Inchcolm

xlii CHARTERS OF THE ABBEY OF INCHCOLM
The Internal Life of the Abbey ; its Revenues ;
the Number of its Canons
We seek in vain in the surviving charters of Inchcolm
for information on the internal life of the monastery.
These records tell us nothing about its ‘ religious ’ side ;
they give us no data for reconstructing the everyday life
of the canons. Characteristically, perhaps, the charters
are concerned with the monastery’s endowments and
rights as a property-owning corporation. Their atmosphere
is mundane.1
Our information regarding the revenues of the Abbey
and the number of its canons belongs to the latest stages
of its history. But we are justified in supposing that, in
comparison with other Scottish religious houses, Inchcolm
was a relatively small community, both in respect of
resources and personnel. Neither the monastery nor its
churches figure in any of the versions of ‘ Bagimont’s Roll ’
and, apart from a casual mention in 1420 of the vicarage
of Dalgety and the Abbey, ‘ value respectively not ex¬
ceeding 8 and 2001. of old sterlings,’ 2 there appears to be
no earlier source of information on its revenues than the
post-Reformation rentals printed in the Appendix to this
volume. The extent of its resources in the earlier six¬
teenth century, as compared with those of other Scottish
monasteries, may be judged from the fact that its contri¬
bution to the College of Justice was assessed at 01. Os.,
as compared with 70/. levied upon Dunfermline, 56/.
upon Paisley, and 21/. upon Dundrennan.3 The earliest
charter which bears the signatures of the ‘ convent ’ is of
1 The only reference to the state of the monastery is in a letter of James
v. to Pope Clement vn., dated 17th April 1532, in which the King, nomin¬
ating Richard Abercromby as Abbot, declares that because the canons
lead a most exemplary life, they should have a devout Augustinian over
them and no secular {Tyningham Letter Book, GRH.).
2 CPR., vii., p. 144. 8 ADC., 1501-54. P- 541-