[Gazetteer of Scotland Contents]
—The National Established church of Scotland is strictly Presbyterian. Its parochial divisions, sanctioned by the civil authority, embracing the whole of Scotland, and furnished by law with churches and temporalities, are 919. But included in these, which bear the distinctive name of quoad civilia parishes, there are territories annexed ecclesiastically, or by authority of the General Assembly and of presbyteries, to 40 Government churches, an account of which is given in our article on the HIGHLANDS, and to chapels built by voluntary subscription, the number of which amounted, in 1839, to 180; and these territories, except in the case of a very few of the chapelries, are called quoad sacra parishes, and – though destitute both of civil sanction and of temporalities – are under the same ecclesiastical government, and hold the same relation to the church courts, as the ecclesiastico-civil divisions. Each parish, whether quoad civilia or quoad sacra, is governed by a kirk-session, consisting of the minister, and one or more lay elders. Several parishes send each its minister and a ruling elder to form a presbytery, and are, on a common footing, under its authority. Several presbyteries contribute or amass all their members to form a synod, and are individually subject to its review or revision of their proceedings. All the presbyteries, in concert with the royal burghs, the four universities, and the Crown, elect representatives, who jointly constitute the General Assembly. This is the supreme court; and will be found noticed in our article on EDINBURGH. The synods, 16 in number, are exceedingly dissimilar in the extent of their territory, and the amount of their population; and the presbyteries, 82 in number, have also a very various extent, and are distributed among the synods in groups of from 2 to 8. – The synod of Lothian and Tweeddale, the first on the list, comprehends all the counties of Linlithgow, Haddington, and Peebles, all the county of Edinburgh, except one parish, and small parts of the counties of Stirling and Lanark; it contained, in 1831, a population of 313,733; and, in 1839, it had 108 quoad civilia parishes, 27 chapelries, and 143 ministers. Its presbyteries are Edinburgh, comprehending the metropolis and its vicinity, with 26 quoad civilia, and 17 quoad sacra parishes, and a population, in 1831, of 180,392; Linlithgow, comprehending Linlithgowshire, and a small part of Stirlingshire, with 19 quoad civilia, and 2 quoad sacra parishes, and a population of 45,452; Biggar, comprising parts of Lanarkshire and Peebles-shire, with 11 quoad civilia parishes, and a population of 6,862; Peebles, comprising most of Peebles-shire, with 12 quoad civilia parishes, and a population of 9,373; Dalkeith, chiefly in Edinburghshire, and partly in Haddingtonshire, with 16 quoad civilia,- and 2 quoad sacra parishes, and a population of 35,133; Haddington, comprising the major part of Haddingtonshire, with 15 quoad civilia, and 2 quoad sacra parishes, and a population of 24,049; and Dunbar, comprising the south-east of Haddingtonshire, and a parish in Berwickshire, and distributed into 9 quoad civilia parishes, with a population of 12,472. – The synod of Merse and Teviotdale comprehends nearly all Berwickshire, and most of Roxburghshire; contained, in 1831, a population of 82,366; and, in 1839, had 66 parishes, 5 chapelries, and 71 ministers. Its presbyteries are Dunse, in the Merse and Lammermoor, with 10 quoad civilia parishes, and a population of 9,391; Chirnside, in the Merse, with 12 parishes quoad civilia, and 1 quoad sacra, and a population of 14,975; Kelso, in the Merse, and the east of Roxburghshire, with 10 parishes quoad civilia, and 1 quoad sacra, and a population of 12,264; Jedburgh, in Teviotdale, with 14 quoad civilia parishes, 2 subordinate chapelries, and a population of 20,978; Lauder, in Lauderdale, Lammermoor, and the southern corner of Edinburghshire, with 9 quoad civilia parishes, and a population of 9,964; and Selkirk, in Selkirkshire, and the northern part of Roxburghshire, with 11 quoad civilia parishes, and a population of 14,788. – The synod of Dumfries comprehends all Dumfries-shire, Liddesdale, and the eastern part of Kirkcudbrightshire; contained, in 1831, a population of 91,287; and, in 1839, had 55 parishes, 4 chapelries, and 59 ministers. Its presbyteries are Lochmaben, in central and northern Annandale, with 13 quoad civilia parishes, and a population of 16,016; Langholm, in Eskdale and Liddesdale, with 7 quoad civilia parishes, and a population of 10,173; Annan, in southern Annandale, with 8 quoad civilia, and 2 quoad sacra parishes, and a population of 15,672; Dumfries, in southern Nithsdale and eastern Kirkcudbrightshire, with 18 parishes quoad civilia, and 2 quoad sacra, and a population of 34,862; and Penpont, in central and northern Nithsdale, with 9 parishes, and a population of 14,564. – The synod of Galloway comprehends all Wigtonshire, all the central and the western divisions of Kirkcudbrightshire, and southern corner of Ayrshire; contained, in 1831, a population of 65,276; and, in 1839, had 37 parishes, all quoad civilia, and 37 ministers. Its presbyteries are Stranraer, in the western half of Wigtonshire, and the southern corner of Ayrshire, with 11 parishes, and a population of 24,164; Wigton, in the eastern half of Wigtonshire, and a small part of Kirkcudbrightshire, with 10 parishes, and a population of 19,446; and Kirkcudbright, all in Kirkcudbrightshire, with 16 parishes, and a population of 21,666. – The synod of Glasgow and Ayr comprehends all the counties of Renfrew and Dumbarton, nearly all those of Lanark and Ayr, and a part of that of Stirling; contained, in 1831, a population of 635,011; and, in 1839, had 130 parishes, 72 chapelries, and 205 ministers. Its presbyteries are Ayr, in Kyle and most part of Carrick, with 28 quoad civilia, and 3 quoad sacra parishes, and a population of 77,884; Irvine, in Cunningham, with 16 quoad civilia, and 4 quoad sacra parishes, and a population of 56,226; Paisley in eastern Renfrewshire, with 12 quoad civilia, and 6 quoad sacra parishes, and a population of 90,721; Greenock, in western Renfrewshire, and a small part of Cunningham, and a population of 41,179; Hamilton, in central Lanarkshire, with 15 quoad civilia, and 8 quoad sacra parishes, and a population of 64,745; Lanark, in northern Lanarkshire, with 11 quoad civilia parishes, and a population of 29,595; Dumbarton, in the main body of Dumbartonshire, and part of Stirlingshire, with 17 parishes quoad civilia, and 1 quoad sacra, and a population of 34,287; and Glasgow, in southern Lanarkshire, the detached part of Dumbartonshire, and small parts of Stirlingshire and Renfrewshire, with 21 quoad civilia, and 31 quoad sacra parishes, and a population of 240,374. – The synod of Argyle comprehends Buteshire, and continental and insular Argyleshire; contained, in 1831, a population of 109,348; and, in 1839, had 39 parishes, 12 parliament churches, 4 chapelries, and 57 ministers. Its presbyteries are Inverary, in continental Argyleshire, with 8 quoad civilia parishes, and a population of 13,335; Dunoon, the eastern part of Argyleshire, and the northern isles of Buteshire, with 8 quoad civilia, and 2 quoad sacra parishes, and a population of 13,712; Kintyre, in Arran, Kintyre and Gigha, with 9 quoad civilia parishes, and a population of 26,959; Isla and Jura, in the southern Hebrides, with 4 quoad civilia parishes, and 3 parliamentary churches, and a population of 17,197; Lorn, partly in the Hebrides, but chiefly in the western part of continental Argyleshire, with 7 quoad civilia parishes, 2 parliamentary churches, and 1 chapelry, and a population of 15,348; and Mull, chiefly in the Mull group of the Hebrides and in Morvern, with 6 parishes and 7 parliamentary churches, and a population of 22,797. – The synod of Perth and Stirling comprehends nearly all Perthshire and Clackmannanshire, parts of Stirlingshire and Kinross-shire; contained, in 1831, a population of 178,657; and, in 1839, had 80 parishes, 3 parliamentary churches, 19 chapelries, and 107 ministers. Its presbyteries are Dunkeld, in the north-east part of Perthshire, with 12 parishes and 1 chapelry, and a population of 22,130; Weem, in the north-east part of Perthshire, with 6 parishes, 3 parliamentary churches, 1 chapelry, and a population of 17,132; Perth, in the central part of Perthshire, with 24 quoad civilia, and 3 quoad sacra parishes, and a population of 45,237; Auchterarder, in the valley and vicinity of Strathearn, and in the western part of Kinross-shire, with 15 quoad civilia, and 3 quoad sacra parishes, and a population of 25,339; Stirling, in Clackmannanshire, and part of Stirlingshire, with 13 quoad civilia, and 2 quoad sacra parishes, and a population of 44,603; and Dunblane, in the junction district of the counties of Perth, Stirling, and Clackmannan, with 12 quoad civilia, and 3 quoad sacra parishes, and a population of 24,213. – The synod of Fife comprehends all Fifeshire, the greater part of Kinross-shire, and a small part of Perthshire; contained, in 1831, a population of 138,124; and, in 1839, had 67 quoad civilia, and 10 quoad sacra parishes, and 81 ministers. Its presbyteries are Dunfermline, in the south-west of Fifeshire, and in parts of Perthshire and Kinross-shire, with 12 parishes quoad civilia, and 1 quoad sacra, and a population of 36,097; Kirkcaldy, in the south-east of Fifeshire, and part of Kinross-shire, with 15 quoad civilia, and 4 quoad sacra parishes, and a population of 43,314; Cupar, in the north-west of Fifeshire, with 20 quoad civilia.parishes, and a population of 29,832; and St. Andrews, in the north-east of Fifeshire, with 20 parishes quoad civilia, and 1 quoad sacra, and a population of 28,881. – The synod of Angus and Mearns comprehends all Forfarshire, the greater part of Kincardineshire, and a small part of Perthshire; contained, in 1831, a population of 164,017; and, in 1839, had 80 quoad civilia, and 17 quoad sacra parishes, and 99 ministers. Its presbyteries are Meigle, in the west of Forfarshire, and part of Perthshire, with 13 parishes, and a population of 16,345; Forfar, in the central district of Forfarshire, with 11 quoad civilia, and 2 quoad sacra parishes, and a population of 24,225; Dundee, in the southern district of Forfarshire, and a small part of Perthshire, with 18 quoad civilia, and 6 quoad sacra parishes, and a population of 60,510; Brechin, in the north of Forfarshire, with 14 quoad civilia, and 2 quoad sacra parishes, and a population of 27,057; Arbroath, in the east of Forfarshire, with 11 quoad civilia, and 5 quoad sacra parishes, and a population of 23,270; and Fordoun, in Kincardineshire, with 13 quoad civilia parishes, and a population of 22,601. – The synod of Aberdeen comprehends nearly all Aberdeenshire, most part of Banffshire, and a considerable part of Kincardineshire; contained, in 1831, a population of 206,226; and, in 1839, had 101 quoad civilia, and 17 quoad sacra parishes, and 119 ministers. Its presbyteries are Aberdeen, in the south-east of Aberdeenshire, and part of Kincardineshire, with 20 quoad civilia, and 8 quoad sacra parishes, and a population of 75,524; Kincardine-O’Neil, in the south-west of Aberdeenshire, and part of Kincardineshire, with 14 quoad civilia parishes, and a population of 18,420; Alford, in the west of Aberdeenshire, and part of Banffshire, with 13 parishes, and a population of 11,471; Garioch, in the central district of Aberdeenshire, with 15 parishes, and a population of 15,787; Ellon, in the east of Aberdeenshire, with 8 parishes, and a population of 12,831; Deer, in the north-east of Aberdeenshire, with 14 quoad civilia, and 3 quoad sacra parishes, and a population of 32,276; Turriff, in the north-west of Aberdeenshire, and the north-east of Banffshire, with 11 parishes, and a population of 21,775; and Fordyce, in the north of Banffshire, with 7 quoad civilia, and 3 quoad sacra parishes, and a population of 18,136. – The synod of Moray comprehends all Elginshire and Nairnshire, considerable parts of Inverness-shire and Banffshire, and a small part of Aberdeenshire; contained, in 1831, a population of 105,610; and, in 1839, had 51 quoad civilia parishes, 2 parliamentary churches, 3 chapelries, and 59 ministers. Its presbyteries are Strathbogie, in the counties of Elgin, Banff, and Aberdeen, with 12 parishes, and a population of 23,814; Abernethy, in the counties of Banff, Elgin, and Inverness, with 6 parishes, and 3 parliamentary churches, and a population of 12,134; Aberlour, in Banffshire and Elginshire, with 5 parishes, and a population of 8,515; Forres, in the west of Elginshire, with 6 parishes, and a population of 9,899; Elgin, in the north-east of Elginshire, with 9 parishes, and a population of 15,790; Inverness, in the north-east of Inverness-shire, and the adjacent part of Nairnshire, with 9 quoad civilia, and 2 quoad sacra parishes, and a population of 25,193; and Nairn, in the centre and north of Nairnshire, and the adjacent part of Inverness-shire, with 6 parishes, and a population of 10,265. – The synod of Ross comprehends all Cromartyshire, most part of continental Ross-shire, and small parts of Inverness-shire and Nairnshire; contained, in 1831, a population of 45,803; and, in 1839, had 23 parishes, 3 parliamentary churches, 1 chapelry, and 27 ministers. Its presbyteries are Chanonby, in the peninsula between the Beauly and the Cromarty friths, with 6 parishes, 1 chapel, and a population of 11,744; Dingwall, in southern Ross-shire, and parts of Inverness and Nairn, with 8 parishes, 2 parliamentary churches, and a population of 17,762; and Tain, in northern Ross-shire, and part of Cromarty, with 9 parishes, 1 parliamentary church, and a population of 16,297. – The synod of Sutherland and Caithness is commensurate with its cognominal counties; contained, in 1831, a population of 60,057; and, in 1839, had 23 parishes, 5 parliamentary churches, 1 chapelry, and 29 ministers. Its presbyteries are Dornoch, in southern Sutherlandshire, with 9 parishes, 1 parliamentary church, and a population of 17,284; Tongue, in northern Sutherlandshire, with 4 parishes, 2 parliamentary churches, and a population of 7,221; and Caithness, in the cognominal county, with 10 parishes, 2 parliamentary churches, 1 chapel, and a population of 35,542. – The synod of Glenelg comprehends the Skye and Long Island groups of the Hebrides, and parts of the mainland of Ross-shire and Inverness-shire; contained, in 1831, a population of 91,584; and, in 1839, had 29 parishes, 11 parliamentary churches, and 40 ministers. Its presbyteries are Lochcarron, on the mainland, with 8 parishes, 4 parliamentary churches, and a population of 21,350; Abertarff, in the west of continental Inverness-shire, with 5 parishes, 1 parliamentary church, and a population of 14,402; Skye, in the Skye islands, with 8 parishes, 2 parliamentary churches, and a population of 23,801; Uist, in the southern district of Long Island, with 4 parishes, 2 parliamentary churches, and a population of 17,490; and Lewis, in the northern district of Long Island, with 4 parishes, 2 parliamentary churches, and a population of 14,541. – The synod of Orkney is commensurate with the Orkney Islands; contained, in 1831, a population of 26,716; and, in 1839, had 18 parishes, 2 parliamentary churches, and 21 ministers. Its presbyteries are Kirkwall, in the south-eastern district of Orkney, with 6 parishes, 1 parliamentary church, and a population of 8,650; Cairston, in the south-western district of Orkney, with 7 parishes, and a population of 10,149; and North Isles, in the northern district of Orkney, with 6 parishes, 1 parliamentary church, and a population of 7,917. – The synod of Shetland is commensurate with the Shetland Islands; contained, in 1831, a population of 29,392; and, in 1839, had 12 parishes, 2 parliamentary churches, and 14 ministers. Its presbyteries are Lerwick, in the south, with 6 parishes, 2 parliamentary churches, and a population of 16,432; and Burravoe, in the north, with 6 parishes, and a population of 12,960.
—The religious body next in bulk to the Established Church, is the church of the United Secession. Its government is strictly presbyterian; and its supreme court, called the United Associate Synod, consists of the minister or ministers and an elder of each congregation. The presbyteries are constituted in the same way as the synod; and, in 1840, they were Aberdeen, with 8 congregations; Annan and Carlisle, with 14, 7 of which are in England; Coldstream and Berwick, with 21, only 14 of which are in Scotland; Cupar, with 19; Dumfries, with 12; Dunfermline, with 13; Edinburgh, with 38; Elgin, with 15; Forfar, with 20; Glasgow, with 47, 1 of which is in Liverpool; Kilmarnock, with 24; Kirkcaldy, with 8; Lanark, with 10; Lancashire, London, and Newcastle, with respectively 6, 5, and 19, all of which are in England; Orkney, with 11; Perth, with 25; Selkirk, with 12; Stewartfield, with 11; Stirling and Falkirk, with 22; and Wigton, with 8. – The Relief synod is constituted similarly to the United Associate. Its presbyteries, in 1840, were Dumfries, with 8 congregations; Dundee, with 6; Dysart, with 11; Edinburgh, with 13; Glasgow, with 20; Hamilton, with 13; Kelso, with 15, 6 of which are out of Scotland; Newton-Stewart, with 4; Paisley, with 12; Perth, with 7; and St. Ninians, with 7. – The Reformed Presbyterian church is governed, like each of the two former bodies, by a synod. Its presbyteries, in 1840, were Edinburgh, with 7 congregations; Glasgow, with 6; Kilmarnock, with 6; Dumfries, with 6; Newton-Stewart, with 4; and Paisley, with 6. – The Associate synod of Original Seceders comprehended, in 1840, the presbyteries of Aberdeen, with 6 congregations; Ayr, with 7; Edinburgh, with 13; and Perth, with 8. – The Original Burgher Associate Synod, – a majority of which had just joined the Established church, – comprehended, in 1840, the presbyteries of Edinburgh, with 4 congregations; Glasgow, with 5; and Perth and Dunfermline, with 2. – The congregations of the Independents, understood to be in connexion with the Congregational Union of Scotland, an association of the Independent churches for purposes of missionary effort and mutual recognition, amounted, in 1840, to 98; of which 7 were in the Orkney and the Shetland Islands; 26 in the counties north of the Aberdeen Dee; 20 in the counties of Kincardine, Forfar, Perth, Fife, Kinross, and Clackmannan; 12 in the Lothians and Stirlingshire; and 33 in the south-western and southern counties. – The Scottish Episcopal communion comprehended, in 1840, the dioceses of Edinburgh, with 13 congregations; Glasgow, with 12; Aberdeen, with 20; Moray, Ross, and Argyle, with 15; Dunkeld, Dunblane, and Fife, with 9; and Brechin, with 9. The number of the clergy, including the bishops, was 88. – The Roman Catholic clergy in Scotland, in 1840, amounted to 5 bishops and 68 priests, were located in 49 places, and distributed into three districts, – the eastern, with 2 bishops and 14 priests for its clergy, and Edinburgh for its centre of influence, – the western, with 2 bishops and 29 priests for its clergy, and Glasgow for its episcopal seat, – and the northern, with 1 bishop and 25 priests for its clergy, and Aberdeen as its ecclesiastical metropolis.
—The Reports of a Commission, who were appointed to inquire into the opportunities of religious worship, the means of religious instruction, and the pastoral superintendence afforded to the people of Scotland, who made inquiries by correspondence and research into various matters affecting every parish in the country, and who made personal and minute investigation in all the parishes in which any deficiency of ecclesiastical appliances was alleged to exist, – the Reports of this Commission, published in 1837 and 1838, and extending to 9 folio volumes, have enabled us to intersperse through every part of the alphabetical arrangement important information in ecclesiastical statistics, and now furnish us with materials for a rapid and luminous summary view of the ecclesiastical condition of the country. The parishes personally visited, and specially reported on by the Commissioners, were 552 in number; and, except in the broad feature of alleged deficiency in the amount of their moral mechanism, they may be regarded as fairly representing the whole country. – The first and the second Reports are so almost exclusively occupied with matter respecting Edinburgh, Leith, and Glasgow, that to borrow from them here would only be to repeat what is stated in our articles on these towns. – The fourth Report is devoted to 74 parishes in the Highlands and Islands, 22 of which are in the synod of Argyle, 26 in that of Glenelg, 19 in that of Sutherland and Caithness, and 7 in that of Ross. Ecclesiastical surveys of these parishes exhibited their population to be about 180,538, and classified them into about 159,150 churchmen, 14,680 dissenters, and 146 persons not known to belong to any religious denomination. Alleged deficiency in their means of pastoral instruction was ascribed in most instances to various causes, – in 10, to excess of population; in 61, to excess of territory; in 61, to obstructed access; in 10, to inconvenient distribution of territory; in 12, to a minister having to officiate in more than one church; in 5, to the church’s occupying an inconvenient site; in 28, to its being of incompetent size; in 5, to its being in a ruinous condition; in 3, to its unequal allotment of sittings; in 4, to the exaction of seat-rents; and in 3, to the want of endowments. Sittings in the parish churches amounted to 40,672, and in dissenting churches to 8,078, – in all, 48,750. In some of the parishes, religious instruction, additional to that connected with the regular ministry, is afforded by means of missionaries, catechists, Sunday schools, and week-day religious schools. – The fifth Report is devoted to 103 parishes in the northern counties; 5 of which are in the synod of Glenelg, 29 in that of Moray, 55 in that of Aberdeen, and 14 in that of Angus and Mearns. Their ecclesiastically stated population consisted of about 210,137 churchmen, about 41,959 dissenters, and about 6,520 nondescripts, – in all, 284,727 persons. Sittings in the Establishment, about 86,304; in dissenting churches, about 51,300. Alleged deficiency was ascribed in 34 instances, to excess of population; in 44, to excess of territory; in 30, to obstructed access; in 24, to inconvenience in the form of parishes; in 4, to plurality in the churches of a minister; in 9, to a church’s inconvenience of site; in 31, to its inadequacy of size; in 23, to its unequal allotment of sittings; in 6, to the badness of its condition; in 24, to the exaction of seat-rents; and in 24, to the want of endowments. – The sixth Report treats of 99 parishes, in the counties of Forfar, Perth, Stirling, and Fife; 27 of which are in the synod of Angus and Mearns, 50 in that of Perth and Stirling, and 22 in that of Fife. Population, about 306,563; consisting of about 180,341 churchmen, about 72,297 dissenters, and about 10,936 nondescripts. Sittings in the Establishment, about 84,679; in dissenting churches, about 72,892. Alleged deficiency was ascribed, in 29 instances, to excess of population; in 30, to excess of parochial territory; in 20, to obstructed access; in 24, to inconvenience in the form of parishes; in 5, to plurality of a minister’s churches; in 15, to a church’s inconvenience of site; in 39, to its inadequacy of accommodation; in 12, to the unequal allotment of its sittings; in 3, to the badness of its condition; in 25, to the exaction of seat-rents; and in 26, to the want of endowments. – The seventh Report treats of 99 parishes in the Lothians, and the southern counties; 29 of which are in the synod of Lothian and Tweeddale, 23 in that of Merse and Teviotdale, 15 in that of Dumfries, 19 in that of Galloway, and 13 in that of Glasgow and Ayr. Ecclesiastically stated population, about 167,363 churchmen, about 64,066 dissenters, and about 6,738 nondescripts, – in all, about 255,874. Sittings in the Establishment, about 67,319; in dissenting churches, about 57,812. Alleged deficiency was ascribed, in 32 instances, to excess of population; in 34, to largeness of territory; in 9, to obstructed access; in 18, to inconvenience in the form of parishes; in 2, to a minister’s plurality of churches; in 11, to a church’s inconvenience of site; in 61, to its inadequacy of accommodation; in 55, to the unequal allotment of its sittings; in 17, to the badness of its condition; in 3, to the exaction of seat-rents; and in 20, to the want of endowments. – The eighth Report is devoted to 106 parishes, in the counties of Ayr, Lanark, Renfrew, Dumbarton, Argyle, and Orkney; 65 of which are in the synod of Glasgow and Ayr, 18 in that of Argyle, 11 in that of Orkney, and 12 in that of Shetland. Population, about 192,864 churchmen, 94,772 dissenters, and 16,459 nondescripts, – in all, about 376,452. Sittings in the Establishment, about 98,746; in dissenting churches, about 83,549. Alleged deficiency was ascribed, in 55 instances, to excess of population; in 61, to excess of territory; in 32, to obstructed access; in 17, to inconvenience in the form of parishes; in 27, to a minister’s plurality of churches; in 10, to a church’s inconvenience of site; in 60, to its inadequacy of accommodation; in 19, to the unequal allotment of its sittings; in 8, to the badness of its condition; in 30, to the exaction of seat-rents; and in 31, to the want of endowments. – The third Report relates wholly to teinds. Scottish teinds are all predial, and are divided into parsonage or the greater teinds, consisting of the tithe of victual or grain, and vicarage or the lesser teinds, consisting of the tithe of grass, flax, hemp, butter, cattle, eggs, and some other articles. The tithes of fish are, in a few places, exigible; but, along with all the vicarage teinds, they are so inconsiderable as not to be included in the Commissioners’ arithmetical calculations. The parsonage teinds are held by the Crown, by universities, by pious foundations, by lay titulars, or by the proprietors of the lands from which they are due; and, with the limitation that those of one parish cannot, to any amount, be transferred to another parish, they are, in all cases, exigible as payment of the stipends which have been provided by law, or which may, in future, be awarded by the court of teinds. Those now belonging to the Crown are in value £38,051 0s. 4d., which formerly belonged to the bishops; £5,323 3s. 11d., which formerly belonged to the chapel royal; and £2,523 5s. 10d., which formerly belonged to the abbacy of Dunfermline, – in all, £45,897 10s. 1d. Of this sum, £30,155 17s. 8d., are appropriated to ministers’ stipends. Of the unappropriated amount, the free yearly surplus, after necessary deductions, is only £10,182 4s. 8d., and the actual receipt, in consequence of mismanagement, is a pitiful trifle. Teinds belonging to other parties than the Crown, amount to £281,384 14s. Of this sum, £146,942, are appropriated to ministers’ stipends, leaving £138,186 17s. 6d. unappropriated. In 872 parishes, payment of the stipends is made from the teinds; in each of 196 of these, the teinds are less in value than £158 6s. 8d.; and in each of 206, while amounting to £158 6s. 8d. and upwards, they are so low as to have been all appropriated. – The ninth and last Report, relates to revenues and endowments. In those parishes whose teinds are less in value than £158 6s. 8d., the stipend is raised to that amount or upwards, by payment from the exchequer. In quoad civilia burgh parishes, stipend is for the most part paid from the burgh funds; and in Edinburgh, and a few other towns, it is paid from funds specially levied under act of parliament. In quoad sacra parliamentary parishes, the stipend is a fixed allowance for each of £120 from the exchequer; and in other quoad sacra parishes, it is paid chiefly from seat-rents, and, in some instances, partly from the church-door collections. Except in a few peculiar cases, the ministers of quoad civilia parishes, either altogether or partly landward, are entitled to manses and glebes; and, in a few instances, they receive a money allowance in lieu of one or both. In parishes which, while the teinds are low, confer no right to either manse or glebe, an allowance is made from the exchequer, to raise the stipend to £200; and in those which, in the circumstances, confer a right only to a manse, or to a glebe, but not to both, an allowance from the same source makes the stipend £180. Ministers of the parliamentary churches are entitled by law each to a house and half-an-acre of garden ground; and, in the majority of instances, they have been provided by the heritors with glebes. In numerous parishes, the ministers have rights of grazing, or cutting turf and peats, and several other privileges, of aggregately little value. In quoad civilia country parishes, the area of the churches belongs to the heritors, and is generally divided by them among the tenants and cottagers on their estates; and when a surplus, or disposable number, of the seats is let, the proceeds are, in some instances, appropriated by the heritors for their private use, and, in others, given to the poor. In quoad civilia burgh parishes, seat-rents are, in general, exacted for all, or nearly all, the pews; and are either employed for stipend, or drawn as common burgh revenue. In the parliamentary churches, seat-rents were originally designed to be generally exigible, and to be applied in maintaining the repair of the churches and manses; but they are, in every case, collected with difficulty, and, in some instances, have been entirely abandoned. In other quoad sacra churches, and in all but a very small number of the churches of the dissenters, seat-rents are generally, and, for the most part, easily levied, and are employed in payment of stipend, of the interest and principal of debt, and of other necessary congregational expenses. Ordinary collections, or those made every Sabbath, at the doors of the Establishment’s places of worship, are, in the case of most of the quoad civilia parishes, wholly applied, after the deduction of certain small parochial charges, to the relief of the poor; and, in the case of the quoad sacra parishes, and, by consent of the heritors, in the case of a few of the quoad civilia, they are applied in the same manner as the seat-rents. Extraordinary collections, or those made only at considerable intervals, and on special occasions, are known but partially in the Establishment, and more generally among the dissenters; and are applied, for the most part, to missionary, educational, and philanthropic, and, in a majority of instances, to ultra-congregational purposes. – The number of ministers of the Establishment, as exhibited in the Commissioners’ Report, excludes all missionaries, and also, with one exception, all assistants, and amounts to 1,072. The aggregate amount of their stipends, on an average of 7 years preceding 1836, is, from parson teinds, £170,393 10s. 3d., – from vicarage teinds, so far as they are paid in money, or have been valued, £712 19s. 8d., – and from other sources, £51,345 5s. 0d., – making a total of £231,451 4s. 11d. The aggregate annual value of glebes, exclusive of a few not valued by the ministers, is £19,168 15s. 3d. The amount of seat-rents in all the Establishment’s places of worship, during the year 1835, was £38,901 9s. 7d.; and of the ordinary and the extraordinary collections, so far as ascertained for the same year, respectively £44,394 2s. 3d., and £13,726 8s. 9d.
—A satisfactory outline of the ecclesiastical history of Scotland, would occupy twenty or fifty times more space than we can spare. Its greatest elements would be critical remark on the date of the introduction of Christianity to Scotland; a view – partly given in our article on ICOLMKILL — of the character, discipline, and history of the Culdees; an examination of the rise and expansion of diocesan episcopacy; an exhibition of the inroads, methods of conquest, early condition, successive development, history, institutions, and corruptions of Romanism; a careful tracery of the multitudinous and engrossing events and changes of the Reformation, and of the struggles which presbyterianism maintained against popery, and especially against protestant prelacy, till the Revolution; and a rapid sketch of the rise and early history of each of the Scottish dissenting sects. Much of the most interesting parts of each of these elements, excepting the first, will be found interspersed with the body of our work; and wherever it occurs, will be clearly understood without the aid of connecting links of narrative. Very frequently, however, in connexion with the monastic class of the Romish institutions, allusions and names occur which, as the institutions were in some instances peculiar to Scotland, will not be intelligible except with the aid of some explanatory statements. – The conventual orders, or different bodies of the regular clergy of the Romish church in Scotland, were very various, and were early introduced. The friars, while they lived in convents, were professed strolling mendicants; and, in consequence of their astutely watching every opportunity of visiting the sick in their clerical character, and sedulously improving it, in their mendicant capacity, for drawing largesses and bequests from the wealthy, they amassed an incredible amount of property, and eventually made themselves the envy of the nobility, who could not cope with them in opulence and influence, – of the secular or parochial clergy, who were ostensibly provided for, and saw the friars superseding them, – and of the monks, or second great class of the conventual orders, who were forbidden, by most of their rules, to go out of their monasteries, and could receive only such donations as excessive fanatics carried to their cells. Yet all the other great classes – which were canons-regular, monks, nuns, and canons-secular, – made acquisitions of property which were exceedingly, and even monstrously great, in their circumstances, and which appeared moderate only when compared with those of the friars. – The canons-regular of St. Augustine had 28 monasteries in Scotland, and were first established at Scone, in the year 1114, by Atewalpus, prior of St. Oswald of Hostel, in Yorkshire, and introduced at the desire of Alexander I. – The canons-regular of St. Anthony, wore neither an almuce nor a rochet, both of which were used by the other canons-regular, and they called their houses hospitals, and their governors preceptors; but they had in Scotland only one monastery, noticed in our article on LEITH. – The red friars pretended to be canons-regular, but were denied the title by many of their adversaries; and they variously bore the names of Matharines, from their house at Paris, which was dedicated to St. Matharine, of Trinity friars, and of friars ‘De Redemptione Captivorum,’ from their professing to redeem Christian captives from the Turks. Their houses were called hospitals or ministries, and their superiors ‘ministri;’ their mode of living was similar to that of the canons of St. Victor at Paris; their habit was white, with a red and blue cross patee upon their scapular; and one-third of their revenues was expended in ransoming captives. They were established by St. John of Malta, and Felix de Valois; their first Scottish foundation was erected in Aberdeen, by William the Lion; and they had in Scotland 6 monasteries in 1209, and 13 at the Reformation. – The Premonstratenses had their name from their principal monastery, Premonstratum, in the diocese of Laon in France; and were also called Candidus Ordo, because their garb was entirely white. They followed the rule of St. Augustine, a copy of which they fabled to have been delivered to them in golden letters by himself; and were founded by St. Norbert, an archbishop of Magdeburg, who procured for himself, and his successors in the see, the title of primate of Germany. Their monasteries in Scotland were six. – The Benedictines, or Black monks, had their names respectively from that of their founder, and from the colour of their habit. St. Benedict, or Bennet, was born at Nirsi, a town of Italy, about the year 480, and was the first who brought monachism into estimation in the west. Five orders who followed his rule had monasteries in Scotland. – The Black monks of Fleury had 3 Scottish monasteries; and took their name and origin from the abbacy of Fleury la Riviere, on the river Loire, in France. – The Tyronenses, the second order of Benedictines, had 6 Scottish monasteries; and took their name from their first abbey, Tyronium, or Tyron, in the diocese of Chartres in France, where they were settled in 1109, under the auspices of Betrou, Earl of Perche and Montagne. – The Cluniacences, the third order of Benedictines, had 4 monasteries in Scotland, and originated with Berno, who began to reform the Benedictines, or to frame some new constitutions, about the year 940, and who built a new abbey near Cluny, or Cluniacum, in Burgundy, 4 leagues from Macon. – The Cistertians, or Bernardines, the fourth order of Benedictines, had their names respectively from their first house and chief monastery at Cistertium, in Burgundy, and from St. Bernard, one of their earliest chief abbots, whose zeal succeeded in founding upwards of 160 monasteries. They originated in 1098, with Robert, abbot of Molesme, in the diocese of Langres in France; and were called White monks, in contradistinction to the other orders of Benedictines, and in consequence of retaining only the black cowl and scapular of St. Bennet, and having all the rest of their habit white. Of 30 provinces into which they were divided, Scotland was one, and it contained 13 of their monasteries. – The monks of Vallis-caulium, Vallis-olerum, or Valdes-cheux, were established in 1193, by Virard, at the place which gave them name, in the diocese of Langres, between Dijon and Autun; they were a professed reform of the Cistertians, and very austere; and they were introduced to Scotland, in 1230, by Malvoisin, bishop of St. Andrews, and had here 3 monasteries. – The Carthusian monks were established, in 1086, by Bruno, a doctor of Paris, and a canon of Rheims, in the wild mountains of Grenoble in France; they originated professedly in miracle, and manifestly in excessive superstition, and were characterized by very great austerities; they were introduced to England in 1180, but they had in Scotland only one monastery, founded near Perth, in 1429, by James I., after his captivity in England. – The Gilbertines were, in the first instance, all nuns; but they afterwards had accessions from the canons-regular, who were domiciled under the same roofs as the nuns, but in separate apartments. Gilbert, their founder, was born in the reign of William the Conqueror, and was the son of a gentleman of Normandy, and lord of Sempringham and Tynrington in Lincolnshire; and he is said to have spent all his substance and patrimony in such acts of charity as were dictated by his diseased religion, and particularly in converting distressed and poor young women into nuns of his order. The nuns were bound to observe constant silence in the cloister; and they were not admitted to their novitiate till they were 15 years of age, and could not be professed before having fully on their memory the psalms, hymns, and antiphona used in the Romish ritual. Though the Gilbertines had 21 houses in England, they had only one in Scotland, situated on the river Ayr, founded by Walter III., Lord High-steward of Scotland, and supplied with its nuns and canons from Syxle in Yorkshire. – The Templars, or Red friars, were an order of religious knights, and followed the rule of St. Augustine, and the constitution of the canons-regular of Jerusalem. They were established at Jerusalem in 1118, by Hugo de Paganis, and Gaufridus de Sancto Aldemaro; they professed to defend the temple and city of Jerusalem, to entertain Christian strangers and pilgrims, and to protect them while in Palestine; and they received from Baldwin II., king of Jerusalem, a residence in the vicinity of the temple, or its site, and thence had their name of Templars. To a white habit which, in every particular, distinguished their exterior, Pope Eugenius III. added a red cross of stuff sewed upon their cloaks; and from this they were called Red friars. They had enormous possessions, and numbered, throughout Christendom, upwards of 9,000 houses. In Scotland, they had houses, farms, or lands, in almost every parish; and, in particular, they possessed very many buildings in Edinburgh and Leith, and had upwards of 8 capital mansions in the country. They are believed to have been introduced to Scotland by David I.; those in this country and in England were under the government of one general prior; and, in common with all the other communities of their order, they were, in the year 1312, condemned for certain great crimes, by a general council held at Vienne in France, and were formally suppressed by Pope Clement V. – The Knights of St. John of Jerusalem closely resembled the Templars in professed character, and were a sort of noble military monks. Certain merchants of the city of Melphi, in the kingdom of Naples, who traded to Palestine, built, under permission of the Caliph of Egypt, a monastery and a church for the reception of Christian pilgrims, and paid the Caliph tribute for his protection; and they subsequently added two churches, dedicated respectively to the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene, and used them for the pompously charitable reception, the one of women, and the other of men. When Jerusalem was taken by Godfrey of Bouillon, Gerard of Martiques, a native of Provence in France, built, in 1104, a still larger church, and an hospital for pilgrims and the sick, and dedicated them to St. John. The soldier-monks of the original erections were put in possession of these buildings, and took from them the names of Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights-Hospitallers, and Johannites. After being expelled from Jerusalem by Saladin, they retired to the fortress of Margat in Phenicia, and subsequently settled, at successive epochs, at Acre or Ptolemais, and in the islands of Cyprus, Rhodes, and Malta; and in the last of these they continued, and from it took the name of the Knights of Malta, till their power was broken, and the island captured, during the last European war. They were inveterate and sturdy foemen of the Turks, and figure largely in the military history of the Ottoman empire. Their members, excepting some illegitimate sons of kings and princes, were all gentlemen, who proved by charters, or other authentic documents, their nobility of descent by both father and mother, for four generations. They took the three ordinary monastic vows, and wore a black habit, with a cross of gold, which had eight points. Their houses were called preceptories, and the principal officers in them preceptors. On the suppression of the order of Templars, the Knights of St. John got many of their Scottish lands and tenements, and, in consequence, are frequently confounded with them in Scottish history. Their chief dwelling in Scotland was at Torphichen in Linlithgowshire. When buildings belonging to them were feued out to seculars, they used great care that the cross of their order should constantly surmount the houses, in evidence that the possessors were subject to them, and were amenable only to their courts. The same practice was previously observed by the Templars; and it accounts for the great number of crosses which, till a late date, might have been seen, and which, in some instances, still exist, on the tops of old buildings in Edinburgh, Leith, and Linlithgow. – The Dominicans, or Black friars, have, for six centuries, been one of the most considerable of the Romish orders of regular clergy. They are often called Preaching friars, from the circumstance of their having longer attended to preaching than any of the other orders. They may preach anywhere without obtaining the permission of the bishops; they are allowed to confess all noblemen and ladies without the consent of their curates; and they everywhere administer the sacraments, and are exempted from all ecclesiastical censures. Their habit is a white gown and scapular. Their founder was St. Dominic, the infamous projector or institutor of the inquisition. This monster devoted himself and his followers to what he and his fellow- Romanists called the conversion of heretics; and he preached and conducted the earliest of the sanguinary crusades against the good and amiable Waldenses. The order was divided into 45 provinces; of which Scotland was the 18th, and contained 15 convents. Though they were professedly mendicants, they were found, at the breaking up of their Scottish communities, to have amassed in this country a shameful amount of property. – The Franciscans, or Grey friars, also professed mendicants, had their two leading names from their founder, and from the colour of their habit; and affected to assume the title of Friars Minors, or Minorites, as if deeming themselves the least or meanest of their function. Their founder was St. Francis of Assize in Italy, a merchant, and a consummately frantic fanatic, who flourished at the commencement of the 13th century; and their superiors were called Custodes or Wardens. They were divided into Conventuals and Observantines; the latter of whom were a reform, in 1419, by Bernardine of Sienna, and had their name from professing to observe St. Francis’ rule more strictly than the Conventuals, by always walking bare-footed, and not wearing any linen. The Conventuals were introduced to Scotland in 1219, and had 8 convents in the country. The Observantines were introduced by James I., in a colony from their vicar-general at Cologne, and had here 9 convents. – The Carmelites, or White friars, were the third order of wandering mendicants; and absurdly pretend to trace up their origin to the schools of the prophets in the age of Elijah. They have their second name from the colour of their outer garment; and their first from Mount Carinel in Syria, which abounds in dens, caves, and other sorts of hiding-holes, and was a favourite retreat both of some of the earliest anchorites under the Christian dispensation, and of numerous pilgrims during the period of the crusades. St. Louis, king of France, when returning from Palestine, brought some of the Mount Carmel ascetics to Europe, and gave them an abode in the outskirts of Paris. The Carmelites were divided into 32 provinces, of which Scotland was the 13th; and they were introduced to the country in the reign of Alexander III., and had here 9 convents. – The nuns of Scotland were few compared either with the Scottish male regulars, or with their own proportionate numbers in other lands. Those who followed the rule of Augustine had only two convents in this country, the one of Canonesses, and the other of Dominican nuns. The Benedictine, or Black nuns, followed the rule of Benedict, were founded by his sister St. Scholastica, and had in Scotland 5 convents. The Bernardine, or Cistertian nuns, likewise followed the rule of St. Benedict, and had 13 convents. The nuns of St. Francis, or Claresses, were founded by Clara, a lady of Assize in Italy, who received from St. Francis himself a particular modification of his rule, full of rigour and austerity; and they had in Scotland only two houses. – The Secular canons, or conventual bodies of the secular clergy, formed communities which were called Præposituræ, or Collegiate churches; and were governed by a dean or provost. Each collegiate church was instituted for performing religious service, and singing masses for the souls of the founder and patrons, or their friends; it was fitted up with several degrees or stalls which the officiates occupied for an orderly or systematic singing of the canonical hours; it had for its chapter, the governing dean or provost, and the other canons who bore the name of prebendaries; and, in general, it was erected either by the union and concentration in it of several parish churches, or by the union and concentration of several chaplainries instituted under one roof. The number of Collegiate churches in Scotland was 33. – Hospitals, for receiving strangers and travellers, or maintaining the poor and the infirm, were the lowest order of ecclesiastical establishments, and had the accompaniment of a church or chapel. Keith gives a list of 28 which existed in Scotland; but says he is convinced the list might be vastly augmented.
