ABBEYS OF SOUTHWEST SCOTLAND

Dundrennan Village and Abbey Ruins

My last post was on the more famous abbeys found in the Borders of Scotland that were developed at the behest of Kind David I of Scotland. Many were founded by the Cistercians who were an order founded by Robert of Molesme in 1098 at Citeaux Abbey, located south of Dijon, France. Their order was further influenced by St Bernard of Clairvaux. They received the nickname of the White Monks because they wore white robes often covered by a black apron. They founded their abbeys in remote areas and  embraced a lifestyle that reflected the life of St. Bernard which was austere. They encouraged a return to manual labor and were known for their well developed farms reflecting the importance of  field work to the Order.  

Dundrennan Abbey is located south east of Kirkcudbright, in inland from the Solway Firth. The Abbey was founded by King David I when he invited the Cistercian monks from Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire to develop an abbey at Dundrennan. The area was perfect for the  austere lifestyle of the monks. If one has been to this part of  Scotland, the area sports rolling hills and many farms inland as well as small fishing villages and an idyllic lifestyle.  The White Monks at Dundrennan were able to live there for almost 400 years before the advent of the Scottish Reformation.  The Abbey's farms were famous for wool, much like their neighboring abbeys; wool that was exported to the Continent that helped to boost the local economy. Historically, Mary Queen of Scots on May 15, 1568 spent her last night on Scottish soil at the Abbey before she sailed from what is now Port Mary, to England where she was imprisoned by Queen Elizabeth.

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After Scotland's Reformation, the abbey became the church for the locals well into the 1600's. The site became part of the State care and later the stones were sold to the city of Kirkcubrightshire maybe ten miles away. The local community of Dundrennan today (above)  is populated by approx. 230 people. However, the parish of Rerrick is much larger and the parish church is located just a block or so from Dundrennan Abbey. The graveyard at the Abbey still has burials for local familes. 

                                                     Monks rooms/Dundrennan Abbey

The little village is basically 2 blocks long and if you sneeze you will miss it. However, for me it is wonderful place to explore as it is my families stomping ground.  In 1852 my great great grandparents Isabella Mctaggart and William Clarke left this village to come to the US. Isabella was born on a farm (Flathill) just above the church and William was born on a neighboring estate, Barlocco which was estate of Sir Alexander McCartney. My g-g-g-grandmother Mary McCartney (Wm's mother)  may have been his "natural" daughter.  

Other local abbeys include: 

Crossraguel  Abbey  founded in 1244 by the Earl of Carrick.  After taking the monks at Paisley to court, monks came from Paisley Abbey  to run it. The monks were from the Cluniac order of Benedictines and were known as the Black Monks because of the color of the habits not their behavior. The name of the abbey may be derived from a former church that had a cross on the site, the site being named for a "royal cross".  The abbey is set near Maybole in Ayrshire and the area like much of the Southwest of Scotland was subject to the raids by the English including Henry Percy whose army was in the employ of Edward I and attacked the Abbey. There have been reports of manifestations of the former monks who still walk the ruins.

Glenluce Abbey founded in 1190 by the Roland, Lord of Galloway, was a Cistercian Abbey. It is a sister house to Dundrennan whose monks were sent to house Glenluce Abbey.  In 1200

the great Scottish Wizard Michael Scott was to have imprisoned  "the Plague" in the dungeons thus starving it to death. Like other abbeys it housed about 15 monks and many lay brethren. Like many of the abbeys today in the region it is a ruin, however the Chapter House ( from the 1500's) has been preserved in the 1990's to give the visitor an idea of what it was like.  At the Reformation those monks who embraced the new faith were allowed to stay. The site was then turned into a house and late a church manse, until 1933 when it became the property of the State and now Historic Scotland. 

Kilwinning Abbey is located in North Aryshire. There has been a Christian church on the site since the time of St. Columba and St Mungo and was the home to the Culdees of the Celtic Church.  A Benedictine house was built  by Sir Hugo de Morville, Constable of Scotland but others believe Richard de Morville (of the Becket murder fame) was the founder. However Hugo had a stronger claim because the land and security over the 

land was given to him by King David I. Benedictine monks from Kelso came to man the Abbey and quickly the life of the abbey and the surrounding community was flourishing with an income of 20.000 pounds sterling a year.  The Bishop who helped to write the Declaration of Arbroath, Bernard Linton, was buried here at this abbey although he never served here. The thought was because he was part of the same order as those monks at Arborath and because of his link with the Isle of Mann it seemed a likely place for his final resting place. 

Whithorn Priory  was founded by Fergus, Lord of Galloway in the 12th C however there has been an active church here for 16 centuries enduring  three phases of Christianity.  The first on the site was Candida Casa or the White House established by St Ninian who brought Christianity to Scotland about 390's before St Columba. There was also a trading port not far from Whithorn where the locals traded with both the Irish and the Isle of Mann which created a triangle of trade. Clearly this trade shows Scots of the region who were Britons (Welsh Celts) were involved with the Irish long before the Irish (Scoti)  who were later to be the Scots of the Highlanders showing the integration of the Irish language before the later Scots. When St Ninian died the site became a place of pilgrimages. 

In the 700's the area was Norse which added to their influence in language and culture.  But by 1128 the Norse were pushed out by the growing number of influences from the south and the Whithorn was re-established 1128.  This new emergence of Christian influence resulted in a cathedral and priory.  The final state of Christianity was the Scottish Reformation in 1560, which resulted in the lost of a bishopric and the disrepair of the cathedral as a place of workshop of the old faith. Through the 1600 and 1700's the site fell into ruins but in 1822 a new parish church was built on the site of the remaining east side of the cloister.  In 1800's the Marquess of Bute restored the site and excavated to find the original church of St Ninian. The site now houses the an excavation as well as a museum. 

                                                     Dumfrieshire/Scotland 

Sweetheart Abbey has a wonderfully romantic story at its origins. The Cistercian Abbey is located south of Dumfries at the edge of the West Marches of the border with England. In 1275 Dervorguilla, the daughter of Alan, Lord of Galloway, founded the abbey in honor of her husband, John Balliol, who founded the Balliol College at Oxford. While she was alive she carried his embalmed heart in a ivory/silver religious casket and when she died in 1290 it was buried with her at Sweetheart Abbey.  As a sister house of Dundrennan the abbey was built with local red sandstone bricks.  In honor of this lady the monks named it Sweetheart Abbey because of the love she had for her husband however the real name is New Abbey.   It is important to remember she is the mother of John Balliol, who was king of Scotland (Edward I's choice) from 1292 to 1286. Like many of the Cistercian Abbeys in Scotland the monks  introduced many new and innovative agricultural skills which developed and later improve the local economy and when they left after the Scottish reformation, the economy was well established for the locals and the landed gentry. 

During the many years of dispute with England, Kind Edward I was known to have stayed there and often this Abbey didn't meet the same ends as other Border Abbeys did when there was war with England.  Some believe he had a special connection to the Abbey but more often it was likely its location which was at the far west of  the West March.  Later it became under the protection of the Archibald "the grim" Douglas, a prominent family surname in this region for  throughout Scottish history.  At the time of the Reformation, the abbey was under the protection of Lord Maxwell who as a Catholic let the Abbot remain.  The Abbot was later imprisoned at Blackness Castle but when released he returned to Sweetheart for his goods which has been publicly burned in Dumfries. He was later exiled to France where he died.  The Abbey became part of the Historic Scotland  in 1928.  The graveyard is also the resting place of the founder of the Bank of England, William Paterson who died in 1719.

The next posting will be a feature on THE HERMITAGE in the Borders. 

King David I and Border Abbeys

Borders of Scotland: 
If we want to talk about the Borders of Scotland we can't help but discuss the economic impact that the early abbeys in the region had. From about 1100 ce forward the emergence of the border abbeys were a direct result of the work of King David I, the youngest son of King Malcolm and Queen Margaret. Many historians believe it is his love and devotion to his mother and her work to bring the Roman Church into being in Scotland that influenced his dedication to the growth of the Church's influence by building  the many abbeys and priories in the region. This growth of abbeys was not only within David's domain as he influenced others over the next couple of centuries to patronize other abbeys and collegiate churches. The second part of this look at the lowland abbeys of Scotland will discuss those in Galloway and Dumfries.

 

So who was King David? We know that many of the claimants to the throne of Scotland in the late 13th century be they the Balliols, the Bruces and even the Comyns claim kinship that goes back to King David. 

Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh, Scotland 

King David I ( reign 1124- May 24 1153) 

Born 1083/1085 Youngest son of King Malcolm III (Canmore) and Saint Margaret of England.  

Although he spent his youth in Scotland, he in was exiled in 1093 and became part of the court of Henry I of England and thus began his influence of Norman customs. Because of his time  in Henry's court, when Henry died and left his daughter Matilda as empress of England, David took her side in the conflict she had for the crown with Stephen. He returned to Scotland to become Prince 0f Cunbria from 1113- 1124 in large part it was Henry who convinced King Alexander to accept David's claim to the area of Cumbria which included most of the borders region of Scotland. David married,  at the behest of Henry I of England,  Maud of Huntington. This area he  was prince of included the present day  counties of Roxburgh, Selkirkshire, Berwickshire, Lanarkshire, and Peebleshire. He didn't have any control of the are of area of Dunfries and Galloway, the west marches. 

He followed his older brother Alexander I to the throne of Scotland in the spring of 1124 after a number of battles with Alexander's son Mael Coluim. As King he  was able to bring his lands of Southern Scotland and what is now the borders along with the Alexander's domain creating a greater Scotland (Alba) domain. And it was during his reign of King of Scotland where had the most influence creating the Davidian Revolution.   He began to encourage more Norman and Flemish  knights to come to the larger Scotland domain where he offered them land  and encouraged Flemish merchants  from Continent to relocate to Scotland.  He brought to Scotland  military feudalism, Scotland's first coinage, monasticism (abbeys) and created Royal Burghs. 

Royal Burghs: 

David created these Royal Burghs (cities) as both economic trading cents where the good/resources from his lands could be traded and as administrative districts. The first of these Royal Burghs was Berwick (Berwick on Tweed) to be followed by Stirling, Dunfermline, Aberdeen, Perth and Scone.  The King's land in these areas were overseen by a Sheriff, they were initially located at Roxburgh, Scone, Berwick, Stirling and Perth. 

Feudalism

David encouraged Norman and Flemish Knights to relocate to Scotland and offered them land in return to military service to him. The de Brus ( Bruce) family came to Scotland and were granted the land at Annadale in the Borders.  This created the arrival of feudalism to Scotland at least in the military sense. 

Coinage: 

He owned a silver mine in his English lands and mined it to create Scotland's first coinage. This creation of coinage was  used to link the economic growth of Scotland to the government of Scotland. The use of coinage in trade, always keeping the image of the king  and his power in front of those who used the coinage, which helped to create the economic growth of the country both within and as the exchange of goods from the continent with that of Scotland.   A large part of the export of goods to the continent was wool, wool from the sheep from the herds of the abbeys in the Borders. 

Monasticism

David was often referred to as the "Saint", due in large part to the influence his mother made on him spiritually. It was St Margaret who brought a stronger influence of the Roman Catholic Church to Scotland who were Christians but adhered to the Celtic version still. David in honor of his mother's dedication to the Church had built  a number of abbeys. The first of which was when he was Prince of Cumbria in 1113, the Selkirk Abbey, which house the grey monks of the order of Tironensians.   During his reign he was patron of 15 monasteries in the lowlands of Scotland. These brought learned men to Scotland from the continent which helped to Europeanize Scotland, they also brought new agriculture practices that were employed. These e Abbeys were now no longer just spiritual centers but were also economic centers for an area and for the Church and to a degree the crown. Wool was the number one export from abbeys in the Borders and the Lothians and Scotland was the most important supplier of wool to the continent. It is because of this early trade that economy of the lowlands of Scotland was able to survive during hard times, especially during the clearance of the early 1700's in the lowlands.

Abbeys of the Borders: 

Melrose Abbey

A church has been on this 

spot in Scotland since 650 CE. St Cuthbert is believed to have grown up in the borders of Scotland and was one of the first to serve at Melrose (Mailros) and later served at Durham, where he became their most beloved saint. In 839 the Scottish King, Kenneth McAlpin destroyed Mailros.  In 1136 King David brought monks from an English abbey at Rievaulx, which was a Cistercian Abbey and a Norman styled abbey was built. Melrose quickly became one of the wealthiest abbeys in Scotland, by the 1300's it was thought they had a herd of sheep which total in excess of 15,000.  Set so close to the borders with England the abbey was victim to many raids: Edward I of England in 1296 and Edward II in 1322. King Robert Bruce  rebuilt the abbey. It was destroyed again by Richard II  

and was ransacked during the period of "Rough Wooing" in the mid 1500's. It was deserted at the time of the Reformation in 1560 however it was used by locals as a church until 1810. Many visitors visit Melrose even though it now a ruin because of the beauty of the gardens and richness of the remaining architecture. Also others come in pilgrimage to pay honor to one of Scotland's greatest kings, Robert Bruce whose heart his buried at Melrose.  However, his body is buried under the pulpit at the abbey at Dunfermline. 

Jedburgh Abbey

Jedburgh  was founded in 1138 and was home to Augustinian Monks in the Middle March close to the Scottish and English border. The monks came from St Quentin Abbey in France. Jedburgh originally was a priory in 1154. Monastic live wascontinually disturbed because of the border conflicts with the English. In 1258 Alexander III  married his second wife at Jedburgh Abbey. Edward I lodged his entourage when he had come to Scotland to pillage Scotland in 1296. The abbey was saved from damage during the "Rough Wooing" in 1544.  And a new church was built with in the Nave in 1688-1670 but in 1875 a new parish church was built in another location. The demise of monastic life happened with the Scottish Reformation in 1560 when it became a 

church of the new faith. The abbey introduced new agricultural methods and was a center of live to the community and surrounding  area. The abbey is a ruin now but the naive and the transepts are still standing.  

Dryburgh Abbey 

This abbey was not patronized by King David but by Sir Hugh de Moreville,  constable of Scotland, in 1150 and was home to the Premonstratensain Order which was found in France in 1120. Sir Hugh became a monk at the order before his death. The abbey was located on the banks of the River Tweed and like other abbeys was often at the mercy of the Borders wars and reivers. In 1322 it was destroyed by the English, and rebuilt only be destroyed again by Richard II in 1385 and was a constant victim to the battles of the "Rough Wooing in the mid 1500's. At the time of the reformation the cannons accepted the new faith, setting aside the Catholic Church. The ruin abbey is the final resting place of a son of the Borders, Sir Walter Scott in 1832

Kelso Abbey

The abbey was established in 1128 when the monks of the Tironsensian from Selkirk came to the area  and established a new abbey. It took them 75 years to build and like most of the abbeys in the Border Region it took the a beating from the Scottish War of Independence in the late 13th and early 14th century.  It took a terrible beating during the "Rough Wooing'  and was not restored especially when  15 years later Scotland experienced its Reformation. In the 1600's it was made into a parish church until the mid 1700's when a new local church was built. As with a number of the abbeys the stones were removed for local building creating further destruction of the abbey which was not a ruin. Today the ruin is administered by Historic Scotland. 

Holyrood Abbey 

In 1126 King David established an abbey at as act of thanksgiving when he survived the attack of a hart (a red deer) on Holy Cross Day and apparently he saw a cross between the antlers of the deer and took that as a sign to build the abbey in thanksgiving at being saved. The abbey was established for the cannons regular at St Andrews, who were Augustinian Monks. The church  

relic was a piece of the true Cross that his mother brought to Scotland. This relic was referred to as the Black Rood of Scotland. Unfortunately it was taken by the English in one of their many raids into Scotland and taken to Durham, but at the Reformation in both countries it disappeared.  The Abbey which is now a ruin that is located next to Holyrood Palace, which was completed in the early 1501. 

Holyrood Abbey has seen the birth of kings, (James II), crownings (Queen Mary, wife to James II) and the marriage of James III and Mary, Queen of Scots and Lord Darnley in 1565. Although not located on the Borders like the other abbeys, Holyrood was sacked by unruly Protestant reformers as the behest of John Knox in 1567. The Abbey ruins that stand today in the same location of the original site were built by Charles II in 1670.  In 1667 James II created the Order of the Thistle and the nave of the abbey was created into a chapel for the Order. Although the abbey is a ruin located to the Holyrood Palace, the surrounding gardens and park are a favorite location for both the visitor and the locals to enjoy. 

Next posting will include the other abbeys of Dumfries and Galloway.