JACOBITE STRONGHOLD
9F THE CHURCH
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FRDM-THE- LIBRARYOF
TRJNITYCOLLEGETORDNTO
A JACOBITE STRONGHOLD
OF THE CHURCH
A Jacobite Stronghold
of the Church
Being the Story of Old St. Paul s, Edinburgh : its Origin
on the Disestablishment of Episcopacy in Scotland, 1689,
through Jacobite years onward to the Oxford Movement ;
and its Relation to the Scottish Consecration in 1784 of
the first Bishop of the American Church
BY
MARY E. INGRAM
Mark well her bulwarks, set np her houses, that ye may
tell them that come after."
EDINBURGH
R. GRANT & SON
107 PRINCES STREET
1907
[All rights reserved]
"BX
7o
Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON &* Co.
At the Ballantyne Press
006
12
APR 1 1 1988
Frontispiece
PREFACE
LITTLE, it may be thought, considering the wealth of
literature upon the subject, remains to be said of
Edinburgh s historic past, that perpetually fascinating
theme, wherein religion and politics are never far
asunder.
Yet there is one aspect of it that has as yet been
only glanced at, and that is, the remarkably interest
ing connection between the Jacobite party and the
old Episcopal Church of the land, which chose, at
the Revolution of 1689, to be disestablished and
disendowed rather than deny its sworn allegiance
to the absent King James VII.; and in Edinburgh it
is the congregation of St. Paul s in Carrubber s Close,
claiming, as it does, unbroken descent from that
ejected from St. Giles in 1689, that has preserved
through the centuries the memory of that heroic
stand. This is why, while deeply impressed with
the evolution of the present sanctuary, the home of
so much that is beautiful in worship and work, from
the despised meeting-house in which the evicted
worshippers took refuge so long ago, I, who have
ties with both, have chosen to dwell at greater length
on the earlier part of its history. Round that
VI
PREFACE
history, now for the first time attempted to be fully
told, cluster many brave and gallant memories of the
Scottish Nonjurors, among whom were to be found
some of the noblest and best of the land.
This " meeting-house " may truly be described as
their rendezvous, and from it the network of intrigue
spread far and wide. Pathetic and quaint recollec
tions of the risings of 1715 and 1745, and all that
came after, are intertwined with its story, while
through the years of gloom and oppression that
followed, and the gradual lifting of the cloud as nobler
counsels prevailed, there are never wanting some
features of interest in the famous personalities of
those who, in some way or another, were connected
with it. Among these the name of Samuel Seabury,
the first Bishop of the American Church, holds an
honoured place, and many distinguished in literature,
science, and medicine, especially the latter, are not
wanting, while in the long roll of clergy who have
ministered within its walls there are names that will
not die.
Very scanty records remain of the early days, and
the loss, some years ago, of a collection of papers
made for historical purposes by a gentleman now
deceased, has made my task more difficult. All
available authorities have been consulted, and I have
tried to do my best to ensure accuracy. To all who
have aided me with information and advice I return
my grateful thanks. I should especially wish to
PREFACE vii
thank the Bishop of Edinburgh, the Rev. A. E.
Laurie, Rector of Old St. Paul s, for permitting free
access to the books and papers of the Church ; the
Revs. J. B. Craven and J. W. Harper; Mr. A.
Francis Steuart, Advocate, who has assisted me with
his notes, and with the correction of my proofs ;
Mr. James Steuart, W.S., and the Rev. John
Anderson, Curator of the Historical Department,
H.M. Register House. I have also to thank the
Rev. P. M. Herford for his kindness in permitting
me to reproduce the engraving of the Rev. William
Harper in his possession. Conscious of many short
comings, I yet hope that this little contribution to our
knowledge of bygone days may add one stone to the
cairn in memory of those who have gone before.
MARY E. INGRAM.
EDINBURGH, Martinmas 1906.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
1689-1710
PAGE
Revolution of 1689 Disestablishment of the Episcopal Church-
Bishop Alexander Rose His Life and Death I
CHAPTER II
1454-1720
Carrubber s Close and its Associations Property anciently
dedicated to Service of God The Founding of the Chapel
Sir Robert Sibbald Thomas Kincaid . . . . 13
CHAPTER III
1720-1735
Some Early Clergy of the Church Bishops Cant and Gillan
The Revs. Patrick Middleton and Wm. Harper ... 23
CHAPTER IV
1720-1745
Notable Members of the Congregation Mr. Thomas Ruddiman
The Countess of Eglinton, &c. Entries from the Old
Register 33
CHAPTER V
1745-1748
Lettters to Prince Charles John Macnaughton Imprisonment
of the Rev. T. Drummond Battles of Prestonpans and
Culloden Sir Stuart Threipland 43
x CONTENTS
CHAPTER VI
1745-1786
PAGE
Closing of the Chapels Penal Laws List of Clergy Bishop
Seabury Dr. N. Spens Death of Rev. W. Harper . . 61
CHAPTER VII
1785-1806
John Wesley in Scotland Dr. Webster Organ Introduced in
the Chapel Extension of the Chapel List of Trustees
Death of Prince Charles Prayer offered for the Reigning
House Alexander Campbell Organist Opening of St.
Peter s Repeal of the Penal Statutes Death of Dr. Webster 75
CHAPTER VIII
1806-1842
Rev. Simon Reid Lady Nairn Keith of Ravelston Revs.
Messrs. Elstob and Craig, Henderson, &c. First Hymn
Book Dean Ramsay, &c 91
CHAPTER IX
1842-1883
Beginning of the Oxford Movement in Scotland Rev. J. Alex
ander Founding of St. Columba s Days of Trial Changes
of Clergy Meeting-house taken down Homeless Days
Building of New Church 100
CHAPTER X
1883-1906
The Rev. Canon Mitchell Innes Mission by Dean Montgomery
Extensions of the Church Development of the Services
and Organisation Appointment of the present Rector
Completion of the Church and Dedication Service Descrip
tion of the Building 108
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PORTRAIT OF THE REV. WILLIAM HARPER . Frontispiece
OLD CHURCH IN CARRUBBER S CLOSE . . To face page 20
PORTRAIT OF SIR STUART THREIPLAND . 53
INTERIOR OF NEW CHURCH . . . 117
A JACOBITE STRONGHOLD
OF THE CHURCH
(OLD ST. PAUL S, EDINBURGH)
CHAPTER I
1689-1720
Revolution of 1689 Disestablishment of the Episcopal
Church Bishop Alexander Rose His Life and Death
THE history of this, the oldest Episcopal congrega
tion in Edinburgh, has an interest very much its
own, not only because it exhibits the continuity of
the ancient Church of Scotland in our midst, but its
far-reaching memories are closely intertwined with
the last romance of Scotland, the pathetic fortunes
of the exiled Stuart race so closely, indeed, that it
is difficult, nay impossible, to disentangle them.
It is quite in keeping with the city s historic past,
and its golden store of old associations, that in the
old High Street, at the very heart of things, should
have been preserved the ancient meeting-place of
the loyal Episcopalians, their rallying - ground for
many weary years, and still one of the strongest
centres of Church life in Scotland. For here, in
A
2 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
"Corribor s Close" on the north side of the High
Street a little below St. Giles Church, stood till
1880 the old building, with a stone tablet above
the door bearing the date 1689, into which, it has
always been believed, Bishop Alexander Rose of
Edinburgh retired with his flock from St. Giles
when the Revolution of 1688-89 caused the dis
establishment of the Church. Here the congrega
tion continued to worship till old age rendered the
building unsafe, and upon the same site was erected
the present noble Church of Saint Paul, one of the
most beautiful in Scotland, where the congregational
life goes on with ever-increasing vigour and earnest
ness. Many hastily fitted up chapels or meeting
houses sheltered the scattered Episcopalians in the
unhappy olden times, but only the memory of these
remains ; even the very closes that held them have
in some cases been swept away in the march of
city " improvements," while this, the " most con
siderable," is the sole survivor.
In order to understand the circumstances of the
Scottish Church at the time our story begins, it may
be well to recall the historical facts. The weariful
course of religious strife and the unhappy policy of
King James II. had opened the way for the descent of
his Protestant son-in-law, Prince William of Orange,
on the English shores an event regarded on the
one hand as a deliverance, and on the other as an
invasion. King James departure to France was
taken, by those to whom the wish was father to the
thought, as an abdication of the throne, which was
speedily offered to and accepted by Prince William
REVOLUTION OF 1689 3
and his wife Princess Mary. But there were many
who would not thus transfer their allegiance from
their anointed king, and held fast to him, and to his
son and grandson after him ; and nowhere did the
flame of loyalty to the ancient Stuart race burn more
brightly than in their native Scotland. " Many
waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods
drown it," and dearly loved, spite of all their faults,
have the Stuart sovereigns ever been.
The Scottish bishops, who had always professed
loyalty to King James, on hearing of the arrival of
William of Orange, deputed two of their number,
the Bishops of Edinburgh and Orkney, to proceed
to London to find out how matters stood. The
Bishop of Orkney being ill and unable to go, Bishop
Alexander Rose of Edinburgh took the long and
weary journey alone, no doubt much perplexed by
the rumours he met with by the way. Arriving in
London he found the Prince of Orange in possession,
King James having retired to France. After many
anxious consultations with the English bishops and
others who gave him to understand that, unless the
Scottish Church would support the prince in his
enterprise, his interest would be given to the Presby
terians the bishop was afforded a very brief inter
view with William, who " hoped he would be kind
to him, and follow the example of England." Bishop
Rose was, as he tells us, " difficulted " to know how
to reply, since when he left Scotland no such
upheaval was expected as had taken place. His
answer, however, was unflinching. " Sir, I will
serve you so far as law, reason, and conscience will
4 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
permit." This was enough ; the prince turned away
without a word, and Episcopacy in Scotland was
henceforward deprived of State support. The bishop
has been censured by some for his action at this
juncture, but there can be no question of his
honourable fidelity to his consecration vows, and
through poverty and obscurity and anxious trials,
bravely and sweetly borne, he maintained the same
upright character. His brethren in Scotland adhered
to the same policy, notwithstanding all that followed.
Presently the Scottish Convention of Estates, de
claring Prelacy to be a "great and unsupportable
grievance," ordered that all ministers of the gospel
should pray for William and Mary, as King and
Queen, or be deposed from their charges, and this
regulation was strictly carried out. Many of the
Episcopal clergy, refusing to conform, were driven
ruthlessly from their churches, sometimes under
circumstances of considerable hardship. The ejec
tions in Edinburgh were effected quietly, rioting
being prevented by the members of the College
of Justice, who appeared in arms in defence of the
clergy. It is unfortunate that the records of these
proceedings were destroyed by fire, so we are
unable to record any particulars of what took place.
Legislation pressed heavily on the dispossessed
Church, but this, it must be distinctly understood,
was on political and not on religious grounds.
There were far more Episcopalians throughout
Scotland at this time than is commonly supposed,
and William of Orange had no particular animosity
against them, so that had they chosen to acknow-
CLERGY FORBIDDEN TO OFFICIATE 5
ledge him as their sovereign the State establishment
of Episcopacy would in all probability have been
peaceably maintained in Scotland as in England.
Yet can we regret the spirit that led them to
" endure hardness " in obedience to their rightful
king ? Surely not ! and thereby was achieved,
though they knew it not, the spiritual independence
of the Church, a blessing which in these latter days
we are coming more and more to appreciate. The
Church was thrown back to its primitive simplicity
as a spiritual kingdom, though much was to
come and go ere that lesson could be learned.
Bishop Sandford in after years prayed that the
Church in England might never be, as her sister in
Scotland had been, "reduced to first principles,"
but may not that have been a blessing in disguise ?
To return to our story. In 1695 the deposed
clergy were forbidden to perform baptisms or
marriages under penalty of imprisonment, and that
this was no idle threat the following extract from the
Edinburgh Courant of iQth July 1708 will prove:
"Upon Saturday, i/th July 1708, five ministers
of the Episcopal persuasion were imprisoned by the
magistrates for exercising the Ministerial Function
within the Liberties of the City when they had
not qualified themselves to the Government, neither
did they own before the magistrates that they
prayed for the Queen. They had been sentenced
on 1 3th March last to find caution against a certain
day byegone under the pain of being imprisoned,
but none of them could Refuse they had exercised
part of the Ministerial Function since they were
6 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
sentenced. Wherefore they were committed to
Prison."
One of these five was the Rev. Andrew Cant,
afterwards one of the clergy of Old St. Paul s. In
an old pamphlet we read that the " Meeting-houses
were even blocked up, and he made a fair Shift
that could keep his own dwelling-house quietly.
They of them that had the courage to creep out
on the Lord s Day for officiating in Public Worship,
were soon provided of a Stone Doublet in the Heart
of Lothian, witness Messrs. Cant, Abercrombie,
Wingate, &c. The rest saved themselves by
scampering, while Sergeants and Soldiers of the
Town Guard visited their houses." a We are not told
whether Bishop Rose was one of the " scamperers,"
but his name never appears among the prosecuted.
Whether this was owing to royal favour, or to
his own prudence and sweetness of disposition, or
to both, we cannot tell. We read of him frequently
celebrating the Holy Communion, and being ready
whenever required to administer Confirmations, even
oftener than six times in one forenoon.
Queen Anne s accession had brought high hopes to
the Jacobite party, as she was well known to have
friendly feelings towards her exiled relatives, and to
be a staunch Churchwoman. It is one of the prized
traditions of Old St. Paul s that she patronised their
chapel, and that upon the passing of the Act of
Toleration in 1712, devised to afford some relief to
1 Answer to Queries upon Address of Scottish Episcopal Clergy in
Edinburgh. Presented to Her Majesty, 1713. Published by James
Watson.
THE RISING OF 1715 7
the oppressed Scots clergy, she presented them with
an organ. This fact is confidently asserted in a
memoir of Dr. Charles Webster, who was incumbent
of the chapel in 1774. Possibly the Queen retained
some friendly recollection of the city from the days
when as Princess Anne, she assisted at the entertain
ments at Holyrood, during her father s brief Court
there while Duke of York, when his wife introduced
the novel beverage of tea to the Edinburgh ladies.
Sir Robert Sibbald, whose connection with the chapel
will be referred to later, was knighted by James at
that time, acting as the King s Commissioner. No
doubt the chapel in Carrubber s Close shared in the
gifts of prayer-books sent down so liberally from
England during Queen Anne s reign. The Act of
Toleration brought little relief except to the clergy
who took the oaths to Government, and the death of
Queen Anne arid the accession of George I. put an
end to many expectations.
Soon followed the obscure rising of 1715, in
which so many Episcopalians took part that George I.
adopted more stringent measures against them,
ordering in 1716 that all the meeting-houses in
Edinburgh where he was not prayed for were to
be closed. Bishop Rose was at the same time de
prived of a pension he had enjoyed from Government
out of old Church funds, and it was given to the
Rev. George Barclay, a clergyman who had taken
the oaths to Government. 1 This deprivation was
probably owing to the fact that a son of Bishop
Rose, along with the Bishop of Dunblane s son, had
1 Scots Courant, November 1 6, 1716.
8 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
taken part in the rising. Bishop Rose wrote to the
Bishop of Carlisle, where his son lay imprisoned,
sleeping on straw, as he awaited his trial, soliciting
his kind offices on the young man s behalf; but all
in vain the Bishop of Carlisle would not bestir him
self even to visit the poor young fellow, much less
intercede for him. It was considered an extenuating
circumstance if prisoners had been influenced by
their parents or followed their masters, so young
Rose was left by this unfriendly prelate entirely
" to God s mercy and the king s," 1 as he considered
that the two bishops sons had been " bred up to
rebellion, as ever moss-trooper s children were bred
up to stealing," and as much led by their fathers " as
if the two prelates had gallopped before them into
the battle." Happily God s mercy and the king s
prevailed, and young Rose was set at liberty. With
what heartfelt sympathy must good Bishop Rose
have compiled the prayer he issued at this time to
his clergy to be used " for the prisoners condemned
to die." 2 Notwithstanding these anxious home cares
the Scottish bishops were at this time engaged along
with the English Nonjurors in discussing the possi
bilities of union with the great churches of the East
an interesting project, which however, in view of
apparently insurmountable difficulties, had to be aban
doned, 3 but has in our day again come to the front.
Bishop Alexander Rose belonged to the ancient
1 MS. Letters, British Museum.
2 Stephen s EccL Mag., vol. v. p. 222. Chambers " Threiplands
of Fingask," p. 15.
3 Stephen s "Hist. Scot. Ch.," vol. ii. pp. 482-84.
BISHOP ROSE AND HIS FAMILY 9
family of the Roses of Kilravock in the north of
Scotland, and married Euphame Threipland, daughter
of Patrick Threipland of Fingask, a family henceforth,
as we shall see, closely connected with the fortunes
of the chapel in Carrubber s Close. The son just
mentioned was one of a large family who are all
said to have pre-deceased their father.
The bishop s marriage and the names of his
children are all entered upon the fly-leaf of his
prayer-book, now in the Mclntosh Library at Dun-
keld, as follows :
" I was married with Euphame Threipland, Aprile
27, 1676, at Kilspindie.
Patrick was Born, Deer. 31, 1677, at Perth.
Alexr. was Born, Janr. 2, 1679, at Perth.
Arthur was Born, Septr. 22, 1681, at Perth.
Dd. Aprile 8, 1700.
Euphame was Born, Deer. 4th, 1683, at Glasgow.
Barbara was Born, Febr. 1685, at Glasgow.
John was Born, Apryl 30, 1687, at Glasgow.
Anna was Born, May 9th, 1689, at Edinburgh.
James was Born, Febr. 29th, 1692, at Leith, in
the Citiedale.
David was Born, March 2d, 1694, at Edinr., in
ye Canongate.
Alexr. was Born, Apryl i9th, 1696, at Edinr., in
ye Canongate.
Charles was Born, Octr. 4th, 1698, at Edinr., in
ye Canongate."
This book was in the possession of Bishop Forbes
of Leith. At his death, in 1775, Bishop Charles Rose,
io OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
nephew of Bishop Alexander Rose, purchased it, and
at his death, in 1789, it was purchased by the Rev.
D. Macintosh, whose library is now preserved at
Dunkeld. Bishop Alexander Rose s alliance with the
Threipland family, so many generations of which
were connected with the chapel in Carrubber s Close,
gives strong reason for believing that the commonly
accepted story of his having ministered there after
his ejection from St. Giles is correct. Such a story
could not fail to be handed on by those so closely
connected, and so warmly interested in the common
cause. If this is so, then three generations of
that family have married clergymen of the chapel,
carrying down its tradition till well on in the
nineteenth century. Chambers, who was quite in
touch with the Episcopalians of his time, gives it
unhesitatingly.
Certain relics of the bishop were preserved at
Fingask his seal and ring, also a prayer-book pre
sented by him to one of the ladies of the family.
Patrick Threipland, the bishop s nephew, who was
born the day before the battle of Killiecrankie, was
baptized by him. The bishop graduated M.A. at
King s College, Aberdeen, and held charge at Perth,
becoming Bishop of Edinburgh 1687, and after the
death of his uncle, Archbishop Ross of St. Andrews,
in 1704, acted as Primus. In the words of Bishop
Gillan, who was at St. Paul s some years later, he
" Governed the Church in these most Difficult and
Dangerous Times with wonderful Prudence and
Conduct, and who, for all the other Vertues that
can adorn a Gentleman, or a Scholar, a Christian
DEATH OF BISHOP ROSE n
or a Bishop, is deservedly esteemed and revered by
all Persons and all Parties." l
His home is believed to have been in the Canongate
of Edinburgh, but the house is not known. He
died in 1720 at his sister s house in the old White-
horse Close, off the Canongate, where the window
of his room can be seen above one of the entrances,
and was buried, it is supposed, in Lord Balmerino s
tomb in the little old churchyard at Restalrig out
side the city, where the last religious service might
be paid without molestation. No stone marks the
spot where the good bishop was laid to his rest,
but it is hoped that, in the church so long connected
with his name, some memorial of one to whom it
and the whole Church in Scotland owe so deep a
debt may find a fitting place. His funeral sermon,
published anonymously, and preached by we know
not who, concludes thus quaintly :
" Now alas, who can refrain from dropping a tear ?
his silver Locks that were graceful are laid in the
Dust ; now the beautiful and odoriferous ROSE (that
adorned the Mitre, and was the greatest Ornament of
our Church) is dropt into the grave and mingled with
the earth. . . . And now I conclude my Discourse
with that excellent prayer in our own Scotch Liturgy
for Christ s Church, We bless Thy Holy Name, for
all these Thy servants who having finished their
Course in Faith do rest from their Labours. "
An Act of Parliament passed in 1719 had
prohibited the clergy from officiating in houses
where more than nine persons in addition to the
1 Gillan s" Life of Sage."
12 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
family were present, under penalty of imprisonment
and closing of the meeting-house. Though this was
not always rigorously enforced, the risk must have
been great, and accounts for the extreme secrecy
observed, and the very slender records that have
come down to us. The earliest register of Old St.
Paul s that is known to exist does not begin till 1735,
and even long after that there are many gaps that
can only be partially filled up from outside sources.
Let us now turn to the meeting-place of the
dispossessed congregation.
CHAPTER II
1454-1720
Carrubber s Close and its Associations Property anciently
dedicated to Service of God The Founding of the
Chapel Sir Robert Sibbald Thomas Kincaid
CARRUBBER S CLOSE lies on the north side of the
High Street, a little below " Christ s Church of the
Tron," and was one of the widest of the many alleys
opening off that historic thoroughfare, which drew
forth so many tributes of admiration from foreign
visitors in olden times. A quaint street it must
have been ere the handsome old timber-fronted, high-
peaked houses were replaced by the barrack-like
structures we now deplore. No North Bridge had
then broken through the serried ranks of tall dwell
ings, pierced only by the narrow openings that gave
upon the green fields and blue waters. Next above
" Corribor s " was Halkerston s Wynd, now swept
away, whose name-father is believed to have died,
sword in hand, at the end of the close, defending
the city from the pitiless onslaughts of the English
invaders in 1544; and, in the valley beneath, the
turbid waters of the Nor Loch still lapped the
steep slopes.
Gray s Close, on the farther side, had a memory of
certain foundations disclosed during excavations, of
13
i 4 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
thick walls running east and west, that may have been
a chapel ; 1 but if so, all memory of it has perished,
this part of the town having suffered severely during
the war referred to. Still, one may cherish the hope
that " the place whereon thou standest is holy
ground " even from those far-away days.
At the head of Carrubber s Close stood till 1814,
when it was burned down, the handsome old mansion-
house of Archbishop Spottiswoode, built in 1578;
the lintel of which, bearing the favourite inscription,
" Blissit . be God for all His . Giftis . 1578," is
said by Wilson to be built into the wall of Gray s Close
adjoining. If so, it is now undecipherable. From
its handsome brass balcony the archbishop used to
bless the crowds that thronged the " Hie and Great
Street," and it was he who crowned Charles I. at
Holyrood, the last Scots coronation, save when a
humbler scion of Carrubber s Close crowned a later
Charles with a fading wreath of laurel leaves ! A
tablet on the wall of Carrubber s Close marks the site
of the archbishop s dwelling, and a short close adjoin
ing is the Bishop s Close to this day, and the buildings
at the top were entitled the " Bishop s Land."
Although clean it probably was not, still Carrub
ber s Close was considered a most aristocratic locality,
and contained many fine houses. It was famous,
among other associations, as the home of the drama
in Edinburgh. After the cessation of the theatri
cals in the Canongate, we find a certain Signora
Violante bringing, in 1718, a troupe of performers
here, and in 1736 Allan Ramsay, whose picturesque
1 Wilson s "Memorials of Old Edinburgh."
THE FOUNDERS OF THE CHURCH 15
house hard by was only lately taken down, opened
here his ill-starred theatre, so soon suppressed by the
" unco guid " among the magistracy of the day.
Concerning the " meeting-house " of St. Paul s, the
tradition has been handed down that an old gentle
man in ill-health, living in the Close, gave the use of
a room in his property opposite, for the purpose of
Divine service, which he was able to enjoy hearing
through an open door or window. Who this bene
volent Churchman can have been it is impossible to
decide ; the Church books have references to one
Thomas Kinkaid " of blessed memory," who is said
to have been the founder, and there is no doubt that
the property was purchased in 1741 from the
trustees of " Thomas Kinkaid, formerly of Auchin-
reoch," who died in 1729. But the tradition may
refer to an earlier Thomas Kinkaid of Auchinreoch,
a chirurgeon-apothecary in Edinburgh, who died in
1691, and who, according to his gorgeous Latin
epitaph in the Greyfriars Churchyard, was a man
of great goodness of character. Before 1700 the
property belonged to Sir Robert Sibbald of Kipps,
one of the founders of the Royal College of Physi
cians, first Professor of Medicine in the Univer
sity of Edinburgh, and author of several scientific
works, who himself dwelt in the uppermost floor of
one of the tenements. This fact, together with Sir
Robert s own religious history, leads one to suppose
that he may have been the good Samaritan who
sheltered the wounded Church. Originally an Epis
copalian, he was led by the Duke of Perth s influ
ence, while on a visit to Drummond Castle, to
1 6 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
embrace the Romish faith. He was accused of
doing this to secure the favour of James II., who
had knighted him at Holyrood in 1682, but he
appears to have been perfectly sincere. He was
mobbed, however, and his furniture thrown into the
garden behind his house, and finding that " spighte "
prevailed against him he went in a coach with
Claverhouse to Holyrood, and afterwards to London
for a time. Becoming convinced of his mistake,
he returned to his old communion in 1686,
was received back by the Bishop of Edinburgh,
and henceforth, as he tells us, " kept his Parish
Church." 1 In later years his name appears among
the defenders of Bishop Rose against certain accusa
tions made against him in the administration of
charitable funds for the deposed clergy. He died
in 1722, and is buried in Greyfriars Churchyard.
In 1700 he disposed of his property in Carrubber s
Close to Thomas Kinkaid (the younger), formerly
of Auchinreoch, and from his trustees, as was
said before, the congregation purchased their place
of worship in 1741. This Thomas Kinkaid is
most probably the elegant Latin scholar whose poems
are preserved among the archives of the Royal
Archers, and in a small collection published by Rud-
diman, including poems by Dr. Pitcairn and some
kindred worthies. Another tradition has it that the
services were first held in a house belonging to one
of the evicted bishops, but there is no evidence of
this, and it may be a confusion with the " Bishop s
Land " previously referred to.
1 Sibbald s Autobiography.
REVENUES DEDICATED TO CHURCH 17
The title-deeds of the Church property show that
it belonged " of old to the Lauders of the Bass/ that
distinguished family who gave so many of their best
to Church and State, and evidently came into their
possession through Agnes Faulaw, widow of William
de Carabris, after whom the Close is believed to be
named.. He was bailie in Edinburgh in 1454-55,
after which he must have died, and his widow married
Robert Lauder of the Bass. By her certain of the
revenues were dedicated to the Church, as appears
from the following extract :
"In 1491 James IV. confirms a mortification by
Agnes Faulaw, spouse of Robert Lauder of Bass,
of fifteen merks from tenements in Edinburgh and
Leith, for masses at the altar of the Virgin Mary in
the Parish Church of St. Andrew the Apostle in
North Berwick, for the soul of King James III. and
her late husband William Carreboris. It is made
with her present husband s consent, and sealed with
his seal at Le Craig on the 2Oth October 1491." ]
This property, the revenues from which would of
course be alienated at the Reformation, is evidently
the same, " on the north Syde of the King s Hie
Street, with the Bishop of Glasgow s house on the
east," which has passed, through the various hands
mentioned, into the possession of St. Paul s. And
it is not only wonderful that as the old Crag of the
Bass was the last fortress in Britain to fly the flag
of King James, so this other possession of the Lauders
1 Reg. Gr. Seal, 1424, No. 2068. Quoted in Mrs. Stewart Smith s
"Grange of St. Giles," p. 178. Inventory of Pious Donations,
Advocates Library.
i8 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
should treasure the same allegiance ; nor even that
the name of an earlier King James should live in the
Church s annals along with the old forgotten founder
of the Close. Dearer than all these is the strangely
solemn thought that what was once set apart for
God s service in the Holy Eucharist should, after so
many centuries, return, by ways we know not of, to
serve once more that sacred purpose, and that a
descendant of the pious donors, in the person of
Canon Mitchell Innes, whose work in building up
the Church in Carrubber s Close can never be for
gotten nor expressed, should minister at the altar
founded upon this ancient benefaction, now gathered
up in a safe abiding place, where day by day the
same Holy Offering is made and the hymn arises for
all the people of God, " Make them to be numbered
with Thy Saints in glory everlasting."
In the same pre-Reformation days there stood, not
far away, in the old Leith Wynd, which curved across
the valley from the Netherbow Port on the High
Street, a little below Carrubber s Close, a " Hospital
of Our Lady." It is thought an altarage or chaplaincy
was of old attached, dedicated to St. Paul, and a
building known as l( Paul s Work " continued the
name down to living memory. This house was
founded by Thomas Spence, Bishop of Aberdeen, 1
in the reign of King James II. of Scotland, for the
discipline and training of idle vagabonds, 2 and dedi
cated to Saint Paul. In 1582 the foundation was
adapted to the reformed faith, and the " Bedesmen
1 Fountainhall s " Decisions," vol. i. p. 9.
2 Parl. Rec. 478. Wilson s " Memorials of Edinburgh."
ANCIENT DEDICATION TO ST. PAUL 19
were to be na Papistes but of trew religion." The
names of the " Hospital of Our Lady " and " Sanct
Paullis Warke" continued, however, till the old
buildings were demolished to make way for the
railway that now spreads itself over the valley.
" Paul s Work " became a printing-house where Sir
Walter Scott s novels were printed, and there he
used to correct the proofs. It was probably in
memory of this ancient dedication to St. Paul that
the chapel in Carrubber s Close received its name,
and the dedication of the new side chapel to Our
Lady happily sustains the other old memory. The
church of St. Paul s in York Place takes its name
from one of three of the old chapels or meeting
houses which united in Blackfriar s Wynd, in the
congregation of what was known as Baron Smith s
or the Cowgate Chapel, from which the York Place
congregation is lineally descended. This was what
was known as a " qualified chapel," and was a large
and flourishing congregation in the days when
St. Paul s, Carrubber s Close, was still adhering to
the exiled king. That a connection of some kind
existed between them at one time is clear, but of
what kind it seems impossible to discover ; but a
portion at least of the congregation united itself with
Carrubber s Close, perhaps in 1822, when the new
church was built in York Place. But it is quite clear
that the Carrubber s Close Chapel bore its name of
St. Paul s before this, though there is a curious
reference in a " Stranger s Guide to Edinburgh,"
published in 1807, to " St. Mary s Chapel, Carrubber s
Close." The confusion between the two churches of
20 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
St. Paul was cleared up in 1883, when the new
church in Carrubber s Close was built, by the adoption
of the title of " Old St. Paul s," by which it is so
honourably known.
To return to the old meeting-house in the Close.
It was a most unchurchlike building in outward
appearance, not differing from an ordinary dwelling-
house, and at first the congregation worshipped in
the upper floor whether hired or lent we cannot tell.
In 1741 it was purchased, on behalf of the congre
gation, by Mr. Hugh Clerk, a Leith merchant, one of
their members, and had evidently been in use for a
long time, for it had " lately been repaired with a
new roof, gallaries, and windows." This points to
some alteration in the original building, since galleries
could not be required in a single- floored room, and
it was not till 1786 that they were in a position to
purchase the under floors. One of these was occupied
before 1753 as a "meeting-house" by an Episcopal
clergyman, Mr. Alexander Robertson by name, who
frequently assisted his neighbours above. Perhaps
it was only a division of the congregation in conse
quence of the prosecutions that prevented too many
worshipping together, and a tradition has come down
of the meeting-house being partitioned off into
separate rooms for this purpose. This under floor
was also used for a time as a wareroom by the
British Linen Company. Many dangers threatened
the poor old building, for fires raged frequently in the
neighbourhood, and many a time the services have been
interrupted from this danger, but still it seems always
to have escaped direct damage. In 1745 one James
THE OLD CHURCH IN CARRUBBER S CLOSE
OLD BUILDINGS IN THE CLOSE 21
Kincaid, possibly a descendant of the pious founder,
made a claim to the Town Council for damages done
to his property in Carrubber s Close by the erection
of a battery there. The firing of the cannons " de
molished not only the glasses, but had blown out the
whole casements, and shaken the walls, insomuch
that several of the stones of the chimneys did fall
down, and some tiles on the top of the houses were
blown off, causing the tenant and his servants to be
afraid of their lives." ] If, as seems not improbable,
this was James Kincaid of Degreen, Falkirk, who is
mentioned in Lord Rosebery s " List of the Rebels "
as having actively " assisted the rebels by Day and
Night," who " Robed the country of horses, drank
the Pretender s son as Prince of Wales, wishing
damnation to his Majesty," there can be little doubt
of his sentiments.
To the old Close came, in after years, the poet Burns,
visiting his friend Captain Henderson ; perchance to
rub shoulders with some of his friends of the old
chapel, " who could so carelessly accost him," not
dreaming how after years would treasure the slightest
remembrance. But Captain Henderson s house and
all the rest were swept away, leaving only one small
part on the east at the top of the Close unchanged ;
and glad we are to have even that, for there was the
dwelling of one of St. Paul s most famous sons,
Sir Stuart Threipland of Fingask. No part, perhaps,
of the old town is so changed as this ; the building
and reconstruction of the North Bridge has worked
1 Reid s " New Light on Old Edinburgh."
2 Scottish History Society.
22 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
havoc with several old closes, and the railway rides
roughshod over many pleasant recollections. The old
" Physic Garden " in the hollow, where Sir Robert
Sibbald gathered his famous collection of rare plants
and herbs, has been transplanted to the present
Botanic Gardens in Inverleith Row. Trinity College
Church rebuilt upon another site, and the Hospital
of Our Lady and the Chapel of St. Paul, live only in
the story of the past, and the church which garners
up those holy memories. Good Sir Robert Sibbald lies
at rest in the old Greyfriars, his faithful, patient work
on earth done ; but the profession he adorned, and the
College of Physicians he helped to found, has brought
to Edinburgh a world-wide fame. The Church he
loved and maybe sheltered in her hour of peril has
weathered many a storm, and rides safely at anchor
now in the old Close. May we not say, in the
Prayer-book words he has inscribed on the margin
of one of his wonderful MS. lists of God s creation,
"O Lord, how manifold are Thy works ! in wisdom
has Thou made them all : the earth is full of Thy
riches " ?
CHAPTER III
1720-1735
Some Early Clergy of the Church Bishops Cant and Gillan
The Revs. Patrick Middleton and Wru. Harper
AFTER the death of Bishop Rose in 1720, the Church
in Scotland suffered sensibly from the lack of his
peaceable guidance, being speedily divided into two
parties over certain " Usages," which some considered
ancient customs of the Church properly to be
observed, while others held the contrary. This dis
pute, arising in England among the Nonjurors, spread
to Scotland, where it was further complicated by the
" Usages " party adhering to the system of diocesan
Episcopacy, while the other side approved of a
" College of Bishops " not consecrated to any par
ticular district. The bishops were mostly nomi
nated by the absent Chevalier, clinging to the old
royal prerogative, and acting on the advice of his
" Trustees." These were certain gentlemen whom
he had appointed as his advisers and representatives
in Scotland. The nominations, naturally partaking
of a more or less political character, gave rise at
times, as might be expected, to great differences of
opinion, and in one of these the two clergy now in
charge of St. Paul s played a prominent part. The
elder of the two, Mr. Andrew Cant, was the nephew
23
24 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
of Andrew Cant, who was Principal of Edinburgh
University and incumbent of Trinity College Church,
where he himself afterwards ministered, being trans
lated thither from South Leith prior to the Revolu
tion, 1 and deprived of his benefice in 1689. He was
one of the five clergymen who were imprisoned, as
we have seen, in 1708, and was also among the
twenty-five clergymen proceeded against in 1716,
when he and his colleague, the Rev. Patrick Middle-
ton, were forbidden to preach, and fined 20 each
for not praying for King George. 2
In 1722 Mr. Andrew Cant, who was most highly
spoken of for his learning and integrity, was conse
crated bishop, and in 1725, if not before it, he
and the Rev. Patrick Middleton were in charge at
Carrubber s Close. 3 The latter gentleman had been
the parish minister of Leslie in Fife, " Christ s Kirk
on the Green," and was deprived in 1689 for the
usual offence of praying for King James instead of
William and Mary. Again, in 1692, he was pro
ceeded against for the same offence, but nothing
daunted, he was again in 1716 prohibited, and
fined, along with the Rev. Andrew Cant, for officiating
in a meeting-house in Skinner s Close, Edinburgh.
While they were at Carrubber s Close difficulties
arose concerning the nomination of a Mr. John Gillan
to a bishopric. Lockhart of Carnwath tells the
story. Mr. Gillan, being strongly of the " College "
party, was as stoutly opposed by the " Usages "
party, among whom were numbered the two clergy
1 Scott s "Fasti," vol. i. p. 32.
2 Chambers " Dom. Annals," vol. iii. pp. 405-406.
3 MS. Episcopal Chest.
CONGREGATION DEPOSE CLERGY 25
of Carrubber s Close. The congregation must have
been strongly influenced by the " College " party s
views, or shall we say, the political aspect, probably
swayed by the ardent Cavalier, Lockhart himself, for
they deposed both the clergymen over this. 1 Very
likely this was owing to the suspicion that Mr.
Middleton had betrayed the Jacobite party s corre
spondence to Government, as he had threatened to
do. Lockhart, who has not a good word to say of
him, reports that Middleton said, if Gillan were
elected, " he would make some heads hop."
Bishop Cant, who was at this time an old man
" dosed with age," died in 1730 in the ninety- first
year of his age, and the sixty-fourth year of his
ministry, and was buried in Greyfriars Churchyard. 2
He published two sermons on the Martyrdom of
Charles I. preached in 1703 and 1715.
Patrick Middleton published two works, " Disserta
tions on the Power of the Church, London, 1733,"
and " A Short View of the Evidences of the Christian
Religion, London, 1734." He appears to have resided
in or near Edinburgh for a few years after his de
position from St. Paul s, and died at Bristol in 1736,
aged seventy-four. In the old baptismal register
of St. James, Leith, there is a little girl christened
by his name. The Rev. John Gillan, whose election
was so vehemently opposed, was consecrated upon
the Chevalier s mandate, although owing to the
strife the ceremony did not take place till June 1 1,
1727, and so far as can be gathered he immediately
1 " Lockhart Papers," vol. ii. p. 34. MS. Episcopal Chest.
2 Edinburgh Evening Courant, April 27> i73-
26 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
succeeded Messrs. Cant and Middleton at Carrubber s
Close, being certainly there in 1729. He was a
man of great learning and of high character, reputed
to have been the tutor of Lockhart of Carnwath,
possibly the one whom he mentions as having been
removed from him by the influence of his grand
father, on account of his Episcopal views. That he
had been at one time a bookseller was a reason
assigned for the opposition of the clergy to his
election to a bishopric. Although at this time about
sixty years of age he had not been many years in
orders. The diocese of Dunblane was allotted to
him, but he does not appear to have ever resided
there, remaining in charge at Carrubber s Close till
his death in 1735. He published a life of Bishop
Sage in 1714, previously quoted from, and was
reported to be the author of "Carnwath s Memoirs." 1
Before Bishop Gillan s death the dispute concerning
the " Usages" had been brought to an end in 1732
by a Concordat, subscribed by all the bishops, and
ceased in that way to disturb the peace of the
Church. Bishop Gillan lived in Fowlis Close,
Edinburgh, where his successor also dwelt. Those
who had favoured the " Usages," as we may suppose,
brought forward the name of that distinguished
champion, Bishop Rattray of Craighall, for the vacancy
at Carrubber s Close, but he declined, possibly on
account of age or ill-health, so the congregation had
not the benefit of his scholarly services. They next
invited 2 "a discreet young gentleman, Mr. William
1 Wodrow, " Analecta.
2 MS. Memoirs, Episcopal Church, Advocates Library.
MR. WILLIAM HARPER APPOINTED 27
Harper in Leith, who accepted, and appeared there
March 9, 1735."
From this time forward, the records of the Church
place our information on a more certain basis, and
become of the deepest interest. The earliest register
known to exist, as mentioned before, dates from
1735, kept in the beautiful careful handwriting of
the Rev. William Harper for thirty years, and abun
dantly exhibits the close connection that existed
between the Church and the loyal Jacobite party.
This period, embracing as it does the stirring times
of the " 4 5," is the most picturesque in the con
gregation s history, and some will think, its chiefest
glory. This valuable old register, some leaves of
which have the watermark " C. R." surmounted
by the royal crown, was printed in the " Scottish
Antiquary " in 1891. In it, as will be seen from the
extracts to be quoted, the reverend scribe was careful
to give, not only the names of the principal parties
concerned, but godparents, guests, &c., thus pre
senting an interesting picture of Edinburgh society
in the eighteenth century. Many distinguished
Scottish families, besides those to be noticed, figure
in the books of this ancient chapel chiefly, of
course, those whose sympathies were with the exiled
Stuarts. Every page of the register is signed by
Mr. Harper.
Before proceeding to consider the flock, let us tell
a little about their shepherd, who was such a striking
figure in those troubled times. An ardent and
devoted Churchman he appears to have been, and
a true and loving friend to his flock in all their
28 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
chequered existence. " Discreet," for we do not
hear of him embroiling himself as did some of his
brethren, and his pious exultation over victories won
was carefully noted in Greek characters in the
Church books. Yet he too had his share of strug
gling, even before he came to Edinburgh, for we read
of him incurring the wrath of the Presbyterians in
Strathbogie, and being brought before the Justiciary
Court at Inverness for performing baptisms, &C. 1 He
was born at Boharm in Banffshire, where his father,
the Rev. Adam Harper, had been minister at the
Revolution. In 1729 we find him instituting the
Church in Kirkwall, where it is thought he intro
duced the Scottish Office. 2 Afterwards he acted
as chaplain to the Earl of Huntly and to Viscount
Arbuthnott, by whom he was much esteemed, and in
1733 he was acting as assistant to Mr. Crichton in
Leith, from whence he came to Carrubber s Close in
1735, as previously stated. Soon after he had as
assistant for about six months the Rev. Robert
Forbes (afterwards well known as Bishop Forbes,
the compiler of the " Lyon in Mourning "), then
probably in deacon s orders, of whom he wrote to
the Rev. Mr. Falconer, who had recommended him,
" He promiseth well, and may reckon upon every
service in my power, and not the less that he is
recommended by you." 3 Mr. Harper in this com
munication shows the courteous consideration and
kindness that were among his chief characteristics.
1 Craven s " History of the Church in Kirkwall."
2 Ibid.
8 Letter, Episcopal Chest.
HIS MARRIAGE
29
Strangers ever found a kindly welcome from him.
He married at Edinburgh 5th June 1741, Katherine
Threipland, daughter of Sir David Threipland of
Fingask, and widow of Mr. John Drummond of
Pitcog. Her brother David had been out with his
father, in the rising of the "15," and, after being
taken prisoner in a boat on the Firth of Forth, was
with his companion imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle.
Seeing some lady friends walking on the Castle hill, he
signalled to them, and in the shadow of night they
brought some blankets to the foot of the Castle rock
below his windows, which he pulled up by means of
a string. By their means he and some of his com
panions were able to lower themselves down the
rock, and escaped to Fife. 1 Another brother, Stuart
Threipland, was for a very long time an office-bearer
in the Church : he will be referred to later.
Mr. and Mrs. Harper lived in Fowlis Close, Edin
burgh, and appear to have kept both a man and woman
servant. Mrs. Harper, on her visits to her paternal
home at Fingask, travelled in a sedan chair, with
three men to carry it, one to relieve the other. A
quaint journey it must have been from the old town
of Edinburgh to the seaside, thence across the broad
Firth to the little old pier at Pettycur near Kinghorn,
and through Fife to the Tay not such an immense
journey as the crow flies, but a mighty undertaking
in those days. Her father kept a " running footman,"
who in his uniform of white and blue, carrying a pole
much longer than himself, could help his master to
mount his horse and, starting off, be at the journey s
1 Chambers " Threiplands of Fingask."
3 o OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
end before him. Lady Threipland writes to her son-
in-law a few months after his marriage as follows: l
" FFINGASK, Deer, itfh, 1741.
" REVEREND SIR, Tho I am scarce able to write
yet I cannot but acknowledg the recept of your
kind complisant letter, and that it gave me much
pleasur to know that you and my daughter are in
good health and confirms what my Da. Effie tould me
of your being both very happie in ane another. May
you both lang Injoy that happiness and live to see
better days." [After some family news she goes on
to say :] " I am verie ill at making spetches and
I never could pass complements, nor doe I admire
them ; I shall onlie add that you have my best wishes
and beg you will continow to pray for me who am
in a verie languishing condition, av 1 believe me, I
ever am, with grate regaird and mv Ji esteem,
" Reverend Sir,
" Your affect. Mother to
" love and serve you,
" K. SMYTH.
" P.S. This line hes been such a task to me that
I think it will be the last I will, attempt to writ unless
it be the good will of heaven to give me more
strength. I wiss you may read this. Adeu."
Addressed: "To the Rev. Will Harper at his
lodgings in Fowlis Close, Edr." Docketed : " Lady
Threipland, R. I7th Deer."
1 Chambers " Threiplands of Fingask," pp. 35, 37.
NOMINATED FOR A BISHOPRIC 31
Mr. Harper appears to have been very prominent
among his clerical brethren, and at a meeting of
theirs held in 1739, on tne death of Bishop Free-
bairn, he was chosen to preside. 1 The number of
clergy in Edinburgh far exceeded the number of
meeting-houses, so two or three of them must have
officiated at each, as indeed we know was the case
at Carrubber s Close, Mr. Harper being about this
time assisted by the Revs. Alexander Mackenzie and
Thomas Drummond, " nephew to Logiealmond."
He claimed authority to act as dean during the
vacancy in the bishopric, but to this his brethren
would not agree. King James afterwards nominated
him for the bishopric, his name also having been
mentioned for the bishopric of Caithness. The
" College of Bishops," however, opposed his election,
and he desired that his name should be withdrawn. 2
In 1739 Mr. Harper, along with Mr. John
Addison, acted as collector for the fund for the
relief of the poor Episcopal clergy and their widows.
Many noble and famous names appear among the
contributors, and not of the Episcopal persuasion
alone. The City of Edinburgh, the Faculty of
Advocates, the " Writters " to the Signet, as well as
the Incorporations of Wrights, Weavers, Skinners,
Baxters, Shoemakers, and Hammermen of the
Canongate, are to be found there, beside sundry
sums " from an unknown hand," " from a gentleman
who desires to be concealed," &c. &c. Nine copies
of Mr. Middleton s " Dissertations," valued at three
1 Grub s "Eccles. History," vol. iv. p. 11.
2 "Memorials, Murray of Broughton, " Scot. Hist. Soc. pp. n, 12.
32 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
shillings each, were an asset not easily realised. Mr.
Thomas Ruddiman and Mr. James Johnston, both
members of St. Paul s congregation, were adminis
trators for some years of this sorely needed fund,
and the accounts are audited and signed by them. 1
1 MS. Account of the Charity for the Relief of the Poor Episcopal
Clergy, &c.
CHAPTER IV
1720-1745
Notable Members of the Congregation Mr. Thomas Ruddi-
man The Countess of Eglinton, &c. Entries from the
Old Register
AMONG the early members of the congregation whose
names have come down to us, none worthier can
be found than that of the " learned and good " Mr.
Thomas Ruddiman, whom St. Paul s may be proud
to claim. 1 Born at Boyndie, in Banffshire, in 1674,
he was educated, like many another famous Scot, at
the parish school. With a guinea in his pocket, he
started on foot for Aberdeen University, to compete
for a prize in classics. Robbed by gipsies on the
way, he still persevered, and winning the prize,
remained at the University till he took his degree as
Master of Arts. One of his fellow-students was
Simon Fraser, afterwards the notorious Lord Lovat,
even then exhibiting the evil tendencies that marred
his life and brought him to the scaffold.
After graduation Ruddiman acted as tutor and
schoolmaster, and it was while he was filling the
latter position in the little thatched schoolhouse of
Laurencekirk, where in after years Dr. Johnson
1 Chalmers "Life of Ruddiman."
33 r
34 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
thoughtfully remembered him, that he made the
acquaintance of the famous Dr. Archibald Pitcairn,
then on a visit to the place. By his advice
Ruddiman came to Edinburgh in i/OO, and by the
same generous influence at once obtained employ
ment in the Advocates Library. We cannot be
certain that the witty poet-physician was a member
of St. Paul s congregation, but his daughters, the
Countess of Kellie and Miss Pitcairn, undoubtedly
were, and in later years, at least, Mr. Ruddiman
worshipped there. From an entry in his pocket-
book, in the possession of his descendants, we learn
that in 1703 he paid forty shillings Scots for
his seat in " Gray s Close Meeting-house." That
there was a chapel in " Gray s Close : we know, but
whether in North Gray s Close, which closely adjoins
Carrubber s on the east, or South Gray s Close,
on the opposite side of the High Street, it seems
impossible to determine. There appears to have
been an access to the old meeting-house of St. Paul s
from Gray s Close on the east, no doubt a con
venience in times of persecution. It is quite clear
from the books of the Church that Mr. Ruddiman,
his wife and family, were seat-holders in St. Paul s for
many years before his death, and that he acted as
one of the trustees or managers of its affairs. His
widow and family retained their connection with the
congregation, but reference will be made to this later.
The great grammarian s career as chief librarian to
the Advocates Library, as well as his labours as
author and publisher, are too well known to require
comment here. Dr. Johnson, who found in him a
THE EGLINTON FAMILY 35
man after his own heart, delighted to do him honour :
we too gratefully remember the scholar, the citizen,
and the Churchman.
Looking into the old register before mentioned,
two of the first entries of interest that meet the eye
are the following weddings in the family of the
beautiful Susanna, Countess of Eglinton, who, with
her seven lovely daughters, was such a notable figure
in Edinburgh society of those days. The first is as
follows :
" 1737. Feb. 1 6, f. 4, h. 3, v. In the Countess of
Eglintoun s Lodging, over head of Jo. Jollies, marryed
James Murray of Abercairnie and Lady Christian
Montgomery, in virtue of the Bp. of Edinrs. mandate
to me, proceeding on a Ler. from my Lady Eglinton.
The Bride was given by her Broyr., the Earl (then
fourteen years old). Pnt., The Countess, Lady
Helen Montgomery, Lady Cathcart, Mr. David Graeme,
Advocate, and Mr. Neil Macvicar, Writer. Lord
Justice Clerk should have been there, had it not been
for his Ague.
" N.B. I gave the Bps. mandate to Mr. Alexr.
Ro tson, Clk., to be inserted in the Records, on
Wednesday the Qth inst."
We shall hear of Lady Christian again in the course
of our story. The young earl who "gave the bride"
was the much-desired heir of the old Earl of Eglin
ton, reared by his mother in all courtly ways. It
is said that in her old age, when her son, who had
gone over to the Hanoverian interest, desired his
36 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
still lovely mother to appear at the coronation of
George III., the staunch Jacobite lady, loth to refuse
her darling his request, excused herself on the ground
that she was too old to wear robes. The sad death
of the earl by the hands of a supposed poacher is
one of the curious stories of Edinburgh life. " Lord
Justice Clerk " was the kindly Lord Miltoun, appointed
guardian to the large family. Two years later
another of the fair band leaves the parent nest.
" 1739. April 24, Easter Tttesday, h. 7, v. In
the Countess of Eglintoun s Lodging, Canongate, I
married Sir Alexander Macdonald of Slate, Bart., to
Lady Margaret Montgomery, sister of the Earl of
Eglintoun, having the Bp. s Licence. Tnt., Countess
of Eglintoun and her unmarreyed daurs., i.e. Ladys
Bettie, Eleonor, Frances and Grizel, Lord and Lady
St. Clair, Miss Stewart, Earl of Hume, Laird of
M Leod, Mr. Jo. Mackenzie, Writer, Mr. Alexander
Lockhart, Advocate, and his Lady, and Mr. Renton,
who gave the bride, ff. s. D. g. o."
It is a brother-in-law, Renton of Lamerton, who
this time gives away the bride, the boy earl being at
Winchester ; but as head of the family he amusingly
writes to his sister approving of the match. "You
have always been my chief favourite ; I shall be proud
of having such an ally." *
Lady Margaret was greatly beloved in her new
home in Skye, so much so that when she rode out,
the inhabitants ran in haste to remove the stones
from her way. Two years later we find the baptism
1 " Memorials of the Montgomeries," vol. i. p. 332.
CHRISTENING IN THE CANONGATE 37
of the son and heir recorded, presumably in her
mother s house.
" 1741. Deer. 30, f. 4, h. 5, v. In the Canongate,
baptized a son of Sir Alexr. Macdonald of Slate, and
Lady Margt. Montgomerie named James born 26th.
The Countesses of Seaforth, Southesk, and Wigton,
Lady Frances Montgomerie, Mrs. Lockhart of Carn-
wath, Mrs. Al. Lockhart, Mrs. Munro, Mrs. Kennedy,
Miss Macdonald, Lords Wigton and St. Clair, Captain
Wm. Lockhart and Prof. Munro, pnt. S. Lit."
It is noticeable that the baptisms in those days
were performed as they ought to be, soon after
birth, and this young Christian began the New Year
in right good style. Probably he was named " after
the King," like so many in this register ; but as Sir
Alexander was not so ardent, or at least so open, a
Jacobite as his fair lady, it may not have been so.
May not the Miss Macdonald mentioned among the
guests have been the famous Flora, Sir Alexander s
kinswoman, who is thought to have spent a year in
the metropolis ? When Prince Charles was keeping
court a few years later at Holyrood, he is said to
have been a daily visitor at the Countess of
Eglinton s house, and on his departure left the
ladies a Royal Stuart tartan plaid as a keepsake.
This was afterwards cut in pieces that each might
have a share, and one portion at least was in the
possession of their descendants for a very long time. 1
The countess slept always with a portrait of him
placed where her eyes could fall upon it whenever
1 Reid s " New Light on Old Edinburgh."
38 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
she awoke in the morning. To the Lady Margaret
belongs the honour of succouring the beloved Prince
in his wanderings in Skye, after the defeat of
Culloden, and by her aid and that of Flora Mac-
donald, he made perhaps his most narrow escape
from his pursuers, when, disguised as Betty Bourke,
he, along with his supposed mistress, visited Mugstot,
Sir Alexander Macdonald s seat in Skye. Flora
Macdonald left her supposed servant-maid sitting in
a summer-house at the foot of the garden, and was
ushered into the drawing-room, where, besides Mr.
Macdonald of Kingsburgh and some other guests,
she found Lieutenant Macleod, who was stationed
in the neighbourhood in command of a company of
militia searching for the royal fugitive ; some of
the soldiers being actually in the house at the
time.
Here was peril indeed, but thanks to the ready wit
of the ladies, the officer was kept engaged in con
versation till Lady Margaret was able to plan some
way of escape for the Prince. The party dined
together, and presently Mr. Macdonald of Kingsburgh
bade them farewell, and taking with him a bottle of
wine, a tumbler and some biscuits, set forth to join
the Prince, who by this time had gone a little farther
on. The refreshments were spread on the top of a
rock, and after the poor wanderer had satisfied his
hunger, they went on their journey towards Kings
burgh House, where Mr. Macdonald proposed to
shelter him. Meanwhile Flora Macdonald kept up
the conversation at Mugstot until sufficient time had
elapsed to allow the gentlemen to reach a safe
LADY MARGARET AND THE PRINCE 39
distance, when she rose to go, pleading her mother s
illness as an excuse for her short stay. Lady
Margaret gently chided her for hurrying away, and
with much apparent reluctance at last let her go.
Accompanied by some friends and servants on horse
back she soon overtook the wayfarers, passing them
without notice in order to deceive the servants, one
of whom, however, was sharp enough to call her
attention to the " tall, impudent-looking woman
walking with Kingsburgh. See what long strides
the jade takes ; I daresay she is an Irishwoman or
a man in woman s clothes." Flora agreed that she
probably was an Irishwoman, and soon getting rid
of her inquisitive companions, joined Mr. Macdonald
and " Betty Bourke," when they all proceeded to
Kingsburgh House, where they were hospitably
entertained by Mrs. Macdonald, and the Prince was
able to throw off his disguise, and proceed upon his
weary wanderings. Flora and Kingsburgh were
both apprehended for their share in this exploit,
but ultimately released. She was brought in a
ship to Leith, and was of course quite a heroine.
Some ladies of the congregation of St. Paul s visited
her, and Bishop Forbes was girded with the apron
worn by his royal master, a piece of the string being
given to him, which, together with a piece of the
" identical gown," was bound up in the cover of
the " Lyon in Mourning," his collection of Jacobite
papers now in the Advocates Library, Edinburgh.
To return to the old register : there are two more
entries of interest connected with the Eglinton
family, one being the christening of the coachman s
4 o OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
child " Susannah," no doubt after his mistress. The
other is as follows :
" 1743. Septr. 26, f. 2, h. 5, v. In our Chappel
in Carrubber s Close, I read vespers pro re nata, and
administered Baptism (according to the form for
those of riper years) to the Co. of Eglinton s negro
servant, having before endeavoured to prepare him
for it. He was named Alexander Archibald Caesar,
James Fraser, Clk., Joseph Ro tson my nephew ; and
Kath. Threipland my wife (as proxies for the Earl
of Eglinton, Mr. Archibald, and Lady Helen Mont-
gomerys) being his chosen witnesses. Miss Babie
Smith, Mrs. Warder s Scholars, Margt. Hunter, the
Ladies of March and some oyr young people pnt."
The negro received the names of his two young
godfathers. The Joseph Ro tson mentioned as proxy
is probably a Dr. Joseph Robertson afterwards
an office-bearer of the church. In this instance
the priest evidently used the Prayer-book form of
Baptism, which was not always done. The following
entry affords an interesting example of the liberty
taken in those days :
" 1 739- J an - 2 4> f- 4> h- 6, v. Baptized a son
of Robert Balfour of Balbirnie and Ann Ramsay,
named John. Sir John Ramsay of Whitehall, John
Lumisden and Lady, Mr. David Drummond, Dor.
Lermont, Senr. Mr. James Graeme, Writer, and his
daur., and Mrs. Balfour, pnt.
"N.B. Yt I had first converse wt Mr. Balfour
to know qther it was wt his good liking yt I was
PRIVATE FORMS OF BAPTISM 41
employed, oyrways I would proceed no farther. He
told me that it was his own notion, and yt the
reason I had not been called to christen his former
child was one apprehension yt the Clergy of our
Comn. were strictly tyed down to the use of
Liturgies, Ceremonies, etc. To this I replyed, that
for what was essential to the Sacrat. (e.g. Water,
the Invocation of the holy Trinity, to ane authorized
administrator) being parts of the Institution, twas
not in my power to dispense with them, nor would
he desire it. But for what was merely Ceremony
(e.g., Books, Sign of the Cross, taking the child into
the arms of the Priest) however ancient and decent
and Symbolical, yet these we had a Discretionary
power to omitt, where they were like to offend the
weak, etc. etc."
The first wedding recorded in the register is of
Mr. Balfour and his wife.
Coming down to 1743 we find an ominous name
appearing :
" 1743. Deer. 13, f. 3, h. 4, v. In the World s
End Close, at the desire of Mr. Rae (confined by
sore eyes) I baptized a son of Mr. John Murray
of Broughton, named David. My Lady Murray,
Mrs. Ferguson, Mr. Thos. Hay, Wm. M Dougal
and their Ladyes, Mr. Chas. Murray of Stanhope,
Capt. Pat Murray, Jo. Douglas, etc., pnt."
The next christening recorded in this family was
to be in very different fashion. One more entry
may be quoted.
42 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
" 1744. Janry. 29, f. i, h. 5, v. In the Canon-
gate, baptized a son (born the I5th h. 7j, v.) of
Kenneth, Marquiss of Seaforth and Mary Stewart of
Garlics, neice of the E. Marischall of Scotland. Sin.
Lit. Lord Garlics, Spor. ; Duke of Perth, Earls of
Wigton and Aboyn, Lord St. Clair, Ld. Royston
and his son, Baron Clerk, Frazerdale, Mr. Alexr.
Lockhart, Mr. Jo. Mackenzie, Dor. Stenison, Mr.
Chisholm, etc., and almost as many Ladies. The
Countesses of Murray and Wigton, Lady Francis
Mackenzie, Ly. St. Clair, Mrs. Kath. Stewart,
Ly. Garlics, Mrs. Lockhart, Mrs. Mary Lockhart,
Mrs. Jean Mackenzie, Miss Paterson, etc., etc., pnt."
This baby, christened in such a noble company,
was the grandson of the fifth Lord Seaforth, attainted
for his share in the rising of 1 7 I 5. He died in 1781,
being the last Lord Seaforth.
CHAPTER V
1745-1748
Letters to Prince Charles John Macnaughton Imprison
ment of the Rev. T. Drummond Battles of Prestonpans
and Culloden Sir Stuart Threipland
THE entries quoted in the last chapter have carried
us down to the fateful year of 1745. All along the
Jacobite party had been plotting and intriguing for
the restoration of the Stuart line, and now the
gallant young Prince Charles Edward resolved to
make a bold attempt to regain the crown lost by his
grandfather. Naturally, Scotland was chosen for the
scene of this, and in the arrangements for his enter
prise, the congregation of St. Paul s in Carrubber s
Close, who " held all together and kept themselves
close," were deeply involved. Letters required to be
sent to the Prince in France, and who but one of the
clergy, the Rev. Thomas Drummond, was asked by
the Duke of Perth to undertake the hazardous com
mission, probably because his clerical costume would
disarm suspicion. Lord Elcho wrote to Captain
Ogilvie in Leith, a shipmaster who was deep in
their affairs, to delay his voyage for a day for Mr.
Drummond s convenience ; but after promising to go,
the canny priest drew back, pleading holiday arrange
ments as his excuse. Murray of Broughton, who is
43
44 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
responsible for the story, scornfully says, " His being
missed was of no moment, being Mr. Harper s col
league." 1 Having failed with the shepherd, they next
appealed to one of the flock, a brother-in-law of Mr.
Harper s, Doctor, afterwards Sir, Stuart Threipland,
who also declined. At last a messenger was found,
one John Macnaughton, variously said to have been
a footman of Murray s and a watchmaker in Edin
burgh, who travelled under the assumed name of
Douglas. His instructions were, to go to Mr. Charles
Smith at Boulogne, a wine merchant and banker
much mixed up in the obscure doings of the party,
and who was, in later years at least, a member of
St. Paul s congregation. This gentleman, who in the
party s correspondence bore the assumed name of
Morris, was to " give him money, and send him to
the Prince wherever he was." After ruffling it on
the Continent for a time, John Macnaughton returned
to Scotland and fought at Prestonpans, where he was
credited with giving Colonel Gardiner his death-
wound. Finally, he laid down his life at Carlisle
in 1746, refusing to accept his freedom and an
income for life, offered him on his way to the
scaffold, if he would turn evidence. 2 Truly in this
case the servant was above his master.
Dr. Drummond was not always so backward, how
ever, for when Prince Charles landed in the West
Highlands, he, along with the Rev. Robert Forbes of
Leith and some other gentlemen, set off to join him.
1 " Memorials, Murray of Broughton," p. 125. Scot. Hist. Soc.
2 " Jacobite Gleanings " by J. M. Forbes, p. 13. " Lyon in Mourn
ing," vol. i. p. 46 n.
DR. DRUMMOND S IMPRISONMENT 45
On reaching St. Ninian s, however, they were all
arrested on September 7, 1745, and confined in
Stirling Castle for five months, thus missing all the
glory and all the danger. In February 1746 they
were taken out of the Castle by the Duke of Cumber
land s orders, and " kept standing in the streets of
Stirling from 9 A.M., till 2 or 3 P.M. a gazing-stock
for all." Lord Albemarle asked why those prisoners
were not roped. Captain Hamilton replied that they
were gentlemen. " Gentlemen ! " said Albemarle.
" Damn them for rebels." He ordered them to be
roped two and two for the march to Edinburgh,
which was done, despite the remonstrances of Captain
Hamilton, who declared they were only apprehended
on suspicion, and that nothing could be laid to their
charge. The gentlemen made a joke of the roping,
and as soon as they were out of Stirling Captain
Hamilton ordered them to " throw away the ropes." l
One cannot help having a friendly feeling for this
kindly officer, but on reaching Edinburgh the party were
imprisoned in the Castle till the 29th of July follow
ing. The other gentleman who declined to carry the
letters was also one whose loyalty was unimpeachable,
being one of the Prince s most devoted and high-minded
followers, and a most distinguished member of the
congregation of St. Paul s. His father, Sir David
Threipland of Fingask, and his elder brother followed
the Earl of Mar in the rising of 1715, and in 1716,
during their absence, and while Government troops oc
cupied the house, this youngest son was born. A non-
1 " Lyon in Mourning," vol. ii. p. 133. Scot. Hist. Soc. Baptisma
Register, St. James s, Leith.
46 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
juring clergyman being hastily summoned l to minister
to Lady Threipland, who was thought to be dying, after
celebrating the Holy Communion proposed to baptize
the delicate infant, but under the circumstances a diffi
culty arose about the name. Lady Thrcipland, how
ever, was able to whisper, " Stuart, Stuart," and by
that loved name he was accordingly baptized, and it
may be seen in his bold, clear handwriting many times
in the books of St. Paul s. Stuart Threipland studied
medicine in Edinburgh, and both he and his elder
brother David, of whom a story has already been
told, followed Prince Charles. A family tradition
has it, that their father died suddenly while pulling
on his jack-boots to join the army. David Threip
land was killed after the battle of Prestonpans by
two soldiers whom he had chased to Musselburgh.
Sir Walter Scott, who remembered as a child sitting
among the long grass on his grave, describes the
incident in his novel of " Waverley."
When the Prince and his army first approached
Edinburgh from the west, he sent a letter to the
Town Council, which was handed into that assembly
by Walter Orrock, Deacon of the Shoemakers, whose
name figures very frequently in the records of St.
Paul s. He it is who, after the battle of Prestonpans,
is described as coming " riding furiouslie up the
Canongate, with a white Cockade, crying < Victory,
victory ! the Prince has won the day/ and alighting
at the Netherbow Port, shut it against the flying
soldiers, by which means severalls of them fell into
1 Chambers "Hist. Rebellion," p. 524 n. Chambers "Threiplands
of Fingask."
VICTORY AT PRESTONPANS 47
the hands of the Rebels." 1 A few days later we
find a christening in this gentleman s family recorded.
From this time he appears to have resided in Leven
in Fife, possibly for reasons of prudence.
It seems most probable that the Provost, Archi
bald Stewart, also was a member qf this congregation,
as a name, which appears to be his, is occasionally
found, as well as that of another Archibald Stewart,
Moderator of the High Constables, who was a witness
at the provost s trial later. One or other of these
was an office-bearer in the Church.
On the day of the battle of Prestonpans the Rev.
William Harper was at Linlithgow performing a
wedding ceremony in the family of the Mr. Charles
Smith previously referred to. It is thus recorded in
the chapel register :
" 1 745- Sept. 21, f. 7, circa merid. Att Linlithgow
marryed Hugh Smith of Boulogne, Esqr. and Mrs.
Elizabeth Seton of Touch, pr. Lit. Lady Barrowfield,
Miss Paterson, Miss Erskine of Alva, Mr. Chas.
Smith and Hugh Graeme wt. present. Banns pub
lished at St. Ninians.
" N.B. Just before this office Mr. Chas. Smith
brought acct. of the compleat victory obtained this
morning at Gladsmuir by the prince s army over that
commanded by Genl. Cope. Aoa ra> 0ea> eV ixpio-rw "
(" Glory to God in the highest ").
How this joyful news must have added to the happi
ness of all the wedding party, so strongly interested
in the royal cause, we can well imagine. A year
1 Lord Rosebery s " List of the Rebels." Scot. Hist. Soc.
48 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
later we find the baptism of a daughter to the couple
chronicled, and in 1747 the following interesting
entry relating to their household :
" 1747. Febry. 8, f. I, h. 9, m. In my house at
Mattins, baptized a Negro Servant of Hugh Seton of
Touch, named Charles, after having kept him about
8 weeks in my house in order to instruct and pre
pare him for it. James Fraser and Kath. Threipland
my wife, were his chosen witnesses. Ly. Balgowan,
Mrs. Leslie, Clem Smith, Mrs. Butler, &c. pnt. ; 9.
f. f. q. sit. Deij. precor."
Mr. Smith had taken the name of Seton, having
married the heiress of Touch. The descendants of
the family possess a painting of Hugh Seton along
with a negro servant, believed to be this very man. 1 It
will be observed that by this time the persecution that
followed Culloden caused Matins and the baptismal
service to be held in the clergyman s own house.
One cannot help wondering how Mr. Charles
Smith obtained his information of the victory at
Prestonpans so speedily. Probably it was from
young Laurence Oliphant, who in an account of the
battle written in later years for Dr. Webster, the
then incumbent of St. Paul s, claimed to be the first
who brought the good news to Edinburgh. 2 When
Prince Charles reached Holyrood the next day,
Laurence Oliphant finding a laurel wreath lying
upon the table, placed it upon the royal head, " so
that the only fugitive had the honour to crown ye
1 Information supplied by Douglas Seton Steuart, Esq.
2 Kingston Oliphant s "Jacobite Lairds of Cask."
THE PRINCE AT HOLYROOD 49
future king/ the only crown, alas ! that gallant brow
would ever wear, the fading laurel leaves of a fleeting
conquest.
The Oliphants of Cask, perhaps the staunchest
hearts of all, were, as might have been expected,
members of St. Paul s ; Ebenezer Oliphant, jeweller in
Edinburgh and brother of " the auld Laird," being
one of the office-bearers for many years.
While the Prince remained at Holyrood there is
no reference to him in the chapel books except the
following :
" 1745. Sept. 23, f. 2, h. 3, v. Baptized a son of
Roger M Donell, Sert. to the Earl of Nithsdale, and
Ann Gregory, named Charles, after the Prince of
Wales, then at Holyrood House."
One can imagine how proudly these last words were
written down at this time, when victory seemed within
grasp. The Earl and Countess of Nithsdale were at
the time in attendance on the Prince who had come to
retrieve their " country s wrang." Later, the Prince
had in his employment a servant bearing this name,
possibly the same person, whom he recommended to
his father s care. Several of his servants names ap
pear in the books ; the following tells a sadder tale :
" 1747. March 13, f. 6, h. 7, v. In my closet,
baptized Charles, a son of John Neish, now prisoner
in Perth, sometime a Sert. to the Pr. C , and of
Margt. Glen. Duncan Neish, Spor."
The poor prisoner had been one of the Prince s
grooms, and was afterwards brought roped to Edin-
D
50 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
burgh. He was accused of being an " evidence,"
and probably soon got his release. 1 Among those
who suffered imprisonment for the Prince s sake
were Mr. Thomas Ruddiman and his only son
Thomas, 2 who had been appointed manager of their
newspaper, the Caledonian Mercury, when James
Grant, their active manager, " rushed into rebellion "
in 1745. The newspaper, as the Jacobite organ,
was of course viewed with much suspicion, and was
prudently published anonymously for some time.
Thomas Ruddiman the younger was accused of
having accompanied the Prince with his printing
press, but this does not appear to have been true,
although he probably printed the Prince s declarations
in Edinburgh. For printing a paragraph in the
Mercury copied from an English newspaper he was
imprisoned in the Tolbooth for six weeks, and died
later from a disease contracted there, so that he may
as truly be said to have laid down his life for the
cause as if he had died upon the battle-field a con
solation to the worthy father s heart.
During the Prince s stay in Edinburgh a portrait
of him was executed by Robert Strange, afterwards
Sir Robert Strange, the celebrated engraver, who was
a parishioner of Mr. Harper s both in Kirkwall, his
native place, and in Edinburgh. He, too, followed
Prince Charles, not so much from conviction as by
the influence of his lady-love, Miss Isabella Lumsden,
one of the liveliest and most ardent of the fair ladies
who graced the festivities of Holyrood. Her family
" Lyon in Mourning," vol. ii. p. 235.
2 Chalmers " Life of Ruddiman."
ROBERT STRANGE ESCAPES 51
were all staunch members of St. Paul s congregation,
her father being one of its office-bearers, and they
were all, it is perhaps superfluous to add, stedfast
adherents to the Stuart cause, for which they had
suffered in earlier years. Her grandfather, Mr.
Andrew Lumsden, afterwards bishop, was driven
from his parish at Duddingston near Edinburgh, at
the Revolution, and her father, William Lumsden,
was stoned in his cradle at that unhappy time.
Andrew Lumsden, her brother, with Robert Strange,
his future brother-in-law, accompanied the Prince,
Strange printing notes for his use during the cam
paign. After Culloden they both escaped in amusing
disguises, Strange to Edinburgh, where he married
his lady, living for a time in concealment, maintaining
himself by portrait-painting. On one occasion, when
pursued by his enemies, he " dashed into the room
where his lady sat singing at her needlework. She
raised her hooped petticoat, and concealed him while
the angry soldiers searched the house." Afterwards
Robert Strange went abroad, and rose to high honour
in his profession. The christenings of their chil
dren are recorded in the books of St. Paul s, and the
first little girl nearly suffered martyrdom, according
to her mother, for " having two white roses in her
cap." Mrs. Strange probably refers to the search
that was made in suspected houses for " ladies and
other women " wearing white ribbons and tartan
gowns, with a view to their apprehension, by the
orders of Lord Justice Clerk and Lord Albemarle
orders so merrily carried out, that only one old
maiden lady, Miss Jean Rollo, a member of St. Paul s,
52 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
was taken prisoner and brought before the authorities,
when she and her tartan gown were soon set at
liberty. 1 More than twenty years before this time, a
"parcell of boys with more zeal than prudence, gott
together having whyte roses in their hatts near the
Netherbow in the High Street of Edinburgh," and
Lockhart, who reports the matter in a letter to the
" King," tells how a file of musketeers from the
Canongate guard being fetched, fired and killed a
man and woman passing by. Perilous times, truly !
and yet almost every Scottish garden to this day, even
to the humblest kailyard, has its bush of " Prince
Charlie roses." The " King " stood godfather by
proxy to a boy of the Strange s born later, and
named " James Francis Edward." Many children of
St. Paul s were named after the royal house one
family had twin sons named James and Charles ; and
it is amusing to observe the anxiety in the Cask
family later to find out the name of Prince Charles s
wife, in order that a little daughter might be
christened thereby.
To return to the Lumsdens. Mr. Andrew escaped
to Edinburgh after Culloden, in the guise of a groom,
mounted on horseback with a lady behind him, his
eyebrows corked and a black wig covering his yellow
locks. Next he assumed the character of a " poor
teacher who did not like to travel his lane," and made
his way to London. 2 Sharing some of his sister s
daring spirit, he managed, before setting forth to
France, to visit his friends imprisoned in Newgate.
1 " Lyon in Mourning," vol. ii. pp. 110, 112. Scot. Hist. Soc.
2 Denniston s " Life of Strange."
SIR STUART THP[lPlAND BAR 1
In H t^tdasid B&Lu^L PUiid, - from, a, Perireut by Dcdacour in FinyO.sk C/astlt
By the kind permission of files srs. \V. *5r K. Chambers, Ltd.
SIR STUART THREIPLAND 53
In France he became the Prince s secretary, and
continued in attendance upon him almost to the very
last, returning to end his days in his native Edinburgh.
Sir Stuart Threipland accompanied the Prince s
army to Derby, and on to Culloden. After that
disaster had " scattered the loyal men " he remained
with the " gentle Lochiel," ministering to his wounds.
After wandering about for some time on the hills,
they joined the Prince in his hiding in the " Cage," a
curious place of concealment formed among the holly-
trees and grey rocks on the steep side of Ben Alder in
Badenoch, and only large enough to hold six or seven
persons at a time. Here they all took turns of pre
paring such food as could be obtained, and Sir Stuart
one day tried his hand at a haggis, introducing some
chopped apples as an improvement. Alas for the
hungry captives ! just as he was turning out the
dainty, it slipped from his hand, rolled down the hill,
and was dashed to pieces on a sharp rock before they
could recover it. 1 It must have needed all their
patience and good-humour to see their dinner thus
scattered to the winds. Sir Stuart was noted then
and afterwards for his kindness to his companions
in need, less wealthy than himself. By-and-by he
made his way to Edinburgh in the guise of a Presby
terian probationer, and thence to London by the aid
of William Gordon, a bookseller in Edinburgh and a
fellow-member of St. Paul s, who took him disguised
as his assistant. Afterwards he escaped to Rouen,
where with the Oliphants, Hamiltons of Bangour,
and other friends, he remained till the amnesty of
1 Chambers " Threiplands of Fingask."
54 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
1753 enabled him to return home. He settled
down to practice in Edinburgh, living in Fountain
Close, Kinloch s Close, Chessel s Court, and latterly
in the " Bishop s Land " at the head of Carrubber s
Close, where a wall of his house is the only old part
remaining. Here hung a collection of royal portraits,
most of them gifts from the days
" When the King came to Fingask
To see Sir David and his lady,"
as the old ballad has it. Fingask had long been for
feited, but to the great joy of his friends and neighbours
he was able to buy back the old estate at an auction in
the Parliament Square in I783- 1 He took a prominent
part in the affairs of St. Paul s, and presided at the
vestry meetings ; the earliest minutes extant are
signed by him ; and his two marriages and the
baptisms of his children are all recorded there. For
several years he was President of the Royal College
of Physicians, of which, at his death in 1805, he
was the senior member. A Scottish gentleman,
moving in the best society in the city, and beloved
for his courtesy and kindness to all, especially his
poorer brethren, his is a name the congregation
should not allow to be forgotten amongst them.
Constant to the Church and King he loved so well,
he helped to keep the light burning in a dark place
till better days should come, as come they did.
Another of the office-bearers of the Church who was
with the Prince at Culloden was Mr. John Goodwillie,
Writer, who had been employed in Secretary Murray s
office, and was on the Prince s right hand on the battle-
1 Chambers " Threiplands of Fingask."
AT THE CROSS OF EDINBURGH 55
field. After " skulking " for a time he escaped to
Edinburgh, living in Queensberry House, Canongate.
In one of Mrs. Strange s racy and amusing letters
to her exiled brother, written in 1750, she says, refer
ring to a baptism recorded in Mr. Goodwillie s family,
" Remember J. Goodwillie ; thank him for your name
son, and tell him you hope to put a blue bonnet on
his head and a broadsword in his hand." And this
right loyal lady further tells how she " has taken a
very pretty genteel house at the Cross, where Sandy
Stevenson has his shop ; tis the third story, an easy
scaled stair, looks very low from the street ; " and,
with true Scottish thrift, looked forward to making
more than the rent (fourteen pounds and a crown)
by letting out the windows at the Restoration. 1
The gay pageant of a few years before, when
another lady of St. Paul s, the beautiful Mrs. Murray
of Broughton, had sat on horseback at the Cross,
decked with white ribbons, when the Chevalier was
proclaimed King, had not faded from memory, nor
been obliterated by the ignominious procession of the
Prince s standard and those of his brave chiefs, borne
by the common hangman and the city sweeps to be
burnt at that same Cross, when all was lost. All
was lost save honour, though the brave hearts would
not see it then ; and for one of them, even that was
gone. Mrs. Murray, after accompanying her husband
to Culloden, was obliged, after the battle, to make the
best of her way from the north to Edinburgh, dis
guised as a soldier s wife. By the way she rested at
Abercairney, near Crieff in Perthshire, the marriage of
1 Denniston s " Life of Strange."
56 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
whose Laird to Lady Christian Montgomery has been
already referred to. By this lady and her sister,
Lady Frances, much kindness was shown to the poor
fugitive, though they were a little surprised, on helping
their guest to bed, when a store of gold pieces con
cealed in her bodice rolled forth on the floor. 1 On
reaching Edinburgh Mrs. Murray remained in various
hiding-places, visited only by a few trusty friends and
ministered to by the faithful priest of St. Paul s, Mr.
William Harper, who also baptized the little son born
shortly after. 2 The christening is thus recorded in
the Church register :
" 1746. Sept. 25, h. 7, v. In Upper Baxter s
Close, baptized a son of I - M - of B ,
and Mrs. F named John. Charles C. R. and
Mrs. E n pnt."
This poor child, born in such unhappy circumstances,
did not survive to bear the name afterwards held in
such disgrace. His father ere this had been taken
prisoner in Tweeddale, and saved his life and fortune
by turning evidence against his master and his
master s cause a proceeding never forgotten nor per
haps forgiven by the party. When Sir John Douglas
of Kelhead, whose family connection with St. Paul s
will be referred to later, was asked before the Privy
Council, " Do you know this witness ? " the scath
ing reply was given, " Not I ; I once knew a person
who bore the designation of Murray of Broughton,
1 Ramsay s " Scotland and Scotsmen of the Eighteenth Century,"
vol. ii. p. 345.
2 "Memorials, Murray of Broughton." Scottish History Society.
MURRAY OF BROUGHTON 57
but that was a gentleman, and a man of honour, and
one that could hold up his head." l Poor Murray
never held up his head again among his friends.
Dr. Thos. Drummond, who, it will be remembered,
was one of the clergy of St. Paul s, in a long poem
addressed to him in 1747, thus reproaches the
unfortunate secretary
" O Murray, Murray, once of truth approved,
Your prince s darling, by his party loved,
When all were fond your worth and fame to raise,
And expectation spoke your future praise :
How could you sell that prince, that cause, that fame,
For life enchained to infamy and shame ? "
Then referring to John Macnaughton, Murray s
servant, whose gallant conduct we have already seen,
he goes on to say
" Behold the menial hand, that broke your bread,
That wiped your shoes, and with your crumbs was fed ;
When life and riches, proffered to his view,
Before his eyes the strong temptation threw,
Rather than quit integrity of heart,
Or act, like you, the unmanly traitor s part,
Disdains the purchase of a worthless life
And bares his bosom to the butchering knife ;
Each mean compliance gallantly denies,
And in mute honesty is brave and dies.
If crimes like thine hereafter are forgiven
Judas and Murray both may go to heaven." 2
Another servant of Murray s figures occasionally
in the records of St. Paul s ; this is John Beane, who
1 Lockhart s "Life of Scott."
2 " Lyon in Mourning," vol. i. p. 245. Scottish History Society.
58 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
was very active in the cause, and is said to have held
some command in the royal army. He was en
trusted by his master on one occasion with the task
of robbing the post near Berwick-on-Tweed. His
instructions were to " tye the boy, cut the girth of
the saddle, and carry off the bridle, to drive the
horse a little way along the sands, cross the country
through Teviotdale, where he might take a fresh
horse, and send the one he rode to Lord Kenmuir
and then continue his journey to Lochyell s house in
Lochaber where he would find me." * We do not
know if this precious commission was carried out,
but for this or some other reason great search was
made for him by the Government after Culloden,
and King George especially desired him to be cap
tured : a spy was to be employed, and a troop of
soldiers engaged. 2 But " the hearts were true, the
hearts were Highland," and after lurking in Badenoch
and Lochaber a while he seems to have escaped, his
master said, to France. In Edinburgh his wife was
applied to, with promise of his life for his evidence,
but she, too, was incorruptible. In 1750 he was in
Edinburgh again, for we find him standing godfather
to a little girl, probably a niece, the christening taking
place in the house of the Rev. Wm. Harper, who
enters his name in the baptismal register of St.
Paul s as " John Beane, the honest servant of
Murray, a false master": and in 1803 his death is
chronicled as having taken place in the Lawnmarket
of Edinburgh, at the age of eighty-four.
1 " Memorials, Murray of Broughton."
2 " Albemarle Papers," vol. ii. p. 440. New Spalding Club.
MACDONELL OF GLENGARRY 59
This is the last time Murray s name appears in the
records, and his family history is henceforth wrapped
in well-merited obscurity, though one or two interest
ing anecdotes concerning him are familiar to those
interested in such matters.
One more baptism in a family placed in somewhat
similar circumstances may be quoted, though in this
case, spite of worldly loss, honour remained, unless
we accept Mr. Andrew Lang s theory concerning
" Pickle the Spy " :
" 1748. July 1 8, f. 2, h. 3, v. In Lady Miln s
house in Blackfryar Wynd baptized a daur. of John
McDonell of Glengarie (prisoner in Edinburgh
Castle) and Gordon, daur. of Glenbucket,
named Henrietta Eraser. J. Hope, Miss Barclay
and McDonell, Spors. (p. Lit.)."
Old Macdonell, spite his protestations of innocence,
had been apprehended ; his house at Glengarry had
been pillaged and burnt down ; while his lady the
daughter of that redoubtable old Jacobite, Gordon of
Glenbucket, who led three generations of his clan to
the battle with her large family of young children,
was left with only " two small Highland cows, one chest
of Drawers, and six pair of Blankets for their main-
tainance and support, and not so much as a hutt left
to cover them." Coming to Edinburgh, they were
dependent on the kindly succour of Lord Justice
Clerk Milton and other friends till Glengarry was
liberated in 1749.
And so in sadness of death, exile, and imprison-
1 " History of Clan Donald," vol. ii. pp. 793-6.
60 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
ment ended the effort so long anticipated, so bravely
begun, and so dauntlessly carried on. The " crowded
hour of glorious life " was at an end, and the poor
gallant Prince, the " Top of perfection and Heaven s
Darling," as Miss Threipland enthusiastically styled
him, with his little band of outlawed followers, was
to weary out his spoiled life far from the land he
had hoped to regain.
" Better lo ed ye canna be ;
Will ye no come back again ? "
sang a daughter of Old St. Paul s in later years,
voicing for all time the cry of many faithful Scottish
hearts. But it was not to be ; his throne was in
those hearts alone, and there his memory rests.
And if for the Church the clinging to the Stuarts
was a mistake, then ten times over she has paid the
bitter price not alone in the loss of so many of
her bravest and best, in which no congregation in
Scotland shared so heavily perhaps as this, but in
the long years of obscurity and the fiery trials of
persecution in which she was well-nigh consumed.
It took those long dark years of wandering in the
wilderness for her to
" Learn that the flame of the Everlasting Love
Doth burn ere it transform."
CHAPTER VI
1745-1786
Closing of the Chapels Penal Laws List of Clergy
Bishop Seabury Dr. N. Spens Death of Rev. W.
Harper
IT may justly be said that, in all that has just been
written, there is little concerning the Church and its
services, but beyond the old register so frequently
quoted, there is very little information available as
to the course of events. The active part which the
Episcopalians took in the rising of 1745 led to
stern measures being adopted afterwards in order
to exterminate, it would appear, these nests of re
bellion, as the chapels were considered. An Act of
Parliament was passed prohibiting unqualified clergy
men from officiating in Episcopal meeting-houses in
Scotland without praying for the royal family by
name, under penalty for the first offence, of im
prisonment, and, for the second, to be transplanted
for life to the plantations of America. The meeting
houses were to be closed, not more than five persons
being permitted to worship together ; those attending
such meeting-houses were liable to fines and im
prisonment, besides disabilities imposed upon peers,
members of Parliament, magistrates, voters, &c.
Worse than all, no clergyman s letters of orders
were to be considered valid unless conferred by an
61
62 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
English or Irish bishop, the cause of much mis
understanding regarding the Scottish Church for
many a day. These cruel laws continued in force,
though not always acted upon, till 1/92, when,
largely through the exertions of the Earl of Kellie,
whose family had a long connection with St. Paul s,
they were repealed. It is more than likely that
the chapel, in common with others, would be closed
for a time, but no record is preserved of this,
though a tradition survives of its having been par
titioned off into separate rooms, in which the statutory
number of persons might hear the service, through
open doors. Baptisms and weddings were performed
in secrecy : " In my closet," " In my laigh house,"
and even out of doors, as in " The Back Stairs,"
the " Herb Mercat," " Near the Cross," &c. &c.
The Lord Chief Justice Clerk, writing to the Duke
of Newcastle on December 23, 1746, says: l
" I send your Grace a List of the Nonjurant
Episcopall Ministers in the City and County of
Edinburgh, but none of them have qualifyed them
selves pursuant to the Act of Parliament in the
last session, even by taking the Oaths, nor can I
yet discover that they have attempted to preach or
teach or educate children, but I shall continue to be
upon the watch.
" List of the several Episcopal Ministers within the
City and County of Edinburgh.
" Mr. Alexr. Mackenzie and Mr. James Wingate.
Forglen s Back Land, Edinburgh.
1 " Albemarle Papers," vol. ii. p. 425. New Spalding Club.
EPISCOPAL CLERGY IN EDINBURGH 63
Mr. William Harper and Mr. Alexr. Mackenzie.
On the East Side of Carrubber s Close,
Edinburgh.
Mr. John Mackenzie. In Gray s Close, Edinburgh.
Mr. Jas. Mackenzie. The West Side of Nidry s
Wynd, Edinburgh.
Mr. Alexr. Robertson. The foot of Carrubber s
Close, Edinburgh.
Mr. Addison. At the head of Chalmers Close,
Edinburgh.
Mr. Blair. The Skinner s Hall, Edinburgh.
Mr. David Rae and Mr. Patrick Gordon. In Old
Assembly Close, Edinburgh.
Mr. Thos. Carstairs. At the Head of Nidry s
Wynd.
Mr. Wm. Law and Mr. Patrick Forbes. In the
Town of South Leith, in the County of
Edinburgh.
Mr. Wm. Forbes. Town of Musselburgh, County
of Edinburgh."
It will be observed that there are two chapels
mentioned in Carrubber s Close, and from the title-
deeds it appears that the under-floor of the tenement
where St. Paul s congregation met was occupied by
Mr. Alexander Robertson as a meeting-house at
one -time. They were nearly all neighbours, those
struggling little chapels : it is pathetic to see how
they clustered together, and from this time forward
many of them evidently merged themselves into one
or two congregations.
A tradition has been handed down in the family
of Mr. James Steuart, Writer in Edinburgh, who in
64 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
1747 married Alison, only daughter and last sur
viving child of Mr. Thomas Ruddiman, that services
used to be held in their house in the Old Town,
with the doors and windows left open to allow other
members of the congregation to take part. It is said
that the children of this family, whose christenings
are all recorded in the books of St. Paul s, were never
allowed to speak of the reigning sovereigns save as
the K. and Q. Alison Ruddiman s Prayer-book, with
the obnoxious names carefully blackened out, is in the
possession of her descendants, and on the flyleaf of
another are written two prayers to be used by the
faithful, for the prisoners condemned to die after the 45.
From these I am permitted to quote the following : 1
" O Almighty God and most merciful Father, hear
us, we beseech Thee, in behalf of those under sen
tence of Death. Let the sorrowful sighing of the
Prisoners come before Thee, and according to the
Greatness of Thy power, preserve Thou those that
are appointed to Dye. In the Day of Distress,
shine upon them with the light of Thy reconciled
Countenance ; give them grace to spend the Residue
of their time in bewailing their sins, in humbling
themselves before Thee for them, and in following
the blessed Example Thou hast set them in praying
for their Enemies : grant that in all their Sufferings
they may stedfastly look up to heaven and by faith
behold the glory that shall be revealed.
" Give unto them, good God, and all their Relatives
humble Submission and entire Resignation to Thy
Divine will and pleasure. Seeing the Lord gave and
the Lord taketh away, Blessed be the Name of the Lord.
1 By the courtesy of James Steuart, Esq.
PRAYERS FOR THOSE CONDEMNED 65
. . . Receive them, O blessed Jesu, into Thy Loving
arms which were stretched forth for sinners upon the
Cross. Receive them, O Merciful Father, into the
embraces of Thy infinite charity, and draw their
souls to Thee in peace, and crown them with ever
lasting Glory, for the mercies and merits of Our
Almighty Redeemer and Advocate."
We know that one at least of the congregation
of St. Paul s was at this time lying under sentence
of death at Carlisle. 1 This was James Ged, son of
William Ged, goldsmith in Edinburgh, the inventor
of stereotype printing, who was one of the trustees
of the Church. James assisted his father with his
invention, and like so many more, followed the
young Chevalier s standard. He was apprehended at
Carlisle in December 1745, and condemned to death,
with Colonel Townley, but owing to the kind inter
cession of Mr. Robert Smith, Chancellor of Cambridge
University, where the lad s father had been King s
Printer, he was liberated in 1748. After this the
father and son arranged to leave Edinburgh to
pursue their business in London, but after their
tools had been shipped at Leith Mr. William Ged
took ill and died. His son, not meeting with
much success in London, went to Jamaica and died
there. As befitted good Churchmen, one of the first
works produced by the new process was the printing
two copies of the Prayer-book. Sir Stuart Threipland
is believed to have encouraged this invention, and
some of Mr. Ged s plates were in his possession.
About this time the Rev. Patrick Gordon was in
1 " Biographical Memoirs, William Ged," published in 1781.
E
66 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
charge of the congregation. Very little is known
concerning him, but he may possibly be a descendant
of the Rev. Patrick Gordon, Vicar of Shiplake till
1700, who was an excellent scholar and beautiful
writer, thought to have been the compiler of a once
famous geography. 1 Certainly the Patrick Gordon
at St. Paul s was a most beautiful writer, and seems to
have been a man of great amiability. He died about
1755, and was succeeded at St. Paul s in 1756 by
Mr. William Harper, junior, a cousin of Mr. Harper,
senior, who must by this time have been well up in
years. Mr. Harper, junior, had previously officiated
at Newtown of Bothkennar, in Stirlingshire. In Lord
Rosebery s " List of the Rebels " 2 he is described as
having been " very active in assisting the rebels, and
waited on the Pretender s son at Falkirk." From this
time forward till his death in 1785 he had charge of
the congregation, but the registers are still kept by
the elder Harper, the handwriting becoming feebler
and the entries briefer as the old man neared his rest.
Frequently about this time we find the name of Peter
Ramsay, the famous innkeeper at the Cowgate Port,
at whose hostelry Boswell received his Corsican
friend, and the Oliphants, elder and younger, put up
on their return from exile. Ramsay was the owner
of the pigs which roamed the streets of Edinburgh
in those days, ridden by the frolicsome little Misses
Maxwell of Monreith at their play in the High
Street.
A noteworthy figure in the congregation was that
fine old Scot, Dr. Nathaniel Spens, President of the
1 Scottish Notes and Queries, vol. vii. p. 21. 2 Scot. Hist. Soc.
DR. NATHANIEL SPENS 67
Royal College of Physicians from 1794 to 1796,
whose portrait by Sir Henry Raeburn is justly famous.
He was one of several of the congregation portrayed
by that great artist, and it is not improbable that
the name of Raeburn among the vestrymen of St.
Paul s may be Sir Henry s. Dr. Spens portrait,
in the picturesque costume of the Royal Archers,
the King s Bodyguard for Scotland, of which he
was for sixty years an enthusiastic member, hangs
in their hall in Edinburgh. It is said that he was
the first person to carry an umbrella in the city
streets.
So many members of St. Paul s have figured in the
gallant Company of Archers as to provoke the surmise
that a hope was cherished of one day acting as body
guard to " one we daurna name." The poet Kincaid,
the priest Dr. Drummond, and many more whose
names it were tedious to recapitulate, have taken part
in the stately marches down the Canongate to join in
merry contests on the Links of Leith, and merrier
feastings afterwards even Mr. Secretary Murray,
whose name here, as elsewhere, was blotted out, " upon
serious deliberation and weighty considerations." ]
Among others of the worshippers at this time
we find the names of the Aytouns of Inchdairnie,
progenitors of the author of " The Lays of the
Cavaliers," whose young heart may well have been
stirred with the tales that his elders could tell ; the
Tytlers of Woodhouselee ; Sir Robert Douglas,
most probably of Glenbervie, the author of the
"Douglas Peerage" ; Lady Margaret Ogilvy, and many
1 Sir J. Balfour Paul s History of the Royal Company of Archers."
68 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
more. Here also we find Lady Inches, whose home
near Inverness had been fiercely pillaged after
Culloden, her husband having died just as the cannons
began to sound upon the fatal day.
It is touching to notice how they all drew together
in Edinburgh, in the common calamity, and com
forted one another, no doubt, in those troubled days.
Still the plots and plans went on, and great hopes
were entertained that a royal alliance would carry
on the wished-for line. A certain Lady Stewart, of
the congregation of St. Paul s, is not improbably the
person who preserved a fine pearl necklace to adorn
the Prince s bride, and then, to Bishop Forbes fierce
indignation, sold it for 1 30 guineas, just when it
was likely to be required. 1 It is much to be regretted
that so few particulars have been preserved, and yet
it is not surprising that the affairs of the chapel
should be shrouded in such obscurity during those
many years. It is noted in the books that it had
frequently to be closed, and that it was for a time the
only place of Episcopal worship within the city walls.
Under the trying circumstances described at the
beginning of this chapter, the wonder is not that so
little survives but that any life at all was left. Yet
was the strength given
" To go on for ever and fail, and go on again,
And be mauled to the earth and arise,
And contend for the shade of a word,
And a thing not seen with the eyes."
But a bright ray of light was to penetrate this
1 " Lyon in Mourning," vol. iii.
BISHOP SEABURY 69
darkness one that will shine upon St. Paul s as long
as the Church endures, for at this time came to
worship with the despised remnant in Carrubber s
Close, a quite inconspicuous young medical student,
whose name, as yet unknown, was to be held in
glad remembrance on both sides of the Atlantic ; the
young Samuel Seabury, afterwards the first bishop
of the great Church in America. It may be ex
plained that at this time the Church in America had
no bishops of its own, the congregations being under
the charge of the Bishop of London a most incon
venient arrangement, which made it necessary for
candidates for holy orders to repair to England for
ordination. Samuel Seabury was born in Groton,
Connecticut, on St. Andrew s Day, 1729: his father
was in priest s orders, and destined his son for the
sacred office. Desiring to obtain a medical degree
in addition, he came to Edinburgh in 1752, and
inquired of his host, the following Sunday morning,
where he could find a place of worship. It is quite
likely that he may have resided with one or another
of the medical faculty, always strongly represented
in this congregation ; but be that as it may, he was
conducted by unfrequented ways, directed to follow
his host without appearing to do so, and at last reached
the steep, dingy close, where Seabury was astonished
to see his guide suddenly disappear into a dilapidated
building. Up the dark stairs he " followed and
wondered still," till in the " upper room " of so many
memories he was able to unite with the faithful few
in the worship they loved. During the rest of his
stay in Edinburgh he continued to attend here, and
70 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
so learnt to know and love the persecuted remnant
of the Church in Scotland, from whom in later years
he was to obtain the great gift of Episcopal conse
cration, and whose ancient Communion Office, with
certain modifications, was to be the adopted use of
his native land.
His studies finished, the young student was
ordained by the Bishop of Lincoln and returned to
America, being appointed in 1754 to a charge in
New Brunswick, and in 1775 promoted to a living
at Jamaica, near his old home. He proved himself
a zealous and faithful pastor, but when the War of
Independence broke out he was persecuted and
imprisoned for his loyalty to the British Crown, and
obliged for a time to depend upon the medical skill
acquired in Edinburgh to maintain himself and his
family. When peace was declared in 1783, the
Church in America, though much reduced, resolved
to obtain Episcopal consecration for one of their
clergy, and Dr. Seabury was the candidate chosen.
Upon his arrival in England his application to the
English bishops was in vain, owing to the im
possibility of his taking the usual oaths of allegiance
to the king. After waiting for a year he appealed
to the Scottish Church, which, though persecuted and
oppressed, was yet free. And he did not appeal in
vain : the " old historic remnant " came to the rescue,
and on November 14, 1784, in another! "upper
room " at Aberdeen, Bishops Kilgour, Petrie, and
Skinner laid their hands on Samuel Seabury, and
sent him forth to shepherd the scattered flocks in
the great land of the West. " Poor, yet making
DEATH OF REV. WILLIAM HARPER 71
many rich," was the Scottish Church in that historic
moment, and now in the beautiful church that has
replaced the old tenement where Seabury wor
shipped, a side chapel has been erected as a
memorial to the good Bishop, to which many Ameri
can Church people have gladly contributed in loving
gratitude and remembrance.
The summer of 1761 saw the old chapel used for
a most extraordinary purpose : here assembled " three
hundred noblemen and gentlemen," to listen to a
lecture on the English language from Mr. Thomas
Sheridan, the father of the famous Richard Brinsley
Sheridan. His lecture aroused great interest in Edin
burgh, and led to the formation of a society for speak
ing and reading correctly i.e. in the English fashion,
alas ! of which Sir Stuart Threipland was a member,
leading one to fear that he may have had a hand
in the building being used for such a purpose.
A few years later the congregation had to mourn
the loss of their venerable pastor, the Rev. William
Harper, senior, who died on iQth December 1765,
much regretted by his many friends there and else
where. His thirty years of faithful service had tided
them over many dark and difficult times ; his loving
sympathy had been theirs in joy and sorrow ; the
memory of his patient heroism must ever be one of
the most dearly-prized associations of this venerable
congregation. At Kirkwall, in Orkney, where he
officiated in his young days, a splendid old folio
Bible with gilt edges, which was gifted by him to
the congregation, has lately been restored to them
by Mrs. Anne Traill Ansdell, Rainhill, Liverpool, a
72 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
member of a family having an old connection with
the Episcopal congregation of Kirkwall. It was
printed at Edinburgh by " James Watson, the King s
Printer, 1722," and has " Kirkwall" stamped in gold
letters on the cover. It bears the following inscrip
tion : " This Bible was gifted by the Reverend Mr.
William Harper, sometime minister of the gospel at
Kirkwall, for the use and behoof of the meeting
house there, and to be keep d and used by the
Episcopal congregation at that place." ]
Mr. Harper is known to have been the author of
at least two works. One of these, published by
William Gordon, bookseller in Edinburgh in 1752,
was entitled " A Treatise on Infallibility, showing
that the Church of Rome s claim to that High
Privilege is without foundation in Scripture, Anti
quity, or Reason. By a Presbyter of the suffering
Church of Scotland." This was a reply to certain
claims made by a Roman missionary. 2 Three years
later he published a metrical version of the Song of
Solomon. This is probably the work which Bishop
Gordon, writing to Bishop Forbes, praised so highly,
and expressed a " violent curiosity to know the
author, who must be a person of no mean abilities." 8
A portrait of Mr. Harper, in mezzotint engraving
after De Nune, was executed in 1745, by his friend
Robert Strange, then in hiding in Edinburgh. 4 It
possesses a deep interest for us, not only from these
1 Information supplied by Rev. J. B. Craven, Rector of St. Olaf s,
Kirkwall.
2 Chambers " Threiplands of Fingask."
" Lyon in Mourning," vol. iii. pp. 208, 209, 293. Scot. Hist. Soc.
4 See Frontispiece.
CHAPLAINS FOR PRINCE CHARLES 73
circumstances, but because it is the only portrait of
the early clergy known to exist.
After Mr. Harper s death in 1765 the congre
gation continued under the charge of his cousin,
Mr. William Harper, junior, previously mentioned.
He was assisted by the Rev. Dr. James White,
formerly of " Cupar of Fyffe." ] This clergyman was
spoken of soon after as a suitable chaplain for Prince
Charles, to whom he was well known, but Bishop
Gordon for some reason thought Dr. White unsuit
able, and preferred Mr. Maitland. This was surely
the Rev. John Maitland, " Chirurgeon of the
Soule," who had accompanied Lord Ogilvie s regiment
to Culloden, and gave the dying Lord Strathallan the
Holy Communion on the battlefield, using the only
obtainable elements, oatcake and whisky, for the
sacred purpose. 2 Mr. Maitland had been obliged to
fly to France, but returned to his native land about
this time, and resided in Edinburgh. He evidently
was not appointed chaplain to the Prince after all,
and when Dr. White died on i$th December 1773,
Mr. Maitland was at once thought of as his successor
at Carrubber s Close, where the names of the Misses
Maitland, probably relatives of his, appear upon the
congregational lists at this time. There is no record
of his having taken the duty there, however, and he
died in Edinburgh in 1800. The choice next hovered
over a certain Mr. Smith in London, but the non-
juring Bishop Gordon strongly objected, since he and
Mr. Smith were the only two priests left in London
" to minister to the necessities of the poor faithful
1 " Lyon in Mourning," vol. iii. p. I. Scot. Hist. Soc.
2 Rev. J. B. Craven s " Life of Bishop Forbes."
74 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
remnant, so much are we minished and brought low."
" God pity and help us/ he goes on to say, writing
to Bishop Forbes in Leith. " A woeful prospect, God
knows, which is matter of pain and grief to me." l
Diplomacy prevailed, and the forlorn bishop and
presbyter were left to console each other in their
affliction, while St. Paul s happy choice fell upon
Dr. Charles Webster, who first acted as Mr. Harper s
assistant and later as his successor. The congrega
tion at this time could .not have been so much
reduced as we might expect, since on Easter Day
1774 there were two hundred communicants at St.
Paul s, and Dr. Drummond s congregation, wherever
they may have been, were as many more. It was
during this unsettled period of the congregation s
history that Dr. Johnson paid his famous visit to
Edinburgh, and it was a relative of Dr. Webster s,
the Rev. Alexander Webster, the lively minister of
the Tolbooth Church, who conducted the worthy
scholar through the streets and closes of the Old
Town. One wishes that he could have been con
ducted to worship in Carrubber s Close, but Johnson
has told us that he never worshipped in a nonjuring
chapel, which no doubt accounts for him attend
ing the Cowgate Chapel in Edinburgh. In 1785
William Harper the second, whose home was in
the now defunct Marlin s Wynd, was gathered to
his fathers, and Dr. Charles Webster assumed the
full charge of St. Paul s. As the time of his ministry
presents a good many features of interest, we shall
leave it for another chapter.
1 " Lyon in Mourning," vol. iii. p. 298. Scot. Hist. Soc.
CHAPTER VII
1785-1806
John Wesley in Scotland Dr. Webster Organ Introduced
in the Chapel Extension of the Chapel List of Trustees
Death of Prince Charles Prayer offered for the
Reigning House Alexander Campbell Organist Open
ing of St. Peter s Repeal of the Penal Statutes Death
of Dr. Webster
THE long dark night of oppression was passing
away, and with the dawning day of liberty came
an impulse of fresh life felt throughout the whole
country as the faithful preaching of John Wesley
awoke the nation from the sleep of religious apathy
that had lasted so long. And even in Scotland, where
his views were not extensively adopted, the influence
was felt, and this obscure chapel was to share in
the spring of reviving life and love.
Wesley had a strong friendship with Dr. Webster s
family, and from a comparison of the passages in
his journal where he speaks of worshipping, as he
was accustomed to do, in the Episcopal chapels, there
seems little reason to doubt that St. Paul s is the
one referred to in the following extract :
" Edinburgh, 1772, April 17. Being Good Friday,
I went to the Episcopal Chapel, and was agreeably
surprised : not only the prayers were read well,
1 Wesley s Journal.
75
76 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
seriously and distinctly, but the sermon upon the
sufferings of Christ was sound and unexceptionable.
Above all, the behaviour of the whole congregation,
rich and poor, was solemn and serious."
High praise this, and pleasant it is to chronicle that
much the same opinion has been expressed to the
writer, by one whose name commands respect in the
Church to-day, of the services on a Good Friday in
Old St. Paul s of our time.
To the influence and example of Wesley we may
ascribe much of the fervour and eloquence that
marked the ministrations of Dr. Webster and his
nephew, John Webster, who was his " assistant and
successor " in St. Paul s. They were descended from
a staunch Jacobite family, Dr. Webster being named
" after the Prince " : his grandfather, a friend of
Dr. Pitcairn s, died righting for the royal cause.
Charles Webster was born in the mansion house
of " Bonnie Dundee," which his father had bought,
and nurtured among such surroundings, and inherit
ing such traditions, we can well understand how
dear the fading glories of the lost cause would be
to a young eager heart. His mother, a stately lady
of the olden school, was wont, when Hogmanay
brought round the Prince s birthday, to assemble
her household in festive gathering to drink the
royal health. On one such occasion, Charles
Webster being abroad at the time, a servant is
said to have wonderingly remarked, " Well, I always
knew the lady to be a proud lady, but I never knew
she had a son a prince." 1
1 Biography of Dr. Charles Webster.
DR. CHARLES WEBSTER 77
Charles Webster was liberally educated, both
at home and abroad, holding a medical degree in
addition to his holy orders, and was evidently a
man of great natural gifts, most nobly devoted to
his sacred vocation. It was a time of transition.
The aristocratic inhabitants of the Old Town closes
were " flitting," as we Scotch folk say, across the
valley of the Nor Loch to the stately new homes
arising on the northern slopes, or spreading into
the new streets springing upon the south, beyond
the old limits of the city walls, while their places
in the high " lands " and tenements were taken
by the poor, and kept by them to this day. In
1784 food was deplorably scarce in Edinburgh:
almost a famine took place, and sickness was rife
among the poor parishioners of St. Paul s. To
them, then, did their faithful priest go, bearing the
gifts of healing for soul and body, shrinking not
from the greatest depths of poverty and vice and
this, be it remembered, when such ministrations
were not so common as, thank God ! they are
now. No doubt this acquaintance with the neces
sities of the poor, as well as his experience as a
lecturer at the Medical School, would influence
Dr. Webster in helping to found the Edinburgh
Dispensary. Notwithstanding the migration, the
congregation kept up well. A few years before,
they had, greatly daring, ventured to let once more
the sound of instrumental music arise in their midst,
a step which gave great searchings of heart to
some cautious spirits, as will be evident from the
following letter, written by the Rev. Alexander
78 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
Allan, afterwards assistant in the chapel, to Bishop
Petrie : l
"EDINBURGH, \\thMay, 1782.
" RIGHT REV. DEAR SIR, . . . I know not whether
our friends in the north may have got any fresh
assurances of protection in these perilous times,
but make no doubt you will be surprised when I
inform you that our neighbours in Carrubber s Close
(I mean Mr. Harper s congregation) appear as if they
were great favourites with those in power ; for not
satisfied with excellent vocal music, they have lately
erected an organ in that chapel they have not yet
begun to use it in public on the Sundays, but fre
quently practise it on the week-days in the presence
of both clergy and laity. I have talked a little to the
bishop about the propriety of this step, as it appeared
to me both rash and imprudent, and might in the
end prove of more general concern than they ima
gined. His reverence told me that they had never
consulted him in the affair ; he had, however, spoken
to Mr. Harper about it, and discharged the use of it
in public on the Sundays. Whether they will pay
any regard to this inhibition, time must determine.
But it is evident the plan was to use it directly,
although Mr. Harper softens the matter by saying
that it is to improve the voices of the young people
with regard to the proper time, which end might have
been attained by placing it somewhere else than in
the body of the chapel."
1 Canon Archibald s " History of Episcopacy in the Diocese of
Moray," p. 204.
ORGAN IN THE CHAPEL 79
This organ is the instrument asserted by tradition
resting, however, on no stronger evidence that can
be discovered than a confident statement by Dr.
Webster s biographer to have been given by Queen
Anne to the chapel. In view, however, of the fact
that in the Church accounts at this time we find the
sum of ^30 paid to Dr. Webster for the organ, as
well as 4, 155. 6d. to James Logan for tuning and
putting it up, it is difficult to reconcile the statements.
And now the first recorded organist comes upon the
scene in the person of Mr. Alexander Campbell, a man
of considerable note in his day, accomplished and
kind-hearted, and an enthusiast in music. Before and
after his day we find a precentor referred to ; but
upon the noble salary of 6, 6s. per annum, and a
small payment to an organ-blower, the music of Old
St. Paul s was then conducted ; what it was like one
fain would know ! Campbell was employed to teach,
or try to teach, the young Walter Scott to sing a
seemingly hopeless task, for as Scott himself tells us,
when he attended in George Square to give Walter
and his brother their lessons in psalmody, the result
was so dreadful that Lady Cumming, their neighbour,
" sent her compliments to Mr. Scott, and begged
that the boys might not all be flogged at the same
hour, for though she had no doubt the punishment
was deserved, the concourse of sound was really
dreadful." ] Nevertheless Campbell persisted in
believing that his pupil could sing if he chose. Nor
did Sir Walter forget his old teacher, for when,
in 1816, the musician had fallen into somewhat
1 Lockhart s "Life of Scott," p. 48 .
8o OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
reduced circumstances, the Wizard of the North
assisted him by contributing some words to a collec
tion of Highland airs he had made, entitled " Albyn s
Anthology." One of these, the spirited " Pibroch
an Donuil Dhu," Scott then considered " the only
good song he ever wrote," but at that time he
had not written " The Bonnets o Bonnie Dundee."
He got Campbell to " try over " tunes with him
when a song-writing fit took him, notably when
George IV. was expected to visit Scotland in 1822.
On that occasion part of Scott s extensive arrange
ments was the adaptation of the old song " Carle, an
the King come " to some new verses, " Carle, now the
King s come." Sorely must an ardent Jacobite like
Campbell have felt this, though the " rightful race "
had by this time faded away to the " shadow of a
shade." The fine air of " Gloomy winter s noo awa"
was claimed to be composed by Campbell, and he was
the author of several works, one at least illustrated
by himself. When Mrs. Siddons visited Edinburgh
in 1784, Miss Pitcairn, an old lady member of the
congregation, daughter of the great Dr. Archibald
Pitcairn, was invited by Mr. Campbell to attend one
of the performances. The sprightly old lady replied,
" Laddie, wad ye hae an auld lass like me runnin
after the play-actors me that hasna been at a
theatre since I gaed wi papa to the Canongate in
the year 10? The theatrical performances in the
Canongate which the old lady remembered, are
supposed to have been a continuation of those
held at Holyrood by the Duke of York, afterwards
James II., during his brief court there.
" SINGING SANNOCK" 81
Alexander Campbell married a lady of the family
of Macdonell of Glengarry, referred to earlier in this
book. Burns, while in Edinburgh, was a frequent
visitor in Campbell s family, and in his " Epistle to
James Tennant of Glenconner " there is the following
amusing reference to the musician, who was a fellow-
member of Lodge Canongate, Kilwinning :
" Lord remember Singing Sannock,
Wi hale breeks, saxpence, and a bannock."
That " Singing Sannock " is Alexander Campbell
we learn from a little book entitled " Burns in
Edinburgh," describing his initiation as Poet Laureate
of the Lodge in 1786. In this connection there can
be little doubt that the two previous lines,
" An no forgetting Wabster Charlie
I m tauld he offers very fairly,"
refer to the clergyman of St. Paul s, with whom Burns
had an acquaintance, since in writing to the Rev. John
Skinner, two years later, he refers to his " much-
respected friend the Rev. Dr. Webster." Mr.
William Tytler is another gentleman of the congrega
tion addressed by the poet, in the lines beginning
" Revered defender of the beauteous Stuart," and
there can be no doubt that at the celebration of
Prince Charles s birthday, to which Burns was bidden,
he would meet with many kindred spirits. It is
pleasant to know that " Singing Sannock s " beautiful
rendering of Scottish songs cheered Sir Walter Scott s
evenings at Abbotsford, and that when evil days came
upon the musician his famous pupil was good enough
to employ him in the transcription of manuscripts and
F
82 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
such-like work. One of Campbell s good deeds, for
which many might bless his name, was his founding
the Edinburgh Destitute Sick Society, which continues
its beneficent work to this day. His portrait by Kay,
with a hand-organ strapped on his back, is a skit in
revenge for some sketch contributed by himself.
But we must return to the fortunes of the " Chaple
in Comber s Close," whose managers in 1786 ad
dressed the following letter to their clergyman, the
Rev. Dr. Webster :
"EDINBURGH, May 1786.
fi REV. SIR, We subscribing members of the
Congregation of Corribor s Close, considering the
daily diminution of the Clergy and people and
its consequences. And being fully satisfied with
your ministrations since the year 1774. And par
ticularly these six months past, the most laborious
season, when the whole charge devolved on you.
We take this opportunity of expressing our thank
fulness, and desire That you continue the same
charge as you have begun, till you find it necessary
to apply for an assistant.
" That God may long continue you in health and
strength is the Sincere wishes of
" Revd. Sir,
" Your most humble Servants,
(Signed) " STUART THREIPLAND."
That same summer they were able to extend their
borders by purchasing the under-floors of the old
tenement where they had worshipped so long. This
transaction was effected by Mr. James Steuart,
TRUSTEES OF THE CHAPEL 83
Writer in Edinburgh, son-in-law of Thomas Ruddi-
man, who had long ere this passed to his rest, his
descendants still continuing to worship in the old
chapel. Mr. Steuart advanced 100 of the pur
chase price of 140, and the title-deeds, which had
been in Sir Stuart Threipland s hands, were given
into his keeping. Sir Stuart was now the only
living member of the body of trustees in whom
the chapel was vested, so it was resolved to add a
few more names to the list of managers. These
now included John Goodwillie, James Skinner,
Alexr. Laing, James Steuart, William Dallas, &c.,
presided over by the veteran Sir Stuart, to whom
the premises were assigned during his lifetime ; after
his death to
" Joseph Robertson, Surgeon in Edinburgh.
Jas. Cargill, Merchant there.
Wm. Gordon, Bookseller.
John Goodwillie, Writer, etc. etc."
This was not such an imposing list as the former
band of trustees formed in 1741, which had been as
follows :
" Sir Andrew Gibson of Pentland.
Henry Bethune of Balfour.
John Blair of Bathyock.
Dr. Thomas Young, Physician in Edinburgh.
Mr. David Graeme, Advocate.
John M Kenzie.
James Hay.
William Siton and James Sangster, all four Writers
to the Signet. /
84 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
Thomas Gibson of Cliftonhall and Alexr. Keith,
Junr., two of the Under Clerks of Session.
Andrew Marjoribanks.
William Neilson.
John Gordon.
Archibald Stewart.
John Haliburton and the said Hugh Clark, all six
merchants in Edinburgh.
Alexander Keith of Ravelston.
Alexander Orme of Balvaird.
James Guild.
Alexander Deuchar.
Alexander M Intosh.
George Handyside.
James Hay.
William Lumsden.
Alexander Christie.
William Wilson.
Martin Lindsay and George Boswell, 1 2 writers
in Edinburgh.
Mr. Thomas Ruddiman, Keeper of the Advocate s
Library, and William Gedd and Ebenezer
Oliphant, both Jewellers in Edinburgh, then
members of the said congregation or major
part of them."
From 1786 onwards for a time considerable
progress was made, and the minutes and accounts
are most carefully kept in Mr. Steuart s beautiful
writing. The property was handed on from one
set of trustees to another, finally, long after, being
transferred to the Episcopal Fund Trustees. From
time to time, however, great gaps occur in the
DEATH OF PRINCE CHARLES 85
records, and after Dr. Webster s death they are
most irregularly kept for some years. No register
of baptisms or marriages is extant for the time of
his ministrations ; and this is much to be regretted,
as the period was an interesting one. Before this
time, however, pretty complete lists of the seat-
holders survive, showing, if it needed to be proved,
how many of the best families in Scotland were
connected with this chapel. The rigours of perse
cution were past, as the immediate representative
of the Stuart dynasty was sinking into his grave,
leaving no son to heir his unhappy fortunes, and
his brother, the Cardinal, was but little recognised
though there were not wanting those who hoped
that some dispensation might yet revive their droop
ing hopes. And soon the end came.
In 1788 Prince Charles Edward died, and with
him the last hopes of a Restoration passed away.
Nowhere would his memory be more grieved over
than in this chapel, the members of which had
done and suffered so much for him and his. The
Stuart sun had set, in sadness, even in a cloud. At
last the Church in Scotland could, with a clear
conscience, acknowledge the reigning house, and
almost universally it was resolved that prayers
should be offered for it. But there were still some
faithful hearts that would not believe that all that
they had fought for was as nought for when Dr.
Webster wrote to Lawrence Oliphant of Cask, whose
young people were then under his spiritual charge,
during their studies in Edinburgh, informing him of
his intention, he received the following reply : " Oh,
86 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
Doctor, think, think again and yet advise a delay ;
there never came good of hurry ; wait at least for
one year, as your Primus proposed. Let not the
long-boasted faith of the Jacobites be lost. Govern
ment leaves you in quiet ; is there no reliance on
the Almighty ? " l
That the clergyman felt the importance of the
occasion we know, for Sir Walter Scott s friend
William Erskine, afterwards Lord Kinedder, who was
present, writing afterwards to Mr. Oliphant, reported
that when Dr. Webster read the altered prayers for
the first time, his voice faltered and sank. The
organist thus describes the scene :
" Well do I remember the day on which the name
of George was mentioned in the morning service for
the first time ! Such blowing of noses such sig
nificant hems such half-suppressed sighs such
smothered groans, and universal confusion, can
hardly be conceived ! But the deed was done
and those who had participated could not retract." *
So ended the hundred years of brave protest for
which Scotland and the Church, and this congrega
tion in particular, paid so dearly. Was it all in
vain ? Let those who value not faith and courage say
so. Such dauntless love is never wasted
" Thanks to Him
Who never is dishonoured in the spark
He gave us from His fire of fires, and bade
Remember whence it sprung, nor be afraid
While that burns on, though all the rest grow dark."
1 Kingston Oliphant s "Jacobite Lairds of Gask."
2 Alex. Campbell s "Life of Rev. D. Mackintosh."
"THE LAST OF THE JACOBITES" 87
There was one " last leaf " hanging to the bough,
however, one faithful heart among the congregation,
who never till his death would own allegiance to
the Hanoverian race. This was Alexander Halket,
so amusingly described by Chambers as the " Last of
the Jacobites." He dwelt in a fine old house near
Holyrood, hung round with portraits of the rightful
race, and here he used to entertain his circle of
Jacobite friends. Once a year, in court dress, with
a sword by his side, did this forlorn hero pay a
solemn visit to Holyrood Palace, musing on the
vanished glories, and in the same guise appeared
at Edinburgh Castle when the Scottish regalia was
discovered in 1818. In the chapel he led off the
responses from his old Prayer-book, containing the
names of King Charles, the Duke of York, and
Princess Anne, and always blew his nose loudly
during the prayers for King George and the Royal
Family! He died in Edinburgh in 1825.
The Church in Scotland now began to spread
herself abroad without fear or reproach, although the
penal statutes were still in force, and the congrega
tion in Carrubber s Close increased so much, " the
gallaries, passages, and even the outside steps being
crowded," that it was resolved to open another place
of worship. Accordingly, in 1791, Dr. Webster
acquired the lower floors of a large tenement in
Roxburgh Place, and founded there the congregation
since known as St. Peter s, which now worships in a
beautiful church in Lutton Place. This, the first of
the churches which have sprung from St. Paul s, is
an offshoot of which it may well be proud. Dr.
88 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
Webster and his nephew, the Rev. John Webster,
who now assisted him, officiated alternately at the
" Old " and the " New Chapels," which were both
well attended. \
Next year, 1792, the penal statutes against the
Episcopal Church in Scotland were at length repealed,
largely through the exertions of the Earl of Kellie,
whose family connection with St. Paul s has already
been referred to, and at the same time another church
in Edinburgh was opened. This was St. George s
in York Place, designed to accommodate the many
Episcopalians who had removed from the Old Town
to the fine new streets and squares springing up in
that neighbourhood, the first to be built upon when
Edinburgh stepped across the valley from the Old
Town to the New.
Mr. Ruddiman, some years before his death in
1757, had built a fine house at Cleland s Yards,
behind where the Theatre Royal now stands, and
here his descendants continued to dwell. His grand
son, Mr. Charles Steuart, was one of the founders of
St. George s, and as he had previously been a member
of St. Paul s, it may be claimed that, in a certain
sense, St. George s was an offshoot from the parent
tree. Dr. Webster had married a Miss Graham of
Balgowan, granddaughter of Sir David Threipland,
and cousin to the famous Lord Lynedoch, the hero of
Barossa and Corunna, 1 and it fell to the clergyman s
lot to console the hero for the loss of his wife, the
beautiful Mrs. Graham, whose portrait by Gainsborough
is treasured in the National Gallery, Edinburgh. Miss
1 Chambers " Threiplands of Fingask," pp. 66, 67.
DEATH OF DR. WEBSTER 89
Graham and her sisters were brought to Edinburgh to
attend the festivities under the celebrated Miss Nicky
Murray, each young lady mounted on horseback,
and escorted by a perfect dragon of an uncle. But,
" Love will venture in where it daurna weel be seen,"
and at Dunfermline there was a meeting of eyes with
a group of young officers, partners at a Perth ball
the year before. Spite of the dragon, " Love found
out the way," and when sitting down to dinner at the
inn the young ladies found themselves waited upon
by three young officers in the guise of waiters,
exhibiting their devotion in the formal manners of
the time. Miss Catherine s choice, however, fell upon
the accomplished Dr. Webster, and their home in the
Crosscauseway was a resort of the most cultivated
society of the city. But all this happiness was not
to last : Dr. Webster fell into bad health, which a
voyage to the West Indies as chaplain to the troops
failed to benefit, and he died at St. Vincent in 1795,
leaving his widow and three daughters. In his
biography it is stated that the Duchess of Albany,
daughter of Prince Charles, made a voyage to
England under his care, 1 and that she made a rough
sketch of him on the way, which was afterwards
developed into a miniature portrait.
The name of Miss Walkinshaw, possibly an aunt
of this lady, appears for several years among the
seat-holders at St. Paul s. Their Edinburgh dwelling
was in Niddry s Wynd, on the other side of the High
Street from Carrubber s Close.
The Rev. JohnWebster now succeeded to the joint
1 It would be interesting to have more proof of this.
90 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
charges of SS. Peter and Paul, assisted by the Rev.
Alexander Allan, whose letter respecting the organ has
been quoted. His parents were great friends of John
Wesley, and it is said that on one occasion, when
they were attending an early morning meeting of his,
they were surprised to see their little son John, then
about six years old, whom they had left at home fast
asleep, appear at the door of the hall. His father
called him to his side, and he listened to the preacher
with great earnestness. When Wesley came down
from the pulpit he laid his hands in kindly benedic
tion on the boy s head, saying, " My little fellow, I
hope good things will come of you." And good
things came : he grew up so manifestly fitted for the
sacred ministry to which his young heart was given,
that he was ordained before the usual time, and
ministered faithfully at St. Paul s and St. Peter s till
he too was cut off in the prime of life in 1806. He
is buried in Grey friars Churchyard, Edinburgh. 1
1 " Memoirs of Dr. C. Webster," &c.
CHAPTER VIII
1806-1842
Rev. Simon Reid Lady Nairn Keith of Ravelston Revs.
Messrs. Elstob and Craig, Henderson, &&gt;c. First Hymn-
book Dean Ramsay, &c.
THE period we now enter upon is marked by a
certain reaction, and so far as can be gathered from
the meagre details that survive, life in the chapel
was somewhat stagnant. The Rev. Simon Reid,
who had been a member of Bishop Abernethy
Drummond s congregation in Blackfriar s Wynd, was
now appointed to St. Paul s. He was ordained in
1781 to the joint charges of Arradoul and Fochabers, 1
and in 1801 he was officiating in Leith, from whence
he, like a certain famous predecessor, came to Car-
rubber s Close. In his time celebrations took place
monthly and on great festivals. The offertories
were not inconsiderable, and among the entries we
find that in 1 8 1 1 there was collected " For the
British Prisoners in France" the sum of 11, I2s.
In 1814 there was held a " Thanksgiving for
peace."
The chief interest now, as before, centres in the
personalities of the worshippers, and even this dull
1 Canon Archibald s " History of the Episcopal Church in Moray."
9 1
92 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
time has its heroes, and above all its heroine. For
now came to make her wedded home in Edinburgh
one who had no doubt often worshipped here in
earlier days, Carolina Oliphant, afterwards Lady
Nairn, the " White Rose of Gask," ever to be re
membered as the deathless singer of the lost cause.
She and her husband, Major Nairn, were cousins,
both descendants of notable Jacobite families. The
Nairn titles and estates had been forfeited, like so
many more, but the title was restored to Major
Nairn by George IV., largely owing to Sir Walter
Scott s influence. One of the few recorded Epis
copal acts of Bishop Rose after the Revolution was
the consecration of a chapel on the Nairn estates in
Perthshire, but this was afterwards razed to the
ground by the Duke of Athole when he acquired
the property, and it was with melancholy eyes that
the last Lord Nairn, the son of Major and Carolina
Nairn, looked upon the lands his forebears had lost
for the king. Lady Nairn, it is perhaps scarcely
necessary to mention, was the daughter of Laurence
Oliphant, junior, of Gask, and granddaughter to
the " Auld Laird " of whom she sang so sweetly.
Although she had strong Presbyterian sympathies she
and her husband were both seat-holders in St. Paul s,
and Lord Nairn, to give him his restored title, was
a vestryman for many years. Their only child, the
last Lord Nairn, who died abroad in early manhood,
was not christened at St. Paul s, but in the Cowgate
or Bishop Abernethy Drummond s Chapel, so often
referred to. It was during the Nairns stay in or
near Edinburgh that the full heart of the yet un-
LADY NAIRN 93
known minstrel poured forth the tide of song which
was to carry " the tender grace of a day that was
dead " to the hearts of generations to come. For a
time they resided in Holyrood Palace, fitting home
for the " Queen of Scottish Song/ crowned now
with laurels scarce less green than those with which
her father wreathed his Prince s brow within the
same grey walls. Midst all the patient saints of
God, the " fair women and brave men " whom St.
Paul s may hold in honour, let a place be kept for
she who sung " The Land o the Leal."
Yet another famous singer may claim kinship
with the faithful company at St. Paul s William
Edmonstone Aytoun, whose parents on both sides
had a family connection with the Church ; and much
of the inspiration of the gallant " Lays of the
Cavaliers" is considered to have been derived from
his mother, the adopted daughter of the Keiths of
Ravelston.
Mr. Alexander Keith of Ravelston, a member of
this congregation, in 1 8 1 1 married a sister of Lady
Nairn. He was then an old man, as will be seen
from the entry of his baptism, which is too quaint
to be omitted :
" 1737. Deer. 28, f. 4, h. 6. Baptized a son of
Alexr. Keith, Under Clerk of Session, and Johanna
Swinton, named Alexander (the former son of that
name being dead). Alexr. Keith, Senr. Mr. Orem,
Dor. Rutherford. Mr. Watt, James Hay, Mrs. Orem,
Miss Swinton, etc. etc. pnt. N.B. Mrs. Keith (after
three months of grief for the Death of her former
94 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
children, and toyl by the sickness of her husband)
came to the altar of God on Xmas Day, and brought
forth her son on St. John s Day. Aoa ra> Oew."
This is one out of the many christenings recorded
in the Keith family, who lived in the same stair in
the " College Wynd " where Sir Walter Scott s
parents resided, and where he himself was born.
Mrs. Keith was his grand-aunt, and many merry
days did the young Walter spend in the grounds
of Ravelston, a property to the west of Edinburgh
which Mr. Keith acquired in 1739, an< ^ there ca n be
no doubt that from the " dear Keiths and Swintons "
he must have derived much of his Jacobite lore.
One evening, while Prince Charlie held the city,
Mrs. Cockburn, the anthoress of the " Flowers o the
Forest," was returning from a visit to Ravelston when
the carriage was stopped at the city gate. The lady,
who was by no means a Jacobite, must have had
some anxious moments, since she had in her posses
sion a copy of verses she had written, making fun
of the Prince s proclamation. The soldiers, however,
respected the Keith coat-of-arms on the carriage,
and let her pass in peace.
Another visitor at Ravelston in later years was
Scott s little " Pet Marjorie," a connection of the
Keiths, and from this and other links with St. Paul s
may we not hope that the dainty child-genius may
have sometimes worshipped here in the days when
she was a " Pisplekan in Edinburgh, and a Pris-
beteran in Kirkcaldy."
The Keiths of Ravelston claimed descent from
KEITHS OF RAVELSTON 95
the hereditary Earls Marischall of Scotland, and in
recognition of this, when the long-lost " Honours of
Scotland " were discovered by Sir Walter Scott in
1818, hidden away in the great old chest in the
Crown Room of Edinburgh Castle, George IV.
offered the custody of them, with the honour of
knighthood, to the Mr. Alexr. Keith mentioned
above. In consequence of his advanced age, he
declined, and the honour was bestowed upon his
nephew. Mr. Keith died the following year. The
day before his death he visited Sir Walter and
bade him good-bye.
The cushion on which the crown used to rest
was quite lately restored to the Government by
Sir Patrick Keith Murray of Ochtertyre, in whose
family s possession it had been, and it is now placed
beside the regalia in the Castle.
Mr. Reid, who seems to have been in bad health,
resigned in 1815, and was succeeded at short in
tervals by the Revs. Wm. Elstob and Edward Craig.
There are faint indications in the ministry of the
former of a more advanced type of Churchmanship,
but the general tendency was to decay. The aristo
cratic congregation of the old qualified chapel in the
Cowgate about this time transferred themselves to
the handsome new church of St. Paul s at the corner
of York Place and Broughton Street, and it seems
as if some of the Old Town Episcopalians connected
themselves with St. Paul s, Carrubber s Close, pro
bably not caring to worship so far from their
homes. Of this, however, there is no certain re
cord preserved.
96 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
In 1821 the Rev. Edward Craig resigned, going
to St. James s Chapel in Broughton Place, a very
plain structure, resembling an ordinary dwelling-
house. Here he achieved a brief notoriety by certain
ultra-Evangelical practices, and attacked his clerical
brethren for what he deemed erroneous teaching
on the subject of baptismal regeneration. An
interesting collection of Psalms and Hymns, arranged
for public worship in St. James s, was published
in 1822, and from the admirable preface it is
evident that it was compiled for the use of the
chapel in Carrubber s Close. This points to its
being the work of the Rev. Edward Craig, he having
officiated at these chapels in turn, and this small
hymn-book must have been one of the first to be
used in the services of the Church.
Two future bishops of the Church now took charge
of St. Paul s, Messrs. Walker and Terrot, who had
also charge of the daughter church of St. Peter. Dr.
Walker, a most saintly man, was afterwards Professor
of Theology and Dean of Edinburgh. Upon the
death of Bishop Sandford in 1881 he was conse
crated to the see of Edinburgh, and in 1837
became Primus of the Church.
The Rev. Charles H. Terrot, whose honoured name
and presence is well remembered in Edinburgh, became
Bishop Walker s successor in 1841, and Primus
in 1857. Not even the able and devoted services of
these distinguished clergymen could arrest the down
ward tendency in the chapel s fortunes, and so hope
less seemed the outlook that they recommended that
it should be shut, and the congregation united with
JOHN SINCLAIR AND E. B. RAMSAY 97
its flourishing offshoot, St. Peter s. The vestry, pre
sided over at this time by the distinguished scholar,
Sir John Leslie, Professor of Mathematics and
Philosophy in Edinburgh University, resolved, how
ever, with a spirit worthy of their ancient lineage,
to struggle on. At this critical period they were
fortunate enough, after some voluminous and charac
teristic correspondence with the well-known Sir John
Sinclair of Ulbster, to secure the services of his son,
the Rev. John Sinclair. His coming may be said to
have rescued this historic congregation from the anni
hilation or absorption that threatened it at this time,
though the danger had ever and again to be faced. The
work went on again under his able superintendence,
and in 1824 he officiated at the wedding of his sister,
Miss Julia Sinclair, to the Earl of Glasgow, and in
1825 at the baptism of their son, George Frederick,
late Earl of Glasgow. The baptistery in the new
church has been decorated by the Countess of Glasgow
in memory of this. Mr. Sinclair left in 1826, and in
later years held joint charge in St. Paul s, York Place,
along with Bishop Terrot. After this he became
Archdeacon of Middlesex. The present Archdeacon
of London, the Venerable W. M. Sinclair, is his
nephew.
He was succeeded at Carrubber s Close, in May
1826, by one whose name is dear to Scotland and
all who love her, the genial Dean Ramsay, whose
" Reminiscences of Scottish Life and Character " all
the world knows. The only outstanding feature of his
brief sojourn at St. Paul s was his immediately being
summoned to Abbotsford by Sir Walter Scott to
G
98 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
officiate at Lady Scott s funeral. This was, of course,
owing to Sir Walter s connection with St. George s
Church, where Mr. Ramsay had previously ministered,
though he had, as we have seen and shall see, several
ties with this old congregation. Dean Ramsay, to give
the name he is best known by, soon left to go to St.
John s, where he remained until his death in 1872.
A cross, erected to his memory " by his fellow-country
men," stands at the east end of St. John s Church in
Princes Street.
The next incumbent of Old St. Paul s was the
Rev. Wm. Henderson, a descendant of the celebrated
Alexander Henderson, Moderator of the General
Assembly of 1638, but of an Episcopalian family.
He left to go to Arbroath in 1828, and was followed
at St. Paul s by the Rev. W. H. Marriot, one of the
masters at the new Edinburgh Academy. Archdeacon
William, Scott s friend, was then the head master, and
frequently officiated at the chapel. It is not unlikely
that Mr. Marriot may have been related to the Rev.
John Marriot, tutor to the Duke of Buccleuch s son,
to whom Scott dedicated one of his poems. Mr.
Marriot died in 1832, and was buried in Corstorphine
Churchyard, most of the congregation following him
to the grave. Some verses in his memory, signed
with the initials " E. R.," appeared in Stephens Epis
copal Magazine.
The Rev. D. T. K. Drummond was next inducted,
three collects from the American Liturgy being used
at the service. He resigned in 1838, on being ap
pointed to the new Church of the Holy Trinity just
built on the steep banks of the Water of Leith beside
REV. JOHN ALEXANDER 99
the Dean Bridge. While there he had an unfortunate
difference with his diocesan, which led to his resigna
tion, and he afterwards set up an independent meeting
house. Yet another change for poor Carrubber s
Close ! This time the Jacobite link occurs again,
an ancestor of the new incumbent, the Rev. Torry
Anderson, son of Bishop Torry, having been " out in
the 45 " with Lord Pitsligo s Horse.
It is not clear how long he officiated, and there
may have been some clergymen in temporary charge,
things being in an unsettled state, no doubt owing to
the frequent changes of clergy ; but now a change
took place which was the forerunner of better things.
The appointment of the Rev. John Alexander in
1842 marks an epoch which must be left for another
chapter.
CHAPTER IX
1842-1883
Beginning of the Oxford Movement in Scotland Rev. J.
Alexander Founding of St. Colutnba s Days of Trial
Changes of Clergy Meeting-house taken down
Homeless Days Building of New Church
THE long, dreary period of spiritual deadness that
followed the Wesleyan revival was passing away,
as the dawning life of the Oxford movement began
to stir in the Church. How much we owe to this
forward impulse we scarcely realise, since even
those who most would disapprove have yet been
influenced by it, more than they are aware.
And Old St. Paul s, which had shared considerably
in the first revival, was to have the honour of being
the first congregation in Scotland to initiate the
other. For to the Rev. John Alexander, ordained
to the charge in 1842, belongs rightly the honour
of being the pioneer in this far-reaching movement,
so far as Scotland was concerned, and in this dilapi
dated chapel, in its dreary, dirty close, we first find
the week-day services, the frequent communions, the
chanted psalms, and other privileges which perhaps
are not now sufficiently valued by those who never
felt the lack.
In Mr. Alexander the Jacobite traditions of the
FRESH LIFE IN THE CHURCH 101
congregation were maintained, he being descended on
his mother s side from Captain Gordon of Terpersie,
who fought for Prince Charles at Culloden, and gave
up his life at Carlisle. 1 Like two other distinguished
sons of St. Paul s, he was a native of Banff, where
his father was provost. He studied at Aberdeen, and
was called to the bar before taking holy orders.
Dean Walker of Aberdeen, who was present at his
institution in Carrubber s Close, describes the out
look of the congregation at that time as bright and
full of promise. 2 And the promise was fulfilled, not
only in the increased attention paid to the services
of the Church, but in the searching out, teaching, and
training the poor and the young in the principles of
the faith.
A few years before, in 1838, had been formed the
Scottish Episcopal Society, one of whose objects was
to promote what we now call Home Mission work,
and it had united with the congregation in securing
Mr. Alexander s services on the understanding that
he would devote a portion of his time to this work.
His faithful labours in the surrounding streets and
closes soon resulted, as such work was bound to do,
in a large increase in the church attendance, and the
number of communicants. The Scottish Communion
Office was restored to use, daily prayers offered,
responses and psalms chanted, while the chapel was
"decorated with evergreens at Easter for the first
time." A school was opened in Baker s Hall, Lawn-
market, and the children taken regularly to church,
1 Scottish Standard- Bearer, vol. vii. p. 102.
2 In a letter to the writer.
102 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
free seats being provided. Bishop Terrot and his
daughter presented a new marble font to the Church
at this time ; it is now in St. Ebba s, Eyemouth, a
Church which St. Paul s has done much to support.
It seems strange that there should have been any
difference of opinion about all this good work, but so
it was, and criticism from without and within hindered
the growing life. In particular, a determined oppo
sition arose at the time in Scotland to the use of
the venerable Scottish office, a difference which long
disturbed the peace of the Church. It was the old,
old question, that had rent the Church asunder in
former years, the question on which her future will
ultimately turn ; the real question that matters, let
outside details be what they will.
It ended for Old St. Paul s, at that time, in the
formation of a scheme to found a new church, in a
cleaner and more open locality than the now some
what disreputable Carrubber s Close, and its tumble
down chapel was to be replaced by a " free and
open " church, where the Scottish Office would be
the only use. This project was warmly taken up by
Episcopalians throughout the city, and a site was
secured on the Castle Hill. Here the church known
as St. Columba s was erected, partly from stones of
the old chapel of Mary of Guise, which formerly
stood near the spot. So behold, on a day, the
scholars of Old St. Paul s march forth with their
banner flying to take possession of their new
quarters below the church, and services began, the
Rev. John Alexander being appointed to the first
charge on 28th September 1846.
DAYS OF TRIAL 103
Another congregation thus sprang from the old
root, and one that, for a time at least, seemed to have
drained much of the parent life away. The work
at St. Columba s was carried on with conspicuous
success by this brave priest, whose name in the long
roll of honour at Old St. Paul s must ever hold a
distinguished place.
It might have been thought that all this spelt
annihilation to the portion of the congregation that
determined to remain behind in Carrubber s Close, but
it was not so, although they had now to pass through
the least creditable part of their history. The
Episcopal Fund Trustees, who had a certain charge
over its concerns, closed the chapel, a proceeding
stoutly resisted by certain vestrymen who, however,
by no means kept the peace among themselves.
For some years there is a distracting record of
disputes, carried even to the courts of law, and
appeals to Episcopal authority and subsequent re
bellion are painfully frequent. The chapel, ministered
to by various visiting clergy, seems to have been a
happy hunting-ground for the " No Popery " agitators.
The only appointment that was made, and that an
unfortunate one, was of the Rev. George Montgomery
West, a clergyman in American orders, who only
made a brief stay. One piece of good work marks
this period in the opening of a school in Roxburgh
Place, carried on with much success for many years,
latterly, under the charge of Miss Thomson, the re
spected Bible-woman of the congregation.
A peaceful period now set in under the pastoral
guidance of the Rev. Jas. McLauchlan, who for the
io 4 O LD ST - PAUL S CHURCH
next twelve and a half years laboured faithfully to
repair the waste places. Of Presbyterian family, he
became an Episcopalian by conviction, and after study
ing at St. Andrews and Glenalmond he was ordained
to the charge of St. Paul s, in 1853. The chapel
in those days presented but a dreary appearance,
with its old-fashioned pews rented, of course its
dingy gallery, and a pulpit on either side of the
communion rails. An unwritten law prevailed that
nothing less than silver should be offered on
Communion Sundays. One interesting feature of Mr.
McLauchlan s ministry was his undertaking mission
work in the Bathgate district, where he baptised
many of the mining population, sometimes in the
open air. These baptisms are recorded in the books
of St. Paul s. He resigned in 1865, and was
appointed to a living near Torquay. Previous to his
lamented death in 1892, he was for some years vicar
of Emmanuel Church, Camberwell. The Revs. Wm.
Kennedy, Henry Wadsworth Nicholson, and Robert
Peel Wadsworth now followed each other at St.
Paul s in rapid succession. The school was obliged
to be closed, but mission work among the poor of
the district was still carried on, even when, as
shortly happened, the poor old chapel was levelled
with the dust. The demolition of surrounding
buildings under the City Improvement Trust made
the building unsafe, and in 1873 it was closed by
the bishop s orders.
The Rev. C. Darnell was the next clergyman
appointed, the Rev. David Smart acting as curate, a
position which he held for a number of years, various
DEMOLITION OF THE CHAPEL 105
clergymen acting as incumbents from time to time.
Among these were the Right Rev. Henry Cotterill,
Bishop of Edinburgh, the Very Rev. Dean Mont
gomery, and the Rev. Canon Meredith, now of St.
Columba s, Crieff. The Rev. David Smart, to whose
unwearied exertions the keeping together of the home
less congregation may justly be ascribed, was of a
historic family, having claims to be a lineal descendant
of the royal Stuarts. Naturally, he took a deep
interest in the old meeting-house, and, to his honour
be it said, did all in his power to preserve it. He
collected sufficient funds to restore and repair the
building ; but although the walls were strong enougli
to stand for centuries more, the burgh engineer
pronounced the building unsafe, and it was ordered
to be pulled down. Dispossessed again, the con
gregation had to seek a fresh place of worship, this
time no man making them afraid. And yet it must
have been a trial to quit the time-honoured Close,
where their forefathers worshipped, and to wander
forth, from one city hall to another, dependent
occasionally on the services of any visiting clergyman
that could be secured. For a short time services
were held in another " upper room " in Carrubber s
Close, but it was ten years before they could again
meet in their own church on the old spot. For in
1880, when the old church was finally demolished,
the resolution was formed to rebuild upon the
historic site a church to carry on the old traditions.
A heroic project for a mere handful of people, albeit
not without a modest sum at their disposal ; but it
only shows, what has been proved over and over
io6 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
again, the dauntless faith and courage of this
venerable congregation. And much as we may
regret the hasty action which demolished the old
meeting-house, as well as many more historical land
marks of our ancient city, yet who can but rejoice to
see the glory of the new house which has arisen
upon the old foundations, where " the Lord s name
is praised, from the rising of the sun, unto the going
down of the same : " a centre of all true worship and
work, and the dearly-loved spiritual home of a large
and devout congregation !
Plans for the new church, to seat 300, were
prepared by Messrs. Hay & Henderson, the esti
mated cost being 3500. This was proposed to be
raised from their own funds, by a grant from the
Walker Trust, and subscription. At this point a
great piece of good fortune befell. The Walker
Trust, which in terms of the Misses Walker s will
was to provide for a church in the east end of the
city, as well as building the magnificent cathedral
in the west end, adopted the new church of St.
Paul s as the beneficiary. A noble gift, and one
that ought to rank highly in the history of the
Church in Scotland. Dearly as all Scottish Church
people must prize the beautiful St. Mary s Cathedral,
there is a certain fitness in at the same time building
up a noble home for the old congregation which kept
alive Episcopacy in Edinburgh when everything but
the Divine promise threatened extinction. And such
a noble and beautiful home shelters it now, as
Scotland can scarcely match, thanks to the generous
aid of many true friends, both old and new. Grants
OPENING OF THE NEW CHURCH 107
amounting to 300 per annum, as well as other help,
were given by the Trust, and by this and other helps
the work was carried through, and the first portion of
the church opened for Divine Service early in 1883.
On 2 /th January of that year it was formally
opened by Dr. H. Cotterill, Bishop of Edinburgh.
Chancellor Cazenove, of the cathedral, preached from
Matt. xxiv. 7.
So, after ten years wanderings, the much-tried
little band of faithful worshippers once more found a
spiritual home in the old Close, now altered almost
out of recognition. Once again the voices of prayer
and praise went up from the scene of so many
memories, and the light shining in a dark place was to
burn more brightly than ever, a witness to the Eternal
Providence of Him who " slumbers not nor sleeps."
It was decided now to alter the title of the church
to that of Old St. Paul s, to avoid the long, cumbrous
addition of Carrubber s Close, in distinguishing it
from the congregation in York Place.
The Rev. David Smart, having piloted the con
gregation safely back to its old anchorage, resigned
the charge at the end of 1883, and was afterwards
appointed by the Earl of Yarborough to the living of
Keelby in Lincolnshire, and three years later he was
presented to the vicarage of Milbourne, St. Andrews,
which he still holds. Upon Mr. Smart s resignation
of St. Paul s, the Dean and Chapter of St. Mary s
Cathedral, in whom the patronage is vested, presented
the Rev. Reginald John Simpson Mitchell Innes to
the charge, and on ist January 1884 he entered
upon his ministry there.
CHAPTER X
1883-1906
The Rev. Canon Mitchell Innes Mission by Dean Mont
gomery Extensions of the Church Development of the
Services and Organisation Appointment of the present
Rector Completion of the Church and Dedication Service
Description of the Building
THE new Rector, the Rev. R. J. S. Mitchell Innes,
the descendant of two eminent Scottish families,
was born at Parson s Green, near Edinburgh, and
educated at Trinity College, Glenalmond, under
Dr. Hannah, in Germany, and at Oxford University,
where he graduated M.A. After ordination he worked
under Dr., now Archbishop Maclagan, at St. Mary
Abbots, Kensington, where he had charge of the
choir. From thence he came to St Mary s Cathedral,
Edinburgh, where he was the first precentor, setting
the keynote of the high spiritual life ever since aimed
at in the choir. His coming to Old St. Paul s marks
a new era in its history ; henceforward we find a
record of steady progress, patient, sure, and well
directed in the right way. It is difficult, nay, im
possible, to say all that might be said ; that must be
for future years. Suffice it that catholic faith and
practice have won their way. The handful of people
has become a great congregation, to whose hearts
and minds the glory of God has ever been presented
as the one end and aim of life, here and hereafter.
108
BUILDING UP THE CONGREGATION 109
The new beginning in the congregational life was
fittingly introduced by a mission held in 1884 by
Dean Montgomery, to whose constant kindness, and
that of his colleague at St. Paul s, York Place, the
Rev. Wm. Douglas, the congregation had owed much
in their homeless days. Those who remember his
earnest spiritual teachings can understand what a
powerful influence for good his eloquent preaching
would be. Later in the same year the centenary of
Bishop Seabury s consecration was held at Aberdeen,
attended by a great concourse of clergy and laity,
both native and American. Two of the American
clergy, the Rev. Dr. Beardsley, Rector of St. Thomas,
Connecticut, Seabury s biographer, and the Rev.
Professor Hart, Trinity College, Hartford, Connecti
cut, officiated at St. Paul s during their visit, being
naturally much interested in this Church, to which
the good bishop had in his youthful days belonged.
Canon Mitchell Innes, to give him the title he is best
known by, was assisted in the arduous work of build
ing up the congregation by, first of all, the Rev.
A. E. Laurie, the present Rector, who, after acting
for a few years as lay reader, was ordained to the
curacy of Old St. Paul s in 1890, and has continued
to work there ever since. In 1896 the staff was
increased by the appointment of the Rev. William
Perry, who afterwards became Vice-Principal of the
Theological College, then Rector of St. John s, Alloa,
aud now of St. John s, Selkirk, and the Rev. E. J. S.
Reid, now Rector of St. Cuthbert s, Hawick. This
same year the congregation came face to face with
the necessity of enlarging the church very consider-
no OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
ably in order to accommodate the increasing con
gregation, about ninety candidates being presented
annually for confirmation. Twice already it has been
found necessary to do this, but the fresh extension
was intended to occupy all the vacant ground that
was available in Carrubber s Close, and to include the
building of a side chapel for the daily services, guild
meetings, &c., and was estimated to cost ^4500.
A few years before a bazaar had been held on behalf
of the Extension Fund and church furnishings which
realised over ;iooo, and a heavy feu-duty, which
had burdened the finances to the extent of $2 per
annum, had been bought up at the cost of ;iioo,
chiefly by the liberality of Mrs. Ramsay of Charlotte
Square, a great benefactor to the Church.
In the new extension the Walker Trust again
came nobly to the rescue, promising the sum of 300
per annum for six years if the congregation on their
part could raise the like sum. This offer was grate
fully accepted, and they set themselves manfully to
gather up the money no inconsiderable task when
we remember that the church is now to a great
extent the church of the poor. But they have been
taught the duty of faithfully giving to God s service,
and year by year they patiently collected as they
were able, till at last the necessary sum was in hand.
In later years the custom of holding bazaars and
kindred methods of raising money for church purposes
was departed from, a " more excellent way " having
been found, whereby each member of the congregation
places what they can afford to give in boxes supplied
to each one for the purpose. On the First Sunday
OPENING OF S. SAVIOUR S MISSION in
in Advent these boxes, containing the " Sacrifices "
for the year, are solemnly presented in the Offertory.
This plan has been quite successful in raising the
money required, and a thousand times more, we may
be sure, in the lofty principle inculcated, and the
elimination of the worldly motives and suggestions
inseparable from many schemes for such purposes.
That the adoption of such scriptural means of giving
to God s service may lead to the return of the
ancient custom of giving the " tenth " for sacred
purposes, must be the wish of all who desire to see
God s work done in God s way.
In order to do justice to the Church s work in
the old Canongate, S. Saviour s Mission had been
opened by St. Paul s in 1 896, in a room in Brown s
Close. The necessary plumbing, joinering and
gilding work was done by members of St. Paul s,
and workers have not been wanting to spread the
knowledge of the truth in this fresh beginning of
life among those whom St. Paul s is bound to minister
to. Services and school were begun, and still carried
on with every prospect of increasing success.
At the end of 1897 the saintly, venerable Dean
of the diocese, Dr. J. F. Montgomery, died, and the
Sub-Dean, the Rev. J. S. Wilson, was appointed
to succeed him. Thereupon the Bishop preferred
Canon Mitchell Innes to the vacant office of Sub-
Dean. This, while a great gain to the Cathedral
staff, was a heavy loss to the congregation he had
built up, and they viewed it with much concern-
so much so, that they petitioned the Bishop and
Canon Mitchell Innes to reconsider the matter.
ii2 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
Both, however, replied that they considered it their
duty to abide by the original decision. The great
affection and respect the congregation entertained
for their beloved Rector was in some measure shown
by gifts presented to him shortly after, but the
full measure of what his work among them has
been can never be fully known or appreciated. Not
in the beautiful church alone, with its well-ordered
services and far-reaching organisations, but in the
lives of those to whom he so faithfully ministered
in his Master s name, will his memory live. The
tie between them has never been severed : both in
his work at the Cathedral, and now in Glasgow,
his influence extends to his old flock at St. Paul s,
as well as to those who may have journeyed far
away. The Dean and Chapter, as patrons of the
living, now appointed the Rev. A. E. Laurie, the
present Rector, who had worked so long among
them, to the vacant charge, an appointment that
gave great satisfaction. A heavy charge and nobly
borne, as all who know can testify. The best
traditions of life and work have been more than
maintained, the organisations so well and com
pletely planned continue to develop, while the loving
care of all that can pertain to the well-being of the
flock knows no limit. Day and night the clergy
of this church are ready to minister to the sick and
needy in their Master s name, going down into the
darkest places of sin and suffering with an utter
forgetfulness of self, that is the truest gospel message.
Among the many spiritual influences that have
gone to the moulding of this congregation, mention
PROCESSIONS IN THE CANONGATE 113
ought to be made of the missions held at different
times by the Rev. Father Hall, now Bishop of
Vermont, U.S.A., ever a friend of Old St. Paul s,
and the Rev. Canon Mitchell, now Principal of the
Theological College. Night by night the crowded
High Street saw the white-robed procession of priest
and choir emerge from the old Close, where of
old they shrank from the eyes of men the " Church
invisible " of Dundee s merry jest. Forth they came,
their standard the Cross, their message the pro
clamation of the King of Kings, " Peace and goodwill
to all mankind," " God so loved the world that He
gave His only Son." Fearlessly now went up the
old petitions of the Litany as the simple procession
wended its way down the historic Canongate, witness
ing, midst the squalor of that street of vanished
glories, to the eternal mission of the Church of Christ,
to " seek and save that which was lost."
John Wesley said of this congregation, more
than a hundred years before, " they have lost their
glorying." If so, surely in the work St. Paul s is
now doing they have found it again. " Greater love
hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life
for his friends." Lives have been laid down from
this congregation ere now for an earthly king ;
lives are being lived now, and laid down, for the
King of Kings, and to His glory. The clergy
mentioned above as assisting the Rector of St. Paul s
have been appointed to other charges ; they were
succeeded by the Revs. Ranald Macpherson, L. L.
Cappel, and James Beale, junior, and now by the
Revs. Harold Bentley Smith and Richard Collins.
The two first named have since departed for other
H
ii4 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
spheres of work, while the Rev. James Beale, the son
of the Rector of St. James, Duns, was called suddenly
to his rest at the end of 1904 while in the full tide
of work and activity a great sorrow to the people of
St. Paul s, by whom he was greatly beloved.
And now the time was approaching when the
Extension Scheme, so long and patiently worked for,
was about to be consummated. On 25th August
1904 a memorial stone had been laid in the side
chapel by the Rev. Canon Mitchell Innes, who also
gave the address at the solemn and beautiful service
held in the church ; and now, on St. Paul s Day,
1905, the long-waited-for and oft-postponed dedi
cation of the completed church took place.
" If St. Paul s Day be fair and clear,
It doth betide a happy year,"
says the old saw, and surely this fair and clear
beginning of a new chapter in the Church s history
is a happy omen for future years. No cloud, not
even the recent sorrow for the departed priest, was
allowed to dim the brightness of this happy day.
From very early morning, faithful worshippers knelt
to offer the great thanksgiving, and by the evening
all was ready for the bishop s benediction. The
dedication service was arranged for the evening in
order that all might be able to be present, and long
before the appointed hour the church was filled with
a devout congregation. A long procession, headed
by the cross, including the Bishop and clergy, with
the choir and representatives of the various organisa
tions of the Church carrying guild banners, &c., went
round the outside of the church, chanting portions of
\
DEDICATION OF THE CHURCH 115
the Litany by the way. Strange and touching it
was to the kneeling worshippers within to hear the
faithful voices of priest and people rising and falling
in the old, old appeals for mercy and forgiveness as
they wended their way down the old Close of so many
memories. Much had come and gone since, centuries
ago, this spot was dedicated to God s service, and
" Many a blow and biting sculpture
Polished well these stones elect,"
with which this temple has been raised to the honour
and glory of God. The procession entered the
church to the joyous strains of " At the Name of
Jesus," sung while the long procession of clergy and
choristers passed into the chancel. After shortened
evensong sung by the rector, the lessons being read
by the Revs. E. T. S. Reid, Rector of St. Cuthbert s,
Hawick, and Ranald Macpherson, Vicar Choral
of Ripon Cathedral, former curates of the church,
the Benediction service began. It consisted of the
" Veni Creator " sung kneeling, after which Bishop
Dowden and his chaplain, the Rev. W. M. Meredith,
Rector of St. Columba s, Crieff, formerly incumbent
of this church, with the Rector, proceeded to the
baptistery, which forms the extension to the nave.
After this had been solemnly dedicated, the Bishop
proceeded to the altar in the side chapel, and dedi
cated it also to the service of Almighty God. The
crowning point of the service was reached when the
clergy and choir, grouped before the altar, sang the
" Te Deum " as a heartfelt act of thanksgiving. Next
came the sermon, fitly preached by the late rector,
Canon Mitchell Innes, from the words, " Ye also, as
n6 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
lively stones, are built up a spiritual house " ( I Pet.
ii. 5). After the Benediction had been given by the
Bishop, the processional hymn, " For all the saints
who from their labours rest," most appropriately
concluded a beautiful and impressive service.
The following description of the completed church
is largely taken from the Scottish Standard-bearer,
the measurements being supplied by the architects,
Messrs. Hay & Henderson. Mr. George Hender
son designed this most beautiful building, which will
remain as a memorial of his finished work on earth,
and one to which most earnest and loving care was
given, as befitted its sacred purpose.
The church of Old St. Paul s is designed in the
Early English style, the exterior severely plain. It
faces northward, occupying all the space between Car-
rubber s Close on the west and Gray s Close on the
east, and may be approached either from the High
Street by Carrubber s Close or by Jeffrey Street on
the north. In olden days the Close ran much farther
down into the valley than it does now, Jeffrey Street
having, as it were, cut across the foot of it ; this and
the bringing of the railway through the old hollow of
the Nor Loch has altered this neighbourhood very
much indeed. Until recent buildings overshadowed
the church it could be seen from Princes Street, but
from the North Bridge it can easily be observed still.
Its chancel has a high gable pierced for three bells
and surmounted by the cross. The total length of
the interior is 127 feet 6 inches, and the width, not
counting the side chapel, 39 feet. It can accommo
date (including clergy and choir) about 1000. The
VIEW OF THE INTERIOR OK OLD ST. PAUL S FROM THE ALTAR,
SHOWING THE SEABURY CHAPEL TO THE RIGHT
DESCRIPTION OF THE CHURCH 117
j roof of the nave is 57 feet above the floor, and the
walls are 26 feet high. The chancel has an aisle on
each side of two bays, the arches of which are divided
by polished granite shafts. Above the altar are
three chancel windows filled with rich stained glass.
The centre light represents the Crucifixion, with the
figures of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. John
on either side, and St. Mary Magdalene kneeling
at the foot of the Cross. The base of this light
portrays Moses raising the brazen serpent in the
wilderness. In the left-hand window is the figure
of St. Paul, the patron saint of the Church, bearing
the book and sword ; at the base a representation
of the saint preaching on Mars Hill. The other
light has St. Columba in monastic dress wearing a
pectoral cross and bearing the pastoral staff, while
a mitre lies at his feet ; the base shows the saint
directing the building of the abbey at lona. High
above there is an oval opening containing a repre
sentation of our Lord seated in glory robed as Priest
and King. The inscription is as follows :
" This window is erected to the Glory of God,
and in memory of Henry Alexander Douglas, and
Elizabeth Dalzell, his Wife ; and Lady Christian
Douglas and Lady Catherine Douglas ; also Henry
Alexander Douglas, Bishop of Bombay; by Edward
O. and H. Charlotte Douglas, 1885."
This beautiful memorial forms an interesting link
with the Jacobite period of Old St. Paul s history,
the earliest names mentioned carrying back the family
connection with the Church a long way.
Henry Alexander Douglas was the third son of
n8 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
Sir William Douglas, fifth Bart., of Kelhead, in
Dumfriesshire, born in 1781, and married in 1812
to Elizabeth Dalzell, second daughter of Robert
Dalzell of Glenae, titular Earl of Carnwath. Henry
Alexander Douglas was brother of Charles and John,
fifth and sixth Marquises of Queensberry, which title
fell to Sir Charles Douglas in 1810. They with all
their family were worshippers in Old St. Paul s.
When Prince Charles Edward was on his march to
England, on passing Kelhead the Lady Douglas of
that day met him at the foot of the avenue, and
presented two of her sons to his service, bidding
him "hang them on the nearest tree" if they failed
in their duty. This Spartan mother, not so long
after, had to succour one of these sons, Erskine
Douglas, surgeon, who after following his "dear
master," whom he could never afterwards mention
without tears, to Culloden, reached Edinburgh in
woman s guise, begging. With great difficulty
gaining admission to his mother at Queensberry
House in the Canongate, he was more suitably attired,
and, after some other adventures, escaped to
join Prince Charles on the Continent, where he re
mained for several years. Bishop Sandford married
this gentleman s daughter in 1790, and their son,
Sheriff Erskine Douglas Sandford, as one of the
Episcopal Fund Trustees, was in some measure
associated with the affairs of St. Paul s in later years.
The altar and super-altar are of carved oak ; the
latter has four medallions, carved with the Agnus
Dei, the Crown of Thorns, Pelican, Chalice and
Wafer. The top of the altar is a slab of porphyry
weighing over 1 2 cwt.
DESCRIPTION OF REREDOS 119
The altar vessels of silver gilt, the chalice studded
with carbuncles, were presented by the congregation
of St. Mary s Cathedral, and the altar cross was
given by Mr. and Mrs. Erskine of Pendower, Tun-
bridge Wells. It was presented in memory of Mrs.
Erskine s sister, who had bestowed an earlier cross,
since given to St. Ebba s, Eyemouth. Both these
sisters were daughters of the late Dr. Walker,
Bishop of Edinburgh, who, it will be remembered,
was one of the clergy of Old St. Paul s. The
sanctuary lamp, altar, desk and candlesticks were
also offerings. But the most striking feature of the
chancel is the reredos, presented by Miss Cranston,
Waverley Park, Edinburgh, in memory of her father.
The following description of this beautiful work of
art is chiefly taken from the parish magazine: "It
is a most elaborate work in Gothic, decorated with
many carved niches and floreated cornices, and
numerous crochetted finials, all of which give a very
rich and pleasing effect. There are also in the
various niches and on the pinnacles many beauti
fully carved figures of saints and angels, numbering
forty-one in all, and so arranged as to have refer
ence to the subjects selected for treatment Christus
Propheta, Christus Sacerdos, Christus Rex,
Christus Salvator. Immediately over the retable
is a cornice, enriched with small niches, containing
the twelve apostles with their emblems. In the
large centre panel over this is placed a painting
copied from Benvenuto de Cellini s Infant Saviour,
with Madonna Enthroned in the National Gallery,
London. This was a gift from Miss Dick Lauder.
The panels of the triptych, a gift from a lady in the
120 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
congregation, are adapted from celebrated frescoes
in the Riccardi Chapel in Florence, painted for the
Medici in A.D. 1458, by Benozzo Gozzoli, a pupil of
Fra Angelico. They represent angelic figures in
adoration of the Holy Child in His Mother s arms.
On the angel s garments are inscribed the sentences,
Gloria in Excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus,
bonoe voluntatis. "
A beautiful marble parapet wall, surmounted by
a highly-ornamented wrought-iron chancel screen,
encloses the sanctuary, enhancing its beauty without
obscuring it in the least.
The nave is divided into seven bays, with lofty
plain lancet windows, several filled with stained glass.
Two of these, representing St. Giles and St. Cuth-
bert, were given by Mrs. Douglas of Killiechassie in
memory of her husband, the donor of the chancel
windows which commemorate their ancestors. Two
other windows in the nave, representing St. Margaret
and St. David, are a memorial to Mrs. Johnston, a
true friend of St. Paul s, given by her daughters, as
well as the carved oak sedilia in the chancel.
The pulpit is of carved oak, bearing the figures of
St. Paul and his four companions, SS. Luke, Silas,
Timothy and Titus, and bears the following inscrip
tion : " This pulpit was erected to the glory of God
and in loving memory of Rev. Geo. Crawley Bowles,
Rector of East Thorpe, Essex, and Jane Lucy his
wife, by Blanche their daughter in 1892." A bishop s
chair of carved oak was presented by the congrega
tion in memory of a most loyal and devoted vestry
man, Mr. Robert Isles, who died in 1890.
The side chapel, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin
THE SEABURY CHAPEL 121
- (,
Mary, and erected in memory of Bishop Seabury, is
entered from the nave through three arches, above
which are beautiful traceried windows. The chapel
is 42 feet long by 10 feet 6 inches wide, with an
open timber roof (like that of the nave) 18 feet
6 inches in height.
The reredos of the altar is a triptych in gilt oak.
The centre panel has a painting of the Annunciation,
copied from Fra Angelico, and the two side panels
will shortly be filled. The reredos and pictures were
given by Miss Johnston, in memory of the late
Miss Cornelia Dick Lauder. In the niche above is a
carved figure of the Blessed Virgin Mary, holding the
Holy Child. A stained glass window, representing
the consecration of Bishop Seabury, was dedicated
on 1 4th November 1905, the anniversary of his
consecration in 1784. It was given by the Rev.
E. T. S. Reid as a memorial of his mother. Another
window is shortly to be filled with stained glass repre
senting the Carpenter of Nazareth, in memory of the
late Rev. James Beale, assistant priest of St. Paul s.
Over the principal entrance to the church is a
relief panel, representing the Glorified Christ with
hand upraised in blessing. It is a memorial to a
former Churchwarden, Mr. Robert Robertson, an
old and attached member of the congregation, both
in the old church and the new.
In continuation of the chapel arches, are two
lofty arches giving access up a flight of steps from
the nave to a quasi-transept, where the doorway
enters from Carrubber s Close. From here also a
quaint stair rises to a tribune gallery, which crosses
the end gable, and through several picturesque-
122 OLD ST. PAUL S CHURCH
looking arches leads to the choir vestry. In the
centre of the end gable, below the tribune gallery,
and within a lofty inner arch, is the baptistery,
paved with marble mosaic, and the windows filled
with stained glass. A brass plate inserted in the wall
bears the inscription, " To the glory of God, and in
loving memory of George Frederick, 6th Earl of
Glasgow, who was baptized in old St. Paul s Church,
1 8th November 1825, this window and pavement are
dedicated by his widow." A beautiful panel in relief
work, representing the " Presentation of the Infant
Christ in the Temple," is placed upon the wall in
memory of Miss Dick Lander, a lady whose name
can never be forgotten in this Church. A worker at
the old chapel, her interest in the congregation s wel
fare never failed throughout its years of difficulty,
and when her nephew, Canon Mitchell Innes, became
Rector in 1884, she became a worshipper here, and
the good works done and the loving sympathy shown
throughout a long life can never be fitly told. They
are a blessed memory and inspiration to all who had
the privilege of knowing her.
The church is seated with chairs, and lighted through
out with electric light. The brass lectern, Litany-desk,
and various other church furnishings, were all gifts from
members of the congregation and others. Much loving
devotion has shown itself in beautifying this house
of God, and there is still room for further decoration.
Below the church is a large hall, used for Sunday-
school and other parochial purposes, and close by,
in Jeffrey Street, stands Lauder House, built and
presented to the Church by the late Miss Dick Lauder
and Canon Mitchell Innes as a rectory clergy
WORK OF THE CHURCH 123
house. The importance of this generous gift to
the life and work of St. Paul s is great. A Church
which maintains full services and all the multifarious
activities of a properly-worked town parish, especially
in a densely-populated district like that in which Old
St. Paul s is situated, can only be fitly worked where
the clergy reside beside their flock and the church
where they daily minister to their spiritual necessities.
Lauder House, too, carries down, though the donors
knew it not, the honoured name associated with the
Church property in Carrubber s Close since the days
of King James IV., as we have seen, to those which
this generation has known.
Of the many good works carried on in connection
with this Church, it would take too long to tell.
Nothing that can be thought to contribute to the
welfare of its people is overlooked. Much has been
said of the brave days of old, much might be said of
the brave days of the present, of the faithful, self-
sacrificing ministry to souls and bodies, of the high
ideals of priests and people, of the little children so
lovingly taught and trained. Here no longer is
worship conducted in fear and silence, nor with the
" fatal blight of seat-rented respectability," but an
ever-open door welcomes all alike to enter, kneel
and pray. After centuries of alienation and oppres
sion, of strife and bloodshed, a " long compass round
is fetched," and surely we may claim to see in it all
the Eternal purpose manifesting itself in the preserva
tion of this anciently-dedicated spot, and the erection
of such a beautiful house of God in the very heart
of the old city of Edinburgh. For the material fabric
is as nothing, save as a fitting shrine for the spiritual
124 OLD ST - PAUL S CHURCH
presence that hallows the whole. Here day by day
the Holy Eucharist is offered up. Daily Matins and
Evensong never fail, and on Sundays choral celebra
tion of the Holy Communion is in its proper place
as the principal service of the day. Lent and Advent
bring their appropriate observances nor are the
children forgotten ; every Sunday afternoon is
devoted to the Catechism following upon morning
school, while week-day services in Lent and Advent
impress their proper lessons, crowned by Children s
Eucharists on the great festivals. Indeed the in
struction of the children of the Church is, as it ought
to be, one of the chiefest duties dwelt upon at Old
St. Paul s, and with the happiest hopes and " forward-
looking thoughts." What its future iSfey be God only
knows ; the loving devotion of the past is its happiest
augury. Surely a congregation that has weathered
so many storms must have been preserved to do
some yet greater work for God in the world !
" Through good report and evil report," through
darkness into light, have they been brought, and
Bishop Rose s old prayer, uttered well-nigh two
hundred years ago, that " the Lord would build up
Jerusalem, and repair His sanctuary that was
trodden down," has been abundantly answered.
Like him, too, we can only humbly say, " We Thy
people shall give Thee thanks for ever, and show forth
Thy praise to all generations."
Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON 5r- Co.
Edinburgh & London
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8X 5370 E304 1907 TRIM
Ingram, Mary E.
A Jacobite stronghold of the
church
BX 5370 E304 1907 TRIM
Ingram, Mary E.
A Jacobite stronghold of the
church
