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THE SCOTTISH GREY FRIARS

Photogravure.
A Grey Friar at Prayer. By Zurbaran.

From Painting in Nat, Gallery, London.

THE SCOTTISH
GREY FRIARS

WILLIAM MOIR BRYCE

II)

VOL. I.

HISTORY

EDINBURGH AND LONDON

SANDS & CO.

608354

2« . IT. (T S~

X^-S^g-

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

GENERAL HISTORY— THE CONVENTUAL PROVINCE

Arrival of the Franciscans in Scotland — Early foundations — The independence of
the Scottish Province — The Friars and the War of Independence — A Francis-
can legend in Scotland — Foundation of the Friary at Lanark by Robert the
Bruce — His generosity towards the Order — The scholarship of the Scottish
Friars — Friar John the Carpenter — James II. and the Friary at Kirkcud-
bright ........ Pp. 1-37

CHAPTER H

RISE OF THE OBSERVATINES

The origin of the Observatine movement — Distinction between clerical and lay
brothers — Conflict between theory and practice — Franciscan heresies — Per-
secution of the Spirituals — Spiritual autonomy and its revocation — Re-establish-
ment at Hrogliano — Friars John of Vallee, (Jentile de Spoleto and Pauluccio
— Conformity of the Observatines — Recognition by the Council of Constance
— Organisation — Province of Cologne — Observatine mission to Scot-
land ........ Pp. 38-53

CHAPTER III

THE OBSERVATINE PROVINCE

Arrival of the Observatines in Edinburgh — The scruples of Father Cornelius and
their historical sij^nificance — The Friaries in St. Andrews and Perth — The
Intelle.vi)iiiis te — Recognition of the Scottish Observatine Province — The
Observatine and Conventual Friars — The Stirling Friary founded by James I\'.
—Jedburgh ....... Pp. 54-70

CHAPTER IV

GENERAL HISTORY, t445-i550

Mary of (iueldres, Henry \'I. of England, and iIr- Princess Cecilia— Entry of
Princess Margaret into lidinburgh- James 1\'. ami the Observatines —
Minority of James V. Friar Cairns as mediator l)itwcrn James \'. and the
Earl of Angus- Friar Lang and the l'".ail of (ilencairn's Rhyme Englisli

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Franciscans seek refuge in Scotland — Sack of the Friary in Dundee — The
Regent's abjuration in the Friary at StirHng — Destruction of the Friaries in
Roxburgh, Jedburgh, Haddington and Dundee by the Enghsh — Martyrdom of
the Warden of Dumfries-— The EngHsh legacy of heresy . Pp. 71-85

CHAPTER V

THE FRIARS AND THE REFORMATION— THEIR APOLOGISTS

Contemporary standard by which the Friars are to be judged — Their pastoral role
in the Scottish Church — Contemporary writings which differentiate the Friars,
as Preachers and Confessors, from the Churchmen — The Franciscans as
Inquisitors — Apostasy prompted by religious conviction . Pp. 86-109

CHAPTER VI

THE FRIARS AND THE REFORMATION

Their Detractors, George Buchanan and Sir Thomas Craig

Modern justification of Franciscanus as legitimate satire — Morality of the Friars —
The unhistorical character of Franciscanus — Its Dedication — Records of the
Lisbon Inquisition — Collation of the new evidence with traditional accounts
— The Somnium and Palinodia — Sir Thomas Craig's accusation — Its
limitation to the Friary at Jedburgh — Examination from Franciscan
Revenues — Endowments — Legacies — Crown Pensions — Comparative
estimate of Franciscan and Dominican Revenues — The Franciscans, the
poor Clergy . . . . . . . Pp. 1 10-140

CHAPTER VII

THE FATE OF THE FRIARS

The Beggar's Warning— Politics in the Reformation— The subjective character
of the Reformation— The Greedie Askeris— Destruction of the Observatine
Friaries— Immunity of the Conventual Friaries— Alienations of land by the
Conventual Friars— Destination of their Friaries— The pension allowed to
recanting Friars — Recipients of the pension — The Conventuals and the
Observatines in the Reformation— Exile of the Observatines— Their settle-
ment in Holland, France and Germany . . . Pp. 141-160

CHAPTER VIII
THE CONVENTUAL FRIARIES

Roxburgh

Haddington

Dumfries

Dundee

Lanark

Inverkeithing

Kirkcudbright

List of Conventual Friars

PAGES
I6I-I67
168-198
199-217
218-239
240-247
248-250
251-257
258-261

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Vll

Edinburgh
St. Andrews
Perth .
Aberdeen
Glasgow
Ayr
Elgin .
Stirling
Jedburgh

CHAPTER IX
THE OBSERVATINE FRIARIES

PAGES
262-286
287-298
299-306
307-342

343-35 •
352-360

361-365
366-377
378-379

CHAPTER X

THE BROTHERHOOD OF PENITENTS— THIRD ORDER OF

ST. FRANCIS

Development, characteristics and organisation in the thirteenth century — Scottish
Congregations — Letters of Confraternity — The Regular Tertiaries — Supra
Montem — Angelina de Marsciano — The Rule — Introduction into Scotland-
Nunneries of Aberdour and Dundee — Scope of their work — Fate of the
nunneries . . . . . . .Pp. 380-398

CHAPTER XI

THE PASTORAL DUTIES OF THE FRIARS
Preaching, Confession and Burial ....

I'AGES
399-432

CHAPTER XII
Theory of Franciscan Poverty

433-452

CHAPTER XIII

Procurators and Syndics

453-470

CHAPTER XIV

Manual Labour

471-477

CHAPTER XV

Convents and their Uses

Index of Bulls

478-488
489-492

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PHOTOGRAVURES
A Grey Friar at Prayer, by Zurbaran . . . Frontispiece

[From painting in the National Gallery, London.)

Miniature of Isabella, Daughter of James I. of Scotland

AND Wife of Duke Francis I. of Brittany . . Facing p. i

Miniatures of the Duchess Isabella and Duke Francis I.

OF Brittany ......,„ 52

Franciscan Cordeliere, ChAteau d'Amboise .

Interior of the Aracoeli, Rome .

Medal of the Doge Nicolas Marcello.

The Friars receiving the Cro\vn of the Elect

Rose Window, Convent of San Francesco, Assisi

St. Francis, after Fra Angelico

Cordeliere and Crowned A of Anne of Brittany

Grey Friars chanting the Office

Cordeliere uniting the Lily to Wing of the Cygnet

Aberdeen Friary Church in 1661

Cordeliere and Ermine of Brittany .

Balustrade at ChAteau de Blois

St. Francis and the Rule of the Third Order

CORDELItlRE and CROWNED F OF FRANCIS I.

Entrance to the Casa del Cordon, Burgos .

St. Bonaventura, by Raphael

A Grey Frlvr preaching .

Statue of St, Francis, by DuPRi^:.

The Dead Povekello, by Zurbaran

The (JKEAT Convent at Assist

The Cordeliere, the Lily of France, and Ermine of

Tmf "Tau" of St. Francis ....

b ix

. Facing p. 50

«5

109

160

167

217

247

306

351

377

Facing p. 3 So

. * . 387

Facing p. 3S7

420

• 432

Facing p. 433

• 452

Facing p. 47S

Brmtany . 4SS

492

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

REPRODUCTIONS OF DOCUMENTS

Charter to Grey Friars of Dumfries, confirming
Grant of Bridge Toll, dated i6th January 1425-26

Charter to Same, dated 4TH January 1452-53

Feu Charter by the Grey Friars of Dumfries, of
THE Grant of Bridge Toll, dated ioth July 1557

Instrument of Resignation by Grey Friars of Aber-
deen, dated 29TH December 1559

Facing p. 203
205

„ 210

323

PLANS

Grey Friary at Edinburgh
Grey Friary at Aberdeen .

Facing p. 268

ABBREVIATIONS

G. R. H.

General Register House, Edinburgh.

MS.

Abbrev. Cartar. Feud. Terrar.
Ecclesiasticar,

Accounts, Collector General .

Authorities in G. R. H.
Abbreviate Feu Charters of Kirk Lands.

Accounts of the Collector General of the Thirds of
Benefices.

Accounts, Sub-Collectors . Accounts of the Sub-Collectors of Thirds.

Acts and Decreets
Acta Dom. Concil.
Acta Dom. Concil. et Sess.

Books of Assumption

Cal. of Chart.

King's Patrimony .

P. R. of Sasines

Prot. Books .

Reg. Conf. Testaments

Reg. Mag. Sig.

fudicial Records of Court of Session.

Assumptions of Thirds of Be7iefices. See also
Vols, in Adv. Lib., and Harleian A/SS., B. M.

Calendar of original Charters a)td other documents
preserved in G. R. H.

Memorandum of the King's Patrimony and of all
Thirds of Bettefices.

Particular Register of Sasines.

Protocol Books kept by Notaries.

ABBREVIATIONS

Reg. Privy Seal
Rentals and Accounts

Rentals of Chaplainries

Aberdeen Ob. Cal.
A. F. .

A. M. .

Archiv fiir Litteratur

B. C. B. .
B. F, .

Bonaventurae Op. .

Cocquelines .

Dirks Servais

Eubcl

Gonzaga

Inciuisition Records

Rentals and Accounts of Religious Houses. {Port-
folio of detached papers.)

Rentals of the Chaplainries of the Black Friars,
Grey Friars, and other Religious Orders in the
Burghs of Dundee, Brechin, Montrose, St.
Andrews, Cupar, Perth, Stirling, Ayr, and
Irvine.

Obituary Calendar of the Observatine Friary,
Aberdeen, 1460-1^60. Facsimile and Text, infra,
II. 285-386.

Analecta Franciscana sive chronica aliaque varia
documenta ad Jiistoriavi Fratruin Minoritm
spectantia ; Quaracchi; Collegium S. Bona-
venturae, 1885.

Annates Minorum seu friuvi ordinum a S. Francisco
institutorum : editio secunda locupletior et
accuratior, 1 73 1. Ed. Lucas IVadding, and
continuations.

Archiv fiir Litteratur und Kirchengeschiclite des
Afittelalters. Herausgegeben von P. H. Deriifle
und F. Ehrle, 1885 et seq.

MS. Burgh Court Books. See respective Burghs.

BullariuDi Franciscaniein, Roinanorian Pontificuvi
constitutiones, epistolas, ac diploinata continen-
stribus ordinibus Minorum, Clarissarum, ct
Poenitetitium a Sancto Francisco itistitutis
concessa ; Notts atque indicibus locupletatum
studio et labore, Fr. f. H. Sbaralcae. Continua-
tion 710W in progress, ed. Conrad Eubel. Rome,
1 759-1908.

Doctoris Seraphici, S. Bonaventurae, opera omnia
studio PP. Collegii a S. Bonaventura ad
plurimos codices MSS. emendata. Ad Claras
Aquas, 1 882-1902.

Bullariuiii privilegiorum ac diplomatum Roinan-
orutn Pontificum amplissima col lectio, 1739-62.
Ed. Carlo Cocquelines.

Histoirc Litt'raire et Bibliographique des Frdres
Mincurs de lObseniance de St. I''rani;ois en
Belgique et dans les Pays-Bas. Am'crs.

Provinciate Ordinis F rat rum Minorum vctustis-
siinuiii. Ad Claras Aquas, 1892.

De Originc Seraphicae Rcligionis Franciscanae.
Rome, I\ Gonzaga, F587.

George Buchanan in the Lisbon Inquisition :
Records of his Trial, by iiuilherme f. C.
Ilenriques. Lisbon, 1906.

?iITS?^

Photogravure of Miniature in La Sonime des Vices et des
Veritis, written in 1469 by Friar Jean Hubert for
Isabella, daughter of James I. of Scotland and wife
of Duke Francis I. of Brittany. Isabella is here
represented kneeling in an attitude of prayer, sup-
ported behind by St. Francis. Over her robe — on
which are impaled the lion of Scotland and the ermine
of Brittany — hangs the Franciscan Cordeliere, signify-
ing her association with the Order of Penitents or
Third Order of St. Francis.

From Original in Bibl. Nat., Paris.

HISTORY

OF THE

SCOTTISH GREY FRIARS

WITH DOCUMENTS

CHAPTER I
GENERAL HISTORY— THE CONVENTUAL PROVINCE

Arrival of the Franciscans in Scotland — Early foundations — The independence
of the Scottish Province — The Friars and the War of Independence — A
Franciscan legend in Scotland — Foundation of the Friary at Lanark by
Robert the Bruce — His generosity towards the Order — The scholarship of
the Scottish Friars — Friar John the Carpenter — James II. and the Friary
at Kirkcudbright.

Seven centuries ago, in the chill of an early spring
morning, the citizens of Assisi thronged the Piazza di Sancta
Maria Maggiore to witness one of the most impressive scenes
in the world's history. It was none other than the public
ordination of the first Mendicant Friar. Bishop Guido
represented the ubiquitous jurisdiction of the Church.
Pierre Bernardone, the parent whose horizon was bounded
by social aspirations, was intent upon the forisfamiliation
of the son who had Ijrought the ridicule of his fellow-
townsmen upon him. PVancesco Bernardone, the child
of nature, personified a transition in psychology that had
roused the hatred of his father and [)rovoked the ribald
jest or scoff of that Umbrian crowd in its frivolous mood.
He did not op[jose his father's claim. The voice of the
Bishop is heard ordering him to pronounce a formal
renunciation of those rights whicli cluu-chman and la\in.ni
alike considered essential conditions of life, lie withdrew,
I

2 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. i.

and there was a brief dramatic pause before word and
action were brought into harmony. Suddenly a naked
figure appeared in the crowd, carrying a bundle of
clothes in one hand and some money in the other. Then,
placing them before the Bishop, Francesco Bernardone
severed his connection with family and conventional citizen
life ; and, as the first friar, silenced the scoffer in the
solemnity of his personal ordination. From this naive
espousal with Lady Poverty sprang the Franciscan Order
and the reunion of Charity and Religion, which brought
anew the soothing influence of Christianity into the lives
of the poor, the outcast and the leper. Ere long, the act
of charity became the outward badge of the devout mind,
and this sacred duty resumed its influence over the heart of
the professing Christian.

The Church, which personified the more tender charac-
teristics of human nature during the Dark Ages, had
viewed her obligations towards the poor with ever-increasing
neglect, until her servants had almost become complete
strangers to practical Christianity. Religion had become
synonymous with formal celebration of the sacred offices,
and had no more than a haphazard relation with suffering
humanity. The first note of revolt against this oppressive
objectivism was struck in those vague ill-ordered aspirations
after poverty that characterised the heresies of the late
twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. But where those
revivalists, who preached austerity and a return to the
primitive church, attacked from the destructive point of
view, St. Francis gave free rein to the natural poesy of
his temperament in selecting a deserted corner of the vine-
yard as the scene of his labours, so that he might supplement
the work of the clergy. His conversion had proceeded from
no abstract reasoning upon the evils that were rampant and
paralysed every incipient reform. The chosen disciple of
the new subjectivism, but none the less a slave to the
Law of Relativity, he instinctively turned to Rome for per-
mission to carry home its religion to men and women
whom the official Church was powerless, or cared not, to
reach.

CHAP. I.] THE CONVENTUAL PROVINCE 3

Was this revolution or reformation? Innocent III.
accorded his apostolic mandate to preach penitence for the
remission of sins ; and, still incredulous, he left untouched
the central principle of asceticism. Thereafter, complete
detachment from worldly interests became the sole con-
dition of brotherhood with the mystic number who joyfully
quitted the precincts of the papal palace in 1 209, bent upon
the regeneration of the poor ; and the new phase of religious
activity entered upon the course of its amazing and irre-
sistible evolution. The Church was revivified by one
simple idea that had an economic as well as a spiritual
sio-nification. Relisfion was drac^C'ed from the cloister to
the market square or the leper settlement, and an inefface-
able distinction was established between the active and the
contemplative Christian, But liberalism had long since ceased
to be an active principle, and Franciscanism was a direct
impeachment of ecclesiastical discipline, tience, the formal
Christian maintained that it was revolution ; and, inasmuch
as he considered personal or corporate poverty the Utopia of
madmen, it was inevitable that the reactionarv churchman
should offer strenuous resistance to the hierarchy in its delicate
task of harmonising the new with the old. No such limitation
as nationality existed in the Franciscan mind. Its ideal was
natural and untrammelled expansion ; and, therefore, a grave
crisis was imminent in every diocese, if St. Francis — a be-
wildering and apparently unorthodox personality — preached
his crusade throughout a continent. For this reason he was
restrained within the limits of his native peninsula by the
prudent Cardinal Ugolini of Ostia, and the fulHlment of one
of his f(3ndest hopes — the colonisation of France — was
entrusted to the poet-friar Pacifico, who left Italy in 1217-
1 2 1 8 at the head of the b>ench mission. Strenuous opposition
awaited them in Paris, and that was overcome by the profes-
sion of conformity made by their leader in Italy. From Paris
their thoucfhts turned to Fncrland, and the mission to Britain
was decided upon in the Chapter General held at Assisi in
1224, the last graced by the j)resence of St. Francis. Friar
Agnellus, the first Warden of Paris, was designated its leader,
and with him were associated eight (Jther friars, five of whom

4 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. i.

were laymen and three English clerics ; so that they had
not to contend with the difficulties due to ignorance of the
vernacular which had caused the failure of the first mission
to Germany. They were ferried across the Channel by the
monks of Fecamp, and landed at Dover on loth September
1224.^ From Dover they proceeded to Canterbury, and
thence to London, where they gradually separated to carry on
their labour of love in different parts of the country. Unlike
the early Scottish Franciscans, they were fortunate in having
a chronicler in the person of one of their converts, Friar
Thomas Eccleston, whose account enables us to understand
the enthusiasm with which they were received, and the forcible
appeal which their bare feet, patched garments and creed of
humble poverty made to the popular mind. This aspect is
perhaps nowhere more aptly described than in the words of
one of the editors of Eccleston's De Adventu Minorzmi in
Angliam, who says : " Without any of the ambition of the
professed historian, he has contrived to compose a narrative
of thirty years which cannot fail of interesting his readers,
whether curious or not, in the progress of the Order to which
he belonged. He gives us what no other writer less simple-
minded and zealous would have cared, or, perhaps, been
willing to give, a clear unvarnished picture of the friars in their
poverty, and before their Order had been glorified by the
eminent schoolmen of a later period, hi this little work, the
reader may see the friar in his cell or refectory, sitting round
the fire and warming the dregs of sour beer, or shedding tears
at mass in his little chapel of wood ; or he may listen to the
Provincial Minister in the infirmary, warning the novices in
that peculiar form of apologue or fable which made the friars
famous, and associated their names with the most pithy
apophthegms and stories throughout Christendom." ^ The

^ The doubt as to the date of their arrival in England is fully discussed by
Mr. A. G. Little in The Gfey Friars in Oxford^ p. i.

2 M. F., I. pf. 74, edited by the late Professor Brewer. Eccleston's chronicle is
also printed in the first volume of the Analecta Franciscana by the Franciscans of
Quaracchi, Florence, 1885, with a few corrections, but without a re-examination
of the MS., and in ignorance of the " missing manuscript" in the Philipps collec-
tion, described by Mr. Little in the Ettglish Historical Review, V. 754 ct seq.
See also Mr. Little's "Sources of the History of St. Francis," ibiil XVIII. 643
et seq.

CHAP. I.] THE CONVENTUAL PROVINCE 5

success of their preaching was immediate, and with the rapid
increase in the number of their convents it was soon found
necessary for administrative purposes to follow the Italian
plan of dividing them into groups called Custodies, with one
convent selected as the head of the Custody and giving to it
its name. The most northerly Custody in England was that
of Newcastle, from which the friars in the natural process
of expansion passed into Scotland, settling successively at
Berwick and Roxburgh ; and, when first met with in the
Annals, this Custody embraced eight friaries, five of which
were Scottish- — Berwick, Roxburgh, Haddington, Dumfries
and Dundee. T\\q. Alelrose Chrojiicle ^xqs the year 1231 as
the date when the friars crossed the Tweed at Berwick,^ and
this was accepted by Fordun in the Scottichronicon^' and by
the writer of the Exiracta, who added that they were favour-
ably received by the king.^ To this mission, w^hose progress
was relatively much slower in Scotland than it had been in
Encrland, was due the foundation of the eiorht Conventual
Friaries at Berwick, Roxburcrh, HaddiniT^ton, Dumfries,
Dundee, Lanark, Inverkeithing and Kirkcudbright, which
were in the course of time erected in this country. That
is to say, it was the means of introducing the Franciscan
propaganda into Scotland, and for a time directly guided
its progress ; but it cannot be asserted that any of the foun-

^ Hie primo ingrcdiuiitur fratrcs viinorcs Scotiain.

- ScotticiiroJticon a Goodall, lib. ix. cap. 48, p. 59.

^ Extracta a vafiis ChroJiicis Scocic (Bann. Club), p. 93. Father Hay in his
history of the Obser\ atine Province, written in 1 586 at the request of Friar Gonzai;a,
then Minister General, {infra, II. p. 173) gives the year 1224 as the date of the
first appearance of the Franciscans in Scotland ; but it is evident that this dale
refers to the mission of Agnellus to England. Gonzaga {Dc Orii:;inc Seraphiciic
Rclii^ionis Fraiiciscanac, 1587) necessarily adopted the statement of his informant,
Father Hay, and in this he was at first followed by \Vaddin;4(./. .1/., Xo. -XLl \'. -v///'
anno 1224), who subsequently altered the date to 1231 (No. X.\. sub mino 1234).
This date was accepted by his continuator, founding on the above quotation from
the ScollicJironicon. The Melrose C/ironiele, the source of that ([notation, may
for the period in c|uestion be considered nearly contemporaneous. There never
was, prior to the arrival of tlic Observatincs in 1447, an independent Franciscan
mission to .Scotland, and clearly both countries were leavened from the same source
—the mission of ;\gncllus to ICngland in 1224. The year 1219, which was selected
by our later historians so as to coincide with the mythical visit of .Mexander II. to
Paris, is an impossible date, as the friars in France were not then sufficiently
organised to send any of their numl)er on ;i mission t(> F.n;-;Ian(l or Scotland.

6 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. i.

dations subsequent to Roxburgh and Berwick were due to
English influence. On the contrary, the founders were Scots
men and women, and the race of friars who ministered in the
convents were Scotsmen, always eager to effect a separation
from their parent Custody.

An informal habitaculum was at once established at
Berwick, and the year 1231 may be accepted as the date of
its foundation, although it was not transformed into a regular
friarv until the month of Mav 1244, when its church and
cemetery were consecrated by David de Bernhame, Bishop
of St. Andrews,^ during the visitation of his diocese in
obedience to the orders of Legate Otho. From Berwick
the friars ascended the vale of the Tweed some time between
the years 1232 and 1234, and erected their first friary in
the then important burgh of Roxburgh. Shortly afterwards,
when they had marked out a piece of ground for use as a
cemetery, and requested its consecration at the hands of the
suffragan of the diocese,- they came into conflict with the
monks of Kelso on the vexed question of the right of burial.
This was a right and perquisite jealously guarded by the
parish clergy and their patrons, to whom the mortuary dues
were a substantial source of income. It had been somewhat
curtailed in favour of the Franciscans by the Ita vobis of
1227, in which Gregory IX. granted them permission to
bury members of the Order within their own churches and
cemeteries.^ Thirty-three years later, this restricted privilege
was expanded into a much more serious encroachment on the
rights of the parish clergy ; and it was doubtless the desire
to have their rights strictly defined in the court and register
of the diocese that induced the monks of Kelso, as the patrons
of all the burgh churches, to resist the consecration of the
Franciscan cemetery. A complete record of the pleas or
proceedings has not been preserved, so that it is impossible
to ascertain the claims which were put forward on either side
when the case was debated before the Bishop by Herbert
Mansuel, Abbot of Kelso, and Friar Martin, "Gustos of the
Friars Minor in Scotland." The Bishop gave his decision

1 Statuta EccL Scot. I. cccii. 2 William, Bishop of Glasgow.

^ Re-issued in more definite terms on 9th March 1233 ; infra, p. 416.

CHAP. I.] THE CONVENTUAL PROVINCE 7

in the form of a restatement of the innovation introduced
by the Ita vobis ; and on the same afternoon he proceeded
with the solemn ceremony of consecration/ The prudence
of the protest and the formal reservation of the general
rights of the monks was proved some years later, when
the friars of Haddington buried Patrick, Master of Atholl,
within the precincts of their church,^ although the
burial of laymen within the friary was not sanctioned
until 1250.^

From another point of view, these two friaries transcend
mere local interest, inasmuch as by their erection into a
province, under the style of the Province of Scotland, they
played a part in the dispute between P>iar Elias of Cortona
and the members of the Order who goucrht to maintain a
rigid adherence to the Rule and Testament of St. Francis.
In this aspect, it was the revolt of simplicity against organised
bureaucracy. As offshoots from the English Province, the
friaries at Roxburgh and Berwick were naturally placed
within the Custody of Newcastle for administrative purposes,
in spite of their demand for autonomy. This refusal on
the part of the English friars, to recognise the Tweed as the
limit of their jurisdiction, quickened the jealousy of the Scots
for their spiritual independence ; and they appealed to Friar
Elias, who had been elected Minister General by the Chapter
of 1232 in full knowledge of his subservience to the Curia. As
their request coincided with his theories of government, the
Scottish claimants found him a ready listener ; and a mandate
was issued, directincr " that the English Province be divided
into two provinces, the one to be styled the Province of
Scotland and the other the Province of F.ngland as hereto-
fore."' The disjunction was effected in or about the year
1235, almost coincident with the death of Agnellus, the first
Provincial of P^ngland ; and P'riar Henry dc Reresby of
Oxford was appointed Provincial of the new province. He,
however, died before he could enter upon his iluties, and
the task of organisation was reserved for his successor, John

' 4lh May 1235 : Liber de Cali/iou, II. 321. No. 418 (liann. Ckilj) ; tn/ni, 1 1. ]>. i.

- Lancrcost Chron., pp. 49, 50 (Hanii. Club).

■■' Cini! a iipbis^ Cjlh I'cbiiiary 1250 ; infni, p. .|iS. ■* .'A /". '• l^'l--

8 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. i.

de Kethene, Warden of the Friary at London. Considering
that there were only two friaries north of the Tweed, it is not
surprising to find that Friar John incorporated all the houses
north of'' York within his Province ; so that, while bearing
the name of the Scots Province, it was really a second
English Province ruled over by an English friar. This was
quite in harmony with the actings of the Minister General
who, provided he attained his main object — the multi-
plication of the provinces to the number of 72 — took no
heed of so trifling a distinction as that which divided
the peoples living on either side of the Tweed. Little is
known of the history of the province during the short period
of its independent existence. Its Minister continued to be
John de Kethene, and Eccleston refers to an agitation
caused by the presence of Friar Wygmund, a learned German
who had been sent to this country as " Visitor of the Minister
General." This system of delegation put into practice by
Elias, in imitation of the arbitrary manner in which he had
dealt with the provinclalates, subordinated the entire Order to
the unwelcome jurisdiction of those Visitors.^ Their inter-
ference extended to the most trivial details of daily life, one
order of the Minister beino- to the effect that the friars should
wash their own breeches. Hence, as the chronicler naively
remarks, "the friars of England washed according to what
was commanded ; but the friars of the Province of Scotland
waited for their rescript." "

In both provinces the actings of this Friar Wygmund
aroused intense indis^nation. The Enijlish friars, in their
Chapter held at Oxford, unanimously decided to appeal to the
Chapter General against these visitations ; while the Scottish
friars refused to listen to him when he appeared among
them, alleging that they had already been visited by the
Provincial of Ireland on behalf of the Chapter General. At
length, active opposition to this state of affairs was offered by
Haymo of Faversham on behalf of England, the celebrated
Richard Rufus for France, and the chronicler Jordon a Giano
for Germany ; and Gregory IX. referred their appeal to the
consideration of the Chapter General held in Rome at

^ Dr. Lempp, F>-ere Elie de Cojioue, pp. 124-25. 2 ^]/_ ^_^ i_ 03.

CHAP. I.] THE COWEXTUAL PROVINCE 9

Whitsuntide 1239. With his approval, FJias was deposed
from the office that he had abused, and Albert of Pisa,
Provincial of England, was elected in his place. The
Chapter also curbed the power of the ?vlinister General by
reducing the provinces from 72 to the number at which
they had stood prior to the creations of Elias ; and the
Quia Provinciariun of Nicolas I V.^ prohibited the erection of
new provinces without papal sanction. Among the provinces
thus suppressed was that of Scotland, and the friaries of
Berwick, Roxburgh, and probably Haddington, were once
more placed directly under English jurisdiction ; while the
Provincial, John de Kethene, was transferred to the pro-
vincialate of Ireland. To anticipate, at the Chapter General
held at Narbonne in 1260, a new arrangement of provinces
was effected, fresh limits were assigned to them, and two new
provinces were created with four vicariates, thus raising the
number of provinces to 2>Z'> containing in all 230 Iriaries. In
this Chapter, the Scottish friars again shewed their desire to
be freed from the control of their English Superiors by pro-
posing that the Scottish friaries, now three in number, should
be erected into a province. They appealed in the first instance
to their young King, Alexander III., who transmitted their
request in the form of a petition to Pope Alexander I\^ His
Holiness thought fit to approve of their request ; and in a letter,
remarkable for the kindly feeling shown towards the youthful
monarch, he directed the Chapter to proceed to the appoint-
ment of a Provincial Minister in Scotland : —

" Entreated by the King he ordains a Provincial Minister to be appointed

in the Kingdom of Scotland.

Alexander, Bishop, servant of the servants of God, to liis dear sons,
the Minister and Chapter General of the Friars Minor, greeting and
apostolic blessing, ^\'e rejoice in the knowledge which has conic to us
concerning our dearest son in Christ, the illustrious King of Scotland,
that it is his earnest desire, in what concerns the salvation of his soul, to
have the counsel and advice of religious and god-fearing men, and
especially of the friars of your Order resident in his kingdom, as the
support of his tender years. As also, for that reason, that there l>e
appointed there a Provincial Minister for that Order, so that the worthy

t3lli M.iy i:.SS.

10 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. i.

acts of the said King in this respect, which in the past have sprung from
his own knowledge, may, by the aid of divine grace, more readily yield
good results, and that the foresaid Order may be more widely reverenced
by the said King. Therefore, in so much as it is meet that the desire of
the said King, so laudable in itself, should by our favour have its
desired fulfilment, we have enjoined your community to have the matter
brought before it, and to be carefully informed thereanent : Commanding
you by our apostolic rescript forthwith, out of regard for the evident and
kindly affection which you bear towards the Holy See and our Reverence,
to provide for the appointment of a Provincial Minister in that kingdom
without delay, so that in the future we may graciously bestow rewards
upon you, and the King's goodwill towards you be still further
increased." ^

Papal influence was, however, insufficient to compel a
favourable decision from the Chapter, in which the initial
power of sanctioning such a proposal lay. In the words of
the continuator of the work of Sbaralea, the Chapter General
was pontiff in such matters, and as such it refused the request
of the Scottish friars, doubtless owing to the small number of
their friaries. This decision raises considerable doubt as to
the manner in v\^hich the Scottish friars were Qfoverned at
this period. Friar Annibal speaks of them as desiring that
their wardenship might be erected into a province ; and it
must be admitted that it is more than doubtful if the
English Provincials ever exercised any practical control over
them. We have already seen PViar Martin officially desig-
nated as the Custos of the Scottish friars ; but, what is more
remarkable after the refusal of the Chapter in 1 260, the Popes,
and subsequently Edward I., continued to issue mandates and
orders addressed to the " Provincial Minister of Scotland."
An instance of this form of address occurred in 1274, when
Pope Gregory X. sent a letter to the Scots Provincial of the
Grey Friars, desiring them to preach for the Crusade then in
contemplation;^ and in 1279 another papal mandate^ was
addressed to the Bishops of St. Andrews and Aberdeen
and to the " Provincial Minister of the Friars Minor in
Scotland," directing them to endeavour to procure from

^ B. F., Supplementum, p. 140 ; i'n/ra, II. p. 275.
- Theiner, Afon. VcL Hib. ct Scot., p. 105.
^ Cal. Pap. Res;. Lcffcrs, I. 457, 464.

CHAP. I.] THE CONVENTUAL PROVINCE ii

the Dean of Caithness a renunciation of his rio-ht to
that See. It is difficult to beheve that the bishops would
have worked in collaboration with the Provincial of the
Eno^lish Franciscans, or that the latter crossed the Border
on such an errand, so that these writs, taken in con-
junction with the royal and papal support accorded to the
petition of the Scots friars, raise a strong presumption
that they enjoyed at least a de facto autonomy, managing
their own affairs, and electing one of their number,
under papal recognition, to preside over them as Gustos
or Provincial Vicar. The fact that he appears in these
writs as Provincial might well be explained by the
formality in style of the writings issuing from the Papal
Chancery ; but, at the same time, there is no indication that
that issued by Edward I. was addressed to an English
friar.^ On the contrary, they point entirely in the other
direction, and this theory receives further support from the
fact that the next formal disjunction of the English and
Scottish houses coincided with the complete establishment of
Scottish independence. King Robert the Bruce, a w^arm
supporter and lavish benefactor to the Order, decided, in
accordance with the spirit of the time, that the Scottish friars
should be freed from English control. I'he steps taken to
effect this purpose, either in the Papal Chancery or in the
Chapter General, have not been preserved in our records ; "
but there appears a contemporary notice in the Lane^'cost
Chronicle to the effect that in 1329 " the Scots friars obtained
a certain Vicar of the Minister General and were wholly
separated from the friars of England." ^ In a list of [)rovinces
accepted by Wadding, and erroneously referred by him to the
year 13 14, the Scots Vicariate appears under the ultra-
montane^ section as number 16 — "The Vicariate of
Scotland has six places " — thereby showing that the year

' Infra, p. 22.

- Nor is mention made of the ])reliminaries in Wadding;-, Sl)aralra, or
Cocquelines.

^ Et a frafn'/ius Aiii^.'iar totaliler sunt divisi. The Chronicler was himself
a (jrey Friar of Carlisle, and obviously refers to tlie Scottish Franciscans, as the
Dominicans remained under English control until 1484.

■* This word will be consistently used in its Roman si-niliLaiion, \.iiiations
in Scottish writs being notii.cd.

12 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. i.

referred to must have been subsequent to 1328, when the
sixth friary was erected at Lanark by Robert the Bruce.
The annaHst then continues, " there was added the Vicariate
of Scotland which was not instituted in the time of
Bonaventura (1260), but these convents then subject to the
English Province were few in number."^ The growth of
the Order in Scotland, he adds, had been retarded by the
continual wars with England, and by the motus tiirbidenti
of the kingdom. His statement is therefore in agreement
with that of the Grey Friar of Carlisle except in regard to
the date, and all doubt on that point is set at rest by the
internal evidence of the well known Provinciale " which was
compiled between the years 1324 and 1344, probably in
1340.^ The Scots Vicariate of six friaries is number 18
in this enumeration, but the compiler has also followed the
old census by including the Friaries at Berwick, Roxburgh,
Haddington and Dumfries under the Custody of Newcastle.*
Having attained the dignity of a vicariate enjoying at least
a de facto autonomy, the Wardens of the six friaries held their
first Provincial Council and elected a Provincial Vicar. One
of his duties was to attend the triennial meetino-s of the
Chapter General, and consequently the Scots were repre-
sented by their own Provincial for the first time in the
Chapter which met at Perpignan in the Franciscan province
of Provence in 1331. On this occasion, the Scottish Treasury
contributed sixty-six shillings and eight pence ^ towards his
expenses, in imitation of the practice in England where the
Provincials were allowed a sum of twenty pounds for their
use when in attendance at the Chapter General, and fifteen
pounds for the meetings of their Provincial Chapters.^
During the next twenty years, the English successes in
Scotland, followed by Edward Balliol's surrender of his

^ A. i\f., VI. 226-27. He also refers to an ancient manuscript in the Vatican
in which a similar statement is made. Ibid. VII. 338, No. 26.

2 Codex Vat. Nr. i960. Edited by Friar Conrad Eubel, 1892.

3/<5/^. p. 4. "7^/^. p. 12.

Exch. liolls, I. 398. '■'■Et generali vicar lo ordinis Frat7-iim Miiwi-uvi
expetisis siiis ad gencj-ale capitulumP

^Patent Rolls, Edward III., 1338, 467. The Scottish Dominicans paid ten
pounds to the priory in which their Provincial Chapter was held, as an allowance
for the lodging of the Priors who attended it.

CHAr. t] the conventual province 13

rights to Edward III., led to the second suppression of
the Scottish Vicariate as an independent unit in the
Franciscan organisation by the Chapter General held at
Genoa in 1359/ Wadding's continuator explains that this
step was taken because of the small number of convents ;
but we may be permitted to doubt if that explanation
touches more than the fringe of the question, and the
subsequent history of the Scottish friaries in this aspect is
somewhat obscure, owing to the view adopted by Waddino-,
who had little material from which to compile a reliable
account of Scottish affairs during the fourteenth or fifteenth
centuries. Thus, although the Vicariate was dissolved in
1359, it is more than questionable whether the English
Provincial ever exercised any authority over its friars,
because the local conditions prevailing after that date
would lead us to expect a de facto, if not a theoretical,
independence from English control ; and the great Western
Schism which broke out in 1378 was a potent factor in
the loosening of the bonds of discipline in the fraternity.
This ecclesiastical dissolution was reflected in general politics
in a manner wholly consistent with prior national history.-
Following upon the appointment of two Popes, and of
two Ministers General in the Order, we find that the
friars, in their choice of spiritual superiors, identified them-
selves with the political sympathies of their respective
countries. While the Italian, German and English friars
remained as a body faithful to Pope Urban VI. of Rome,
those of France, Spain and Scotland ranged themselves in
preponderating numbers on the side of the Anti-Pope,
Clement VII." Doubtless, so far as this countrv is con-

^ 1)1 hoc capitulo Vicaria Scotiac ex certis causis iiniia l''ro7'inciac Afij^^/ica/iac
{Chronica Glassbcrger, A. F.^W. 193 ; A.M.,\"\\\. 144, No. 5). Rodolphus, however,
says that the Scottish Vicariate was united to England ten years earher at the
Chapter General of Verona. The records of this Cha])tcr are lost {A. JA,\'III. 25,
No. 10).

- e.'^. A. A/., IX. 246, 249.

^ In the Low Countries, and the part of Germany to the west of Cologne in
particular, this division not only permeated the several provinces, but even
invaded the individual monasteries, and in those cases the Superiors used every
means in their power to thirl their subordinates to the Pope on whom they them-
selves depended. Schlager, Bcitriigc zitr Geschichtc lier k'ohtischett Fratiziskaner-
Orde/jsprovinzy Kdln, 1904, p. 88.

14 GENERAL HISTORY [chap, i

cerned, this division of sympathy was due to the alHance
between the French and Scots ; and it need hardly be
doubted that the Scottish friars would willingly cease to
recognise the authority of an English Provincial who acknow-
ledfT-ed a different Pope and Minister General. No evidence
is furnished by Wadding to show when Scotland was again
recognised as a Vicariate. In 1399 he states that it was
included in the Custody of Newcasde ; and, in 1402, he argues
against the existence of the Vicariate, quoting in support of
his contention no less than three codices, in addition to the
statement of Bartholomew of Pisa.^

The evidence offered by the author of the Conformities is
however of little value, because he merely deleted the Scottish
Vicariate from the old Provinciale and retained the same five
friaries under the Custody of Newcastle ; whereas the friaries
at Lanark and Inverkeithing had been erected before he
wrote his work in 1385." On the other hand, another Provin-
ciale, compiled at Ragusa in the same year by Friar Peter
of Trau, affirms the existence of the Vicariate, and adds
the circumstantial details that it was divided into three
Custodies with nine friaries, two nunneries of Claresses, and
three cona-reQ^ations of Penitents or members of the Third
Order of St. Francis,^ This enumeration does not aeree with
our present knowledge of the number of Conventual friaries
in this country,'^ but the existence of the Vicariate is amply

1 A. M., VI. 43 ; IX. 219 ; XI. 88.

2 Liber Conformitatiim^ p. 161, ed. 1620.

•^ MS. Bodleian, Canonic. Miscell., fol. 2/\\b — " Provincia Scotiaehabet, c. Hi, I. ix,
m. a, c. Hi" At fol. 192^ he gives this notice of the Vicariate : " De beaiis fratribus
in vicaria Schocie qiiiescetitibiis cap 45. hi Jiac enitn vicaria collocanttir fratres
beaii, de sepidcliris tame?i ex premissis ignoii, videlicet, frater Angelus nobilis de
burgo Sancti Septilchri, quern viveiiiem beatus Francisctis vivefis certifica-vit de
regno patrie, significa7is cum pro hoc criice iii fronfe, tit habetur in specula pe7'-fec-
tionis cap 15. Item f rater Rogerius cujus sancti tat is patet ex predict is de gestis
sociorum cap 95." Manuscript described by Mr. A. G. Little, Op. de Critique
Historique, I. 251-297.

* They numbered seven, including Kirkcudbright erected in 1455, and not a
trace now survives of the two nunneries of Poor Clares. It is, however, possible that
they enjoyed a brief existence before being annexed to one of the other nunneries,
just as the smaller priories at St. Monans and Cupar were suppressed and their
endowments transferred to the Black Friars of St. Andrews. Reg. Mag. Sig.
(Print), 23rd January 1520-21.

CHAP. I.] THE CONVENTUAL PROVINCE 15

confirmed by the bulls and letters addressed to the Provincial
Vicar of Scotland by Clement VII. in connection with the
promotion of Friar Rossy in 1375/ and by an Indenture of
1389 in which Friar William of Dundee is described as
" Vicar of the Order of Friars Minor of Scotland." -^ In 1438,
Wadding tacitly admits the existence of the Vicariate when
he includes the name of William Ker as Provincial of the
Vicariate of Scotland for that year.^ The Exchequer Rolls
further furnish us with an almost complete list of the names
of the Vicars who ruled over the Conventual friars from the
year 1462 down to the Reformation;"^ and this fact, when
taken in conjunction with the consistent nomenclature applied
to their Superior in a variety of legal writs, proves that the
Scottish Conventuals continued to be members of an inde-
pendent Vicariate, both in relation to their former Superiors
in England and to their rivals, the Observatine brethren of
the Order. The customary residence of the Conventual
Provincial Vicar was at Dundee ; and the Chapter was held
annually under his guidance in each of the friaries in rotation.
Provincial James Lindsay presided over the meeting at
Dundee in 1482, and John Yhare over those held at Inver-
keithing and Lanark on 2nd August 1489 and nth July
1490.^ It is also probable that the all but definite language
of the charters granted by the Conventual friars between 1552
and 1560, supplemented by the lists of W^ardens contained in
them, indicate meetings at Kirkcudbright in 1552, Inver-
keithing in 1555, Dundee in 1556, and Dumfries in 1558,
all held under the presidency of Friar John Ferguson, who
was elected Master of the Conventuals in 1541 and retained
the direction of the Order in his hands until 1560. The
friars themselves passed from convent to convent, and a
similar system of permutation among the Wardens may be
observed in outline until the sixteenth century, when the same
friar is met with as Warden of his friary year after year.^

The Observatine mission, which reached Scotland in 1447,
in reply to the invitation of James I.," came directly from the

^ Infra, p. 29. - Infnx, II. p. 9.

^ A. AT., XI. 49. ■* Summary of Friars, inf/d, p. 25S.

^ Writs relating- to llic I'riary of Dundee, infra, II. p. 132.

•"• Summary, infra, p. 258. '' Infra, p. 51.

i6 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. i.

Netherlands, and was therefore wholly independent of English
control. Its progress was relatively more rapid than that of
the Conventuals had been, and the necessity for a definite
organisation was quickly felt. Accordingly, when they were
in possession of three completed friaries, the Chapter General
held at Monte Lucido in 1467 sanctioned the erection of their
houses into the Observatine Province of Scotland ; and this
decision was confirmed by the Chapter held three years later. ^
The question of terminology had evidently become one of
less importance, in part owing to the rivalry between the two
families of friars ; and, by reason of the strong appeal which
their extreme simplicity made to the religious instincts of
the people, the Scottish Observatines increased so rapidly
in number, that they quickly justified the confidence of the
Chapter.

Returning to the narrative of the expansion of the Order
durine the reions of Alexander II. and Alexander III., we find
that the friars had settled in Haddington and Dumfries in or
about the years 1242 and 1262 respectively. Dundee was
chosen as the site of their fifth friary in 1284, and about the
same date they visited the episcopal burgh of Elgin, where
they received a cordial welcome from the Bishop of Moray
and an invitation to settle in the diocese." The Black Friars
had, however, already established themselves in the town ;
and the Franciscans declined the offer of the Bishop, in
accordance with their then invariable custom of refusino- to
accept a friary in a locality colonised by the Dominicans.
Dundee thus remained the northern limit of their influence
until the Reformation, and the larger towns were not brought
directly into contact with the Franciscan propaganda until the
arrival of the Observatine mission in 1447, when Father
Cornelius had no other choice than to enter into competition
with the Black Friars to avoid duplicating the work of his
Conventual brethren.^

Alexander III. was one of the many sovereigns in Europe

^ A. M.,XIU. 461, No. 2. By this date the Conventual and Observatine divisions
of the Order met and legislated for themselves in separate Chapters General,

2 7?<?^. Ept'sc. JMoraviensis, p. 281 (Eann. Club) ; infra, p. 361.

3 Vide Comparative Table of Friaries ; infra, p. 140.

ciiAi>. I.] THE CONVENTUAL PROVINCE 17

at this time who selected Grey Friars to aid them in their
private devotions or to receive their confessions. The possi-
bihty of this practice was unconsidered by St. Francis in the
compilation of the Rule of 1223, which permitted the friars
to travel on horseback only in cases of necessity or sickness.^
Constant attendance on a sovereign or noble, however,
implied an amount of travelling which rendered a complete
observance of their founder's intentions inconvenient, if not
impracticable, with the result that the section of the Rule was
frequendy abrogated by papal indulgence granted to these
friar chaplains. Thus, we find that the English friars
received permission from Innocent IV. in 1250 to ride on
horseback when in attendance upon Henry III. "in the
parts beyond the sea " ; ^ and four similar privileges were
granted to the Scottish friars permitting them to attend
Alexander III. These bulls, which originally formed
part of our national records kept in Edinburgh Casde before
the spoliation by Edward I. in 1292-96, are now known
only through a notice appearing in the Inventory of 1282,
one of the few documents which have survived his
destructive raid." Another such is a memorandum of the
Scots records, handed by Edward to the Scots Treasury on
tne occasion of the coronation of Balliol at Roxburgh Castle
in 1292. It contains the following enigmatical reference to
the friars :"* "in the (third hamper) 63 pairs of letters of the
said wardens of letters to sundry friars, viz., to the men
who served the King in name of garrison, corn and pence,
also 27 letters of the same of payments in pence, and
others to the friars of the Order of Preachers and of the
Minors." The year 1265, when Cardinal Ottobon was
appointed to preach a Crusade in Scodand and other countries,
is of interest as illustrating a difference of opinion between
the Papacy and the Franciscan Order in relation to the

1 Solct annucre, cap. 3. " Et non debeant equilare, nisi manifcsta necessitate
vcl itjfirmitatc coganiia'." Jnffu, II. p. 382.

2 B. F., I. 542, No. 325 ; Fa-dcra, I. 274, 91, Record Edition.

3 Acts of Pari, of Scot. ('rhomson\ I. 108. The deed is preserved in the
Public Record Office, London.

* The memorandum is now preserved in the General Register House, Edin-
burgh, and is the oldest offirial document there.

1 8 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. i.

general affairs of the Church. By degrees, the friars had
become the trusted and wilHng agents of the Curia in the
transaction of its general business/ and those who favoured
the strict observance soon came to consider this phase of
action inconsistent with perfect obedience to the Rule. A
petition was therefore presented to Innocent IV. asking that
they be released from thus participating in business affairs,
and from being brought into immediate contact with money
through a demand made for it in their sermons. His Holiness
thereupon homologated the decision of the Chapter General,
to the extent that they might refuse their assistance to any
papal nuncio or agent, except a papal legate, unless this
privilege was specially revoked in his letters of authority.^
Accordingly, the two papal legates sent to Britain — Guy,
Bishop of Sabina, in 1263, and Ottobon, Cardinal of St.
Adrian's, in 1265 — both received authority to compel the
Grey Friars by ecclesiastical censures to assist them in every
way they thought fit.^ Ottobon's demand for a payment of
four merks from each cathedral was resisted by the Scottish
clergy and ultimately compromised at a smaller amount ; *
but this was doubtless a matter of no interest to the Grey
Friars, who could not be called upon to contribute anything
beyond their services as collectors.^ Nine years later, in
pursuance of the provision made for another levy on all
church revenues in support of the Crusade,^ Pope Gregory X.
addressed a letter to the Scots Provincial from the General
Council of Lyons, exhorting his friars to preach the Crusade
in their sermons. ''

Among the most munificent of Scottish ladies known to

^ On political missions as well as for the collection of subsidies for the Crusades.

^ Vestra semper, ist August 1253.

^ Cum te, 27th November 1263 ; Cum ie, 3rd June 1265. Cal. Pap. Reg. Letters,
I. 398 and 428-429.

■* Statuta Eccl. Scot., I. Ixii.

^ In the papal mandate of 5th May 1265 {Cal. Pap. Reg. Letters, I. 429), the
Claresses alone of the Franciscan Order appear in the list of those exempted
from payment of the tithe ; but Alexander IV., Virtute conspicuos sacri, 2nd
August 1258, had already declared that the friars, unless expressly named in the
papal letters, were not to be called upon to contribute to collections, subsidies,
etc.

* Hefe/e Councihmgeschichfe, VI. \\c)et seq. ; Fordun, X. c. 33, p. 121.
'■ Theiner, MoJi. Vet. Hib.et Scot., p. 105.

CHAP, r.] THE CONVENTUAL PROVINCE 19

history during the latter part of the thirteenth century was
the Lady Devorgilla of Galloway, the foundress of Sweet-
heart Abbey and of the Friaries at Dumfries and Dundee.
On the death of her father, the last of the great feudatories
of Galloway, she succeeded to a rich inheritance as one of
three co-heiresses, and married Sir John de Balliol of Barnard
Castle, the founder of an almshouse at Oxford which was
conducted on the model of those in Paris. The origin of
this endowment, which provided for the lodging of certain
poor scholars and a payment of eight pence per day for their
support, was a penance imposed on Balliol by the Bishop of
Durham ; ^ but the continuance of the almshouse, now known
as Balliol College, depended solely on the good pleasure of
the "pious founder" and of Lady Devorgilla after his death
in 1269. Acting upon the advice of her Franciscan confessor.
Friar Richard de Slikeburne, she granted a Charter of Con-
stitution to the College in 1282,^ and, in a further letter
addressed to her " most dearly beloved brother in Christ,
R. de Slikeburne," she speaks of "the alms of the poor
scholars of our House of Balliol studying at Oxford by the
devoutness of the Lord John de Balliol of good memory,
formerly our husband, of late begun, and, after his decease,
hitherto continued by us."^

The interregnum, the adjudication of the crown, and
Balliol's witless conduct lead up to the formal opening of
the War of Independence. On 4th April 1296, five days
after the capture of Berwick, Friar Adam Blunt,* Warden of
the Roxburgh Friary, delivered Balliol's renunciation of fealty
and allenfiance to Edward on the scene of the recent ruthless
massacre in which the citizens had fallen like leaves in
autumn.'' The moment was ill chosen, and provoked

^ Colleges of Oxford^ pp. 24-26. Andrew Clark, 1S91.

^ Facsimile in National MSS. 0/ Scotla?iil, II. No. iv.

2 HtsL MSS. Corn. Rep., IV. 442-44, where it is stated per inctiriam to be
photographed in the Scot. Nat. MSS.; cf. Mr. A. (i. Little, The Grey Friars in
Oxford, pp. 9, 10, II.

•* Dempster describes Friar Blunt as a celebrated writer, and goes so far as
to furnish a list of his works. Unfortunately, Dempster is himself described by
Catholic writers as a "suspected aullior," whose unsupported statements must be
accepted with all reserve.

* Holinshed, Chronicle, III. 299a.

GENERAL HISTORY [chap. i.

Edward to voice his intentions in the sarcastic threat,
" What folly! If he will not to me, I must to him." ^ Fulfil-
ment was not long delayed. The battle of Dunbar followed ;
on 7th May" Edward lodged in the Friary at Roxburgh ; and
on the following day the castle was surrendered to him. The
apparent submission of the whole country followed, and in
his progress northwards to Elgin he reaped the abundant
harvest of his victory in doubtful oaths of allegiance in-
spired by fear of his sword. Unlike the other churchmen,
the Grey Friars were spared the indignity of subscribing
the oath to him, and their names do not appear in the
"Ragman Rolls," doubtless owing to their impersonal position
in the country, and the meagre acreage of the friary lands.
Moreover, it is beyond doubt that they had not as yet
displayed those keen Scottish sympathies which compelled
Edward III. to regard them as one of the most formidable
influences to be dealt with in the subjugation of the country ;
and ample evidence of their indifference towards contem-
porary politics, or the claims of nationality, is to be found
in their petition to the conqueror. The national records
with which he had been tampering since 1291 were carried
off to England; and in September of 1296 a Treasury for
Scotland was established at Berwick under the notorious
Cressingham. At this juncture, the yearly bounties, which
the friars had been accustomed to receive from the
Scottish Exchequer, ceased to be paid ; and, in the
autumn of the following year, the five friaries addressed
an appeal to Warrenne, the English Governor, craving
the continuance of their respective allowances.^ Their
petition was favourably received ; and, on 23rd November
1297, Cressingham was directed to make a search through
the Rolls of Alexander III. and John Balliol, "which
you have in your custody," for the purpose of ascertaining
the correct amounts. After due investiration, Edward
approved of his deputy's policy, and sanctioned the pay-
ment of John Balliol's alms to the friars for this year (1297) :

^ Scottichronicon, XI. i8.

^ Gough, Itinerary of Edward I. ^ II. 280.

^ Hist. Doc. Scot. (Stevenson), II. 244-7.

CHAi'. I.] THE CONVENTUAL PROVINCE 21

"Order by Edward I. for the payment of money to the Friars Minor

in Scotland.

The King, to his beloved and faithful John de Warrenne, Earl of
Surrey, Guardian of his realm and land of Scotland, greeting. Whereas
it appears from the Chamberlain Rolls of the time of Alexander and
John de Balliol, sometime Kings of Scotland, that the Friars Minor
of Berwick, Roxburgh, Haddington, Dumfries and Dundee, received by
the bounty and alms of the foresaid towns, which was allowed in the
rendering of the account of the duties of these towns, as you have
signified unto us ; we, therefore, desiring to continue this favour to these
friars, command that for this year, of our alms and special favour, you
cause to be paid to the said friars the like sum of money as the said
Chamberlain Rolls of the time of the foresaid John may show they have
received in one year, and of which allowance has been made in the said
Rolls. Attested by the King at Walsingham, 7th February, 25 Edward I.,
1297-98."!

The details of the claim submitted to Warrenne were —

1. To the Friary at Berwick, three shillings weekly and a stone of
wax annually for candles.

2. To the Friary at Roxburgh, three shillings weekly and iS
stones of wax and one pipe of wine for sacrament annually.

3. To the Friary at Haddington, three shillings weekly.

4. To the Friary at Dumfries, three shillings weekly, ten and seven
stones of wax and one pipe of wine annually.

5. To the Friary at Dundee, ten pounds sterling and twenty pounds
of wax annually.

During the truce of 1299, Edward assembled his army at
Berwick for a renewed invasion of Scotland, having pre-
viously requested from the Chapter General that the prayers
of the Grey Friars should be offered on behalf of his ex-
pedition.- Delay, however, occurred owing to the attitude
taken up by his barons on domestic questions, at that time of
greater interest to them than an invasion of Scotland ; and it
was not until June of the following year that Edward was
able to concentrate his forces at Carlisle, preparatory to the

' /vW. Sco/., I. 38. Sec W'anennc's Mandamus and Exccr])ts from the Rolls
of Alexander III. and John Ijalliol, HisL Doc. ScoL (Stevenson), II. 244-7.

- Fa'dera, I. ii. 914. While at Berwick he granted ids. and 3s. 6d. as alms
to the friars of the town. I.ibcr (Jiiot. Contrnr., p. 26, ed. 1787.

GENERAL HISTORY [chap. i.

campaign against the Castle of Caerlaverock/ While on
this expedition, Edward lodged three days in the Friary at
Dumfries, for which he paid a sum of six shillings, and another
of similar amount in recompense for the damage sustained
by the buildings ; while its exchequer was enriched by two
oblations of seven shillings which he placed on the high altar
on the loth and i6th of July. On his return, after the sur-
render of the Castle, Edward again lodged in the friary, on
this occasion for four days, at a cost of five shillings and four
pence; and on ist November his son Edward placed an
oblation of six shillings on the high altar after the celebra-
tion of Mass in the friary church.'' During the next year,
the Friars of Berwick again shared in his largess, through
their Warden, Friar Robert of Carleton ; ^ and a few days
later, he lodged in the Friary at Roxburgh, paying in return
a sum of five shillings to Friar Robert of Rotheley.^ The
winter of 1301-02 was spent by Edward at Linlithgow, and
on 1 8th December he again sent a petition to the Franciscan
Chapter General at Genoa, asking for the prayers of the
friars on his behalf Two years later, he sent a similar request
on behalf of himself, his family and kingdom, to the Chapter
General at Assisi;^ and in 1305 he addressed a request for
prayers and masses, to be said for the soul of Johanna,
Queen of France, to the Minister General of the Minors
in Scotland — an unexpected designation, as the Scottish
friaries were incorporated in the Franciscan province of
England, while Scotland itself was in Edward's own hands.^
The year 1306, when the two Comyns, nephew and uncle,
met their death at the hands of Bruce and his associates in
the church of the Friary of Dumfries,'' witnessed the first

^ The siege of Caerlaverock Castle has its special historian, who is supposed to
have been Walter of Exeter, an English Grey Friar.

- Liber Qiiot. Contrar.^ pp. 41 and i\}) passim. The context makes it impossible
to accept the late Mr. Bain's interpretation in regard to these particular entries
{The Edwards in Scotland., p. 35). In all his expeditions Edward preferred the
shelter of a house to his tent, and the damage referred to would be caused by the
fixing up of the tapestry or canvas hangings which were at this date carried about
from place to place. His own suite would provide the necessary food.

^ Bain, Cal. Doc. Scof., IV. 447. ^ y^^-^^_ p_ ^^g_

s Fcudera, I. 936, 960. c g^in, CaL Doc. Scot., II. No. 1661.

^ Cal. Pap. Reg. Letters, II. 192, 8th January 1320. Mandate to the
Archbishop of York and the Bishops of London and Carlisle to pubhsh the

THAI'. [.] THE CONVENTUAL PllOVINCE 23

intimate connection between the Franciscans and the national
party in Scotland; and during the stirring- years which
followed there appears no reason to dissociate them from
the rest of the Scottish clergy, who were among the first
to recognise the genius of the young king. It is not certain
if any of the Franciscans were present at his coronation ;
but it was in the church of the Friary at Dundee that the
Provincial Council of the Church Q-ave its formal adhesion
to Bruce as King of Scots in 1309/ Henceforth, the friars
may be said to have laid aside their strictly impersonal
attitude as missionaries of the Church, and to have adopted
the sympathies and leanings of the men and women among
whom they worked ; and we learn from the preamble of the
Bull of Erection granted to the friars of Lanark in 1346 that
they were greater sufferers during the Edwardian wars than
any other of the religious Orders in Scotland.^

On 13th December 1309, the last step was taken towards
the extinction of the great military Order of Knights Tem-
plar in this country, when a court of inquiry was held in
Holyrood Abbey by the patriotic William Lamberton,
Bishop of St. Andrews. The leading witness was the Abbot
of Dunfermline, who, however, could only refer to rumours
of evil practices and to clandestine receptions and midnight
chapters as matters of suspicion ; and among the other wit-
nesses, was Friar Andrew de Douraid, Warden of the Grey
Friary at Haddington, who was evidently called to prove that
it was not the practice of the Knights of the Temple to
confess to the Grey or the Black Friars.^

The battle of Bannockburn furnished the subject for one
of the numerous Franciscan legends which had so great a
fascination for our ancestors. The story must have been in
circulation shortly after the date of the battle, as it appears in
the famous Chronicon XXIV. Generaliuiu,^ a compilation by
an unknown friar about the middle of the fourteenth century.

sentence of excommunication against Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, who slew John
and Robert de Comyn in the cloister and church of the Friars Minor of Dumfries.

^ Acts 0/ Pari, of Scot. (Thomson), 1. 460.

^ Cf. Bull of Foundation of Friary at Lanark, infra., p. 26.

2 Processus factus contra Teiiiplarios in Scotia, 1309 ; Wilkins' C<v/r/7/V/, II. 3?2.

■» A. P., III. 197.

GENERAL HISTORY [chap. i.

The hero was a Gascon knight, Amanerius, Lord of Lebreto
by name, a most faithful and devout disciple of St. Francis.
When the batde was at its height, and the deadly shooting
of the Scottish archers was rapidly paving the way to victory,
the worthy knight in his fear called on St. Francis for pro-
tection. His appeal was immediately answered ; the holy
father appeared in the dress of his Order and graciously
diverted the hostile arrows, so that none did him injury. On
the adverse issue of the batde, Amanerius sought safety in
flio-ht ; and at nightfall found himself in a lonely place where
he feared that death would put an end to his misery. His
wounds were slight, but his horse had received a deep gash,
through which its intestines protruded and trailed along the
ground. In this dilemma, he again turned "the eyes of his
mind " to St. Francis and begged for protection and direction.
The obliging saint once more appeared, and, bidding him
follow without fear, led him to the English encampment,
where he was joyfully welcomed by King Edward as a faith-
ful and doughty knight.

In 131 7, Edward II. endeavoured to maintain the ap-
pointment of Thomas de Rivers, an English Grey Friar, to
the Bishopric of St. Andrews. The election had been made
with the consent of Clement V. prior to Bannockburn ; but
the ordained Bishop, from the Scottish point of view, was
William Lamberton. His patriotism had stood the severest
test and had provoked the nomination of the English friar
to his See ; so that it is not surprising to find that the reply
of the Bruce admitted of no compromise — Lamberton was
the duly appointed Bishop, and could not be deposed until
some delict was formally proved against him.-^ From
John XXII., who was a Pope of more decided views
than Clement V., Edward II. received a similar answer.
Lamberton's alleged oath to the English King was of no
weight in the Curia ; a search had failed to disclose any
trace of sentence having been pronounced against him ;
and the English friar could not be promoted to the See
unless the English King produced papal letters or a record
of the process against the Scotsman. Papal justice thus

1 B. K, V. No. 2S4 ; A. M., VI. 300, No. 56 ; Cal. Pap. Reg. Letters.W. 421.

CHAP. I.] THE CONVENTUAL PROVINCE

-^5

accorded with the gratitude of the Bruce, and Bishop
Lamberton was left in peaceful enjoyment of his See. In
the following year, when the Scots were encamped in the
Old Cambus Woods, preparatory to an assault on the town
and castle of Berwick, Bruce and his followers again shewed
scant consideration to the English friars — for as such the
friars of Berwick must be regarded at this date. Under
English inspiration, papal bulls strongly urging the main-
tenance of peace had reached Berwick, having been brought
to Durham by the Cardinals Gaucelin and Luke, and thence
carried northward by some English churchmen. The
attitude of the Bruce towards documents which were not
addressed to him in his kingly capacity was apparently
known to the messengers, who engaged Friar Adam
Newton, Warden of the Grey Friary at Berwick, to act
as their ambassador and convey the letters to the Scottish
King. Under protection of a safe conduct signed by
Walter the Steward, the Warden and his companion reached
the camp, only to be informed that Bruce would not receive
them. The rank and file thereupon despoiled Newton of
his letter of protection, and some time after he and his
" marrow " had quitted the camp they were overtaken by a
band of Scots, who robbed them of their papers, stripped
them of their clothes, and sent them back to the friary in
this sorry plight.^

This incident, however, aroused no prejudice against the
Scottish Franciscans in the mind of the soldier king. On the
contrary, towards the close of his reign the Bruce gave practical
proof of his appreciation for their work, distinct from that of the
Dominicans or the Carmelites, by founding the Friary at Lanark
and by granting a yearly annuity of twenty merks from his
Exchequer to each of their six friaries, a generous allowance
to a Mendicant community at a time when the chalder of
wheat was worth two merks." For two and a half centuries
this donation appears in the records of the Exchequer as the
"Alms of King Robert L" ; and. the papal sanction to the
Friary at Lanark was granted seventeen years after his death,

' Thcincr, pp. 203-7 ; Fcudcra^ 11-35' ! C''^- ^^''I'- -^^'''A''- ■^-^/''^■''•^ 'I- 4-0-
2 Excli. Rolls, I. 217.

26 GENERAL HISTORY [chai'. i.

in reply to the petition of David II. and his Queen Joan, who
testified that the Grey Friars had suffered more severely than
the other Orders during the War of Independence,^ and that
they, the petitioners, desired also to gift the site of another
friary "far removed from the attacks of enemies." This, the
first bull granted to a Mendicant Order in Scotland in
accordance with the Cum ex eo of Boniface VIII., was couched
in these terms —

" To our beloved sons, the Vicar of the Minister General and the Friars
of the Order of Minors in the Vicariate of Scotland.

Amongst the other Orders, etc. Considering that — as we learn —
Robert of glorious memory, ancestor of the noble David, King of Scot-
land, our dearest son in Christ, while he was yet occupied with worldly
affairs, proffered and granted to you a certain site in the town of Lanark,
in the diocese of Glasgow, and that your Order throughout the whole
Kingdom of Scotland is situated within three dioceses and no more, and
that furthermore it has been oppressed by the tyranny of wars more than
the other Orders have been : We, desirous of extending our favour herein
to you and to that Order, out of consideration for the said King David
and our dearest daughter in Christ, Joan, Queen of Scots, his spouse,
and their humble supplications to us herein, and being favourably
disposed towards your supplications, grant to you and your said Order
by these presents full and free permission to accept the foresaid site
proffered and granted to you by King Robert, as aforesaid, as also
a^wther site far removed frovi the attack of enemies, to be granted to you
and that Order by the said King David and Queen Joan or their
procurators, so long as these sites are suitable for this purpose, and so
long as there may be in either of them, for the time, twelve friars of that
Order, worthy of sustenance, dwelling therein decorously and fitly, and
to construct and maintain on whichsoever of the said two sites you choose
a church or oratory with belfry and bells and burial ground, and other
necessary buildings, without prejudice nevertheless to the parish churches
of the said places and other rights to the contrary in whomsoever vested ;
the decreets of Pope Boniface VI 1 1., our predecessor of happy memory,
and others to the contrary notwithstanding. Given at Avignon 29
November, year 5."^

An instance of felonious appropriation of books by an ex-friar
and two apostates illustrates that the Scottish Franciscans were
bookmen as well as evangelists, and that they had followed
the example of their brethren in other countries by acquiring

^ Vide attitude of Edward I. towards the Scottish Franciscans, sitp7-a, p 20.
2 B. F., VI. No. 192 ; A. M., VII. 338, No. 26 ; Cal. Pap. Reg. Letters, III. 231.

CHAP. I.] THE CONVENTUAL PROVINCE 27

at least the nucleus of a library in each of their friaries. In
the course of the year 1331, a friar of Roxburgh, Adam
Hamilton by name, obtained papal sanction to exchan<re
the Franciscan for the Cistercian habit,^ and thereafter entered
the Abbey of Kelso. Tempted by his glowing- accounts of
the contents of the Friaries at Roxburgh and Berwick, the
monks urged him to despoil his former associates of all their
"bibles, chalices, ornaments and other sacred books," and this
ignoble leat was successfully accomplished under the cover
of night, with the assistance of two other apostate friars — •
Thomas de Irwy and Adam de AdinQton. Although the
Abbey of Kelso was the most powerful monastery in the
kingrdom, at this time, the humble sons of St. Francis, through
their Cardinal Protector at Rome, immediately laid their
demand for redress before His Holiness, John XX H, who
directed the following mandate to the Bishop of St. Andrews,
requiring him to procure the restitution of the stolen goods
and to "correct" the Abbot of Kelso, his monks and the
renegade friars — •

1332, Zthjunc, Avignon.
"To the Bishop of St. Andrews,

From the bitter complaint of our dear sons, the Wardens and
communities of the Friars Minor of Berwick and Roxburgh, in your
diocese of St. Andrews and in that of Glasgow, it has lately come to
our knowledge that Adam Hanuple, Thomas de Irwy and Adam de
Adington, formerly residing there under the vows of the said Order,
at the suggestion and instigation of William de Dalgernot, Abbot of
the community of the monastery of Kelso, of the Order of St. Benedict
in your diocese, as apostates of the said Order of Minors turned to
evil ways under the influence of the devil, laid sacrilegious hands upon
the bibles and other books, chalices, ornaments and other sacred books,
and wrongfully carried them off from the churches and convents ; and
that, by thus removing a part thereof to the foresaid monastery and
handing them over to the keeping as well of the foresaid Abbot as of
certain monks of the foresaid monastery, they offended the Divine
Majesty, and caused no small prejudice and trouble to the foresaid
Wardens and Chapters. Therefore, since the foresaid Wardens and
Chapters have humbly entreated us to deign to afford them a fitting
remedy herein, ^Ve, unwilling to fail them in justice, in which we owe
a debt to all, by our apostolic rescript directed to your fraternity,
command that you shall incjuire into the truth of the above and every-

1 Cell. rap. Rfi!,. I. c tiers, II. 366.

28 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. i.

thing cognate thereto, summarily, fully, without summons and formal
process, and that you shall cause immediate restitution to be made to
them of those things which you shall find to have been removed and
carried off from the churches and houses of the foresaid Friars Minor
by the said Adam, Thomas and Adam, or their accomplices as aforesaid
is ; whereto, in virtue of our authority, and without right of appeal to
us, you shall compel the said Thomas, Adam and Adam, as also the
Abbot and monks above mentioned and others in whose hands you know
the things are; and you shall correct the foresaid excesses according
to justice; notwithstanding, etc. But our intention is, that on this
account the exemptions and other privileges of the said monastery
shall in no way be infringed. Given at Avignon, 6 Ides of June in the
1 6th year."i

Althouo-h St. Francis had discouraged the pursuit of learning
among his followers, the future members of the Order
markedly developed that propensity for the acquisition of
books which aroused his ire against the novice who desired
to become the possessor of a breviary." Their experience
as preachers, together with the example shown by the
Black Friars, convinced the Franciscans that study, and the
possession of books to that end, were essential.^ As
early as 1260, anxious provision was made by the Chapter
General held at Narbonne for the management of their,
conventual libraries that had been acquired by gift, purchase,
testamentary bequest or inheritance ; "^ and the practical ex-
perience in the use and management of books, gained during
three-quarters of a century subsequent to this codification,
was consolidated in the Redeviptor nosier of Benedict XI I. ,^
which urged them to aim at acquiring duplicates, or even
triplicates, of books dealing with grammar, logic, philosophy
and theology. In the actual management of their libraries,
they were directed to keep registers in which all distributions
of books were to be entered. Within one month of his

^ Ex gravi, 8th June 1332 ; A. M., VII. 135, No. 10 ; Cal. Pap. Reg. Letters,

II. 503-

'^ Speciihun Perfectionis, cap. II. ; ed. JM. Paul Sabalier.

2 Advice of Cardinal Bonaventura to the Order, infra., p. 424.

■* Bonaventiirae Opera, VIII. 457 ; ed. Ad Claras Aquas, 1891-1902.

" 28th November 1 336. This constitution could not have reached Scotland before
the end of 1337, as it was read in the Chapter General at Aquitaine in that year,
and thereafter directed to be sent to the various provinces. A. M., VII. 204,
No. ^.

OHAr. T.] THE CONVENTUAL PROVINCE 29

election, the Warden was bound to compile an inventory
of the books under his charge ; and it was further ordained
that this record, renewed and brought up to date, should be
read aloud once a year in presence of the whole Chapter,
the books themselves being exhibited at the same time.
The inventories compiled by the Scots friars in accordance
with this constitution, or with the Statutes of Barcelona,^
have long since disappeared, and it is only in the case of
the Friary in Stirling that we have any knowledge of the
names of the books in their possession."

Another clause of this liberal constitution related to the
permissible mode of accepting a gift or legacy offered to an
individual friar, and forms an excellent example of intellectual,
as opposed to conscientious, observance of the text of the
Rule. The precept was absolute : the friar might appropriate
nothing to himself. Common ownership on the part of the
Order was as strenuously denied ; and, yet, the use or
possession of books was a privilege which they could not
gainsay themselves for the best of all reasons. The friar
donee was accordingly directed to inform his Superior of the
windfall at once ; while the correlative duty of the Superior,
if the friar were a man of ability, was to devote the gift
or legacy to the purchase of books for him, or to make
other suitable provision for the furtherance of his studies.
Books thus remained a besetting weakness of the Fran-
ciscans in relation to their vow of expropriation ; but it can
scarcely be raised to the rank of a moral delict. An interest-
ing case in this aspect — illustrative of the scholarship aimed
at by the friars and also of the difficulties under which they
laboured in its pursuit — is that of Friar Thomas Rossy,
already referred to.*^ His studies in the seven liberal arts
and theology are said to have been pursued at various
Universities; and, in 1373, on the petition of the Kings of
France and Scotland, he was appointed by the Chancellor

^ M. F., II. 117.

- Infra, p. 369. The inventories compiled at Assisi in 1380 are admirable
examples of the care which the Franciscans bestowed on the manat,^cnicnt of their
libraries — "that the books may not be lost, but above all prcscrvetl in the future."
Archiv fiir Litteratiir, I. 308, 490, 492, 493.

" Supra, p. 1 5 .

30 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. i.

to deliver the summer lectures on the Sentences hi the
University of Paris/ About the same time, he responded
to the questions in theology and graduated as Bachelor of
Paris, returning to Scotland in 1374 on account of the duties
of his office and want of money — expensarnm defectu —
without the honour of Master of Theology with license to
teach in that faculty. The authorities, however, took a
favourable view of his case ; and, in accordance with a papal
mandate of 1375 authorising William, Bishop of Glasgow,
to confer the degree after clue examination,^ he was
admitted to the Parisian Mastership on 23rd October of
that year.^

This is a trite example of the manner in which the
Franciscan preserved his distinctive characteristic at the
centres of learning. If we read between the lines, he was
essentially the poor student ; and, when the friary is substi-
tuted for the country manse, he suggests a comparison with
his protestant brother of later centuries straining its slender
resources for the colles^e career that was to fit him for the
ministry or the liberal professions. His intellect was his
single asset — our admiration for the Carlylean type is
instinctive — and Friar Rossy was far from being the single
alumnus of the Scottish Province who struo-o-led to maintain
himself at the University of Paris, returning at last to his
parent friary without a degree — expensaruni defecttt. Technic-
ally, his poverty was not absolute, as required by the Rule ;
practically it was very real ; and we are constrained to admit
that the qttestus pecttniae alleged against the Franciscans by
unfriendly critics might imply something else than mere love

^ 3rd October 1371. B. 7^, VI. No. 1149 ; Cal. Pap. Reg. Letters, IV. 164, 216.
According to the custom of the Order, he had already lectured in arts and theology
in his own province {Ibid.). In the MS. Recueil des plus celebres Astrologues, F.
156 {Fonds Fran^-ais), par Symond de Phares, written circa 1 483-1 498, there is a
reference to a Scottish P>anciscan : " Nostre Reverand Patrice Bernils (Bervils),
natif du royaume d'Escosse et I'Ordre de Sainct Franqois, fut en ce temps
(1406), lequel estudia k Paris et fut k Losenne soubz Marende, comme aucuns
dient."

2 Theiner, Mon. Vet. Hit. et Scot., p. 356 ; Cal. Pap. Reg. Letters, IV. 216.

" Denifle and Chatelain, Chart. Univ. Paris, III. No. 1372. The English
Franciscans were alone exempted from attendance at the University of Paris
prior to their promotion to the degree of D.D. The Grey F7-iars in Oxford,
p. 35 ^/ seq.

CHAP, t] the conventual province 31

of money/ Thus equipped, Friar Rossy soon passed out of
the restricted routine of friary life. In the first year of the
Western Schism he is to be met with in the papal court at
Avignon "on Church business"; and, on 15th July of the
following year, in company with another Scottish churchman,
Hugo de Dalmahoy, Notary to Cardinal Eustace, Clement
VII. sent him back to Scotland^ with the prospect of pro-
motion to the See of Whithorn in Galloway. Oswald,
Cistercian Prior of Glenluce, had recently been appointed to
and installed in this bishopric; but Clement VII. now re-
voked his elevation on the ground of misrepresentation, and
empowered the Bishops of Glasgow and St. Andrews to
promote either Ingram, Archdeacon of Dunkeld or Thomas
de Rossy in his place.^ The former having declined the
bishopric, the Franciscan met with stubborn opposition to
his suit in the Scottish courts for the Prior's expulsion.
Oswald interjected an appeal to the Camera at Avignon, and
won a short-lived success when the cause was remitted to
Cardinal Nicholas. His Holiness then took the part of the
friar, whom he addressed as the Venerable Friar, Thomas,
Bishop of Candida Casa, and remitted the case back to the
Bishops of St. Andrews and Dunkeld, with instructions to
expel Oswald and to promote his own alternative nominee,
Friar Rossy, if satisfied as to his fitness.* At this juncture
the case disappears from record, and, consequently, his
authorship of the tract upon the Schism against "the English
their neighbours " remains dependent upon the success which
attended his pleadings before the Scottish Bishops. The
Index of Promotions^ for this period seems, however, to
indicate that Rossy retained his See until 1406 ; and, in that
case, he is the only Scottish Grey Friar who is known to have
been either selected for or raised to the rank of Bishop.*^

^ Cf. Roger Bacon's interpretation of the Rule, in/fa, p. 41 ; and Mr. A. G.
Little's account of the heavy expenditure by a candidate for a degree, T/ie
Grey F7-iars in Oxford, pp. 50, 51.

- B. F., VII. No. 585 ; ed. note. 'I'hcy received 30 and 100 florins respectively
from the Camera for their expenses going to and returning from Scotland.

2 B. F., VII. Nos. 5cS5, 635. * Jiisfa />nsfora/is, 29th October 1381.

•^ B. F., VII.

" Under the year 1455 Waddin;.,'^ hazards a guess that Friar Thomas Burton,
professor of sacred theology in tlic island and monastery of St. Columba, was a

32 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. i.

On the other hand, the Bishop of Galloway remained a
suffragan of York until the year 1491, and it is, therefore,
possible that Francis Ramsay, who is recorded in Kcitlis Cata-
logue^ as occupying the See of Whithorn from 1373 to 1402,
was the unsuccessful nominee of the Roman Pope. Some
years later, the Romanist xA-drian VI. also interfered unsuccess-
fully in the appointment of a successor to Walter Wardlaw "
in the bishopric of Glasgow. Adrian VI. intimated that the
selection of his successor "should be specially reserved to
our choice and appointment"; and Boniface IX., after the
bishop's death, issued a commission, elated ist March 1390-
91, in favour of John Framysden, an English Grey Friar.^
This appointment was naturally disregarded by the Scots,
whereupon the ambitious son of St. Francis appealed to
Richard II., and demanded either that a patent should be
issued to the Eno'lish wardens on the borders to instal him
in the bishopric, "as well spirituality as temporality," or that
means should be provided whereby he could live in a manner
befitting his rank.'^ The petition was presented to the king
by one of his favourites, William le Scrope (afterwards Earl
of Wiltshire), and remitted to the Council. Ultimately
provision was made for the friar's wants, as he appears as
a suffragan of London in 1393, and of Sarum in 1396.^ This
was the second and last attempt to intrude an English
Franciscan into a Scottish bishopric.

Returning to the year 1332, the endeavour of Edward

Franciscan. He was elevated to a bishopric in this year ; but the Franciscans
had no ascertainable connection with lona. A. M., XII. 300.

^ Edition Russel, 1824, p. 572.

2 He was created Cardinal in 138 1 by Clement VII., being- one of the few
Scottish prelates who attained to that dignity.

" B. F., VII. No. 55 ; CaL Pap. Reg. Letters, IV. 383 ; Reg. Episc. Glas^uefisis,
I. xl.

* Reg. Privy Council (England), I. 95, Sir H. Nicholas.

* Stubbs' Reg. Sacr. A7igl., 1897, p. 197. Friar Framysden was evidently
aware of the successful issue in 1388 of a similar appeal by another Englishman
to be appointed Vicar of the Church of St. James in the burgh of Roxburgh, then in
the possession of the English. In his mandamus Richard II. declared that he
granted the petition because the diocesan (Glasgow), spurning the path of the
Catholic faith, was a schismatic and the king's enemy and a rebel, and was
obstinately adhering to his adversary of Scotland, and to that child of perdition
the anti-pope, Clement. Rof. Scot., II. 93.

CHAP. I.] THE CONVENTUAL PROVINCE 33

Balliol to secure the throne by the assistance of Edward III.
once more threw the country into a state of war. The castle
of Berwick was hastily put into a state of defence, for which
the governor requisitioned 535 eastland boards^ belonging to
the Friary at Roxburgh, along with 240 other boards which
had been intended for the repair of its roof. Pope John
XXI I. , w^ho was meditating another crusade, became seri-
ously alarmed at the prospect of an outbreak of war between
the two countries, and despatched Gerard, the Minister
General of the Grey Friars, along with a Black Friar, to
interview King- David. On their arrival in Paris, the legates
learned from the Scots procurators that David had left
Scotland ; and, as their mission " for the good of Christendom
and the prevention of bloodshed " could not be further
proceeded with, they were shortly afterwards recalled by His
Holiness.^ Hostilities commenced, and the disastrous result
of the battle of Halidon Hill led to the surrender of the
town and castle of Berwick to the English in 1333. To
certain of its religious houses — that of St. Mary Mag-
dalene, the Domus Dei and others — Edward III. granted
letters of protection ; but towards the Grey Friars and the
other mendicant Orders established in the district, who made
no secret of their strong Scottish sympathies, a drastic policy
was adopted. The instructions^ addressed to the English
Provincial for the expulsion of the Scots Grey Friars from
Berwick are a remarkable testimony to their intense patriot-
ism, and to the influence of their preaching upon the popular
mind :

"The King, to his beloved in Christ, the Provincial Minister of the
Order of Friars Minor in England, greeting. We, having considered the
countless ills, which, through the procurement of the author of all evil,
have fallen upon the peoples of England and Scotland through the long
continued inconveniences of war (due, as we learn, in no small measure
to the preaching of certain religious Mendicants of the Scottish nation,
who, under a fictitious cloak of sanctity, encouraged the Scots in their

^ Exch. Rolls, I. 411. These were timber planks imported from the shores of
the Baltic.

-A. M., VII. 131, 132, 133, 145, 146 ; Cell. Pap. Rft;: Letters, II. 511.

^ Rot. Scot., I. 258. The order to the English military governor of Berwick
was couched in similar terms.

34 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. i.

tyranny) have gladly inquired into the means by which the source of
this malice and disorder may be removed, and a firm love and peace
flourish between the foresaid nations. After full deliberation hereupon
with men of experience, the most expedient course appears to be that all
your Scottish brethren dwelling in our town and county of Berwick
should, meanwhile, be sent into the houses of your Order in England,
so that, with a change of residence, may come a change of spirit ; and
that there be put in their places wise and capable English friars, who,
by their salutary ministrations, may instruct the people, win them to our
allegiance and affection, and, under the guidance of God, implant a true
friendship between the nations. Wherefore, we earnestly entreat you,
and, for the public weal, desire that this be done, and we command
that you send to Scotland with all speed certain of your English
brethren, men of good repute, prudence and skill (whom, in view of
the character of the persons, times and places, you shall find specially
suited to the office), to dwell in the houses of your Order for the
time, there to preach, and, under the guidance of the Lord, to bring
forth the abundant fruits of truth and love ; and that you place your
Scottish brethre7i who dwell within the said totvn and county in the houses
of your Order in England beyond the Trent, individually in separate
houses, so that, with your kind treatment of them, the cause of their
maligning will cease, and, overcome by this manifestation of your
brotherly affection, they will learn to love those whom they now hate.
And this, as you respect the honour and welfare of your Order, in
nowise neglect. In presence of the King at Knaresburgh, loth August

The English Franciscan of Carlisle who wrote the Laner-
cost Chronicle thus invidiously comments on the behaviour of
his brethren in Berwick on the eve of their banishment —

" But, because the religious men of the town had much offended the
king in the time of the siege, all those of Scottish origin were expelled
by his command and Englishmen were introduced in their place. It is
to be remembered that, when it behoved them to leave the convent at
Berwick and two English friars were brought in to replace them, the
Scottish friars prepared for them a good breakfast. During the meal
some entertained the English friars in comfort and familiar talk, whilst
the others broke into the storehouse, gathered together all the books,
chalices and vestments, and bound them up in silken and other cloths,
alleging that all those things were the deposits of the lord. Earl
Patrick." i

The friars would therefore appear to have recovered their
possessions in accordance with the mandate of John XX n.,^
and they doubdess returned to their own country in pre-

^ Lanercost Chronicle, p. 275. 2 Ex gravi; supra, pp. 27, 28.

CHAP. I.] THE CONVENTUAL PROVINCE 35

ference to submitting to the peaceful persuasion of their
brethren beyond the Trent.

After this incident the annual bounties to the Franciscans
of Berwick from the vScottish Exchequer naturally ceased ;
and their English successors found it necessary to apply to
Edward III. for payment of the "old alms" of twenty
merks, which had been sanctioned by the Bruce. ^ Although
repeatedly taken, Berwick never subsequently remained long
enough in the possession of Scotland to warrant it being
considered otherwise thanas a military post ; and its friary,
therefore, passes out of the history of the Scottish Franciscans
at this date.

In 1339 Edward Balliol left Scotland, and among the
minor patriots who won distinction in the task of recapturing
the strongholds was the well-known Grey Friar, John the
Carpenter, a man of high skill in the manufacture and use
of military engines. Although a man of peace. Friar John
rendered yeoman service in the defence of Dumbarton
Castle, with the result that the Governor retained his
services for the nation in return for an annual pension of
twenty pounds. David II. ratified his lieutenant's promise
in the following precept under the Privy Seal : —

" David, by the grace of God, ... To all men, . . . Whereas
Malcolm Fleming, knight, our beloved and trusty foster-son and keeper
of our Castle of Dumbarton, with prudent fore-thought for our royal
welfare, has, in our name by his letters patent, in terms of a certain agree-
ment, faithfully promised to Friar John the Carpenter, of the Order of
Friars Minor, for his skill and services as well within our foresaid castle
as without wherever we shall be pleased to ordain, that he shall be
faithfully paid the sum of twenty pounds sterling of annual pension for
all the term of the life of the said Friar John. . . . The King, con-
sidering the good deserts of the said Friar John, confirms the aforesaid
pension and grants that it be paid out of both his royal rents of the
burgh of Inverkeithing and the great customs uplifted there ; and we will
that the said Friar John be preferred in the payment of this annual
pension before all other grants and our own grants there. Wherefore, as
well to the provosts of the aforesaid burgh as to the collectors of our

^ Robert de Inghale, Chamberlain of Bcrwick-on-Tweed, was ordered (4th March
'339) to pay twenty marks yearly to the Friars Minor there, whicli sum they were
wont to receive as alms from the Kings of Scotland. Fadcra, II. ii. 1075.

36 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. i.

new customs there, we straitly command that they make payment to
the said Friar John. . . . And what in respect hereof they set down in
their annual accounts we will that it be allowed to them. In testimony
whereof we have made these our letters patent to him.''^

In the Roll of 1342 the name of Friar John accordingly
appears as a recipient of the sum of ^13, 6s. 8d. — twenty
merks— /7'^ artificio suo et labo7'e? We are in ignorance of
the friary to which he belonged ; but he certainly was not, as
Spottiswood and others allege, an inmate of the Friary at
Kirkcudbright, which was not erected until the year 1455-56.^
The precept for his pension was directed to the collectors of
the new customs of Inverkeithing ; and it is only a co-
incidence that the seventh Conventual Friary was founded
there in or about the year 1384. It may be surmised that
this friary was originally a habitaculum colonised by some of
the friars from Dundee, who had settled in the town and
occupied a tenement gifted to them by some unknown donor.
A ferm or tax of 2s. 4d. was annually paid to the royal ex-
chequer for this house until the year 1384,* when, in virtue of
the authority contained in the Bull of 1346, the informal
settlement was converted into a regular friary by Robert II.,
who carried out the intentions of King David by remitting
the payment of his ferm — "so that the said tenement is
otherwise free from all payment of this pension and from
all secular burdens whatsoever."^ The eighth and last
Conventual Friary was erected by James II. in the royal
burgh of Kirkcudbright in or about the year 1455 ; and,
from the entry of 12th July 1458, we learn that the bailies
of Kirkcudbright paid to "the Friars Minor of the said
burgh newly founded by the present king £6, 13s. 4d., in
part payment of ^10 granted by him to them." ^ Owing to a
misreading of the entry in the English Wardrobe Accounts^
— that Edward I. placed an oblation on the altar of the
Priory of Kirkcudbright — this foundation has been attributed

1 Transcript Harleiati MSS., 4628, f. 68 ; infra, II. p. 166 ; Robertson's Index,
41. "John, Carpenter, of ane pension during his lifetime." The writ itself has
not been recorded in the Register of the Privy Seal.

2 Exch. Rolls, I. 510. 3 jnfra, note 6.
* I'^di,, per incuriam, in print oi Exch. Rolls, III. 127. ^ Ibid.

** P>V/^ also entries of 20th August 1465 and2ist July \/sfi6,ibid. ^ p. 41.

CHAP. I.]

THE CONVENTUAL PROVINCE

to the thirteenth century by Dr. John Stuart^ and other
writers ; but it need hardly be insisted that the Priory there
referred to was that situated on St. Mary's Isle, especially as
this friary was not one of those which petitioned Edward I.
in 1297, and does not appear either in the Provinciale or in
any of the enumerations compiled by Lucas Wadding.

Meanwhile internal dissension had rent the whole
fraternity in twain. The ideal life of poverty with all its
privations — the keynote of the Franciscan movement — had
been tested by the experience of more than two centuries,
and had received various interpretations at the hands of the
friars. While some strove to carry out the Franciscan theory
ot life in all its severity, others adopted certain relaxa-
tions of the Rule for which they had sought and obtained
papal sanction. These two sections became known as the
Observatines and the Conventuals ; so that before pursuing
their history in Scotland it may be profitable to consider
the main characteristics of the controversy which terminated
in their formal separation.

^ Hist. MSS. Coii!missw7!, p. 539, Fourth Report ; infra^ p. 252.

The Franciscan CorcleliLie encirclini; llu inns of
France and Brittany, carved on the keystone of ;ni
arch, Ciiuteau d'Aniljoise.

CHAPTER II
RISE OF THE OBSERVATINES

The origin of the Observatine movement— Distinction between clerical and lay
brothers- Conflict between theory and practice— Franciscan heresies— Per-
secution of the Spirituals — Spiritual autonomy and its revocation — Re-
establishment at Brogliano— Friars John of Vallee, Gentile de Spoleto and
Pauluccio— Conformity of the Observatines— Recognition by the Council of
Constance — Organisation — Province of Cologne — Observatine mission to
Scotland.

The rise of the Observatines, or evolution of a rational
observance of the Rule formulated by St. Francis, presents
a perplexing conflict of principles during the first two centuries
of Franciscan history. It is one of many phases which will
lead the observer far into the realms of doctrine as well as
of Franciscan discipline ; and, in the end, it resolves itself into
a moral conflict between the ordination vow of the friar and
the dispensative authority vested in the Holy See, complicated
by that dangerous and heretical hydra — the authority of the
Testament of St. Francis.^ The impracticability of complete
observance of the Rule is now a matter of general agreement ;
and the Testament, while purporting to be explicative of it,
vetoed recourse to Rome, thereby affording an apparent
contradiction with the administration of St. F'rancis himself
from 1 2 17 until 1226. Practical concessions had been
made during this pathetic duel between sentiment and
common sense ; and the gradual transition from pure
idealism is easily discernible in the issue of the "explicit
approbation" of 1219, in the Rule of 1223, in the recog-
nition and employment of friar confessors, in the informal
institution and use of procurators, and in the griefs of the
Saint arising out of the incipient reaction against total

^ Seraphicae Legislationis^ T.O., pp. 265-272, abrogated by the Quo elongati of

Gregory IX. ; infra, II. pp. 390, 397.

CHAP. II.] RISE OF THE OBSERVATINES 39

abnegation and detachment. That is to say, the well-defined
controversies concerning papal support against the secular
clergy, the spread of sacerdotalism as a natural corollary to
expansion, and the theory of poverty as the basis of organisa-
tion, were actively present during the infancy of the Order, and
were acquiesced in by St. Francis himself. But his Testament
swept away this nascent possibility of compromise, and focused
the attention of thinking men upon the disabilities arising out
of a Franciscan, as opposed to an ecclesiastical, conscience, and
the impediments which this distinction placed in the way of
their legitimate expansion and consolidation as an Order of
the Church. The flood-tide of enthusiasm among the faithful
was rapidly effecting the diffusion of Franciscanism over the
whole of Europe, and the sanctity of the hermitage or friary
had already taken a powerful hold upon the laity, raising a
galaxy of problems concerning the crucial and practical
question of voluntary support, seeing that Franciscanism
neither possessed an exchequer nor received State aid. On
the other hand, the ebb-tide of clerical reaction continued to
threaten the repression of the movement so long as the friar
missionary maintained an attitude of absolute submission
towards the churchman, who regarded him as an inconvenient
assistant and did not scruple to expel him from the parish
or diocese. At the meeting of these tides stood the friar,
adjured to supplement the work of the clergy, but fettered
in his task by the Franciscan ideal which forbade him to
accept the assistance and protection proffered by the en-
lightened liberalism of the Holy See.^ The Order was thus
confronted with a problem which precluded all possibility
of compromise, inasmuch as authoritative modification of
the Rule was inconsistent with complete obedience to the
Testament. Controversy at once invaded this young society
of idealists. "Autonomy of conscience"" entered upon the
long struggle with conformity, and the year i 230^ witnessed
the official subordination of the Testament that had forbidden
glossation of the Rule and the acceptance of apostolic privi-
leges under any pretext whatever. Friar Leo and Friar

^ Vide chapter XI., PrcacJiini^^ Confession a)id Burial.

- Vi. raul Sab.-Uicr. •'' Quo clonj^aii.

GENERAL HISTORY [chap. ii.

Elias personified the opposing principles in this schism, in
which the uncompromising supporters of seraphic poverty
suffered severely under the intolerance and persecution of
Elias and his party. For the moment, the line of demarcation
was clear and well defined ; but the influence of environment
and ecclesiastical tradition soon effected a further subdivision
among those who claimed to be the representatives of St.
Francis. Haymo of Faversham and those who accomplished
the downfall of the Elian autocracy, in their turn, impinged
upon the primitive simplicity by emphasising the distinction
between laymen and clerics within the Order. ^ The fraternity
was irrevocably divided into learned and unlearned friars ;
and the fetish of theology, the product of knowledge, found
support from the devout Spiritual, who maintained that laxity
of observance proceeded from the ignorance of the lay brother.^
Nevertheless, technical observance of the Rule precluded all
possibility of an educational system extending from the
Friary to the University ; and the only clear distinction
lay between subjective and objective observance, as there
were few who could logically claim to observe the precepts of
1223 i"^ their entirety. Thus, even the devout Spiritual,
John of Parma, betrayed his Master (who abhorred scholasti-
cism) when he complained against the Mendicant bishop
who carried off to the episcopal palace the books which he
ought to have returned to the library of his friary.^ Again,
although he maintained the inviolability of the Rule and
Testament, by his contention that the privileges and declara-
tions granted by the Holy See were powerless to absolve the
friar from his vows, he gave a graphic illustration of the
contradiction between theory and practice in his eloquent
appreciation of the observance in the English Province, where
the friars made free use of the services of procurators.'*

^ The directions given by St. Francis concerning divine worship in the Portiun-
cula show how completely he himself was bound by ecclesiastical tradition, and fore-
shadowed this division of the fraternity {Speculum Perfectionis, cap. 55): "Let
clerks be chosen of the better and more holy and more honourable of the brethren
... to say the Office. . . . And of the lay brethren, let holy men and discreet,
humble and honourable be chosen to wait upon them." This distinction was per-
petuated by the Narbonne constitution, Nullus ascendat de laicaiu.

^ e.g. Friar Salimbene. ^ y^^g Constitutions, infra, p. 440, n. 2.

* M. F., Vol. II., "The Chronicle of the English Cn-ey ¥nix\s,'" passim.

CHAP. II.] RISE OF THE OBSERVATINES 41

Berthold of Ratlsbon, the representative of a more logical
phase of Spiritual thought, illustrates the attitude of yet
another faction, known at a later date as the unorthodox
Spirituals. In common with John of Parma, and those
imbued with the leaven of Joachism, Friar Berthold main-
tained the supreme authority of the Rule ; but he inveighed
against knowledge as the reason why so many failed to
attain the state of perfect grace, and satirised the un-
Spartan character of the decadent Conventual friar of his
day.i In contradistinction to the satire of this extremist,
we have the condemnation of the average friar from the pen
of the subjectivist Friar Roger Bacon,'^ who also lamented
the decadence of practical Franciscanism in the life of
the individual friar ; while he himself acquiesced in the
broad lines of Franciscan evolution. As a scientist, he
longed for the abolition of the jurists from the Church,
and the resulting elevation of philosophy. Only then
would the regime of the Church become glorious and in
harmony with its true dignity ; princes and lords would give
benefices and riches to professors, and studious men would
have provision for life and leisure for the pursuits of
science.^ To this great luminary Clement IV. appeared
as the Mycenas, rendering possible that which had been
impossible through poverty, rather than as the degrader
of the Franciscan ideal. And, when the opportunity of
perpetuating his ideas presented itself, practical modification
of the Rule had already begotten a state of conscience that
took no heed of the provenance of the parchment, the pay-
ment of the scribes, or other material considerations which
would have harassed Friar Leo or Friar Berthold. In
short, there was no perfect Spiritual ; and although mutual
intolerance and persecution held sway for the sake of prin-
ciples, the real quarrel was with the friar who accepted
greater relaxations than the subjectivist would admit. For

^ The gravity of Friar Berthokl's treason to St. Francis lay in his conception of
the ideal religious life, that contcmplalixo was preferable to active Christianity, and
that the salvation of his own soul was the primary duly of the friar. Scrniofus,
p. 29.

-' CoinpcmiiitDi Sliidii Philos(>p/ii<ic {K. S.), p. 399, oj). Kog. Uaton.

" Ji'iiL p. w iii.

42 GENERAL HISTORY [chai-. ii.

a brief space during the Generalship of Bonaventura, the
victory of moderation seemed possible, at a crisis when a friar
might be a good churchman although an unworthy Fran-
ciscan. The primary condition of unity was the effacement
of this distinction ; and accordingly Bonaventura categorically
asserted the conformity of the Order with the Church by
affirming the validity of papal interpretation of the Rule,
which had not as yet received the official impress of divinity.
The equivocal premises of the extreme Spiritual position, as
well as the possibility of Spiritual disobedience to the Church
under the cloak of obedience to St. Francis, were thus swept
away. In return, the increasing laxity of observance among
the Conventuals was condemned in the most absolute terms,
and a semblance of their primitive simplicity was restored, so
far as a code could effect that purpose.^ " Sanscullotism,
Anarchy of the Jean Jacques Evangel, having got deep
enough, is to perish in a singular new system of Cullotism and
arrangement."^ Union and tolerance, however, were as yet
unattainable ; and discord and persecution regained their
sway in spite of the Exiit which, at once, reconciled intellect
with conscience among the orthodox friars, and strengthened
the position of the unorthodox by recognising the divine
origin of the Rule. The attenuated Spiritual cloak thus
assumed a definite position in the controversy, which it
maintained for more than fifty years to the detriment of
orthodox reformation in observance. During this period,
the permissible degree of relaxation constituted the subject
matter of the main controversy, in which the Conventuals
were rapidly losing ground. Persecution at their hands won
many adherents to the cause of reform, with the result that
the brief pontificate of Celestine V. witnessed the first
authorised secession from the Order by a small colony of
Spirituals, who had been referred to His Holiness for
guidance by Raymond Gaufridi, their Minister General.
This band of zealots was released from obedience to their
Conventual Superiors, and, under the leadership of Friar
Liberato, they were accorded the privilege of observing strictly

1 Narbonne ConstitHtio7is, passim ; Bonaventurae C/., VIII. 449-467.
- Carlyle, French Revolution.

<;hap. it.] rise OF THE OBSERVATLNES 43

the Rule and Testament of St. Francis, absque nojiiine frat-
rtmi niinoriLm} This modification of the vow of obedience
is as significant of the changed Spiritual attitude towards
the Rule and the ordination vows, as the qualifications
attached to their liberation are significant of the gravity of
the crisis that had arisen out of the dual authority called
into existence by the Testament. Moreover, it was the first
step towards the curtailment of Conventual absolutism which
had been so freely employed in suppressing the recalcitrants,
who, while they appealed to the life and Rule of St. Francis
in justification of their views, suffered imprisonment in
accordance with his testamentary injunction." The sanction
to this secession was withdrawn by Boniface VIII., and the
colony retired to the further shore of the Adriatic, which they
ultimately quitted for the March of Ancona under the desig-
nation of Clarenes and the leadership of Angelo da Clareno.^
The customary suspicion of heresy, however, continued to
harass the peace of these zealots in discipline until the ortho-
doxy of their leader was explicitly affirmed by a commission
of examination ; '^ and their secession was followed by another
during the Generalship of Friar Alessandro (13 13), who fos-
tered the rise of the pure Observance by authorising a Spiritual
settlement in the convents of Narbonne, Beziers and Car-
cassone under Superiors in sympathy with their ascetic long-
ings. These secessions were particular manifestations of a
widespread spirit of discontent in the Order, arising out
of Conventual intolerance, and of the desire for a definite
subdivision of the Order which would permit the individual
friar to embrace unmolested either the strict or the modified
observance of the Rule. The support which the orthodox
Spiritual propaganda received from the laity could not be
ignored ; and the Curia assured a free and impartial exposi-
tion of grievances under the commission in which Friar
Ubertino joined issue with Bonagrazia, then Minister General,
under the arbitration of Clement Y.'' The validity of papal

' AicJtiv fiir Littcralin\ 1. 525-526.

- Imprisonment for heresy and certain forms of disobedience.

3 A. M., VI. 12, No. 8, 1302. ■' //>/</. \'I. S9-90, Nos. 2-4, 130;.

'- IbuL VI. 168-171, No. 3, 1310.

44 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. ii.

Interpretation was left untouched, and a direct appeal was
made to the lives and customs of the friars of the golden
age. This line of attack, as well as the severity of the
indictment, defeated the purpose of the Zelanti, seeing that
it constituted a definite impeachment of official adminis-
tration. Nevertheless, Friar Ubertino, in his lurid picture
of a mutilated Franciscanism, presented an unanswerable
case for reform, if not also complete proof of incompatibility
between the two parties. Unity of action and unity of pur-
pose, however, had no place in the Spiritual camp, and the
wisdom of Jean Olivi, in desiring to curb the indiscreet zeal
of the extreme Spirituals, was fully justified by the secession
of the Italian faction at this critical juncture, when formal
disjunction probably hung- in the balance. Ubertino's success
was thus confined to securing a condemnation of existing
abuses and undue relaxation of the Rule ; ^ but his propaganda
also won the support of earnest Conventuals, whose sympathy
with reform was assured provided obedience and the unity of
the Order were preserved.'^ It is difficult to underestimate
the moral effect of this partial success which foreshadowed
the final victory of the strict Observance, and definitely dis-
sociated the propaganda of the orthodox Spirituals (who
were striving after a practical realisation of Franciscan
discipline) from those who had lapsed into the indefinite realm
of heresy as a result of their attack upon the dispensative
authority of the Holy See. The severest crisis was now
imminent. The doubtful premises of the authority of the
Testament, developed under the infiuence of the fictitious
Joachism manifest in the Everlasting Gospel, had reached
its loQ-ical conclusion in the establishment of the secession
church by the heretical Spirituals, who were condemned by
John XXII. in the Quorundani exigit, Sancta Roinana, and
Gloriosain Ecclesiain? But concurrently with the defeat of this
unorthodox faction, official Franciscanism was momentarily
brought into conflict with the Curia, when His Holiness ex-
emplified the real meaning of papal interpretation by arbitrarily
abrogating the vow of poverty, as it had been defined by his

^ Exivi, infra, II. p. 431. ^ e.g. Michele d.i Cesena.

2 7tli October 1317 ; 30th December 1317 ; 23rd January 1318.

CHAP. II.] RISE OF THE ORSERVATINES 45

predecessors. The Ad conditoreni, and its correlative con-
stitutions, created the friars civil owners of their movable
property, and thereby brought Franciscan theory and practice
to a deadlock. However remiss the Conventual friar mieht
have been in observing the lofty precepts of his founder, he
could not acquiesce in this legal vandalism, which not only
brushed aside the disconcerting inconsistencies of the tradi-
tional observance sanctioned by the Exiit and the Exivi — as
many were anxious to effect — but even precluded the possi-
bility of observing the vow of poverty and maintaining the
organisation of the Order. It is certain that the amor habendi
had permeated the Order to such an extent that this legislation
would not have created a state of things differing materially
from that which had prevailed at the close of the thirteenth
century. But the theoretical tenet of Franciscanism was in
danger, and the Order rallied in support of it. For fifteen years
the controversy continued unabated, until John XXII. aban-
doned his position in 1331, and ordered the Provincials in public
consistory to obey the provisions of the Exiit in all questions
relating to discipline.^ Three years later the Minister
General, whom he had forced upon the Order in place of
Michele da Cesena, granted Friar John of Vallee and four
others permission to occupy the friary at Brogliano in
Umbria, and to observe the Rule of St. Francis in its
entirety." During the rest of his life Friar John devoted
himself to the leavening of the province in the face of the
many difficulties raised by its Conventual Superiors ; and a
just estimate of his success is furnished in the Bull of
Clement VI. ^ which authorised his lay associate and suc-
cessor. Gentile de Spoleto, to observe the Rule in its
primitive simplicity in four friaries, and absolved these
Observatine colonies from obedience to the Conventuals.
It was, however, a short-lived autonomy. Their op-
ponents perceived in the mountain settlements a refuge
for every friar opposed to the lax re^gime,^ and meditated
an attack upon them in the papal court on the grounds

1 D. F., V. No. 921. - A. J/., \1I. )68, No. 24.

^ Bonoriitn opcrum, 13th December 1350.
« Chron. XXIV. Ceneralium ; A.F.,\\\. 547.

46 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. n.

of observance and the danger of schism.^ More prudent
counsels prevailed. The affinity of the Spiritual and the
Fraticelli was revived in the charge of receiving heretics into
their midst; whereupon Innocent VI. (1355) withdrew the
privilege of exemption, placed the Observatines again under
the obedience of the Provincial Ministers, and acquiesced in
the imprisonment of the devout Gentile." In spite of this
repression. Friar Pauletto or Pauluccio, a pupil of Gentile,
obtained the Minister General's permission in 1368 to re-
establish literal observance of the Rule in the same friary
at Broeliano.^ The success of his crusade aor-ainst the
acceptance of any mitigation of the Rule was immediate
in that region of fervid conviction which had sheltered the
Fraticelli against the anathemas of the Church. Possessed
of all the characteristics necessary in the leader of a great
subjective movement, Friar Pauluccio immediately attracted
the attention of the Pope and of the Minister General,
Leonardo di Giffoni,'^ by the practical sagacity of his
administration. Profiting by the experience of his pre-
decessor, he avoided open revolt against the authority of
the Provincials,^ and precluded the possibility of repression
at their hands by proclaiming his conformity in a vigorous
public disquisition against the Fraticelli, in which he declared
that obedience to the Pope was of greater importance than
obedience to St. Francis.^ Accordingly, in 1374, Innocent
VI. recognised his position as leader of the movement by
forbidding the officials of the Order to interfere with him ; ^
while the Minister General authorised him to spread the
Observance through the neighbouring provinces,^ and
strengthened the incipient reformation by the concession of

^ A. M., VIII. 103, No. 2, 1355.

2 Sedes apostolica^ i8th August 1355. For some years, writes the chronicler, the
ir^i&miiy erat ima ei vifegra. Archiv fiir Litteratiir^ IV. 184.

3 A. M., VIII. 210, Nos. 11-12, 1368.

* He was elected in accordance with the papal rescript enjoining the friars
to select one whom they knew to be favourable to the regular Observance and
reformation of the Order. B. K, VI. No. 1266.

* A. M., VIII. 298, No. 20, 1374.

« Ih'd. VIII. 298-300, Nos. 19-23. Vide dicta of John XXII. at p. 88. The
houses occupied by the Fraticelli were frequently ordered to be placed at the dis-
position of the Observatines, e.£^. B. F., VII. No. 1393.

^ Ad nostrum, 22nd June 1374. « A. M., VIII. 298, No. 20, 1374.

CHAP. II.] RISE OF THE OBSERVATINES 47

several privileges,^ Thus armed at every point, Pauluccio was
enabled to effect the reformation of the provinces unhindered
by the local authorities ; and his remarkable success was
recognised in 1376 when the powers of a Provincial Minister
were conferred upon him," and again in 1387 when he was
appointed the special Commissary of the Minister General
in respect of the houses under his direction.^ These had
now risen from seven to twelve in 1380,* including the
Perugian convent of San Francesco del Monte ; ^ and at his
death in 1390 they numbered eighteen, along with a nunnery
for the Sisters of the Third Order. The leadinof character-
istics of this movement in Italy were repeated in varying
degrees of intensity throughout Europe, meeting with the
same support from the anti-popes as from the popes during
the great Western Schism. Thus, under the protection of
Benedict XIII. and of the pseudo-Minister General, the
Observance was established in the convent of Mirabelle in
Picardy,^ and the reformation of France and Burgundy pro-
ceeded apace in the lonely friaries, whither the devotees of
holy poverty had been permitted "to retire from the crowds
to live according to the purity of the Rule."^ In Spain and
Portugal the movement gained ground about 1408, and its
extension to the provinces of Burgundy, Savoy and
Flanders, under the influence of St. Colette, completed
the analogy with the Mendicant-Secular controversy of
the thirteenth century. In both cases, the reform was
carried onwards on a wave of popular enthusiasm which
the established authority vainly endeavoured to arrest ; and
autonomy quickly became the touchstone of the controversy.
Clearly, so long as Franciscan discipline was regulated by
Conventual statutes and customs, the Observatine, who denied
his brother friar the right to live more in conformity with
the times by possessing landed property and other perma-
nent sources of income, must submit to a mutilation of his
propaganda. He no longer combated the validity of papal
interpretation, and was concerned only in securing the prixilegc

1 A. J/., VIII. 336, No. 43, 1375. 2 7^/,/ \-iii. 336, No. 17.

' /du/. IX. 91, No. 2. * Ibid. IX. 41, No. 29.

■ '•> Ibid. IX. 42, No. 29. « Ibid. IX. 80, No. 5, 138S. ' Ibid.

48 GExNERAL HISTORY [chap. ii.

of observing the Exiit, which had introduced the minimum of
necessary divergence from the Rule. This privilege implied
the recognition of the right of the Observatine Superiors to
enjoy a de facto independence in all that pertained to dis-
cipline ; and an appeal for disjunction was therefore made to
the Council of Constance by the reformed houses of France,
Burgundy and Touraine. The Council viewed the petition
with favour, and, on 23rd September 14 15, sanctioned the
election of Observatine Provincial Vicars as the Superiors of
these three provinces, the Vicar General being chosen from
among their number, and recognised as the specially con-
stituted Commissary of the Minister General in respect to the
petitioning friaries. Complete immunity was assured to these
Superiors by an express declaration that the sentence of
excommunication would be inflicted upon any Conventual
who interfered with their administration ; ^ while the fiction
of a united Order was preserved by the proviso that the
appointment of the Vicar General required the ratification of
the Minister General — for which that of the Council miorht
be substituted — that the Minister General mio-ht visit and
correct these houses in person, and that two friaries in each
province, suitable for habitation and furnished with books and
the other necessaries for divine worship, should be assigned to
the Observatines.^ Consequently, in 141 6 the first Observa-
tine Chapter was held at Bercore by Nicolas Rudolph, who
had been appointed Vicar General of the French houses by
the Council, and it was attended by the "superiors and dis-
tinguished friars " of the provinces,^ " who decided many
things necessary for the establishment of the reformation."^
In the following year, the Conventuals replied by a series of
constitutions in the Chapter General at Casale condemning
diversity in observance or in dress in accordance with the
Quortmdam exigit of John XXII. ;^ but these ungenerous
tactics were attended with little success, inasmuch as the
maintenance of their control over the Observatines, whom

^ Labre, Collectio Sanctorum Conciliortim^ XXVII. col. 797.

2 A. AL, IX. 371-374, No. 7. 1415. Reaffirmed by Martin V., 5th May 1420 ;
B.F.,VU. No. 1448.

3 Ih'd. IX. 388, No. 8. 1416. 4 /dtd,
^ Glassberger Chron., A. K, II. 287.

riTAP. Ti.] RISE OF THE 015SERVATINES 49

they persisted in regarding as the descendants of the unruly
Spirituals condemned for contumacy a century before, de-
pended upon the vindication of the independence of the
Chapter General from the decree of the General Council.
Matters remained in this impasse for another decade, until
a more serious attempt at reconciliation was made in the
Chapter General of 1430, which was attended by all the
friars, "Conventual as well as Observatine," in accordance
with the admonitory rescript of Martin V/ His Holiness
had already shown himself a warm supporter of the minority
in furtherinof the decree of the Council, and in orrantinof them
privileges to accept and build new houses independent of
Conventual control ; " so that their position in this Chapter
was no longer that of supplicants. The election of William
de Casale to the Generalship in place of Antonio de Massa,
who was hostile to the Observance, cleared the way for the
adoption of the Martinianae, which, for the moment, all were
prepared to accept as the standard of observance in a united
Order.^ The new Minister solemnly swore to observe and
administer this constitution ; the fraternity was formally
absolved from obedience to the Testament of St. Francis ;
the Observatines acquiesced in the abolition of their Provincial
Vicars ; and the pristine authority of the Minister General
was once more restored."^ But this apparently sincere resolve
to live frater7ialiter was of short duration. The Minister
was lukewarm in the observance of his oath ; while the
Conventual friar resumed his former manner of living, and
forced the Observatine to return to the shelter of apostolic
privilege. Under a series of Bulls the Observatine Vicars
were restored, with authority to hold Provincial Chapters;^ and,
in 1443, in accordance with the orders of Eugenius IV., the
Chapter General recognised the division of the Observatine
organisation into cismontane and ultramontane sections, under
the control of two Vicars General, Friars John of Capistrano

* Roinani potitificis, 29th April 1430.

- Promptum et bencvo/um, 17th September 1418 ; A. M., 1418, No. 41.
^ Vide changed attitude of the Observatines towards the use of Procurators
sanctioned by the Martinianae \ infra, p. 442.
^ A. M., X. 149, No. 5.
'•" //>!(/. X. \-jr)^ No. 5 ; 225, No. 6, 1 43 1 and 1434.

50 GENERAL HISTORY [chai'. ii.

and John de Maubert/ Three years later, Eugenius IV.
re-affirmed this disjunction, and granted the Vicars General the
powers of a Minister in regard to the convocation of chapters,
the enactment of constitutions, and unfettered control over the
houses and provinces under their charge.^ From this date
unity in the Order existed only in name. The Conventuals
retained the guardianship of the convent at Assisi ; while the
Portiuncula, Mount Alverno and the Holy Places at Jerusalem
were entrusted to the care of the Observatines.^ Under the
leadership and guidance of Bernardine of Siena, John of
Capistrano, James of Mark and Albert of Arthiano — quaintly
termed by the annalist the four pillars of the Observance* — the
process of supplanting and reforming the provinces continued
with amazing rapidity, accompanied, however, with that
bitterness of feeling so characteristic of sectarian intolerance.
In brief, there was a return to the golden age of Franciscanism
with its attendant revival and definite expression of lay
sympathies. As the visible type of subjective religion, the
Observatine pushed aside the Conventual friar, in the same
manner as the latter had previously impinged on the authority
of the secular priest; and finally, in 15 17, the Omnipotens
Deus^ regulated divergence and contention by the institution
of independent Ministers for each family, by the recognition
of the Observatine General as the head of the whole Order,
and by a provision that the Observatines should take pre-
cedence over the Conventuals in processions, funerals and
other solemn occasions.

So far as can be ascertained, neither the Scottish Vicariate
nor its friars took any share in this controversy ; and ir is
quite certain that the establishment of the strict Observance
in this country was due to external influences. Knowledge
of the movement reached the ears of our poet king,
James I., who, we may suppose, considered the question of
Conventual reform after his return from captivity. In view

» A. M., XI. 176, No. 4.

2 Ibid. XI. 256-258, Nos. 7, 8, 9. A special rescript was addressed to John de
Maubert on this occasion as to the good government of his Vicariate which had
been disturbed by secessions.

3 Ibid. X. 180 and 225, No. 8. * Ibid. XI. 387.
^ 1 2th June 1 5 17, infra., II. p. 435; and Licet alias, 6th December 15 17.

Interior of the Aracoeli, Rome — the Head-quarters of the
Observatines. Granted to them in 1443.

CHAP. II.] RISE OF THE OBSERVATINES 51

of the existing" racial antipathy which was acutely retiected
in the independence of the Scottish Vicariate, and of the
continental sympathies of the nation, it is only natural to
find that he invited a colony of continental Observatines to
settle in Scotland in 1436/ These pioneers in the restoration
of the "lapsed Observance," under the leadership of Father
Cornelius of Zierikzee in the Observatine Province of
Cologne, did not reach Scotland until the year 1447 ; and
this delay of eleven years between the invitation and the
arrival of the mission in this country has led Father Hay
into chronological inaccuracy, when he states that James I.
addressed his request to the Province of Cologne, and that
John de Maubert, who had been appointed the first Vicar
General by Eugenius IV. in 1446, sent certain learned
German fathers to Scotland.^ As James died in 1437, he
could have had no personal relations with the official Ob-
servatine Province of Cologne, which only came into existence
in 1443^; and we cannot accept the suggestion of Father
Conrad Eubel, that the Bull of Martin V. in 1429, conferring
power on a King James to erect two houses for the Claresses,
was granted at the request of James I. of Scotland.^ Two
of his daughters, Margaret, Dauphine of France, and Isabella.
Duchess of Brittany, were, however, members of the Third
Order of St. Francis, and several interestinij Franciscan relics
of these princesses are still preserved in France. An illumin-
ated copy of a paraphrase of the Book of Job by Pierre Nesson
has as a frontispiece a miniature of Margaret wearing the

^ Father Hay, TIic History of the Obsci'zuititie Province of Scotliuid \ printed
i7ifra^ II. pp. 173-83, and hereafter quoted as Ob. Chron.

- Ibid. Vide note 3, p. 53. The missionaries were with one exception Dutchmen,
and the use of the word German must be understood solely in relation to the name
of their Province — Coloj^nc. The orij^inal Conventual Province of (Germany was
subdivided in 1240 into the Upper (jcrman or Strasbury Province and the Lower
German or Cologne Province, consisting of seven custodies, and numbering fifty-
one friaries at the end of the fifteenth century. It included within its boundaries
practically the whole of the modern kingdoms of Holland and Belgium, and it was
in the Western Dutch section that the Observance was established in 1443.

^ I/iter ecclesiasticos, 13th September 1443 ; Schlager, Beitrdge., etc., pp. 286-7,

* Inter desiderabi/ia, 28th July 1429. 'I'he name of the kingdom is omitted from
the text of the Pull, but the iCditor of the JUdlariiiin Franciscaniiin has not
observed tliai the diocese of Crtj/r^//j/.y— in Sardinia — is designated as the locality in
which the two houses were to be erected.

52 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. ii.

Franciscan cord, and on this account it became known as
the Livj^e de Marguerite d'Escosse, she being erroneously-
considered as the author of the paraphrase/ Isabella
received as a marriage "ift from her husband, Duke
Francis I., a Book of Hours,^ profusely illustrated with
miniatures, in which she is frequently the central figure,
associated with St. Francis. In 1464, she ordered Friar
Jean Hubert to write for her a copy of a book known
as La Soinme des Vices et des Vertus^ and in the first
full-page miniature she is represented kneeling in an atti-
tude of prayer and wearing the white cordeliere over her
robe on which the arms of Brittany and Scotland are
impaled.* In later life, she elected to be buried in the
Grey Friary at Rennes, to which she made several be-
quests in her second will ; but in her third and last will
she revoked these bequests and her choice of sepulchre.^
It, therefore, seems unnecessary to doubt that James I.
sent this invitation to a colony of Observatines in France
or the Low Countries, and a glance at the history of the
movement there will dispel the apparent inconsistency in
the chronicler's narrative. The "cradle of the Observance
in Northern Europe" was the Friary of Mirabelle in
Picardy,*' whence it spread throughout the north of France,
gaining a special hold at St. Omer. From this centre, in
turn, the reformation of the Low Countries was effected in
the face of strenuous opposition from the Conventuals and

^ The book was sold in London in i860 and passed into the collection of
M. Hedou, a noted French bibliophile.

2 Written circa 144 1.

^ A popular work, originally written in the twelfth century.

* M. Henry Martin in Les Miniatinistcs Fraiicais (Paris, 1906) says of this
drawing : " Ce ne sont pas evidemment des chefs-d'oeuvre que les portraits qui se
voient dans la Somme le Roi, copiee, en 1464, par Jean Hubert pour Isabeau
d'Ecosse, duchesse de Bretagne. Au premier rang figure la duchesse Isabeau,
puis Marguerite de Bretagne, qui epousa Francois II., due de Bretagne, et Marie,
fille d'Isabeau et femme de Jean, Vicomte de Rohan. On ne saurait douter que
ces peintures aient ete executees en Bretagne. L'art breton du XV si^cle n'est
point joli, mais il offre un caractere d'energie, ou mieux de rudesse, qui en peut
rendre I'etude interessante." These two books are now preserved in the Biblio-
theque Nationale in Paris ; MS. fonds latin, 1369, MS. fonds francais, 958.

^ P^re Morice, Histoire de Breiag?ie, Documents, Vol. III.

« Labre, Ctj/Z^-^//^, XXVII. col. 798.

Photogravures of two Miniatures — the one of Isabella,
daughter of James I. of Scotland, and the other of
her husband, Duke Francis I. of Brittany — taken
from a Book of Hours which was presented to her by
the Duke on the occasion of her marriage, circa
1442.

From Original in Bibl. Nat., Paris.

CHAP. II.] RISE OF THE OBSERVATINES 53

the secular clergy. An abortive mission was sent to Gouda
in 1418, and was finally established there in 1439^ as the first
Observatine community in the province of Cologne." The
second friary was founded at Leyden in 1445, and was
quickly followed by those at Alkmaar, Antwerp, Mechlin
and Delft. The relationship between this rapid, though
tardy, expansion and the Generalship of John de Maubert
(dating from 1443^) is manifest, and documentary evidence
of his activity in the following year is furnished in the account
of his (ultramontane) general congregation held at St. Omer
for the appointment of Provincial Vicars throughout France,
Burgundy and Touraine.'* Considering the predominance of
the Friary at St. Omer, and the cordial relations subsisting
between France and Scotland prior to the death of James I.,
it seems highly probable that he addressed his request to this
house ; while the delay is easily explained by the uncertain
position of the Observatine friars before the disjunction of
1443. In 1447 the Dutch friars assembled in provincial
chapter at Gouda to elect their first Provincial, and Father
Schlag-er^ suo^orests that the mission to Scotland under Father
Cornelius was decided upon in this chapter at the request of the
Vicar General. It may be suggested with equal probability
that James II. repeated his father's invitation in 1447, and
that it was acceded to by John de Maubert in the chapter
which he held at the parent house of St. Omer in that year.*^

^ It is significant of contemporary opinion of the Conventual P'ranciscans that
the Town Council of Gouda should have exacted from the Observatines a promise
in writing that (i) they would acquire no property; (2) they would beg only once
a week in the same street ; (3) the number of friars resident in the convent would
not exceed twenty ; and (4) in the event of any deviation from the Rule, they
would voluntarily leave the city. Schlager, Beltriige., etc., p. 99.

2 Gonzaga, De Origine, p. 11 66.

' A. M., sub anno, No. 4 ; supra, pp. 50, 51. Father Hay seems to have been in
ignorance of this fact when he gives 1446 as the date of appointment. Friar Maubert
had administered his vicariate for three years under the mandate of the Chapter
General and Eugenius IV., before the papal rescript of 1446 was addressed to him
on the subject of his powers and the discipline to l^c observed in the houses under
his control.

* A. M., XI. 224, No. 58 ; anno 1444.

* Beitrdge, p. 102.

^ A.M., XI. 291, No. 18.

CHAPTER III
THE OBSERVATINE PROVINCE

Arrival of the Observatines in Edinburgh— Tlie scruples of Father Cornelius and
their historical significance — The Friaries in St. Andrews and Perth — The
Intclleximus /^—Recognition of the Scottish Observatine Province— The
Observatine and Conventual Friars— The Stirling Friary founded by James IV.
— Jedburgh.

The arrival of the Dutch Friars in Edinburgh was an
event of no ordinary importance in the annals of reformation
within the Scottish Church ; and it also made a strong appeal
to the contemporary conception of piety, in which outward
manifestation played so large a part. Like the first Fran-
ciscans, these Bernardine revivalists quickened the pulse of
religious life, now fast relapsing into the objective state from
which it had been rescued at the commencement of the
thirteenth century. During the inevitable reaction following
that phase of intense subjectivism, the average friar accepted
the successive modifications of his Rule sanctioned by the
Holy See, until, in the fifteenth century, Franciscan discipline
considered as a rule of life had been so far impinged upon
that material provision for future needs ceased to be an
infraction of the Rule.^ Nevertheless, organisation, which
mutilated the ideal from the corporate point of view,
must not be considered a loss to the individual. The
emancipation of the parishioner, and the recognition of
preaching as an essential part of divine service, were the
direct results of that lono- bitter strua-a-le between the
friars and the churchmen, from which the Franciscans
emerged the most highly centralised corporation within the

^ Speculum Perfectionis : '■'• Francisais nolebat Fr aires esse pfovidos ct sol licit os
de crastino." " Non fid latro de eleemosynis acqtiirendo eas vel utendo eis ultra
necessitatem. Semper minus accepi quam me contingeret ne alii paupc^rs
defraudentur portioiie, quia contrarium Jacerc furtum ^'j-j^Z" (II. cap. 12).

c«Ai'. III.] OBSERVATINE PROVINCE 55

Church. Their Charter of Liberties ^ all but secured
complete personal liberty to the layman in the exercise
of his religion ; it represented the victory of individualism
over officialdom ; and it remained the most conspicuous
landmark in the evolution of the democratic character so
pronounced in the organisation of the Reformed Church.
Thereunder, the devout observer of religious duties enjoyed
full liberty in the selection of the laver of his conscience, no
more than a conciliatory admonition ^ reminding him of the
canon of the Council (12 15) that homologated the formal
absolutism of the parish priest. Confident in the absolution
so granted by the friar priest, the parishioner could demand
the Sacraments, indifferent to the persuasion or threats of his
Rector. Attendance at a mass either in the parish or friary
church discharored his obligation on the Sabbath mornincr and
Feast days. On deathbed, the last offices of the Church were
received from his chosen celebrant, and the cemetery of the
friary or the parish was his last resting-place according to
a deliberate choice in life. His goods and gear alone
perpetuated the distinction between a voluntary and official
clergy. The latter retained the right to join him in wedlock,
to baptize his child, to claim his tithes and to deplete his
succession under the guise of mortuary dues. Such had been
the important role of the Conventual friar in the evolution of
religious observance ; and now, when personal asceticism had
largely receded from his daily life, his Observatine brother
was at hand to stir European piety to its depths.

In Scotland there was a salient compromise between
the old and the new Franciscans ; while the hierarchy
accurately gauged the sympathies of the people, and
welcomed the Observatines in the diocese or invited them
to settle there. At Edinburgh, James Douglas of Cassillis
directed the preparations of welcome. Under his guidance
funds were collected amonsf the citizens and merchants^ for
the erection and equipment of the first Observatine iriary

^ Super Catlicdrain, iSth Feliruaiy 1300 ; iiifni, II. p. 447.

- To make one confession in the year to the priest of his parisli.

^ Crown Charter of Confirmation and Mortification, 21st December 1479, MS.
Reg. Maj^. SiX'-., IX. No. 2 ; tn/m, pp. 61, 62, and II. p. 195. .1. .JA, XI\'. 5^,
'■'' comDiuni et viercatonnii <icn\"

56 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. iii.

under the shadow of the Castle rock. Their zeal was
born of tradition ; but it was misplaced. Whatever may
have been the character of the buildino"s and the extent of
ground attached, Father Cornelius rebuffed the proffered
welcome. Discipline was the predominant note in his
administration. The precept of St. Francis was clear : the
duty of the friars was to accept only some slight form
of shelter. " Those buildings," in the favourite descriptive
phrase of the chronicler,^ *' seemed not to be the dwellings of
poor men, but of the great." Entreaties were in vain. For
the next seven years the friary remained untenanted ; while
the friars occupied some friendly house as a simple habit-
aculum. The good offices of the Bishop of St. Andrews, as
diocesan Superior, were solicited in this impasse, and finally,
in 1455 or 1458,^ the reigning Pope calmed the scruples of
Cornelius by incorporating the friary into the patrimony of
St. Peter under his apostolic rescript," In this manner,
Cornelius accepted the central principle of the theory of
Franciscan poverty,* and entered into possession of the friary
as its first Warden, with the conscientious reservation that
it did not belong to the friars in property, and that they con-
formed to the character of "pilgrims and strangers" desider-
ated by the Rule. None the less, so long as he retained the
direction of the mission in his hands their numbers rapidly
increased ; and, before his return to Antwerp in 1462, the
presence of individual Observatines may be traced as far
north as Aberdeen.^ Meanwhile a second friary had been
established in the university town of St. Andrews, in or
about 1458, under the aegis of Bishop James Kennedy,*' who
is represented as acting under the influence of Friar Robert

^ Ob. Chron.Exivi, cap. X., " non videntur Jiabitaculapatiperum sed viagnatumr

^ The Chronicler says 1455 during the reign of Pius II., who, as yEneas Silvius,
acted as Legate in Scotland in the time of James I. This is a slight inaccuracy.
Alphonsus Borgia was elected Pope, under the name of Calixtus III., in April
1455 ; and yEneas Silvius was elected his successor, under the title of Pius II. in
August 1458. In 1455, however, ^neas Silvius was taking an active interest in
Franciscan affairs at Rome, and it was probably he who procured the issue of the
Letters of Incorporation by Calixtus III. A. M., XII. 239, 245, and XIII. 59.

^ Cf. St. Francis and Cardinal Ugolini at Bologna, Speculum Perfectionis,
cap. VI.

* Vide chapter XII. « Aberd. Ob. Cal., infra, p. 329.

^ Crown Charter of Confirmation, infra., p. 62.

CHAP. III.] OBSERV ATINE PROVINCE 57

Keith, a kinsman of the Earl Marischal and a Doctor
in Sacred Theology/ In clue course, the inlluence of
education invaded the detachment of the Observatines, to
operate the same radical change upon their organisation
that it had effected on that of the Conventuals during the
generalship of Elias of Cortona and Haymo of Faversham.
A provincial school of philosophy and theology was
established in the friary at Edinburgh, while the novices of
the Order were drafted to the Franciscan seminary at
St. Andrews for their preliminary course of study ; and,
ere long, the friars of the university towns appear to have
been recognised as the habitual confessors of the students,
under the sanction of the bishops.^ The foundation of the
third friary at Perth in 1460 is associated with the name
of Laurence, first Lord Oliphant, and drew attention to the
fact that the provisions of the Ciun ex co of Boniface VIII.
remained unfulfilled in this case as well as in that of
St. Andrews. That constitution prohibited the acceptance
of a friary by any community of the Mendicant Orders,
unless the sanction of the Holy See had been previously
granted in a formal instrument, afterwards known as the Bull
of Erection.^ The penalty was excommunication, occasionally
inflicted upon the offending Chapter.* A generous interpreta-
tion was, however, put upon this restriction, and no penalties
were exacted, provided that the grant of a friary was com-
municated to the Chancery at or shortly after the completion
of the buildings. The sanction of the bishop did not
supersede that of the Curia, and, consequently, an obscure
paragraph appears in the Annals under the year 1466,'' to
the effect that the friars of the Vicariate of Scotland were
absolved in respect of their acceptance of a friary in
" Bertheo " from Henry, Bishop of St Andrews, and their
occupation of it as a religious house for more than forty years
with the sanction of the Ordinary alone." Accordingly, to

1 Ob. Chron. - Ibid.

^ The Franciscans were exempted by papal privilege from requiring tlie
sanction of the episcopal or parocliial authorities to any of their settlements.

< /?. yl/. , X II . 606. ^ Ibid. XIII. 390.

•■' As Lanark received its Bull of Erection in 1346, this could not have been a
Franciscan friary ; and Wadding's conlinuator has increased the confusion by his

58 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. hi.

regularise the foundations at Perth and St. Andrews, Mary
of Gueldres petitioned Pius II. for general powers to accept
three or four houses on behalf of the Observatines, and her
request was granted in the IntellexiiniLS te addressed to the
Vicar General of the Ultramontane Province of Observatines
in the following terms : —

" It has come to our knowledge that, in accordance with the
devotion of our dearest daughter in Christ, Mary, iUustrious Queen of
Scotland, and of that people, at the request of certain merchants, you
have of late sent your brethren as preachers to that kingdom in
which there was no house of the Observance practised by your Order,
although it seemed most useful, pleasing and acceptable to the people.
We, who seek the welfare of all, do therefore by these presents grant you,
and your successor for the time, power to erect, found and build, and
likewise to receive three or four houses in the said kingdom, if any
chance to make a gracious offer to found and erect the same ; and
power also, with the consent of the Ordinaries, to receive two or three
houses of the Conventuals of your Order in those cases where the
better living part or the majority shall consent thereto. And, further,
by these presents we grant to the Friars, dwelling for the time
under the Observance in the said houses to be built and received,
the use and enjoyment of all and sundry the favours, privileges and
indulgences granted or to be granted to your Order or to your
division of it. Apostolic and other constitutions and decreets to the
contrary notwithstanding. Given at Rome, etc., 9th June 1463."

The utmost caution must be observed in regard to the
narrative clause of this Bull, when it attributes the
Observatine mission to Scotland to the devotion of Mary
of Gueldres, and affirms that no friary had been erected
before 1463. In point of fact, the precept of James II., and
the relative receipt for ^150 granted by the friars of
Edinburgh,^ conclusively disprove the latter statement, which
is simply expressed in the conventional style governing all
instruments issued by the papal Chancery in accordance with
the Ctim ex eor The Charter of Confirmation under the
Great Seal issued in 1479 also confirms the names of the
founders given by Father Hay ; so that, in view of this and

similar want of success in deciphering the place name — St. Berocheen. A. M.,
XIII. 380-1.

^ Jfifra, p. 2S4.

2 The friary is invariably referred to as " to be erected or received," e.g.
Lanark, Stirling, Jedburgh.

CHAP. III.] OBSERVATL\E rilOVINCE 59

the numerous other cases in which his narrative may be
controlled, it seems unnecessary to place any reliance upon
the preamble of the Intelleximtis te} In regard to the
authority to assume control over two or three Conventual
friaries, it is to be observed that none of these houses ever
passed under the control of the Observatines — perhaps a
tacit recognition that the discipline maintained in them
had oiven rise to no scandal such as is to be frequently
met with on the continent. On the contrary, the Ob-
servatines uniformly avoided the centres colonised by the
Conventuals, and the amicable relations between the two
branches of the Order were not disturbed until the beginning
of the sixteenth century, when the Conventuals made a
determined effort to assume control over the fully organised
Observatine province. This was the penultimate phase of
the controversy raging all over Europe. As the most potent
example to their flock, the strict Observatine clung to the
fetish of Franciscan abnegation, a certain talisman to heaven.^
The persistent and increasing popularity enjoyed by them on
account of their circumspect manner of living seriously pre-
judiced the Conventuals, who resorted to the obstructive tactics
pursued by their Chapter General in 1417.^ The old statutes
concerning uniformity in dress and observance of the Rule
were revived, in order to deprive the Observatines of their
distinctive characteristic, and it would appear that a certain
amount of success had attended this reactionary policy in
Scotland. James IV. thereupon intervened on behalf of his
favourite friars, and wrote a spirited letter in their defence,'*
which not only constitutes the most eloquent testimony to
their ecclesiastical character and influence furnished by our
native records, but also anticipated the decision of Leo X.
and his Council in 15 17, when the pretensions of the Con-
ventuals were Anally repelled.^ Following upon this decision,

^ James I\'., in liis letter to Julius II. on ist February 1505, obviously quotes
from this IJull, when he states that the Order was introduced into Scotland forty-
two years ago by his illustrious grandmother. I/ifra, p. 92, II. j). 277.

- Testament of St. Francis : Spec. J'erf., caps. 76, 79. •" Sii/>><i, [). 48.

* Ruddiman, J'-f>!s(olac, I. 23. James IV. to Julius II., ist February 1505.
hifni, i)p. 91-931 ■'• I»I'- 276-278.

5 Onmipolens Dciis, 12th June 1517 ; '"/>'<' "• !'• 435-

6o GENERAL HISTORY [chap. hi.

the Scottish Observatines contended that their rivals should
be compelled to wear the distinctive mark upon their habit
provided for in the Bull of Concordance. Immediate resist-
ance was offered to this privilege, with the result that the
offenders were summoned before the Bishop of Brechin, the
Observatines being represented by the Wardens of Edinburgh
and Elgin, ^ and the Conventuals by their Provincial and the
Warden of Dundee.^ Bishop John decided in favour of the
Observatines, and, in the last resort, the dispute was referred
to the Vice- Protector of the Order at Rome, where an amic-
able settlement was arrived at on conditions now unknown.^

Returning to the narrative interrupted in 1463, the
Observatine Chapter General sanctioned the erection of
the Scottish Province in 1467,* and its fourth friary was
established at Aberdeen in 1469-70 under the general
powers conferred in the Bull obtained by Mary of Gueldres.
From the record point of view, this is the most interesting
friary in Scotland ; and the comparative wealth of con-
temporary evidence concerning its erection and furnishings
cannot fail to draw attention to the sympathetic attitude
of our ancestors towards these friars. After the main-
tenance of an informal habitaculum for eight years, friar
and citizen alike assisted in the actual construction of the
more pretentious buildings outside the town, upon a site
gifted by a neighbouring landholder, and disburdened of
an annual rent of twenty-four shillings and eightpence by the
burghal authorities out of the common funds. Thereafter, it
was furnished with books, vestments, ornaments and sacred
vessels by the charities of the burgesses or their wives ;
and, when it was found to have been conceived on an
inadequate scale, extension was facilitated by grants of
ground from citizens whose lands abutted on it.^ Three
years later, we find the friars settled in Glasgow in reply to
the invitation of the Bishop;^ and it was probably from this
friary, or from that in Perth, that those of the brethren who

^ Erroneously stated to be Moray.

^ Andrew Cairns and Robert Stuart ; John Couvalson (Connelson) and John
Ferguson.

^ A. M., XVI. 549 (?/ se^. * Stipra^ p. i6.

^ Infra, pp. 311-14. '^ Charter of Confirmation, infra, p. 62.

CHAP. TTi.] OBSERVATINE PROVINCE 6i

possessed a knowledge of Gaelic drifted out into the wild
country surrounding Dunkeld to assist the clergy of Bishop
Brown in their work amonsf the Hiifhlanders. Alexander
Myll, the deacon of Angus, records this interesting sub-
division of ecclesiastical work in his account of the life
of Bishop Brown. The diocese was divided into four
deaconries, and special provision was made to ensure the
hearing of confession " by the greater and more learned of
his church." xA.long with these confessors, the Bishop sent
certain Friars Minor and Dominican Friars, who were
acquainted with the Gaelic language, to preach and hear
confession at least once a year in the more northerly parts
of the diocese. The worthy deacon gravely asserts that,
by the diligence of their preaching, the parochial and
diocesan clergy were enabled to hear the confession of, and
grant absolution for, sins which had not been confessed for
thirty years past ; while sins were so publicly punished
during the lifetime of Bishop Brown, that, when he died,
there were few who could be chars^ed with serious offences.^

In June 1479, the Chapters of the four principal towns
conformed to the requirements of the Scots Civil Law, by
presenting a joint petition for a charter of Confirmation under
the Great Seal that would legalise the several mortifications
of their heritable property. Their request was granted —
without payment of the customary fees — in the following-
terms by James III., who, in the words of his son James IV.,
"enriched them," while his wife "cherished them with all

care "

"James (the Third), by the grace of God, King of Scots, to all worchy
men of his whole land, clerics and laymen, greeting : Wit ye us, for the
singular favour and devotion which we bear towards our beloved and
devout orators, the Friars Minor of Observance, and for the weal of our
soul and the souls of our ancestors and successors, to have approved,
ratified, confirmed, and for us and our successors for ever to have
mortified, also to approve, ratify, mortify and, by these presents, for
ever confirm the sites of the I'lace belonging to the said friars within our
Burgh of Edinburgh, and the ground and lands lying and contained
within the said place, given and bought for them by the community
of the said burgh, James Douglas of Cassillis, or other devout persons

' Lives of the Bishops of Dunkeld^ p. 30. (Bann. Club.)

62 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. hi.

Avhomsoever ; A)id likewise the site of the Place pertaining to the said
Friars within the city of St. Andrews, and the ground and lands there
lying, given to them by the late Reverend Father in Christ, James,
Bishop of St. Andrews, with consent of the Chapter thereof; Afid also
the site of the Place pertaining to the said Friars within the city of
Glasgow by gift of the Reverend Father John, now Bishop of Glasgow,
with consent of his chapter, or by gift of Master Thomas Forsithe,
Rector of Glasgow; Also, the site of the Place belonging to the said
friars in our burgh of Aberdeen, and ground and lands contained within
the same, given to and bought for them by the community of the said
burgh of Aberdeen, and by the late Richard Vaus of Many, James
Bissate, or other devout persons whomsoever : To be holden, had and
possessed, the sites, grounds and lands of the said four Places of
Edinburgh, Saint Andrews, Glasgow and Aberdeen by the said Friars
Minor and their successors, according to the form and mode of their
Order, in pure and perpetual alms, gift, mortification and mortmain for
ever confirmed. And, moreover, we have in like manner confirmed and
mortified, and for us and our successors by the tenor hereof do confirm
and mortify all gifts, charters, evidents and instruments made and to be
made to our said Orators upon the said four Places, saving to us and our
successors the suffrages of their devout prayers only." ^

The friaries situated in the less important burghs of Perth,
Ayr and Elgin were not included in this mortification. The
two last mentioned were erected respectively in 1474 and
1479 by the merchants of the Ayrshire seaport and by Innes
of Innes, "moved to penitence and fervour by the preaching
of the friars resident in Aberdeen."^ As the continuinof
mandate expressed in the Bull of 1463 expired with the
erection of the fifth friary in Glasgow, another Bishop of
Dunkeld in 1481-82 procured the sanction of Sixtus IV. to
the acceptance of two or three other houses.^

In 1494, the Observatines earned the distinguished
recognition of James IV., their staunchest supporter and
benefactor aiiiong the Scottish sovereigns. He constituted

^ MS. Reg. Mag. S/g., IX. No. 2; ittfra, II. p. 195. Spottiswood erroneously
states that this Charter was dated from the Edinburgh friary and addressed to its friars.

^ Ob. Chron.

^ A. M., XIV. 280, 320. The continuator of the Annales Mino7-iiin has created
some confusion by inserting a second notice of this Bull in which he attributes
its procurement to James, Bishop of Dunblane. The latter See was occupied at
this date by John Hepburn (Keith, Russell's ed. pp. 90-91), and the text of the Bull
specifically states that it was granted on the petition of James, Bishop of Dunkeld.
Neither the Annalist nor his continuator disclose this Bull. The text is printed
infra, II. p. 250.

CHAP. ITT.] OBSERVATIXE PROVINCE 63

them the lavers of his conscience, styled himself the
" Protector of Observance," and, at his own expense,
proceeded with the erection of their eighth friary at Stirling.
Three years later he procured a special Bull of Erection from
Alexander VI. : —

"To our dearest son in Christ, James, illustrious King of Scots.

While, among other things, etc., there was recently presented to
us on your behalf a petition setting forth that you — stirred with devout
zeal, and desiring by a blessed commerce to exchange that which is
transitory for that which is eternal, and that which is temporal for that
which is of heaven, from the singular and devout affection which you
bear to the Order of Friars Minor called of Observance, living under
Vicars, and to their persons, and because of their exemplary life and the
abundant blessings which they bring to those among whom they dwell
by their unremitting and devout celebration of divine service, the
preaching of the word of God and their discreet hearing of confessions
— desire above all things, out of the wealth which God has bestowed
upon you, to have a house erected and built for the perpetual use and
occupation of the friars of this Order in the town of Stirling, lying in
your dominions and in the diocese of St. Andrews, if license be granted
to you by the Apostolic See to have that house built, and to the friars
to receive it for their use and occupation. Wherein humble supplication
has been made to us on your behalf, that We, of our apostolic kindness,
should deign to grant permission, and otherwise in the premises fitly
provide, for the construction and erection of the foresaid house, with a
church, belfry, bell, burial ground, cloister, refectory, dormitory, gardens,
plots, and, after its construction, for its acceptance by the friars for their
perpetual use and occupation as a dwelling place in all time coming.
Wherein, We, favourably inclined to your supplication, by our apostolic
authority and the tenor of these presents, grant permission to you,
without prejudice to any other, to provide for the foundation, construc-
tion and erection of the said house, with belfry, bell, burial ground,
cloister, refectory, dormitory, gardens, plots and other necessary offices,
for perpetual use and occupation by the foresaid friars in the said town,
and to the friars themselves to accept it for their perpetual use and
occupation as a dwelling place in all time to come: the decreets of
Pope Boniface VIII. of happy meniory and other apostolic decreets
whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding. Moreover, by the aforesaid
authority, we grant to the foresaid house, if in virtue of these presents
it shall happen to be constructed and built by you as aforesaid, and to the
Warden thereof for the time, and to the friars, freely and lawfully, to
have and enjoy all and sundry exemptions, indulgences of grace, favours
and indulgences granted or to be granted by the Apostolic See to the
other houses of this Order and their NVardens and friars. Therefore, let
no one, etc. Given at Rome at St. I'eters in the year of our Lord's

64 GENERAL HISTORY [chai'. hi.

Incarnation 1497, the 9th day of January and 6th year of our
pontificate." ^

Father Hay tells us that King James prohibited the
" masters of the work " from accepting assistance, even to
the extent of a nail, in the construction of the buildings ; and
the Chamberlain's and Treasurer's accounts afford ample
testimony to the truth of this assertion.^ The first Warden
was Patrick Ranny, afterwards Provincial Minister ; and it
was by his advice that the young king put an iron girdle
round his loins, in expiation of the share he had unwittingly
taken in the rebellion which terminated in the murder of his
father.^ The wearing of this penitential belt — which was
padded with worsted to prevent it chafing the skin^ — was
only one proof, says a recent historian, of a sorrow which
James could not drown in wine nor forget in the arms of
women ;'^ and it was doubtless the same sad circumstance that
led him to seek frequent spiritual consolation from the
Observatines of Stirling. During Holy Week, it was his
custom to withdraw from all state business and to remain
in this friary in strict seclusion. Hence, we find that on
ist April 15 13, the English Ambassador, Dr. West, was
denied an audience with the king until the Monday following
"as he was still with the Observatines." When the audience
was granted the friar hurried the sermon to permit the Dean
of the Chapel to keep his appointment with the ambassador,
prior to his fruitless interview with the Earl of Argyll, the
Secretary and Master James Henryson in the friary upon
the followinor afternoon.*^ To resume the narrative of the
chronicler, James heard Mass and Vespers daily in the friary
when at Stirling, and he also filled the office of reader on the
Day of Preparation, when it was the practice of the friars
to take their repast sitting on the floor. This marked
predilection for Stirling and its friary naturally displeased

ly^. Af., XV. 551, No. 45. ^ /;7/ra, pp. 368-70. ^ Ob. Chron.

* Cf. Treas. Accounts, p. 250, Sir J. Balfour Paul's remarks regarding the
entry of payment made in January 1506-7 for "VI quarters worsait for the
King's iron belt."

^ Lang's H/sf. of Scot., I. 375.

^ Henry VII T. Cal. State Papers, Foreign and Domestic, I. No. 3838. Quoted
uifra as Hem-y MIL S. /'.

CHAP. III.] OBSERVATINE TROVINCE 65

those of his courtiers who preferred the brighter surround-
ings of Edinburgh ; and their feehngs found expression in a
comic poem addressed to him by Wilham Dunbar, in the
form of a Dirge ^ which parodied that portion of the funeral
service in which the eighth verse of the fifth psalm, Dirigc,
Domimts mens, in conspectti ttio vitani ineavi, is so frequently-
repeated. The friary with its meagre fare and thin ale he
terms purgatory, and beseeches the King to leave it and
return to Edinburgh, the " mirry toun," the paradise by
comparison : —

" We that ar heir in hevins glory,
To zow that ar in purgatory
Commendis ws on our hairtly wyiss ;
I mene we folk in parradyis
In Edinburcht with all mirriness,
To zow of Striuilling in distress,
Quhair nowdir pleasance nor delyt is,
For pety thus ane Apostill wrytis.
O ! ze heremeitis and hankersaidilis,-
That takis your pennance at your tablis,
And eitis nocht meit restoratiue,
Nor drynkis no wyn confortatiue
Bot aill and that is thyn and small ;
With few coursis into zour hall.
But cumpany of lordis and knychtis,
Or ony vder gudly wichtis,
Solitar walkand zour allone,
Seing no thing bot stok and stone;
Out of zour panefull purgatory
To bring zow to the bliss of glory
Off Edinburgh the mirry toun
We sail begyn ane cairfull soun;
Ane dergy ^ devoit and meik,
The Lord of bliss doing beseik
Zow to delyuer out of zour noy*
And bring zow sone to Edinburgh ioy,
For to be mirry amang ws."

Then follows the dirge, in which he pictures the delights
of Edinbur^rh : —

"Ze may in hevin heir with ws dwell,
To eit swan, cran, pertrik, and plever,

^ Dunbar's Poems, cd. Scott. Text Soc, 1893, II. 112.

^ Anchorites. ^ Dirige, or dirge. ■* I'rcncli, cn/tit!.

66 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. hi.

And every fische that swymis in rever;
To drynk with ws the new fresche wyne
That grew upoun the rever of Ryne,
Ffresche fragrant clairettis out of France,
Of Angerss and Orhance,
With mony ane courss of grit dyntie ;
Say ze amen, for cheritie."

And he, therefore, beseeches him to —

"Cum hame and dwell no moir in Striuilling;
Frome hiddous hell cum hame and dwell,
Quhair fische to sell is non hot spirling ;
Cum hame and dwell no moir in StriuiUing."

Doubtless, as Professor Schipper remarks, "The Fran-
ciscan monks of Stirling received the poem with laughter
and loud applause, when the King communicated it to them
in the refectory."^ In early life Dunbar had been an
Observatine Grey Friar, and, it is believed, passed his
noviciate in the Friary at St. Andrews. All that is known
of him in this role has been preserved in one of his poems,
which has attained considerable notoriety as the model of
the Sojmiiimi of George Buchanan. The spirit and motive
of the two poems are, however, essentially different ; and,
as representing the opinion of two observers, have nothing
in common beyond a formal similarity, expressly adopted by
Buchanan to give his poem an ambiguous or contradictory
appearance. Dunbar thus describes his vision of St.
Francis after he had abandoned the habit of the Order,
and voices his plaint for the bestowal of a bishopric,
since he was no fit subject for Franciscan discipline,
and therefore was a hypocrite so long as he was subject
to it : —

"This nycht befoir the dawing cleir,
Me thocht Sanct Francis did to me appeir,
With ane religiouss abbeit in his hand,
And said, ' In thiss go cleith the my serwand ;
Reffuss the warld, for thow mon be a freir.'

^ Altenglische Meh-ik von Dr. J. Schipper.

CHAP. III.] OBSERVATINE PROVINCE 67

With him and wilh his abbeit bayth I skarrit,
Lyk to ane man that with a gaist vves marrit :
Me thocht on bed he layid it me abone,
Bet on the flure delyuerly and sone
I lap thairfra, and nevir wald cum nar it.

Quoth he, ' Quhy skarris thow with this holy weid ?
Cleith the thairin, for weir it thow most neid ;
Thow, that hes lang done Venus lawis teiche,
Sail now be freir, and in this abbeit preiche;
Delay it nocht, it mon be done but dreid.'

Quod I, 'Sanct Francis, loving be the till
And thankit mot thow be of thy gude will
To me, that of thy clayis ar so kynd ;
Bot thame to weir it nevir come in my mynd ;
Sweit Confessour, thow tak it nocht in ill.

In haly legendis haif I hard allevin,
Ma Sanctis of Bischoppis, nor freiris, be sic sevin;
Off full few freiris that hes bene Sanctis I reid;
Quhairfoir ga bring to me ane bischopis weid,
Gife evir thow wald my saule gaid vnto Hevin.

My brethir oft hes maid the supplicationis,
Be epistillis, sermonis, and relationis,
To tak the abyte, bot thow did postpone ;
But ony process, cum on thairfoir annone.
All circumstance put by and excusationis.

Gif evir my fortoun wes to be a freir,
The dait thairof is past full mony a zeir;
For into every lusty toun and place
Off all Yngland, frome Berwick to Kalice,
I haif in to thy habeit maid gud cheir.

In freiris weid full fairly haif I fleichit,
In it haif I in pulpet gon and preichit,
In Derntoun kirk, and eik in Canterberry ;
In it I i)ast at Dover our the ferry
Throw Piccardy, and thair the peple teichit.

Als lang as I did beir the freiris style.
In me, God wait, wes mony wrink and wyle
In me wes falset with every wicht to flatter,
Quhilk mycht be flemit with nc haly watter ;
I wes ay rcddy all men to begyle.'

68 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. hi.

This freir that did Sanct Francis thair appeir,
Ane fieind he wes in liknes of ane freir;
He waneist away with stynk and fyrie smowk ;
With him me thocht all the housend he towk,
And I awoik as wy that wes in weir."

In the " Fly ting," Kennedy makes fun of Dunbar's abortive
attempt to play the part of a Grey Friar —

"Fra Etrike Forest furthward in Drumfrese
Thou beggit with a pardoun in all kirkis,
Collapis, cruddis, mele, grotis, grisis and geis,
And ondit nycht quhyle stall thou staggis et stirkis."

He alleges that Dunbar, findings that the Scots orot
wearied with his begging, betook himself to France ; and,
being well acquainted with the worldly side of Dunbar's
nature, he concludes by characterising as dishonest all his
works when in the euise of a friar —

"Because that Scotland of thy begging irkis.
Thou scapis in France to be a knycht of the felde,
Thou hast thy clamschellis and thy burdoun kelde —
Wnhonest way is all, wolronn, that thou wirkts."

Dunbar acknowledged the relevancy of the charge in the
penultimate verse of his poem —

"Als lang as I did beir the freiris style
In me, God wait, wes mony wrink and wyle;
In me wes falset with every wicht to flatter,
Quhilk mycht be flemit with ne haly watter;
I wes ay reddy all men to begyle."

Some recent writers regard this poem of "St. Francis"
as a satire on the general body of the friars,^ and not, as it
really is, banter, devoid of malice. The lines —

"Off full few freiris that hes bene Sanctis, I reid;
Quhairfoir ga bring to me ane bischopis weid,
Gife evir thou wald my saule gaid vnto Hevin"

^ Prof. Hume Brown, George Buchanan, p. 90. The late JE. J. G. Mackay,
in the Introduction of The Poems of Dtmbar, Scott. Text Soc, pp. Ivi and
cxxix ; but at p. xxii the editor shows that he has fully understood the meaning of
the poem.

CHAP. III.] OBSERVATINE TROVINCE 69

simply mean that, although he had read of "full few" — a
good feiv ^ — friars who had become saints, he preferred for
himself the unattainable mitre. As a mere matter of history,
the friars were never in greater repute than during the reign
of James IV., and the remarkable declension in the morals
and spiritual life of the general body of the clergy, which
afforded such scope for the cynical pen of the Humanist and
warranted Sir David Lindsay's trenchant differentiation of
the friars from the churchmen, had not begun to appeal to
discerninsf observers when the first vision of St. Francis was
written.

Within a month or two after Flodden, and before the end
of 15 13, the last of the Scots Observatine Friaries was erected
in the charmingly situated burgh of Jedburgh ; and the papal
license for its erection was issued by Pope Adrian VI. on
31st January 1521-22 : —

" To our beloved sons, the Minister and Friars of the Order of Minors

of the regular Observance of the Province of Scotland, according

to the Rule of the said Order.

Whereas the community of the burgh of Jedburgh in the diocese of
Glasgow, and the inhabitants and dwellers of the surrounding country
in the kingdom of Scotland — because of their marked and devout
affection for the Order of Friars Minor of the regular Observance, for
the benefits which they hope will come to many souls as a result of
their exemplary life, and of the diligent performance of divine worship,
and in their anxiety to pass from dealings that are of this earth to the
happiness which is of heaven — ardently desire at their own expense, on
a fit and convenient site and under a name that shall seem good to you,
the Minister, to construct and build, or to provide for the construction
and erection of, a house in the foresaid burgh for the perpetual use of,
and to serve as a dwelling place for, those Friars of the Order of Minors
of the regular Observance, along with a church and dwarf steeple, etc.
Wherefore, we have been entreated out of our paternal benevolence and
apostolic kindness to give our assent to so worthy and religious a
request.

We, therefore, whose inmost desire is the increase of divine worship
everywhere and especially in our own time, being favourably inclined to
llic recjuest so made, by our apostolic authority and the tenor of these
presents, saving always entire the rights of the parish church and of all

' "On salt que le premier Ordre do Saiul Francois \i.e. Friars Minor] ( ominc
plus de cent quarante saints ou bienhcurcux dont on cclcbre la fete." 1*. Noibcrt,
Les Religieuses Franciscaines^ p. 10.

GENERAL HISTORY

[chap. III.

others whomsoever, grant you license and indulgence to erect, build
and construct, or to provide for the erection, building and construction
of a house on a suitable site and under a suitable name as above, along
with a church, steeple, etc., for the perpetual use of, and to serve as a
dwelling place for, the said Friars Minor of the regular Observance of
the Province of Scotland, and for its acceptance by you as a dwelling
place, and to the house after its erection, and to the friars dwelling
therein for the time, to freely and lawfully have and enjoy all and sundry
the privileges, favours, etc., which they can and may, all decreets, etc., to
the contrary notwithstanding. Granted at Rome at St. Peter's under the
seal of the Pope, the 31st day of January 1521, and 8th year of our
pontificate." ^

^ Jnfra, II. p. 262. The principal interest evoked by this foundation centres
round Sir Thomas Craig's statement that it was built out of funds stolen by the
Franciscans from the estates of those who fell at Flodden, and this will be fully
discussed in Chapter VI.

Obverse of medal of the Doge Nicolas Marcello, 1474, displaying
the monogram of Jesus, encircled with golden rays, devised by
St. Bernardine of Siena for the veneration of the people.

CHAPTER IV
GENERAL HISTORY, 1445-15 50

Mary of Gueldres, Henry VI. of England, and the Princess Cecilia — Entry of
Princess Margaret into Edinburgh — James IV. and the Observatines —
Minority of James V. — Friar Cairns as mediator between James V. and the
Earl of Angus — Friar Lang and the Earl of Glencairn's Rhyme — English
Franciscans seek refuge in Scotland — Sack of the Friary in Dundee — -The
Regent's abjuration in the Friary at Stirling — Destruction of the Friaries in
Roxburgh, Jedburgh, Haddington and Dundee by the English — Martyrdom
of the Warden of Dumfries — The English legacy of heresy.

In their accounts of the arrival of Mary of Gueldres in
Edinburgh, of the asylum afforded to the refugee Lancastrian,
Henry VI. of England, and of the betrothal by proxy of
the infant children of James III. and Edward IV., Scottish
writers have erroneoi'sly identified the Franciscans with these
events of general interest in the history of the latter part of the
fifteenth century. The confusion has presumably arisen out
of the perplexing variety of names under which the Mendicant
Orders, especially the Franciscans, appear in contemporary
narratives and records. In Scottish sources the Grey Friars
are to be met with as " the freirs," " the freirs cordeliers," " the
friars observant," "the friars minor," " minours," "the minor-
ites cordigeri" and "the society of pilgrims"; while, in common
with the Black Friars, one of their distinctive characteristics
was the marked ability which they displayed as preachers.
On the other hand, the list of designations under which the
Black Friars appear is much more restricted, the most
consistent beinir that of "the PreachinQ- Friars" — Fratrcs
Pracdicatores. On iSth June 1449, the fieet which escorted
Mary of Gueldres and her retinue of Burgundian and French
nobles to Scotland came to anchor in the l^rlh of I*"()rlh.
'rh(^ following day, the bride elect of James II. landed in
state ;lL Leith, and proceeded on horseback, seated behind
Lord Campverc, to her lodging, it is alleged, in the coiumt

;2 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. iv.

of the Grey Friars in Edinburgh, where she was visited by
her royal lover and his suite at midnight of the following day.
The Burgundian writer, De Coussy, the contemporary
authority of this incident, thus describes her movements —
"etapres, en partant de la, elle monta a cheval derriere le
susdit Seioneur de la Vere, comme firent aussi ses orens et
s'en alia a Aldembourg [Edinburgh], ou elle fut logee dans
I'eglise des Jacobins,"^ Pinkerton, and those who have
followed him, identify the "Church of the Jacobins" as that
of the Franciscans ; ^ but, as we have already seen, the
Observatines of Edinburgh did not take possession of their
friary until 1455, and it was the French Dominicans who
were known to de Coussy as Jacobins, on account of the
name of their principal convent in Paris, St. Jacques, situated
in the Rue St. Jacques.^ Twelve years later, after the defeat of
the Lancastrians at the battle of Towton, Henry VL, along
with his heroic wife, Margaret of Anjou, and their son, fled to
Scotland, " where they had hospitable reception in the convent
of the preaching friars."^ The historians of Edinburgh,^
relying upon the following passage from the Martial Achieve-
ments rather than upon the direct statement of John Major,
have adopted the view that the convent which sheltered
the royal fugitives was that of the Grey Friars — "these
transactions being completed, the indefatigable Queen
of England left the King, her husband, at his lodgings
in the Grey Friars of Edinburgh, where his own inclina-
tions to devotion and solitude made him choose to
reside, and went with her son to France."^ In this case,

^ Matthieu de Coussy, Chronique de 1444 a 1461, p. 47; ed. Pantheon
Litteraire.

2 Pinkerton, I. 208 ; Chalmers, Caledonia, IV. 599 ; Sir Daniel Wilson's
Memorials of Editibiirgh, ed. 1872, p. 342 ; Stevenson's Chronicle of Edinburgh, p.
38 ; Grant, Old and New Edinburgh, II. 55. Tyder, founding on the Auchinleck
Chrofiicle, says that Mary rode from the shore of Leith to the Palace of Holyrood,
IV. 57.

^ Addis, Catholic Dictionary, p. 508. After the expulsion of the Dominicans
from their priory during the French Revolution, the Jacobins also derived their
name from the fact that their headquarters were in this convent.

* John Major's History, p. 387 ; Scott. Hist. Soc.

^ Wilson's Memorials, p. 17 ; Grant's Old a7id New Edinburgh, II. 233-4.

^ Martial Achievenie?its of the Scots Nation, by Patrick Abercromby (171 1-15),
II. 386.

CHAP, IV.] 1445-1550 73

without considering the question of nomenclature and the
prohibition contained in the Franciscan statutes, there is a
strong" probabiHty that Henry preferred the hospitality of
the Black to that of the Grey Friars on the ground of
sentiment, as the English Franciscans had from the first
been supporters of the Yorkists. In 1402, Friar Roger
Frisby and at least eight other English Grey Friars were
hanged by Henry IV. for having spread the report that
Richard II. had not died at Pontefract, but was alive in
Scotland; and in 1460, in fear of massacre, the Franciscans
south of the Trent openly sided with the Yorkists.^ The
third instance of confusion between the two Orders occurs in
the narrative of the betrothal by proxy of the infant children
of James III. and Edward IV. in the lower hall of the
Preaching Friars in 1474 — ''acta erant haec in camera bassa
Fratriim Praedicatoriniiy^ The scene was a picturesque
one. After the preliminary declarations, the Earl of Craw-
ford, as procurator for King James, taking Lord Scrope
by the hand, plighted his faith that his dread Lord,
the King of Scotland, would bestow his son, Prince James,
in marriage upon the Princess Cecilia of England. The
promise of the Scottish Earl was followed by a corresponding
declaration by Lord Scrope. This ceremony is described
as having taken place in the Low Greyfriars Church at
Edinburgh,^ whereas, from its situation on the slope of the
hill, the Church of the Dominican Priory in Edinburgh was
divided into an upper and lower hall, and therefore corre-
sponded to the phraseology of the English account of the
proceedings.^ However, although it is impossible to accept
these accounts which connect the friars with the first betrothal
of James IV., the Fyancells of Margaret prove beyond
doubt that, when James did ultimately wed an English
princess, the friars played a part in the ceremony of
welcome which the citizens of Edinbur";h accorded to their
future Queen. On 27th June 1503, Henry VII. proceeded

' Cf. /)/. /\, II. xxxvii. ; Collect. Aiiglo-Mui., p. 185.

- Fd'dera, XI. 823. •' Tytlcr, History of Scotland, W . 207.

■• ll was also used as a loyal j^iicst-housc before the erection of Holy rood
Palace ; and the Estates of I'arliaiiicnl, the Provincial Councils of the Church

and the Court of Exchequer frequcnlly met within its walls.

74 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. tv.

from his manor of Richmond to Cohweston, whence "on the
eighth day of the monneth of July following he made the
Princess Margaret to be conveyed vary nobly out of his
realme, toward the right high and mighty and excellent
prince, Jamys, be the grace of God, King of Scotys, in
followinof the eood luffe, fraternall dillecion and intellifrence
of marriage betwixt him and the said Quene."^ On her
progress northward, the Princess and her numerous retinue,
under the charge of the Earl of Surrey, evoked much en-
thusiasm on the English as well as the Scottish side of the
Border. On the 3rd of August the cavalcade reached
Haddington, where she was lodged for the night at the
Nunnery, accommodation being found at the Grey Friary
for her retinue and their horses. Next, day the procession
" passed through the towne of Haddington, where sche was
sen of the People in grett Myrthe," and in the evening they
arrived at the Earl of Morton's Castle of Dalkeith. On the
7th, she made her formal entrance into the city riding behind
the King on a palfrey of honour. The principal highway
from the south at that time was known as the Loaninsf,
afterwards as the Grey Friars or Bristo Port ;^ and here, says
the English herald, " Ther war many honest People of the
Town and of the Countre aboute, honestly arrayed, all on
horsebak, and so by Ordre, the King and the Owene entred
within the said Towne. At the entrynge of that same cam
in Processyon the Grey Freres, with the Crosse and sum
Relicks, the which was presented by the Warden to the
Kynge for to kysse, bot he wold not before the Qwene ;
and he had hys Hed barre during the ceremonies." The
story of the " Fyancells " as narrated by the Herald is ex-
ceedingly quaint and interesting. Professionally a man of
pageantry, he revels in the minutest details of the various
ceremonies he witnessed, and has given us the most vivid
portraiture that real history has preserved of Edinburgh
and its citizens as they appeared four centuries ago.

^ The Fyancells of Margaret^ eldest daughter of King Henry VII. ^ to James,
King of Scotland. Written by John Younge, Somerset Herald. Leland's
Collectanea, IV. 258-300, ed. 1774.

^ Infra, p. 265.

CHAP. IV.] 1445-1550 75

During his short married hfe, James continued to show
the same marked preference for the Observatine members of
the Order which had characterised his early youth ; and,
as the "principal Protector of our sacred Observance,"
special services were annually celebrated by the friars of
Aberdeen on the anniversary of his death at Flodden.^
The message of sisterly sympathy conveyed to Margaret in
her bereavement by Queen Catharine of Aragon was
brought to Scotland by Friar Bonaventura, then Provincial
of the Enorlish Observatines" and confessor of the EnoHsh
Oueen, who was a member of the Third Order of St.
Francis,^

During the minority of James V., we find Wolsey
in correspondence with the recently founded Friary of
Jedburgh ;^ while another official paper of the period conveys
a hint that the Scottish Observatines sympathised with the
middle and lower classes In a transient phase of the national
humour, which, for the moment, was marked by a feeling
of irritation against the results of the old alliance with
France. Wolsey wrote to Dacre In June 1523^ that Henry
had heard from the " Freers Observant who have returned
in Scotland," as well as from others, of the feeling against
the French, owing to the damage done to the country
through the alliance, and the nonfulfilment of the great
promises made to them by Francis I. The letter does
not perhaps give an absolutely definite Indication In which
direction their sympathies lay ; but another letter, In the
following year,^ Indicates the ascendancy of anglophile
sympathies among the Friars of Jedburgh. While their
home lay In ruins after the merciless raid by Surrey, son

^ Abcrd. Ob. Cal. Similar services were doubtless celebrated at his favourite
friary in Stirling, if not also in all the other Observatine friaries.

2 Henry VIII. S. P., I. 4549.

* Davenport, Hist. Minor. Prov. An<^L, p. 41; Henry VIII. S. P., \'I.
54. In her will she expressed a desire to be buried in an Observatine
convent, and " that ornaments be made of my gowns for the convent
where I shall hv. biiricil." Her re(|uest was ignored. Ibid. X. Nos. 40 and
2S4.

' J/ejuy MIL S. /'., 111. 447.

'- Ibid. III. No. 31 14.

^ SirW. Ijulmcr to Wolsey, 24th May 1524 ; ibid. W . i. 3<')4.

^6 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. iv.

of the victor of Flodden/ the Warden received permission
from Sir W. Bulmer to preach at Norham;^ and when
there he suggested that Henry VIII. should write to
his nephew advising him to assume the government of
his kingdom. The mutilation of this letter unfortunately
deprives us of an interesting adminicle concerning the
religious sympathies of James V. during boyhood; but, in
conjunction with his early choice of an Observatine confessor
(1531) and his letter on their behalf as Protector of the
Order,'^ there is good reason to suppose that the Lords did not
favourably view their attendance on the boy-king. In 1524
they had, however, emerged from this eclipse, as the Friar
of Jedburgh, after cautioning the Englishman that neither
the Oueen Dowao^er nor the Duke of Albany must be made
privy to the project, offered to carry the letter to James
himself — "he hath specyall good favor to thaym."^ Seven
years later, English influence was exerted in Scotland
throuofh ambassador Maornus to effect a reconciliation
between James V. and the malcontent Earl of Angus.
Friar Cairns, Provincial of the Observatines, was chosen
as intermediary to present the Earl's letter to the King,
with its promise of service and Tantallon Castle, in return
for the restitution of his dignities and heritage. The
Franciscan secured a favourable answer from the King and
Council, and thereupon drew up a declaration of his agree-
ment with James, to which he appended the following
curious certificate — " Ffrer Andro Cairnis apprevis the word
on the tother syd in verbio regio, being the engagement
which James twichand his breist promist in verbio regio till
observe his said desiris." Extreme expedition was observed,

1 Diurnal of Occiirroits, 23rd September 1523, p. 8 ; Pinkerton, II. 219-221.
James V. contributed two sums of ^10 and ^^14 towards its "edificatioun and
reparatioun."

2 This abrogation of nationality among the Franciscans is by no means rare.
Dunbar says that he preached from Uerntoun Kirk to Cakiis. Scottish friars in
the sixteenth century appear to have habitually passed through England — finding
hospitable shelter in the English friaries — when proceeding to Rome or to the
Chapters General of the Order ; and, in the information laid against the Vicar of
Newark in 1534, it is alleged that a Scottish friar preached in his church and
condemned certain books as heretical. Henry VIII. S. P., VII. 261.

3 Infra, p. 93. * Henry VIII. S. P., IV. i. 364.

CHAP. IV.] 1445-1550 Tj

and two days later the Earl replied from Coldingham
repeating his intention to carry out his promise, but adding
the significant qualification that he would only speak for
himself. The negotiations thereupon passed out of the
hands of Friar Cairns, and after the failure of the projected
reconciliation, James V. informed his uncle that the Douglas
faction had refused to accept his conditions.^ Another of
the few ascertainable instances in which the Franciscans
exercised their influence upon public affairs occurred in
relation to the vexed question of precedence and superiority
between the Archbishops of St. Andrews and Glasgow.
James IV., " now being more fully instructed by his confessor,
a religious father of Observance," gave his support to the
Archbishop of St. Andrews, on whose behalf he wrote to
Pope Julius II. explaining that "he has not, and never had,
any desire to disturb or diminish the jurisdiction of the
Archbishop of St. Andrews, more especially when it is
under a weak and youthful Archbishop, the care of whom
belongs to the promoters." He, therefore, desired His
Holiness to respect his wishes therein, and to do nothing
to the injury of the Primacy of St. Andrews." One episode
of this dispute occurred in 1535 in the Franciscan church at
Dumfries, during a visitation by James Beaton, Archbishop
of St. Andrews. On this occasion the official of the diocese
of Glasgow appeared in the friary before a gathering of
notabilities, and formally protested against the raising of the
archiepiscopal cross within the town of Dumfries as a contra-
vention of the privileges of the metropolitan church of
Glasgow.^ Father Hay, who refers to the role of the friars
as intermediaries, doubtless knew of many other cases.*

A singular entry in the prosaic records of the Lord
Treasurer illustrates the privilege enjoyed by a confessor
when Scotland was still a daughter of Rome ; and it is
one of the few recorded instances which can be put
forward in reply to the allegations of the reformers that

» Henry VIII. S. P., IV. Nos. 5086, 5289 ; Pinkcrton, II. App. 483-4.

* Ruddiman, Epistolae^ I. loo-i.

' Re^^. Episc. Ghisguen, I. 550-51 (Maitland Club).

* ok C/iron,

yZ GENERAL HISTORY [chap. iv.

the Franciscans made free use of the penitent's secret to
enrich themselves, without mentioning other motives more
vile. In this instance, an Observatine of Edinburgh learned
from the penitent thief that 63 ounces of the King's
silver plate had been stolen and "placed in wed" for the
sum of ^20. The information was then communicated to
the officials of the Court, and in due course the said sum
was handed over to the friars as intermediaries in the
restitution, the name of neither thief nor resetter being
divulged — "Item delivirit to the Gray Freris for 63 unce
siluer stollin fra the King and revelit to thaim in confes-
sioune, be the Kingis precept, to the men that had the siluer
werk in wed ^20."^ In 1531, the Treasurers Accotmts
furnish conclusive evidence of the fact that James V. had
followed his father's example in selecting his confessor from
among the Observatines of Stirling,^ and that he contributed
to the worthy friar's violation of the Rule by paying for the
hire of his horse when he summoned him from Stirling to
St. Andrews to hear his confession at the Pardon. Shortly
afterwards James appears to have confessed to another
Observatine, Walter Lang of St. Andrews, concerning whom
the young Earl of Glencairn wrote a Rhyme.^ In it, Friar
Walter is represented as a worker of fictitious miracles,
and as the assistant of the Hermit of Loretto in his project
of building another church in Argyle out of the offertories
wheedled from the ignorant folk who had been deceived
by his miracles. Friar Lang's pretended control over the
supernatural had not, however, met with universal accept-
ance. On one occasion the "lymmars betuix Kirkcaldie and
Kingorne" had sorely nonplussed the friar with their derision,
and at this point the first defence of George Buchanan before
the Portuguese Inquisition enables us to appreciate his
discomfiture.* In course of one of the many disputations

1 Treasurer's Accounts^ 1522-27, p. 315. ^ Ibid. 24th September 1531.

3 Knox, Works, I. 74-75-

* In the printed text of the Defetice (p. 26) he appears as Gulielmus Langhis,
and this variation increases the existing confusion in regard to the Christian name.
Foxe {infra., p. loi) attributes the martyrdom of Henry Forrest to Friar Waher
Laing ; Dr. Laing suggests that WaUer is a mistake for WiUiam, and therefore
identifies Friar Waher Lang with Schir Wilham Layng who was King's chaplain

CHAP. IV.] 1445-1550 79

concerning the existence of Purgatory, the Franciscan had
undertaken to prove its existence, and in satisfaction produced
a man who asserted that a departed soul had appeared to
him and affirmed its existence. The fraud excited ofreat
comment, and Lang's reputation suffered so severely from
the exposure that he was no longer privileged to hear his
sovereign's confession :

"And to his fame made sic degressioun
Sensyne he hard not the Kinges confessioun."

The succeeding lines of the Rhyme convey the hint that
the Order bore him no goodwill for the ridicule that he had
thus incurred :

"Thoicht at that tyme he came na speid
I pray you tak guid will as deid ;
And him amongst yourselves receave
As ane worth mony of the leave." ^

In this decade the ranks of the Scottish Franciscans were
materially strengthened by the arrival of several companies
of Enoflish friars, who souoht refuore across the Border
immediately after the suppression of the English friaries.^
Their numbers were increased during the next few years, and
as late as 1541 three English Observatines — "Englishmen
rebels reset within Scotland " ^ — were the subject of the
rancorous correspondence between James V. and his uncle
which terminated in the English defeat at Haddonrig and the
ravaging of Teviotside by the Duke of Norfolk, when the
Friary at Jedburgh was destroyed on 27th October of the

and Maister Elymosinar 1539-1541. This appears somewhat arbitrary, as those
were most unlikely posts for a Franciscan to hold. At Stirling, the King's con-
fessor and chaplain were distinct persons {Hcit?y VIII. S. P., I. i. 520) ;
so that there is no reason for supposing that the Friar Lang who appears in
Glencairn's Rhyme, Foxe's narrative, and Buchanan's Defence was not one and
the same person.

^ There is at first sight a doubtful resemblance between this refined irony and
the direct attack which Knox delivers against the abuse of miracles and of Letters
of Cursing (L 37-39) ; but the confirmation of the currency of this story disclosed
by the Defence, written eleven years after Ikichanan icfl Scotland, seems to place
its authenticity beyond doubt.

^ Henry VIII. S. /*., VIL No. 1607. Eighteen English Grey Friars arrived in
Scotland in 1534.

3 Ibid. XV. 96.

8o GENERAL HISTORY [chap. iv.

same year. The Scots Friars nevertheless continued to pass
through England on their way to the continent under the
protection of safe-conducts from Henry VI 1 1./ and in 1541
we find that the Scottish Provincial, Ludovic Williamson, and
four other Observatines followed this route when proceeding
to their Chapter General at Mantua. On the return journey
two of their number were arrested at Newcastle, and the
Privy Council was induced to intervene with an order
to the Mayor to release "two Scottish Observant Friars
and to restore their papers, which friars were restrained in
their return from Mantua because the King of Scots' letters
recommendatory were found upon them undelivered."^

The death of James V. and the appointment of the Earl
of Arran to the Regency were followed by the ascendancy of
the anglophile faction and the arrest of Cardinal Beaton.
The statute anent the possession of heretical and forbidden
books fell into disuse ; Lutheranism was openly professed ;
and the English Bible was read in sympathy with the adoption
of the new faith by the Governor. At this crisis in the
Church, the Observatines took an active part in its defence.
In Ayr, when the pursuivant arrived with the letters of the
Council authorising the private reading of the Scriptures in
English — "secluding nevertheless all reasonyng, conference
and convocation of people to heare the scriptures read or
expounded " — a Franciscan appears to have preached an
inflammatory sermon against this innovation after the pro-
clamation of the letters at the Market Cross. An open riot
followed, and the magistrates, in the interests of peace,
lodged the outspoken friar in the Tolbooth. An unsuccessful
attempt to effect his liberation was then made by his
supporters under the leadership of the young Master of
Montgomery, eldest son of the Earl of Eglinton ; and, when
calm had been restored, the councillors regaled the town's
friends with twenty-four shillings' worth of wine in recognition
of their assistance in the worsting of the gaol-breakers.^ In

1 Henry VIII. S. P., XVI. 370, James V. to Henry VIII., 30th December 1540.
^ Ibid.XYl. 1 168.

^ MS. Burgh Records of Ayr, Dean of Guild's Account, December 1542.
The pursuivant received 2s.

CHAP. IV.] 1445-1550 8i

Edinburgh, the Observatlnes adopted the somewhat hardy
tactics of attacking in their sermons the apostate Dominican
Friars, WilHams and Rough, then in the retinue of the
Governor and described by Knox as "vehement against all
impiety " ; but the Franciscans had correctly gauged the
sympathies of the townsmen, as distinct from the followers
and troops attached to the Court. "The Toune of Edinburgh,
drouned in superstitioun," ^ stoutly defended her friars, and was
greatly offended with ambassador Sadler, whom the burghers
accused of inciting the infantry captains to join with the
Governor's retinue in the projected sack of the Black Friary,
on the day of his sudden departure from the capital.^ On
4th September, the town bell gave warning of the danger,
and men and women hastened to the defence in such a state
of fury as the English agent had never seen.^ Dundee, on
the other hand, nourished less kindly feelings towards the
friars. Reformation had been more deeply planted in her
midst ; and, on 31st August, with the sanction and connivance
of the Governor, the citizens, under the leadership of one
Henry Durham, proceeded to sack both the Grey and the
Black Friaries — "forcing the gates, expelling the friars,
breaking and destroying the ornaments, vestments, images
and candlesticks ; carrvino- off the silverinsf of the altars and
stealing the bed-clothes, cowls, victuals, meal, malt, flesh, fish,
coals, napery, pewter plates, tin stoups etc., which were in
keeping in the said places."^ Retribution for this cleansing
of the town was soon exacted from "seven or ei^ht of its
honestest men," who were imprisoned on 21st November by
orders of the Governor,^ during one of the periodic changes
in his political and religious sympathies. Cardinal Beaton had
suddenly regained his liberty, and the premature regime of
religious toleration was brought to an abrupt close by his
reconciliation with the Earl of Arran within a week of the
sack of the friaries in Dundee. The Governor's abjuration
of the new faith appeared complete. Having admitted

^ Knox, I. 97. 2 Hatry VIII. S. P., XVI 1 1, ii. 133. ^ /^,/^/. x\'l 1 1, ii. 1 2S.

* Indictment, ad lo?i<^iim, Maxwell, Old Dimdce, 393-395.

^ Henry VIII. S. /-•., XVIII. ii. 425. Neither the local nor the central records
afTord any ckic as to the assistance j^iven towards the restoration of tlic Crey
Friary, which was a^ain destroyed during the campaign of 1548.
6

82 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. iv.

that the rioters had acted with his knowledge and
consent, he "was accursed by all present," and adjudged
to do public penance in the convent of the Grey Friars
at Stirling for this sacrilege. On the following day the
whole court assembled to witness the vice-regal penitent's
oath — " That he shoulde never doo the same againe,
but support and defende the professon and habit of
mounks and freres and such other " ^ — which preceded his
absolution by the Cardinal in person. Thereafter mass was
celebrated, and the sacrament administered by the friar priest ;
and in the afternoon the political aspect of the submission was
completed by a voluntary undertaking never to do anything
without the advice and consent of the ecclesiastical prince who
had thus humbled James Hamilton, next heir to the Scottish
throne.^ Before a year had passed, the Stirling Friary was
again the scene of an interesting, if somewhat obscure, episode
in history. The Queen Dowager's faction, considering the
moment propitious for her usurpation of the Regency, met in
the friary on 3rd June 1544 under the pretentious title of a
"Convention of prelates, earls, lords, barons and other
nobles," and addressed a summons to the Governor to appear
before them upon the loth, that he might accept their
ordinance and articles and concur with the Oueen in the
government. In pursuance of this formality the Guisans
again assembled in the friary at ten o'clock on the appointed
day, and, after awaiting the Governor's presence or answer
until midday, solemnly suspended him from office and
installed the Queen Mother in his place.^ The sequel of this
false move, the rehabilitation of the Dowager in the eyes of
the Scots, her quarrel with her family, and the personal
privations she voluntarily endured in the maintenance of

^ On lotli September 1543, he granted Letters of Protection to "the Friars
Preachers, Provincial, Priors and all and sundry their brethren and sisters of their
Order within the realm of Scotland" (JIS. Reg^. Pj-ivy Seal). The Black Friars of
Elgin produced their copy of the Letter in the Burgh Court, and it was registered
in the Books of Court {Hutton MSS.).

2 Hamiltoii Papers, IL 38 ; He?i7y VIII. S. P., XVIIL ii. 181, 299. It seems
reasonable to suppose that the sudden appearance in the Exchequer Records of an
annual donation to the Observatine Friaries, under the designation of the
" Governor's Alms," was connected with this incident.

3 Henry VIII. S. P., XIX. 664.

CHAP. IV.] 1445-1550 gj

French supremacy in her brothers' interests, have only an
indirect bearing upon Franciscan history. During the pro-
tracted duel between France and England, in which the
domination of Scottish politics was the prize, the Grey Friaries
suffered severely at the hands of the English. The Treaty
of Edinburgh, which followed the repudiation of the English
marriage by the Scots Parliament in December 1543, afforded
much satisfaction to Francis I. of France, who considered it
"the evident fruit of the expenditure of (his) 41,700 livres, no
mean result, considering the said kingdom remains entirely
outwith the will of the King of England, under which it was
to fall":^ to Henry VIII. it shewed that a more vigorous
wooing was necessary to achieve his object. Hertford left
Edinburgh "holly brent and desolate"" in May 1544, and on
the return march an eye-witness wrote " we burnt a fine town
of the Earl of Bothwell called Haddington with a ereat
nunnery and a house of friars." ^ In pursuance of the general
plan of campaign, approved of by the English Privy Council,
Lord Wharton ravaged Teviotdale, after the return of
Hertford. Jedburgh was surprised, pillaged, and burned in
June 1544, the Observatine Friary sharing in the general
ruin ;^ and, although it could only have been in a partial state
of repair in the following year, it again appears along with the
Roxburgh Friary^ among the places destroyed in the Merse
and Teviotdale by Hertford when engaged in avenging the
defeat and slaughter of Eure at the battle of Ancrum Moor in
the month of February preceding."

During the military operations which terminated in the
Treaty of Boulogne, the Franciscan houses also suffered
severely. In his account of the siege of Haddington, Knox
relates with naive exaQ^sferation the erratic course of an
English shot which "redounded fra the wall of the Freir
Kirk to the wall of Sanct Katherine's Chapell which stood
direct foir anent it, and fra the wall of the said Chapell to the
said Kirk wall agane so oft that thare fell mo than ane

^ Bibl. Nat., Taris, ilfS. Fonds /rangm's, 17890, f. 28.

2 Hiunilton Papers, II. 369. ^ Heiity VIII. S. /'., 15111 May, XIX. i. 533.

* Ibid. XIX. i. 762. '^ Described as the " Ficcis near Kelso."

" Haines State Papers, I- 53-

84 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. iv.

hundredth of the French att those two schottis only."^ The
destruction of the burghal tenements during this siege also
caused a serious loss to the Haddington Friars, who depended
for their fixed sources of revenue upon the annual interest
payable under bonds of ground rent secured over several of
them. The yearly payments ceased or fell into arrears, and
ere long the Friary Chapter was forced to resort to litigation
and the tedious process of diligence then in vogue.^ The
Friary at Dundee was again destroyed by fire in 1548, and at
Roxburgh more ambitious plans were put into execution to
facilitate the English occupation. A fort was erected upon
the commanding and defensive site formerly occupied by the
Castle, the ruined friary lying on the east side beyond the
walls of the burgh. In November the English captain. Sir
Ralph Bulmer, roofed in a portion of the friary to serve as
stabling for twenty horses — " I have brought timber from
Kelso whitche hath made a rufTe at the Freraige, whereby
thre fayr vautes are saved whitche will serve for 20 horses "
— and for their protection he built a guard house at the
friary gate, "which is better than sitting idle."^ Perhaps
the most interesting incident of the war, from the Franciscan
point of view, was the execution of the Warden of the Grey
Friars and other hostages for the town of Dumfries, by order
of Lord Wharton, "for example sake and for their untruth
and perjury against the most godly marriage between His
Majesty our Sovereign Lord of England and the Queen's
Grace of Scotland." The degree of this perjury however
becomes somewhat attenuated when the nature of the oath
is considered. Shortly after the Provost and townsmen
had given their oaths, the Warden was ordered to meet
Wharton at Carlisle, under threat of confiscation of the
friary. Attended by two of his friars he obeyed this
summons on the 22nd of October 1547 and "openly re-
ceived the oath to serve the King, affirming that they had
renounced the Bishop of Rome before they took the oath."

^ Worlds, I. 223 ; Ca/. Scot. Papers., I. pp. 123, 257.

2 MS. Burgh Records, infra, p. 186, II. pp. 80 et seq.

3 Cal Scot. Papers, I. No. 98. In 1550, after the cessation of the war, the Privy
Council ordered the fort to be " cassin down for sic motivis as the said Maister
of Erskin can schaw." Reg. P. C, I. 90.

CHAP. IV,]

1445-1550

On 1 2th November following, the remainder ot the towns-
men and the friars subscribed the oath at Dumfries Tol-
booth — "the obedience of friar, priest and all was no
little comfort to the Englishman to see ; the friars are
content to leave their habit and wear secular priests' gowns
and will do anything I command them ; they make suit for
help not having wherewith to live except the demesne of their
house which will find but for three and there are seven of
them." The English Council thereupon instructed Wharton
to cherish the friars who had taken the oath and relin-
quished the Bishop of Rome, and to bid them preach in
secular weeds against the abuses which had crept in
amonofst them ; but Durrisdeer and the backslidino- of the
assured Scots dispelled all hope of winning the western
marches to the side of England; and, as a matter of re-
prisal, the English Warden proceeded with the judicial
murder of his hostages, including the unfortunate Franciscan,
in a field near Carlisle.^ Meanwhile, domestic dissensions
were paralysing English foreign policy, and the savage
campaigns devised by Henry VIII. to knit the two countries
together drew to a close, leaving behind them to the
Scottish hierarchy a legacy of heresy that was to produce
the final victory of the " Inglish menes opynyons."

^ 17th March 1548. Elizabeth Cal. S. P., 1601-03, Add. 1547-65, pp. ■^2)Zi 336,
337, 339-341, 346, 372-375. The executions were carried out under the personal
supervision of Lord Wharton's son.

The Grey Friars, in imitation of the Apostles,
receiving the crown of the elect.
/.;/// Cenf. MS.

CHAPTER V

THE FRIARS AND THE REFORMATION
THEIR APOLOGISTS

Contemporary standard by which the Friars are to be judged — Their pastoral
role in the Scottish Church — Contemporary writings which differentiate the
Friars, as Preachers and Confessors, from the Churchmen — The Franciscans
as Inquisitors — Apostasy prompted by religious conviction.

The leading question in Franciscan history in Scotland
at this period is the connection of the friars with the
Reformation. Record evidence becomes more abundant,
and the student is at once drawn into the vortex of con-
troversy in every line of investigation. On the one hand, is
a tradition wholly inimical to the friar ; on the other, Is a
mass of unimpeachable evidence contradicting in almost
every point the statements of the post-Reformation writers
who disparaged or vilified him. In brief, we are concerned with
the apposition of the defamatory and the apologetic evidence
now extant, with the purpose of reconstructing the outlines
of friary life and defining the degree of credence to be
attached to the accusations of luxury, hypocrisy, immorality
and malversation, put forward by George Buchanan, John
Knox and Sir Thomas Craig. Simultaneously, the Rule
and evolution of Franclscanism claim attention In their
historical aspect, because it is Franciscan discipline alone
which sets out in clear relief the dual standard by which the
friar must be judged. He was a churchman and a friar.
There is, therefore, a comparative and an absolute standard
to which he must conform. He stood in relation to two
distinct Ideals ; and so the unfriendly critic Is wont to portray
him either as a decadent churchman, by which is meant a
man of profligate life unmindful of his pastoral charge, or as
a decadent Franciscan, that is, a churchman of greater or

CHAP, v.] THE FRIARS AND THE REFORMATION ^7

less perfection as a pastor, who has abandoned the extreme
asceticism and abnegation of self desiderated by the founder
of his Order.

In the comparative sense, a radical distinction Is readily
established between the clergy and the friar, and the satirist
is at once deprived of his subtle, but unhlstorical, identification
of these two classes, as a legitimate weapon of attack upon
the friar. When so dissociated, we are able to appreciate
the repute which the friar enjoyed in the parish or diocese,
the voluntary character of his work, and his fidelity to Roman
Catholicism In the supreme crisis of its history. Incidental
to this differentiation, subsidiary, but no less real, dis-
tinctions are revealed, firstly between the Franciscans and
the other Mendicant Orders, and secondly between the Con-
ventual and Observatine Friars, considered as communities
whose rules of life had one common orio-In. In the absolute
sense, we are concerned with the Franciscans only as followers
of St, Francis ; and the central problem is that of rational
modification of the Rule, which becomes an ethical question
in the last resort on account of the apparently dual authority
created for the Franciscan conscience by the Testament of St.
Francis. That is. If obedience to the Testament were implied
in the tripartite vow taken by the entrant, was he, though
of the Roman Church, bound to disregard the dispensative
authority of the Holy See amid the galaxy of moral problems
that were called into being by the idealism of his Rule ?
Critics are not wantinfj who have decided that Franciscanism
was degraded by papal interpretation ; although they offer
no solution of the moral and practical questions which deter-
mined resort to the Holy See. The decadence of the average
friar is gauged in cryptic sentences that establish an abrupt
antithesis between hini and his prototype of the golden age ;
but this, again, is criticism which takes no account of the
fundamental infiuences under which Franciscan discipline,
distinct from Franciscanism considered as a form of practical
Christianity, was modified by the ruthless hand of com-
promise.^ If every cavil be justified by the standard of the

^ Apostolic support of the I'lanciscans against the clergy who sought to
exclude tlicni from the Church, the llicory of poverty, ami the use uf procuialors,

SS GENERAL HISTORY [chap. v.

heroic age, the greatest luminaries of the Order appear as
Franciscan heretics of the darkest hue. The Spiritual who
clune to the letter of the Testament found the anti-Christ in
the head of the Church, which St. Francis had ordered him
to serve; or, as John XXII. succinctly defined the friar's
duty to the Church, — magna quidem pattpertas sed maior
integritas bonum est, obedientia maximum si custodiatur
illaesa} Cardinal Bonaventura abrogated his master's
express command to yield perfect submission to the church-
men, when, as Minister General, he ordered the friars to
preach and hear confession by apostolic authority in those
cases where the Bishop or Rector placed his veto on their
celebration of divine service. Roger Bacon, as we have seen,
glorified the past to the detriment of the present ; and he
violated the cherished ideal of spontaneity both in the com-
pletion of his great work and in his longing for educational
endowments.^ How un-Franciscan these sentiments appear
in comparison with the humility of St. Francis towards the
churchmen, or with the spiritual chivalry of Friar Leo.
Yet, they reveal the shackles of a de facto poverty that
fettered this intellectual giant of the past. In historical
retrospect, they merely re-formulated the theories introduced
by the doughty Hay mo of Faversham, who was at once an
ideal Franciscan because he scourged the body to an untimely
end, and a mutilator of Franciscanism because he sundered
the brotherhood in twain and encouraged the brethren to
acquire extensive glebes.^ The devout John of Parma
acquiesced in the Franciscan theory of poverty which has
been contemptuously dismissed as the "transparent device
of agents" ;^ and Friar Berthold's adoration of contemplative
Christianity is definitely revealed in his sermons.^ Each of
these five treasons were absolute, but they represented

as the principal phases of modification, can be traced directly to the life of
St. Francis himself.

^ Quoriiiidani exisit.

^ Supra, p. 41.

3 M. F., I. 34-5.

■* Dr. Lea, The hiquisition. III. i. The distinctly unfair statement which this
writer makes concerning the condemnation of this theory by John XXII. is
discussed at p. 445.

* Supra, p. 41.

CHAP, v.] THE FlUARS AND THE REFORMATION 89

distinct and inevitable phases of modification/ because the
agenda of the Rule were fettered by the cavenda through
improvident limitation of the future in a code that could be
no more than an aspiration. When warning and precept
were brought into harmony in a rational rule of life, the
"absolute standard," present in the mind of the novice who
took the tripartite vow, was a well-defined duty to avoid
personal and to discourage corporate wealth, to observe his
vow of chastity, to obey his Superior, to tend the sick and the
poor, and to supplement the purely evangelical work of the
Church as a voluntary auxiliary.

By the adoption of this comparative and absolute
standard, the friar is not violently removed from his immediate
environment, and historical justice is ensured to him in a
study of the Scottish Reformation in so far as it concerns
his history. Prior to that perplexing change in the social
and religious life of our ancestors, there was much in the
ecclesiastical regime that was not commendable to serious
men and women of the time ; and Scotland was no exception
to the fact that a silent process of disintegration of the
established order was going on within her boundaries.
Every Christian country in Europe passed through an
analogous phase ; and that torrent of destructive criticism,
directed against the greatest human organisation that the
world has ever seen, was confined to no one country in
particular. In Scotland, the material for criticism was ready
to hand in the widespread ecclesiastical greed of revenues,
in the general laxity manifest in the private lives of the
churchmen, their failure to keep themselves abreast of the
scholarship of their day, and a general disregard of the
performance of the duties incumbent on them as pastors.
The Church was not however moribund, althouoh its salaried
officials grudgingly dispensed crumbs of religion in an
unknown tongue. In the offertories, tithes and mortuary
dues, wrung from rich and poor alike in a manner but little

^ Papal interpretation of the Rule in relation to the authority of the Testament ;
the intervention of the Holy Sec in the controversy between tlic IMendic ants and
the Churchmen 1217-1311 ; the theory of poverty in relation to the priibieni of
organisation, particularly that of education ; the justification of that theory in
conscience ; and seclusion in regular friaries. Vide Chapters XL, XII., XIII.

90 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. v.

consonant with the charity that should reside beneath the
stole, there was a fund sufficient to gratify the excesses of
such as were profligate and to provide a trifling salary for a
substitute. These substitutes were the Mendicant Friars who
filled the confessional stalls and preached from the cathedral
and parish pulpits in the vernacular, on occasion to the
discomfiture of their patrons. In fact, by their habitual use
of the vernacular, by their freedom of speech in the pulpit,
by the striking contrast between the simplicity of their lives
and the luxury enjoyed by the hierarchy, and by their
conscientious discharge of duty as opposed to all but absolute
neglect of it, the Observatine Friars, in particular, un-
consciously exercised a not inconsiderable influence upon
the formation of that anti- Romanist sentiment in which the
distinction between dogma and discipline was originally ill
defined. As churchmen, imbued with a desire to maintain
the prestige of the Roman Church, there are therefore three
points of view from which their influence upon the reform
movement may be examined : the example which they
offered to those among whom they ministered, the degree
of their resistance to the establishment of the new faith,
and the support given to its propagation by defections
from the Order which had their orioin in matters of

conscience.

For the study of this problem we are fortunate in the
possession of a certain number of contemporary Scottish
writings in prose and verse. There are those remarkable
letters written by James IV. and James V. to the Pope on
behalf of the Observatine Friars. Looking to the circum-
stances in which they were written, it is not surprising to
find that they accentuate the differences between the
Observatine and the Conventual Friars. The latter did
not practise the rigid simplicity of the Observatine, but
he might none the less continue to be an efficient member
of the Order ; while the acceptance of ground annuals and
other fixed sources of revenue for the common needs of his
convent made him appear exceptional only in relation to
his Observatine brother.^ With this reservation, the letter

^ Cf. Comparative Table of Revenues, infra^ p. 140.

CHAP, v.] THE FRIAKS AND THE REFOR:\rATION 91

of James IV. to Pope Julius II. is a striking proof of the
high esteem in which the Observatines were held by their
contemporaries, and of the fact that it was a form of religion
which appealed to the people. The attempt to coerce them
into union with the Conventuals, and thereby to relinquish
their self-imposed life of poverty in favour of a less restricted
rule of conduct, is stated to be a calamity deplored by others,
but more so by James himself on public grounds. Their
zealous attention to the spiritual needs of the people counter-
poised the neglect of the other churchmen ; and, in the florid
phraseology of this letter, the celebration of the sacraments
and the diffusion of the word of God throuphout the land
were due to their care :

" Most Holy Father, — Could it have been believed that, in the
pontificate of Innocent the Third, Providence would have so ordered
events that the virtue of innocence would be made wholly manifest, and
that religion, the mother of innocence, should have gathered such renown
from the institution of the new Order of St. Francis, who, wonderful to
relate, while he was a distinguished Doctor of humility and innocence,
received the marks of the sacred passion of our Lord. So occupied was he
with the divine mysteries that, in a heavenly manner, he established the
unheard-of Rule of that holy Order, than which, by comparison, no
other religious Order has hitherto shone with so holy a lustre either in
perfection of life, in worship or in the holy rites ; nor has any other made
more perceptible and widespread progress in so many countries. So did the
blessed profession of this most devout father shine both in doctrine and
holiness that, as an open testimony of their humility, he gave the name
of Minors to those whom he initiated into his sacred rites ; and, in
harmony with the simplicity of the Gospel, he clad them in garments of
rough texture, girt them with a rope, and deprived them of shoes, so that
these brethren might find a certain hope in the most High God, and,
scorning the things of this world, entreat Him day and night in their
vigils and pious prayers for the salvation of men. Herein, I think, lay
the principal reason for the increase of this Order, as it gained ground
everywhere in a wonderful manner. But, as the excellence of its pro-
fession and the number of its houses increased, so much the more
bitterly blew the blast of envy against this new Religion (Order) ; and,
as is said, they were attacked in diverse manners by those in whom
aggression was least seemly, in order that they (the Observatines) miglit
be leavened by the Conventual Friars of St. I'Vancis, whose Rule of life
was less severe, or that union or reformation might serve as a pretext
for abandoning the observance professed by the (Observatinc) Minors.
Either alternative would have been a calamity too fearful to recall.

92 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. v.

Alas ! It would strike a blow at Christian piety, since either the freer
fellowship of the old Order (Conventual) would prove the undoing of this
most esteemed and circumspect Order, or it would banish mutual love
from this pure and unsullied Religion. Such a wretched misfortune would
assuredly have been deplored by others, but by us on grounds of public
policy. First, because by their care the salvation of souls is here most
diligently advanced, the negligence of others more fully remedied, the
sacraments administered, and the word of Christ spread abroad by the
lips of the faithful. Who can fail to perceive that it would be the greatest
error to change this state of things ? Again, this popular Religion, which
has flourished eighty-nine years,^ remains confirmed by the decrees of
Popes and Councils and, by its stricter rule of life, is the bond of union
among many who willingly relinquished parents, possessions and love of
this world for a life of contemplation. To recall these friars against
their will to a laxer or different mode of living is bad policy, unless
public- interests, as determined by the decree of your Holiness, should
I otherwise demand. But, Holy Father, what hope of a purer life does
the debased herd hold forth, when the flock will obey neither laws nor
authority for any length of time ? Hence the unification of those friars,
who regulate their lives by different standards, would seem to me a task of
no small difficulty, and, from my experience of the customs of both, I
pledge my faith to your Holiness herein. Moreover, forty and two years
ago, my illustrious grandmother introduced this most circumspect Order,
formerly unknown in these parts, and founded their first places ; ^ there-
. after my most beloved father enriched them, and finally my pious mother
cherished them with all care. I, myself, as if bound by the bond of
hereditary piety, have set free house after house of this Order ; I have
adorned them with suitable plenishings ; to their care I have entrusted
the purification of my conscience and the prime ardour of my devotion ;
and I have constituted myself their son and defender. To you. Holy
Father, who are the watchful guardian of true faith and virtue, I have
thought good to communicate these facts, so that you may perceive there
is little cause to regret the presence of this Order in my kingdom, and the
abundant fruits of its labours could not, I think, be easily expressed in
writing. To you, therefore, as Guardian of the Christian Church, does
this realm appeal and this people cry out ; you, this Prince entreats, the
Clergy obtest, and with them the devout faithful also plead that these
most circumspect Friars of St. Francis may be permitted to continue
to live in accordance with the Rule they have professed, and to observe
their vows in freedom conformably to their lawfully established ordin-
ances. Nay more, they plead that you may not, by an appearance of vacil-
lation, seem to invalidate that which your pious and sacred predecessors
approved of in their most excellent decrees. Much rather, if the feigned
integrity or suggestions of some have impinged the fair name of this

^ i.e. since the Council of Constance, supra, p. 48.

- Vide Intelleximus te of 1463, granted to the Observatines on the petition of
Queen Mary of Gueldres, and criticism of its narrative clause, supra, p. 58.

CHAP, v.] THE FRIARS AND THE REFORMATION 93

Order, may your wiser judgment opportunely repel this as unworthy,
so that the observance of the sacred rites of the blessed Francis may
derive from you their former piety. Farewell, Blessed Father, and
Excellent Pontiff. From our Palace at Edinburgh, the Kalends of
February in the year of Salvation, the sixth above one thousand five
hundred." 1

The letter of James V., who also constituted himself Protector
of the Observatines and chose one of their number as his
confessor,- was a no less sincere recognition of their merits,
and proves that during those twenty-five years they had not
derogated from the high repute which they enjoyed during
the life of his father : —

" To our most holy Master, the Pope.
Most blessed father, — after prostration at your holy feet, since the
elevation and permanent prosperity of the state of religion in our
kingdom has ever been the subject of our consideration, in so far as it
lay in our power to provide therefor, and since the Order of Friars Minor,
by the holiness and purity of its life, shines and is resplendent in the
eyes of all men, and has ever been held in the highest veneration by our
late illustrious father and ourselves, we do not think it outwith our
duty to be the guardian, defender and Protector of that Order, and of its
ordinances and statutes against malevolent attack, in so far as our
requests and prayers are of avail, and to ask this favour of your Holiness
and of all who can assist these friars. Because, indeed, they are fearful
lest some stealthily creep in to trouble and disturb their peace, we
willingly beseech your Holiness to preserve and confirm to them
uninjured, unchallenged and intact, the rules, ordinances, statutes and
privileges which have been granted to them by law and the Roman
Pontiffs, and to permit no innovation to be made in their Order that
may give rise to any scandal or increase the disquiet of those most
diligent servants of the Lord. Peace now reigns among them all from
the strife and dissension that had arisen between them and the Con-
ventual friars, and the dispute has been solved by the supreme Pontiff,
Leo X., who promulgated his Bull of Concordance,^ wherein he ordained
that there should be two sects of this Order of St. Francis, the one the
Friars Minor of Observance, over whom he desired there should be their
own Minister, the other the Conventuals, with their own head to be
called the Master of the Conventuals. And may it be as much your
Holiness' pleasure in the future in nowise to alter the tenor of this bull,

Epistolae Regum Scotorum (Ruddiman) ; infra, II. 276-278.

2 Treasurer's Accounts, 24th .September 1531. Payment for tlie hire of a
horse "to ane Grey Friar of Striveling, iJie Kini^'s confessor, to rydc to Sanct
Androse to heir the Kingis confessiounc at the pardonc."

^ Oinnipoicns Deus.

94 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. v.

so framed, as it is fitting to grant their own guardianship to such pious
and religious men, leading praiseworthy and venerable lives, and to whom
the weight of our authority shall never be wanting, since God Himself
would not fail them. May He ever in all time preserve your Holiness
in safety and happiness. — From our Castle at Stirling, 6th March 1531.
Your devoted son, King of Scots, James, King." ^

These ornate eulogies, which savour of ecclesiastical rhetoric,
were not, however, mere verbose pleadings. They referred
to the grave problem in the religious life of the period arising
out of the apathy of the clergy, and are amply confirmed by
our great satirist, Sir David Lindsay, as well as by the
independent testimony of Robert Henryson and William
Dunbar. In contradistinction to the defamatory writings
they constitute the apologia of the Scottish Friar, and, as a
definite expression of contemporary opinion, they merit the
closest attention in relation to these philippics, if only because
they set out in clear relief the distinction which actually existed
between the friars and the general body of the clergy. In
the thirteenth century, St. Francis reintroduced preaching
into the church service ; in the sixteenth century it had all
but become a lost art except among his followers and
imitators — " Dean Thomas Forret preached every Sonday to
his parishners the Epistle or Gospel as it fell for the tyme ;
whiche was then a great noveltie in Scotlande to see any
man preache except a Blacke fryer or a Gray fryer." ^ Sir
David Lindsay's Batchelor also refers to this monopoly of
preaching by the Mendicants :

"Sirs, freirs wald never, I yow assure,
That ony prelats usit preiching :
And prelats tuke on them that cure
Freirs wald get nothing for thair fleiching."^

^ //?/r«, II. p. 279. Analogous testimony is offered by Henry VIII. in his
appeal to Leo X. on behalf of the English Observatines in 15 14, before they had
become his uncompromising opponents on the question of divorce and papal
supremacy. He expressed his admiration for their strict adherence to the vow of
poverty, their sincerity, their charity and devotion, adding that none battled against
vice more assiduously or were more active in keeping Christ's fold {Hetiry VIII.
S. P., I. No. 4871). During the suppression of the English monasteries, Wolsey's
spy in the Greenwich Friary reported that " the discipline is altogether too severe ;
the religious are corrected and punished for nothing."

- Foxe, Actes and ]\Ionuinents, 1564. Knox, IVor/cs, I. App. V.

^ T/ie Thrie Esiatis, ed. David Laing, II. 177.

CHAP, v.] THE FRIARS AND THE REFORMATION 95

During- this ever increasing decay in religious life, the burden
of the pastoral office had been gradually transferred to the
shoulders of the Mendicants. In return for their services as
active evangelists, the Bishops granted the friars a regular
stipend in victual or money, known as the " Bishop's Charity " ;
the clergy of every diocese became liberal supporters of the
Observatines by a yearly grant of alms ; ^ and, in the case
of Edinburgh at least, the Grey Friars received not only
small annual donations from the burgh treasury and the
various guilds, but also a recognised allowance of sowens
beer for their preaching within the town.^ At the same
time, the friar preacher was no respecter of persons either
in the thirteenth or sixteenth century,^ and it is indeed a
short step from the outspoken sermon of Friar Campbell —
who told the Bishop it was his duty to be a preacher or " ellis
he was but a dumme doo- and fed not his flock but his awin
bellye"^ — to the public reproofs of the post- Reformation
Church in Scotland and the "virulent fluency of words"
which characterised the sermons of its early ministers. Every
Franciscan sermon was not, however, a river of fire. The
more kindly exhortation to penitence will often be met with
in the chronicles of the Order ; and Henryson gives an
example of the manner in which the friar garnished his
sermons with illustrations from the Old and New Testament
or the lives of the Saints, as well as by fables, pithy stories,
apophthegms and legends :

"Adew, my freind; and gif that ony speiris
Of this Fable, sa schortly I conclude,
Say thow I left the laif unto the Freris,
To mak exenipill and anc similitude."'^

^ e.g. Duncan Burnet, Rector of Methlick, William Crichton, Rector of Oync,
Rector Elphinstone of Clat, Alexander Gordon, Vicar of Mains, and others.

- Edinburgh Friary, iti/ra, p. 286. Vide also the burghal allowances to the
friars in Ayr and Elgin at pp. 360, 365.

'■^ Vide series of papal constitutions which forbade liini to attack the private
lives of the clergy or to make ilircct reference to the delinquencies of any of his
listeners. 7/ifra, p. 424.

* Knox, lVor/:s, I. 47. Cf. Sir David Lindsay's use of this simile ami (den-
cairn's rhyme which describes the Franciscans as"doggcs that never slintcs to
bark." 7idd I. y^-

* Poems of Rolxrt Hoiryson., Ed. .Scott. Text Soc, II. p. 219. C. Crcgory Smith.

96 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. v.

With an immunity that was denied to George Buchanan,
Sir David Lindsay vigorously attacked the churchman's
neglect of the Christian offices already emphasised in the
letter of James IV. to Julius IL:

"Christ thocht no schame to be ane precheour,
And tyll all peple of trewth ane techeour.
Ane Pope, Byschope, or Cardinall,
To teche nor preche wyll npcht be thrall :
They send furth freris to preche for thame,
Quhilk garris the peple ?iow abhor thajiie" ^

Nor is he less explicit in his testimony to the value of the
evangelical work accomplished by the friar :

"Gret plesour wer to heir ane Byschope preche,
One Deane, or Doctour in Divinitie,
One Abbote quhilk could weill his convent teche,
One Persoun flowyng in phylosophie :
I tyne my tyme, to wys quhilk wyll nocht be.
War nocht the precheing of the begging freris,
Tynt war the faith among the seaileris."^

He marvels at the Bishops' want of shame :

"To gyf yow freris sic preheminens
Tyll vse thare office, to thare gret diffame,
Precheing for thame in opin audiens."^

He holds up to scorn the simple parson who gloried in a life
of idleness while the friar performed his parochial duties :

Spiritualitie
" ' I have ane Freir to preiche into my place,
Of my office ye heare na mair quhyll Pasche.'

Person
'Thocht I preiche not, I can play at the caiche;
I wat thair is nocht ane amang you all,
Mair ferilie can play at the fut-ball,

^ Sir David Lindsay, "Ane Dialog betuix Experience and Ane Courteour" (ed.
David Laing, III. 104). In this poem, Lindsay, as a reformer, condemns both the
priest and the friar for their adherence to, and teaching of, the Roman dogma and
ceremonies.

^ "Testament of the Papyngo," ibid. I. 99.

2 "Ane Dialog," z^zV/. III. 38.

CHAP, v.] THE FRIARS AND THE REFORMATION 97

And for the carts, the tabils and the dyse,
Above all persouns I may beir the pryse.'"^

And, remindinor the churchmen that :

" Esayas into his wark,
Callis thame lyke doggis that can nocht bark,
That caUit ar preistis and can nocht preche,
Nor Christis law to the pepill teche,"^

he thus completes the case of "all the Spiritual stait " :

" Pryde haith chaist far frome thame Humilitie.
Devotioun is fled ttnio the F7-eris,
Sensuale plesour hes baneist Chaistitie."^

In the natural course of events, the popularity of the
friary confessional was commensurate with that of the
Franciscan sermon. Three centuries had passed since St.
Francis had revived the penitent's confidence in the con-
fessional, and since St. Bonaventura had boldly attacked the
exactions and corruption of the parish priests, who divulged
the secret sin or forced the female penitent deeper into
the morass. Nevertheless, the lines of Henryson show how
real that confidence was in his time, and that the special
sanctity attaching to absolution granted by a Grey Friar
was closely allied to the personality of the confessor :

"Ze ar mirrour, lanterne, and sicker way,
Suld gide sic sempill folk as me to grace;
Zour bairfeit, and your russat coule of gray,
Zour lene cheik, zour paill pietious face,
Schawis to me zour perfite halienes ;
For Weill war him that anis in his lyfe,
Had hap to zow his si /mis for to schrive." *

The quaint couplet which closes this encomium was
expanded into greater detail by Father Hay, whose state-
ments we might naturally regard as of an ex parte character.

' Sir David Lindsay, "Ane Satyrc," II. l68, 169-170.

^ "Complaint of Schir David Lindsay," ibid. I. 54.

""The Dremc," ibid. I. 37.

* "The Fox and the Wolf," Poems of Robert Henryson, II. 51.

98 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. v.

But he is corroborated in every detail by another remark-
able passage from Sir David Lindsay, which is, at once, a
direct reply to the slanders of George Buchanan, a vivid
illustration of the persistence of that gentle courtesy of
manner so characteristic of the Franciscans, and a trite
expression of that instinctive sympathy between penitent and
confessor, so often met with in village communities of Roman
Catholic countries :

Flatterie
" ' Now, be my faith ! my brother deir,
I will gang counterfit the Freir.'

Dissait
' A Freir ! quhairto ? ye can not preiche.'

Flatterie
' Quhat rak, bot I can richt weill fleich !
Perchance I'le cum to that honour
To be the Kings Confessour.
Pure Freirs ar free at any feist,
And marchellit, ay, amang the best,
Als, God hes lent to tham sic graces.
That Bischops puts them in thair places,
Out-throw thair Dioceis to preiche :
Bot ferlie nocht, howbeit thay fleich ;
For schaw thay all the veritie,
Thai'll want the Bischops charitie.
And, thocht the corne war never sa skant,
The gudewyfis will not let Freirs want;
For quhy, thay ar thair confessours,
Thair heauinlie prudent counsalours;
Thairfoir the wyfis plainlie taks thair parts.
And schawis the secreits of thair harts
To Freirs, with better will, I trow.
Nor thay do to thair bed-fallow.'" ^

In considering the activity of the Franciscans as re-
pressors of the reformed faith in Scodand, our sources are
palpably incomplete, and in one case almost untrustworthy.^
The assizes held upon the heretics receive critical rather than
narrative treatment in the History of the Refonnation ; and
its author uniformly disregards these specious accounts of
the preliminary investigation and denunciation of heretics

^ Sir David Lindsay, " Ane Satyre," II. 42.
- Foxe, Actes and Monuments (Ed. 1564).

CHAP, v.] THE FRIARS AND THE REFORMATION 99

given by Foxe upon the authority of " the written testimony
of the Scots." ^ The labour and diligence of the friars he
says, "is never wanting in such matters." This cannot fail
to occasion surprise in view of Knox's pronounced antipathy
to the Franciscans. He had a personal knowledge of these
events which stirred his countrymen so deeply ; and, on
occasion, he did abuse the Franciscans unsparingly as
hypocrites and sycophants. Moreover, the slender justice
which he accorded to the Mendicants is to be measured by
his silence. Unwilling to acknowledge their merits, his
condemnation of the Roman clergy does not differ in
essentials from that of Sir David Lindsay. His narrative
abounds in incidents appropriate for the disclosure of
depravity in any form ; but it contains neither the touches
that brand the Franciscans as mean informers, nor the
terrible charges of profligacy,^ so lightly made by his con-
temporaries who were less well informed and less scrupulous
in their statements.^ At this period the Church was a law
to itself, and in matters of heresy begat a state of conscience
in its servants wholly different from that which is now
accepted under a regime of religious liberty. In its origin
the propaganda of St. Francis was received into the Church,
and was fostered by her rulers, with the express purpose of
strenoftheninof them in the combat against the Italian and
Provencal heresies of the early thirteenth century. We
are not accustomed to look upon this kindly Saint as a
Hammer of the heretics. Nevertheless, the charity of
tolerance was foreign to his mental constitution, and
the testamentary injunction, to imprison for heresy and
certain forms of disobedience among the brethren, shewed
how deeply his mind was impregnated with the ecclesiastical
view of this problem. Within the limits of the same

' Also, Ex Registris et instruvientis a Scotia missis.

^ In conlradiction to George lUichanan's sweeping charge of ignorance, it will
be observed that apostate Mendicant Friars are uniformly described as men of
good learning.

^ In this respect, a remarkable analogy is to be observed between the writings
of Wiclif and his followers, on the one hand, and those of John Knox and his
followers, on the other. In each case, it was the followers who lainiched the
charges of gross immorality. Cf. The Grey Friars in Oxford, pp. 78-83.

lOO GENERAL HISTORY [chap. v.

instrument/ he laid the foundation of a heresy pecuh'ar to the
Franciscans themselves. In conjunction with Joachism, the
extreme Spirituals developed his prohibition against glossation
of the Rule into a complete denial of the dispensative
power vested in the Holy See. This diminutive band of
extremists thus appeared in the character of the first
Protestants, not because papal dispensation gave rise to the
scandals of simony and indulgence, but because it conflicted
with their contention that the Rule of the Friars Minor was
of divine origin.^ Concurrently, the orthodoxy of the Order
was tritely expressed in Salimbene's panegyric of Friar Leo
of Milan — " He was a great persecutor and confuter and
conqueror of heretics " ; and the Observatine revivalists of
the fourteenth century ^— who recognised the dispensative
authority of the Holy See in their return to the practical
asceticism of the golden age — won the recognition of the
hierarchy, as much by their strenuous combat against the
Fraticellian heresies prevalent in the Umbrian fastnesses,
as by the purity of their own lives. In this manner, the
Franciscans and Dominicans were inseparably associated as
"■ inqtiisitores pravitatis kaerelicae'' during the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries ; and they again assumed this role in
the Scottish persecutions, although the Franciscans as an
Order had lono- since abandoned it to the Dominicans.
St. Andrews would appear to have been the centre of
bigotry, and its Observatine Friars attained an unenviable
prominence in the task of repression. Their Provincial
Ministers, John Paterson and Alexander Arbuckle, Wardens
Dillidaff and Maltman or Legerwood, and Friar Scott, gave
ample proof of their intolerance in the role of judge and
disputant.*

Patrick Hamilton, Abbot of Fern, is generally regarded
as the first Scotsman who suffered martyrdom (1528) for his
Lutheran convictions, and among the judges who committed

^ The Testament.

^ It was officially recognised as such in 1279 by Nicolas III., who codified the
permissible modifications of it and defined the penalties to be inflicted upon
glossators in the future. John XXII. suspended these penalties during the con-
troversy De paupertaie CJiristi.

^ Supra, p. 46. 4 St. Andrews Friary, ift/ra, p. 291.

CHAP, v.] THE FRIARS AND THE REFORMATION loi

hini to the flames was Friar Dillidaff, Warden of the
Observatlnes of St. Andrews. Foxe attributes the martyrdom
of Henry Forrest (i 532-1 533) to Walter Laing or Lang,
alleofinsf that this friar had revealed the victim's confession
to James Beaton so that it was received in probation
at the trial. His belief in the goodness of Patrick
Hamilton, in the truth of his articles and in the injustice
of the sentence, secured Forrest's condemnation ; ^ and, when
led out to the stake, he exclaimed " Fye on falsehood ;
Fye on false freirs, revealers of confession ; after this
day let no man ever trust any false freirs, contemners of
God's word and deceivers of men."^ Another charge of
discreditable intrigue is made against the Franciscans by
Knox in regard to the exile of the Dominican, Alexander
Seaton, who displayed undue severity in the hearing of the
Kinir's confession and rendered himself obnoxious to the
hierarchy by a series of Lenten sermons, in which the
morality and scholarship of the Bishops suffered severely, if
we may judge from the inimitable satire introduced into the
account of the interview between James Beaton and Friar
Alexander. Nevertheless, the confessor enjoyed a certain
degree of immunity by reason of his favour with the King
and with the people, " until the prelates laboured by all means
to mack the said Frear Alexander odiouse unto the Kingis
Grace, and easely fand the meanes by the Gray Frearis (who
by thare hypochrisie deceaved many) to traduce the innocent
as ane heretyk." And because he "abhorred all counsall
that repugned to the filthy loostis of the llesh " this carnal
Prince willingly subscribed to the wishes of the Bishops
"affirmyng that he knew mair than thei did in that mater;
for he understood weall vnewcht that he smelled of the new
doctrin by such things as he had schewin to him under
confessioun."^ On the other hand, there is good reason
f(jr believing that James V. habitually confessed to the
l*>anciscans,' and the doubt put forward by Dr. Davitl Laing'

'^ Hislflty of the Reforiiia/ion, I. App. v. 517-18. Knox Inmsclf makes no

reference to this betrayal of confession.

- Ibid. ■■■• Ibid. 1.45-4';-

* Ibid. I. 75, supplemented Ijy the Obsen'citine ChronicU', the Treasurer's

Accounts, and Sir David Lindsay. * Ibid. I. Ai)p. \'II. ji. 53J.

102 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. v.

leaves the explanation of Seaton's exile and disgrace in the
domain of controversy. A similar role is attributed to the
Mendicants in their persecution of Friar Arth/ v/ho had
preached in Dundee " moir liberallie against the licentious
lyifes of the Bishops nor thur could weall beir," had attacked
the priest's abuse of the use of Letters of Cursing, and had
exposed them as charlatans imposing false miracles upon the
people as a means of augmenting their offertories. The
outspoken friar was not on this account suspected of false
doctrine ; but his brethren, in fear of losing the benediction of
the Bishops — "to witt, their malt and their mail and their
appointed pensioun" — caused him to withdraw to England
where he was imprisoned by Henry VII I. in defence of the
"Paipeand Paipistrie."^ In the strict inquisition upon heresy
which marked the primacy of Cardinal Beaton, Friar
Arbuckle of St. Andrews came to Edinburgh for the
interrogation of Thomas Forret, Vicar of Dollar, one of the
five who were burnt on the Calton Hill at Edinburgh in
presence of James V. on ist March 1539. Forret denied
the remission of sins by the Pope, and refused his belief in
the Virgin whom Arbuckle insisted should be acknowledged
in the customary profession " I believe in God and in our
Lady." The Vicar was content to believe in God and to
believe " as our Ladie beleaveth " ; and all doubt as to his
fate was removed when evidence was given of his untempered
denunciation of ecclesiastical rapacity, and of the illegality of
tithes and mortuary dues represented by the cow and
uppermost cloth. ^ Foxe supplements these native accounts
of this trial by yet another illustration of the informing zeal
of the friars. They were the recognised preachers of the
time, and therefore envied the Vicar's eloquence in the pulpit,
from which he shewed the mysteries of the Scriptures to the
people in the vulgar tongue to make the clergy detestable in
their sight.* To gratify their envy, they accused him before

^ It has been found impossible to ascertain whether he was a Dominican or a
Franciscan.

^ History of the Re/or?natw7i, I. 36-41.

^ Ibid. I. 63-63; Pitcairn, Criminal Trials, I. i. 213-215; iUustrations from
Pitscottie and Anderson.

■* Knox, I. App. V. 521.

CHAP, v.] THE FRIARS AND THE REFORMATION 103

the Bishop of Dunkeld ; but, as a matter of history, Forret
had been several times summoned to explain his doctrine
before his diocesan Superior and the Bishop (sic) of St.
Andrews, who both took a more lenient view of his case than
Cardinal Beaton in 1539/ The attitude of the Franciscans
in 1543 has already been alluded to, and in 1546 two of their
number interrupted George Wishart during one of his
sermons at Inveresk. The offenders were severely rebuked^
by this eloquent reformer,'^ who ultimately refused his confes-
sion to "twa Gray fiendis" when sentenced to death at
St. Andrews.* Shortly afterwards, the historian of the
Reformation was himself examined in St. Leonard's Yards by
a convention of Franciscans and Dominicans who selected
Friar Arbuckle as their spokesman ; ^ and, with the somewhat
humorous narrative of the disputation which followed, the
Franciscans disappear from contemporary record as active
inquisitors. They may, however, be suspected of taking an
active part in other cases of minor persecution or inquiry, as it
is only natural to suppose that they were the instigators of
the prosecution in cases where the friary image of St. Francis
was insulted or desecrated by the Lutherans. In 1537, an
image was hanged at Dundee or Perth, and the royal letters
were sent to the two provosts, ordering the arrest of John
Balcat and George Luwett who were suspected of the out-
rage.^ Three of the martyrs at Perth about the year 1543
were also accused of treating the imajje with ignominious
ridicule — " for hanging up the image of St. Fraunces in a corde,
nailying of rammes homes to his head, and a cowes taile to
his rumpe"'^ — and, in 1544, two of the principal citizens of
Aberdeen were imprisoned for hanging the image belong-
ing to the friary.^ The punishment meted out to the
rioters in Edinburgh in 1558 is unknown; but the master of

' Vilciurn, 2^/ supfa.

2 "As sergeants of Sathan and deceavaris of the souls of men."
•'' Knox, I. 135-36.

* Adam Wallace also refused to commune with two Grey Friars who had been
sent to instruct him after his condemnation, /ou/. I. App. XII. 54S.

' /u/ra, p. 293. « Treasurer'' s Accounts, \'I. 307.

^ Foxe (Knox, Works), I. App. V. 524.
» MS. Council h\q;., XVIII. f. 320.

I04 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. v.

the watchman, who threw stones at the Black and Grey
Friaries in June of the following year, was compelled to find
a guarantee of ^200 against the repetition of the offence by
his servant.^

Apostasy among the Roman clergy in Scotland was of
two distinct kinds. There were the voluntary cases in
which the individual conscience alone was the determining
factor ; and there was the common case in which the
churchmen elected to abandon their church rather than their
country, when a definite choice was imposed upon them
by the Act of 24th August 1560. It was the gravest crime
in cloister life and the penalties were severe. Under papaP
and royal enactments, the vagabond friar might be arrested
wherever found, and thereafter surrendered to his
superiors for punishment under the statutes of the Order
to which he belonged.^ On these occasions, the friars
assembled to witness the whipping of the culprit with rods
and scourges ; while the psalms Miserere mei Dens, the
versicle Salvtmi fac servtim tmcm, or the Famulwn Umm and
the Deus, cui propriiim est, were solemnly recited during the
proceedings. The Provincial Vicar, and in urgent cases
the Wardens, had also power under the statutes to
seize, imprison or inflict punishment on an apostate found
within the province, being even accorded a special permission
to invade sanctuary to secure the person of the offender.
In Scotland, the earliest case of which any record has been
preserved is that of James Melvin or Melvil, an Observatine
Friar of St. Andrews, who became a convert to Lutheranism.
In the month of August 1526 he came into conflict with his
Superiors, and " had begun to disturb the peace of many in
the Province of Scodand, and had summoned the Bishop of
Moray to the Court of the Archbishop of St. Andrews." He
was warned to desist from his suit until the next Provincial
Chapter, but this only served to increase his determination ;

^ Records of the Burgh of Edinburgh, 3rd June 1559 ; infra, p. 283.

2 Provisiottis nosirae, 7th -Feb. 1246 ; Virtute conspicuos sacri ; inf-a, II. p. 445.

^ M. F., II. 105, XXV. Vide Inspeximus and Confinnation of Letters Patent,
dated 7th February 1385, directing all sheriffs and others to arrest and deliver
vagabond apostate Friars Minor to the Guardian of their Order for punishment ;
Cal. Pat. Rolls, p. 65.

CHAP, v.] THE FRIARS AND THE REFORMATION 105

and, after affixing- a copy of his complaint to the doors of all
the churches in St. Andrews, he boldly proceeded to Rome
to lay it before the Pope. He received a favourable hearing
and was granted permission to join the Conventual branch
of the Order, until a statement of the true facts reached
Rome and was laid before His Holiness by the representatives
of Cardinal Wolsey. It was then recognised that Friar
Melvil was simply an unruly son of the Church whose actions
were an incentive to " contention and scandal." The Pope
withdrew his former dispensation, addressed a request to
James V. for his imprisonment or expulsion from the country,
and, disregarding the petition of the Order to remit the case
to a local court, ^ authorised the Provincial to banish the
apostate until he had obtained papal permission to return.
It appears that the Scots Provincial had sent two of his friars
with a petition " to our Haly Fader, the Pope, for impetratioun
of his auctorite aganis ane apostate of thair Ordour." In
passing through England the two friars were detained by
order of Wolsey, who sent to Rome and obtained for them at
his own expense the " twa brevis for the weil of the said
Ordour and aganis ze said apostate." James V. thereupon
sent a letter of thanks to the Cardinal,^ requesting that the
brieves be returned to the friars or to the brethren of either
of the convents of Greenwich or of Richmond, " because the
samyn may further gude rule and repress )e insolence of
yame that would eschew the yoke of God, and follow thair
sensualitie." During the next few years, Melvil preferred
exile in Germany to the penalties which awaited him in
Scotland, and would appear to have still further developed
his Lutheran tendencies. This became manifest on his
return in 1535, under conditions that are far from clear,
and his proselytising zeal caused James, at the request of
the Friars Observant, to write to Pope Paul III., begging
him not to restore P>iar Melvil to his position as a Grey P'riar,
as he was " infected with Lutheranism which he atlein|)ls to
spread among the igntjrant people." At this point his case

' To consist of the Bishops of Aberdeen and Dunblane, tlie Abbot of Cambus-
kcnnetli, and tlic Provincial (jf Scotland.
- 20th March 152S.

io6 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. v.

disappears from the records,^ unless he be identified with the
James Melvil, rector of St. Catherine's at Rome, who was
appointed Apostohc Preacher in 1534 and who reappears
in the correspondence of 1543 as a Scotsman beneficed in
Rome, abhorring the Bishop's part.^ A second case occurred
in the year 1532, in the person of Friar Alexander Dick, a
member of the Observatine Convent in Aberdeen. This
friar had adopted the views of the reformers, and fled for
protection to some of his friends in Dundee, where he
exchanged his habit for secular garments. Among his
sympathisers were Provost James Scrimgeour, hereditary
" Constable of Dundee," and his bailies ; for we are told that
" the constable, bailies and utheris of the said burgh tretit
and held him with thame in seculare habit." ^ His presence
in Dundee soon became known to the authorities, and the
" King's letters" were issued by the Lords of Council to the
Provost and Magistrates for his apprehension ; while a
deputation headed by Friar Lang was sent from St. Andrews
to receive the apostate after his arrest. The sympathetic
magistrates made a pretence of putting the warrant into
execution and a disturbance then arose among the popu-
lace, who refused to allow the friar to be delivered up
either to the Bishop of Brechin, or to Friar Lang and his
companions. The latter were " bostit " * and threatened
that, if they proceeded further, the people "suld pull thair
cowlis our thair heides." Eventually, Provost Scrim-
geour and Bailie James Rollock secretly conveyed the apos-
tate friar out of the town to St. Andrews, where they
agreed to deliver him to the Archbishop in the event
of any charge of heresy being preferred against him :
" Howbeit, thai wold nocht deliver him, nor bring him
to the lycht and audience." A further demand for his
surrender by the Friars of St. Andrews shewed that con-
cealment was no longer possible, and the friar was then
hurried back to Dundee, only to find that a fresh warrant

^ Authorities, Originals in Pub. Rec. Off., London, and abstracts in Henry VIII.
S. P., IV. Nos. 3019-3021, 3348 and 4084 ; VIII. No. 469 ; Thorpe, Cal of State
Papers., Scotland, I. No. 68.

2 Henry VIII. S. P., VII. 150 ; XVIII. ii. 330.

3 MS. Acta Dom. Cona7ii,XLHl. ff. 45 and 195 ; m/ra, II. p. 226. * Hustled.

CHAP, v.] THE FRIARS AND THE REFORMATION 107

for his apprehension had been issued at a meeting of
the Lords of Council held on the 7th of May. Four days
later, the provost and bailies of Dundee appeared in person
before the Lords to answer to a charge of having " intro-
mettit " with the friar, thereby " nocht allanerlie incurrand the
Kingis indignatioune, but haldand ferme and stable, ratifiand
and apprevand the spulze of the said freire Alexanderis
persoun furth of his Ordour, and committand verray spulze
thameselfis in the withhalding, treting, carrying and convey-
ing of him." On their own confession, the Lords found that
the Provost and Rollock had " done wrang in intrometting
with the said freir, and thairfor ordanis thame to restore and
deliver the said Freire Alexander ao^ane owther to the closter
of Abirdene or Sanctandros." The two other bailies were
assoilzied, because " it was referit to thair aythes quhether
thai intromettit with the said Freir or nocht, quhilkis maid
faith that thai never intromettit with him." Of the subsequent
history of Friar Dick, or of the punishment allotted to him,
nothinir whatever is known. The burofesses of Dundee were
commanded by the Archbishop of St. Andrews to reaffirm
their submission to the Church, and one incident of this
ceremony took place in the Grey Friary there at eleven
o'clock forenoon on 23rd June 1532, when, in the presence
of the Provost, the Vicar and other dignitaries, James
Wedderburn and John Wait purged themselves by their
great oath, and those of twenty honest burgesses, of all the
points of the heresy laid to their charge.^ Under the year
1539, Knox draws attention to one "Johnne Lyn, ane Gray
Freare who left his hipocryticall habit and the den of these
murtheraris, the Gray P>earis," ^ and some months later Simon
IMaltman, afterwards Warden of the Observatines of St.
Andrews, formed one of the court at Glas<'OW that condemned
a Franciscan, Jerome Russell, in spite of the entreaties of the
amiable Archbishop Dunbar. Jerome Russell is described as
a "young man of a meek nature, quick spirit and good
letters," who exhibited no trace of fear in the presence of his
accusers. At the stake he rallied the drooping courage of
Ninian Kennedy, his fellow martyr, and thus answered the

^ jUS. Protocol Books (Dundee), I. f. 233 ; iiij'ra, II. p. 142. - I. 6j.

lo8 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. v.

"godless tyrants who rayleJ upon him": "This is your
houre and the power of darkness : now sytt ye as judgeis and
we stand wronorfulHe accused and more wroncrfullie to be
condempned ; but the day shall come when our innocency
shall appeare and that ye shall see your awin blyndness to
your everlasting confusion ; go forward and fulfil the measure
of your iniquitie." ^ In the absence of any indication to which
branch of the Order Jerome Russell belonged, the letter of
Lord Wharton to Thomas Cromwell on 7th November 1538,
may afford no more than a hint that he was a Conventual
Friar of Dumfries and therefore in the diocese of GlasQ^ow —
" There was at Dumfries laitlie one Frere Jerom, callid a well
lernied man taken by Lord Maxwell upon commandment
from the Bishopis, and lyith in sore yerons, like to suffer for
the Inglish menes opynyons, as thei say, anepst the lawis of
God."" So far as can be ascertained, he was the only
Franciscan in Scotland who paid the last penalty rather than
sacrifice his Lutheran convictions ; and the double crown of
patriot and martyr for the beliefs which Russell had repudiated
may, perhaps, be reserved for the anonymous Warden of
Dumfries who was hanged at Carlisle in 1 548.

The statistics concerning the cases of apostasy, or
abandonment of the Church, in which the ties of nationality
and property interests were an important factor, will be more
profitably considered in a later chapter.^ As might have been
expected, the Mendicants excelled the Churchmen in fidelity to
their faith ; and, while the Conventual Franciscan may
perhaps claim no greater meed of praise in this crisis than the
Dominican or Carmelite Friars, the Observatines stand out as
an Order which homologated its previous resistance to the
establishment of the new faith by accepting exile as their
portion. There is thus extant a certain amount of purely
Scottish evidence — having its parallel in England — which
compels a recognition of the fact that the friar was pre-
eminently the practical worker and representative of sub-
jectivism in the religious life of our ancestors. As such, he
enjoyed the respect of his contemporaries, because he

1 Knox, Worlds, I. 63-66. - Henry VIII. S. P., XIII. ii. No. ^^^

•■' Infra, pp. 157-160.

(;hap. v.] the friars AND THE REFORMATION

109

appeared as the ideal pastor at a time when idealism was
almost extinct in the body ecclesiastic. There can, however,
be little doubt that his popularity diminished during the era
of persecution. Along- with the Dominicans, the Franciscans
bore the brunt of the first overt attack upon the Church
during the ill-timed ebullition of Protestant sympathies in
1543, and the insults offered to the image of St. Francis in
Perth, Aberdeen and Edinburgh were further indications of
the trend of popular opinion. Are we to regard these
manifestations as a genuine expression of lay opinion, or
simply as the action of an excited mob acting under the
impulse of the moment and quick to forget past services if,
indeed, these were ever appreciated.'* Both motives are
essential to any explanation. Locality was an important
element, and these manifestations were intimately connected
with contemporary politics ; while it is beyond doubt that the
active reformers regarded the PVanciscan and Dominican
organisations as the strongest bulwarks of the Church in this
country.

'^-C

Rose Window, Upper ( liurrli of the Convent of
San T''ian(:cs( 0 al Assisi.

CHAPTER VI

THE FRIARS AND THE REFORMATION

THEIR DETRACTORS, GEORGE BUCHANAN AND SIR

THOMAS CRAIG

Modern justification of Fra7iciscanus as legitimate satire — Morality of the Friars
— The unhistorical character of Franciscanus — Its Dedication — Records of
the Lisbon Inquisition — Collation of the new evidence with traditional
accounts — The Somniuvi and Palinodia — -Sir Thomas Craig's accusation —
Its limitation to the Friary at Jedburgh — Examination from Franciscan
Revenues — Endowments— Legacies — Crown Pensions — Comparative estimate
of Franciscan and Dominican Revenues — The Franciscans, the poor
Clergy.

The reverse of the picture is presented in the writings
of George Buchanan, John Knox and Sir Thomas Craig of
Riccarton. The reputation and personality of the Scottish
friar has indeed suffered severely at their hands; and, if
their writings contain even a semblance of the truth, we are
constrained to ask whether they refer to the same body of
men. They pointedly raise the question which the Humanist
himself puts — what manner of men these friars were ?

"What fancies wild these plaited garments hide,
Below this garb, what wonders strange abide?"

The Franciscanus of George Buchanan has played an im-
portant part in the vilification of the Scottish Franciscan ;
and, during the prevalent phase of hero-worship, it has been
justified as evidence of Franciscan depravity, in a manner
scarcely consistent with the canons of criticism. Restatement
of the satirist's own allegations has supplanted control from
external evidence such as is now adduced. Its form alone
remains unpleasing to the modern critic ; while its legitimacy
as satire is reaffirmed on a priori grounds. *' Its author,"
it has been said, had no desire "to see the Papacy over-

CHAP. VI.] THE FRIARS AND THE REFORMATION 1 1 1

thrown " ; " and so far as the Church offended his ideals he
was a reformer rather than an iconoclast."^ " If there is a
dominant note in Buchanan it is that of sound wholesome
virility."^ He had "the right to satirise the immoralities
of the corrupt clerical brotherhoods."^ "Like Erasmus,
Buchanan was never more at home than with a cultured
churchman of the old school."^ "The Humanists were of
necessity satirists, and Friars and Schoolmen their objects of
attack ; . . . the Franciscans had ceased to be worthy of
their ereat founder. That the Franciscans should have been
peculiarly obnoxious makes a situation that is almost too
striking in dramatic effectiveness. For in the truest sense
the Franciscans in their origin had been the Humanists of
their time."^ "The corruption of the Franciscan Order is
a commonplace of history."" Yet, if George Buchanan
had quarrelled with a Black Friar of Ayr, Dominican
corruption would now be a commonplace of history. It
is common knowledge that the Franciscan clunof more
closely to the ideals of his founder than any of the other
Mendicant brotherhoods ; and, in spite of the degradation
of the ideal, their severest critic in modern times grants us
that the Franciscans were " the real intellectual and moral

> e.g. his attitude towards the Confessional.

2 e.g. Erotic Verse, The Arts of Seduction, as described in Franciscamcs, and
the Detectio.

2 There were Regular and Mendicant brotherhoods, each distinct in constitu-
tion, rule of life, and observance of its Rule.

■* e.g. Gavin Dunbar, Archbishop of Glasgow, who, however, was a generous
supporter of the Franciscans, employed them in the work of his diocese, and left
legacies amounting to £^i to eight of their friaries as against seven legacies
amounting to ^39, 13s. 4d. to the Dominican and Carmelite friaries. The
fallacy here lies in selecting Gavin Dunbar as the average churchman of any
school, and the critic obviously follows the lead given to him by Buchanan in the
Somniinii, itifni^ p. 125.

* Humanism is here defined as the "mastery of ancient speech and modes of
thought to express the ideals and point the moral of the current hour." St. Francis
was neither scholar nor critic; his Humanism was love of humanity or pure
subjectivism achieved by self-abnegation and a total disregard of knowledge in
any form. The problem is therefore a simple one. Within the limits of rational
modification of the Rule, which every critic admits to have been inevitable, did
the Franciscans remain the representatives of subjectivism in the Roman
Church ?

•^ George Buchanan, Glasgmv Quatercentenary Studies, pp. 176, 183, 188,
199, 200.

112 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. vi.

force in Christendom," and that at a time when many re-
garded the future of Franciscan discipHne with apprehension/
The justification of Franciscajitts is presented in a simpler
form by Dr. Hume Brown — " If satire be a legitimate weapon
at all, it can never have stronger justification than in the
purpose for which Buchanan now used it."^ Unless dogma
be frankly accepted as the basis of criticism, this answer begs
the question. The cause may justify the satire in a relative
sense — on the supposition that the reformers were men who
practised Christianity in a loftier spirit and with a wider
conception of its real meaning than the friars whom they
condemned. But the legitimacy of the satire, when con-
sidered as historic evidence of the manner in which the friar
discharged his pastoral office, depends entirely upon its
veracity. In reality. Franc iscanns is a deliberate travesty
of historical fact. It orioinated in feelinos of reveno-e. It
is replete with statements capable of immediate disproof.
Its end is achieved by misrepresentation, and its dedication
is a lasting memorial to its author's inventive genius. In
only one instance is the advocate for the defence compelled
to appeal for credence on the ground of the monstrosity of the
charge. The awful account of the immorality of the friars,
of the education which they received in the arts of seduction,
of the manner in which they — the gudewyfis "heauinlie
prudent counsalours " of Sir David Lindsay ^ — ridded them-
selves of a mistress who had ceased to please, and of the
revenge which they were bidden to take upon a maid
who resisted their advances, must be left to the belief or
disbelief of the reader. The prevalence of immorality in the
Church before the Reformation is frankly recognised by
writers of every shade of opinion, and the controversy now
concerns the degree of that immorality.* In an age when

^ J. G. Coulton, St. Francis to Dante. This writer is particularly unfriendly
to the Franciscans ; but he admits that " decay is fatally involved in the ideal " ;
" its very intensity caused that recoil by a natural law as inevitable as gravitation " ;
"the worst treasons are traceable to the saint's own exaggerations." Dr. Lea
also admits that the question of poverty was incapable of permanent solution. In
short, abrupt antithesis inevitably leads to a fallacious judgment.

2 George Buchanan, Humanist and Reformer, p. 97.

^ Supra., p. 98.

* e.g. Abbot Gasquet ; and Father Pollen, Papal Negotiations, Scott. Hist. Soc.

CHAP. VI.] THE FRIARS AND THK REFORMATION 113

chastity was a byword among the laity, and the hierarchy
intrigued for benefices as a provision for their illegitimate
offspring, it would be idle to claim that the Franciscan vow of
chastity was preserved unsullied, merely because no instance of
moral depravity can now be adduced. But there is an evident
compromise in the conflict between the evidence of George
Buchanan and that of Sir David Lindsay. The unconscious
apologist passed over cases which may have come within
his knowledge, because the fraternity did represent moral
rectitude in the Church ; whereas the Humanist vindictively
selected the exception as an illustration of the average. It
is in the nature of things that there should be little positive
evidence to disprove Buchanan's charge ; and it is equally
natural that, in his satire upon the Scottish Franciscans, he
should select his two illustrations from the continent where
he passed the exile of twenty years that preceded the com-
position of the satire. At least, the evidence of Lindsay ^ is as
credible as that of Buchanan. When Devotion and Chastity
had been driven from the Church, he tells us they both fled
for refucre to the friars. Devotion remained with them :

"Pryde hath chaist far from thame humilitie,
Devotion is fled to the freris " ; -

but, as they were forbidden to receive women in the friary,
Chastity betook herself to the Sisters of Siena on the Burgh
Muir of Edinburgh :

""Fhan Chastitie wald no longer abyde,
So, for refuge, fast to the freris scho lied,
Quhilks said thay wald of ladyis talc no cur."^

In other respects, the veracity of the satire may be controlled
by positive evidence. Ostensibly it is directed against the

' He was personally antagonistic to the ascendancy of the Mendicants, and,
as a reformer, declared ihat, were he king, he would make the four Orders wanderers
upon die borders :

" I sould gar mak ane congregatioun
Of all the freris of the four Ordouris,
And niak you vagers on the bordours."

The Three Estates, II. 151.

^ TJie D rente '"' Il>iti.

1 14 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. vi.

Franciscans ; whereas it is illustrated to their prejudice in a
grossly exaggerated manner from every known imperfection
of the Roman Church as it appeared immediately before the
Reformation. The friar is presented as the arch-enemy of
religion and of reason, which the reformers propounded as
the basis of their creed. He is part of an ignoble system.
Monasticism is an effete and ridiculous form of Christianity.^
The Franciscan is chosen as its representative, although
history has spoken to the contrary with no uncertainty. It is
admitted that in days gone by they were a worthy race ; but
the fact remains that they were the least monastic of all the
Orders in the Church. They were the pioneers of
personal liberty in fulfilment of religious duties, and, by
reason of their disturbing individualism, the parishioner
ceased to be thirled in conscience to the priest of his parish.
Their lives were not spent "far from life's tumults, thinking
of nought but bliss beyond the skies." They were essentially
men of action, employing their energies in many directions,
and delivering their impassioned sermons in the Scots
vernacular," now in the churches, now in the market squares,
and now in the fields. We have seen them as missionaries
in the highlands, perishing in the combat with the plague,
and taking an active interest in the welfare of the poor ;
while their scholarship and practice of medicine, as then
understood, only require to be mentioned as a commonplace
of history, illustrated in this country by the number of Con-
ventual Friars who were graduates of the University, and by
the educational machinery maintained at St. Andrews and
Edinburgh by the Observatines. Well-founded objection

^ St. Francis shewed that life in the world was not incompatible with a reli|,nous
life. But the Decretals present the contemporary conception of a religious life —
"a monk cannot live outwith his cloister without sin any more than a fish can live
out of water." The author of St Francis to Dan/e (p. 3), aptly illustrates the
material surroundings which compelled the Mendicants to congregate in friaries —
" The cloister tho' only half a refuge, was the only refuge for the soul imbued with
religion ; society has now grown sufficiently decent to render retirement almost or
quite unnecessary." Vide Analogous development of the Regular Third Order,
infra, p. 388.

^ Their sermons were always delivered in the vernacular. It was only when
intended for publication that they were translated into Latin in order to preserve
their literary form.

CHAP. VI.] THE FRIARS AND THE REFORMATION 115

must also be taken to the description of the friary as a
genial warren where the ruined oambler, the rake, the family
outcast, the unfortunate litigant and the rascally ignorant
stable boy,

"Shav'd by a father in a cowl's disguise,
Becomes at once a prophet, learned and wise,"^

were made welcome. Again, the skilful state of confusion
which Buchanan effects between the friars and the churchmen
inevitably results in a series of inaccuracies, which, when
disproved, destroy the point of scores of lines. The friar
is unknown to us " in full robes and o-oroeous vesture drest."
He possessed no " rich domains," a fact which may be
controlled from the trifling acreage of the lands attached to
the various friaries, as well as from the statement of
his pupil in this school of attack." Nor did he enjoy vast
revenues produced by tithes and annual rents.^ "They
never rested until they had cast aside the cowl and twisted
belt for the regal mitre and imperial pride," seems ill
supported by the fact, that from 1231 to 1560 only one Grey
Friar was elevated to a bishopric in Scotland.* Franciscan
architecture in Scotland had also little in common with
"temples grand and stately mansions," "the majestic spire,"
" the cloud capt temple and the lofty fane " ; while the simple
surroundings in which "they crammed their paunches and
swilled the sparkling wine" are changed into "palaces that
almost reach the sky." The customary drink of sour beer
seems strangely transformed when we read that they quaffed
their " wine from bright gold and gems " ; and the " spoliation
of the robber " is inconsistent with the course pursued by the
Edinburgh friar, who secured the restitution of the royal
plate. His duty as a citizen did not conflict with his duty as

^ In regard to the Conventuals, reference may be made to the admission of
George Hugo, and the refusal to admit the pauper, John Fleming, to the Friary at
Haddington (pp. 184-85) ; while, in regard to the Obscrvatincs, the catalogue of
names suggests no such slate of mailers.

^ .Sir Thomas Craig, iiifnt, p. 126.

•' The permanent endowments from laymen and churchmen in the possession
of the sixteen Franciscan Friaries did not produce /^200 Scots per annum :
infra^ p 140.

* ^upra, p. 31.

ii6 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. vi.

a confessor ; the anonymity of the thief was preserved ; and
the pledgee received the sum of ^20 Scots in return for the
plate. The culminating and the gravest charge is, that the
friars used the confessional as a means of general spoliation —
"confession is an ever fertile field" — and freely divulged the
knowledge which they acquired there. This charge will be
more profitably considered in relation to the statements of
Sir Thomas Craig ; and, for the moment, it is sufficient to
say that it absolutely conflicts with the high reputation which
the friars enjoyed as confessors. The statutes of the Order
forbade the imposition of a pecuniary penance in which the
confessor or his friary could have any interest ; and the dis-
interestedness of the friar confessor was common knowledofe
in those days, when the phrase — "to be worse off than an
Observant if one could not accept a gift from a friend " ^
— almost attained the dignity of a proverb. " My opinion,"
writes the adviser of the Archduchess Dona Juana, "is that
your Highness should not confess except to a friar who lives
according to the rules of his convent, who has not a pin of
his own and to whom your Highness cannot give anything
nor show him favour, but only to the convent in which he
lives, which ought to be of the Observant Friars. Such friars
as those who live in a convent of the Observant Friars will
give good account to God of your soul."^ Lindsay and
Henryson are no less explicit. The impersonal character of
the friar, who was identified with no particular locality, and the
confidence which the parishioner experienced on entering the
friary confessional, were almost the Franciscan raison d'etre?
The palliative of Buchanan's grossness lies in his adher-
ence to the humanistic school, which introduced the hideous
fashion of selecting as its models the literary forms of ancient
Rome, in order to indulge in these brutal scurrilities ; but
the extent to which the practice was utilised by him, and his
only too apparent zest in such compositions, are a grave
blemish in the career of one who ranked amonof the greatest
scholars of his day. Poets have found their highest ideals

1 Henry VIII. S. P., XIII. 78. Sir Thomas Andeley to Thomas Cromwell.
" Cnl. S. P. (Spanish), Supp. Vols. I. and II. p. 51.
^ Confessor ignotusj infra, pp. /\z-2-'i2)

CHAP. VI.] THE FRIARS ANB THE REPOilMATION 117

in woman ; Buchanan offers as his contribution the two
erotic odes on the "Shameful, shameless Leonora" and
" Neoera." It cannot be doubted that these women never
existed ; but the apology only intensifies the general want of
respect that the Humanist entertained for women/ In a
similar manner, Franciscantis fills in the masculine side of
his imaginative pictures. As then understood, these dreadful
writings were regarded as simple jeux d'esprit^ or mere
"intellectual exercises" in Romanesque versification ; and as
such they might well be accepted, were it not that they form
the basis of an historical tradition now defended as absolute
evidence against the Franciscan Order.

When we turn to the perplexing variations introduced
into Buchanan's three accounts of the circumstances sur-
rounding the composition of Franciscanus, little doubt
remains as to his genius for invention, and the resulting
inadmissibility of the poem as historical evidence. He was
the sole authority for this mysterious incident passed over by
his contemporaries ; so that the Autobiogi'aphy, The History
of the Reformation,^ and the letter of Sir Thomas Randolph
to Master Peter Young on \^th March 1579, successfully
baffled disproof of the glaring improbabilities contained in
the Dedication to the Earl of Moray, until the recent
publication of Buchanan's Defence before the Portuguese
Inqidsition in 1550-155 1 furnished important clues to the
evolution of the poem.'* In the Dedication of 1564, the

^ In his Detectio against Mary Stuart, the same manner of writing is to be
observed. It matters httle whether Mary was guilty or innocent, there can be no
excuse for his wanton language. A recent writer says: "And the kindest view
to take of the episode is that Mary was to his imagination as unreal a personage
as the shameful, shameless Leonora herself." Mr. Charles Whibley, BlackwooiVs
Mag., August 1906.

-"The bestial riljaldry which our ancestors seem to have taken for wit."
Ilallam, Lit. Hist., IV. 317.

^ I. 71. Knox narrates Buchanan's imprisonment as a result of Franciscan
intrigue ; but he ignores the poems as conlriljuting to it.

■• George Bucliattnn in the Lisbon Inquisition : The Records of his Trial, by
Guilherme J. C. Henriques, Lisbon, 1906. Quoted \nixo.. Inquisition Records. In
spite of this publication, the traditional account of the composition oi Frnnciscdnus
is maintained in George Ruchanan, A Memorial, 1 506-1906 (St. Andrews), p|).
4', 54, 58, 145, and 433. At page 383 the new evidence is distorted so as to make
Buchanan refer to the Soninium, the J'alinodia and Franciscnniis before thr
Inquibitiun in 1550. li ib nut bu bUlcd un the lirbl payc of the Inquisition Rewrds,

ii8 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. vi.

satirist frankly disavowed sincerity as incompatible with his
personal feelings towards the Franciscans/ and assumed the
role of honourable victim. The royal disapproval of the
friars appeared as natural in relation to the supposititious
events of 1 537-1 539, as it was acceptable to the Earl of
Moray in 1564, when Franciscan hypocrisy was axiomatical,
and their Machiavellian diffusion of slander and thirst for the
blood of heretics were equally certain of credence. A
credible account of his disgrace at the Scottish Court in 1539
was thus replaced by mere abuse of Cardinal Beaton and of the
Franciscans, who would have been more than human had they
withheld their disfavour from the author of the Somnium or
the Palinodia, and failed to exact the recognised price for the
presumptuous attack of an opponent without influence at
Court. But from the Inquisition Records, we gather that the
amount of "correction," alleged to have been bestowed upon
Franciscanus in 1564, should have been described as the task
of original composition in surroundings that secured complete
impunity to the lampoonist, now privileged to parade his
sufferings as the author of the minor poems, known to us as
the Somnium and the Palinodia. Incidentally, there is
occasion to observe that the hopes of preferment entertained
by the self-constituted "avenger of the public wrong" were
dashed through his failure to distinguish between courtly levity
and an inherent respect for the Order from which James V.
chose his confessor. This Tyrant, the alleged instigator of
these luckless pasquinades, approved the legitimate satire of Sir
David Lindsay upon ecclesiastical discipline ; but he shewed
no mercy to the spiteful jests of the Somnium and the
Palinodia, and so, in later days,^ their author selected Cardinal
Beaton as the purchaser of his life from the ungrateful patron.
Nay more, Buchanan never was imprisoned in his own country,
as Baelius^ shrewdly suspected centuries ago ; nor did he meet

and neither the first nor second defence conveys the slightest hint of James'
abnormal desire for successive satires against the Franciscans.

^ " There is nothing in Buchanan here of the prophet's or reformer's fulness of
soul or their burning consciousness of a divine cause." Prof. Hume Brown, p. 96.

2 Autobiograpliy.

^ He probably observed the inconsistency in Buchanan seeking safety in flight
after he had been condemned to exile.

CHAP. VI.] THE FRIARS AND THE REFORMATION 119

the Cardinal a^ain In Paris "animated with the o;reatest
animosity against him." That arch-enemy of Reason
shunned the heat of Paris during August and September
1539/ and it is questionable if the exile passed through the
French capital on his journey to Bordeaux, where he received
an offer from Andrew de Gouvea some time after his arrival
in the month of September." As Bishop of Mirepoix, Beaton
was indifferent to the fate of the heretic who had eluded
his grasp in Scotland, and used so little influence with the
inquisitors of France, that the Humanist taught in the
Cardinal's College at Paris in 1544 after he had again
embroiled himself with the Religious Orders, this time
of Gascony, during his residence in the French Dundee.^
Lastly, the relentless evidence of this record completely
exonerates the Franciscans from any share in his persecution
abroad. They were not even asked to communicate the
nature of his poem against them. His trial proceeded upon
evidence collected in Paris by the Licentiate Braz d'Alvide
and by an Augustine, Friar Duarte. The leading witnesses
were Dominicans, and the procurement of the whole pro-
ceedings was largely due to the ill-will of Diogo de Gouvea
and a Dominican Friar, Joam Pinheiro, whose enmity
Buchanan had incurred in return for a public scourging at
Bordeaux and ill-timed jests at his hypocrisy in taking the habit
of his Order.^ A certain amount of hearsay evidence was
brought forward by these witnesses concerning the Scottish
heresy of 1539, so that the quick-witted Scotsman easily
discounted rumour.^ He mocked his judges with a transla-
tion of an old Scots epigram, and with an account of an
imaginary Palinodia — " which cast no reflection on the
Christian Religion " and contained an express protest that,
" acjainst the Order or the Good Franciscans of former times,"

» Henry VIII. S. P., XIV. i. No. 1237 ; XIV. ii. Nos. 92, 167, 59^, 684.

- Inquisition Records^ p. 25. In the Dedication Buchanan asserts that lie
received the invitation in Paris.

^Bordeaux is described as " llie perdition of all Gascony" by Dioyo de
Gouvea.

■* Inquisition Records, pp. 14-15, 43-44, x-

* He excused a poem against the Franciscans to John TIT of Portugal l^eforc
acccpliiiy the [josl at Coinibra in 1547.

t2o GENERAL HISTORY [chap. vi.

he had said nothing. The objects of his attack were the
dissolute members of the Order who had brolcen away from
the ancient rule.^ Truly, in adopting a naive attitude of
honest doubt, until the balance definitely inclined towards the
dogma of Rome ; in appealing with the full simplicity of
innocence to Papal Bulls that had never issued from the
Chancery;^ in swearing upon the Holy Gospels that he had
confessed to a Franciscan priest before he obtained the
Plenary Indulgence promised by this fictitious instrument;^
and in fabricating Scottish history with which to impart con-
viction to a phrase,* George Buchanan handsomely redeemed
the reputation of Scottish humour, when brought before that
dread tribunal, the Inquisition at Lisbon. No jest was too
elaborate. But there was no mention of Franciscaims, his
supreme jest against the Church ; and rumour of its impeach-
ment of Religion could not have been confined to Scotland
during that eventful decade. The Palinodia were mere
burlesque concerning the Franciscans alone ; and so the
butcher, Jerome Oleaster, treated the scholar with the
utmost kindness in this, the gravest crisis of his life,^

A collation of the following accounts may convince the
reader of the manner in which Franciscaniis has been imposed
upon posterity by the parade of royal authority.

^ Inqtiisition Records, p. 24. 2 /^/^_ pp_ ^^ jo, 37, 38.

3 Ibid. pp. 7 and 8.

•* e.g. the second visit of James V. to France.

^ Inquisition Records, pf. xix. Considering the friendship which subsisted
between Buchanan and Montaigne, it may be more than a literary coincidence
that the essayist should have concealed his attack upon the Church behind similar
extravagant protestations of conformity. The real meaning of Montaigne's essays
was only discovered a century later when they were placed upon the Index
Expiirgatorius.

CHAP. VI.] THE FRIARS AND THE REFORMATION

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CHAP. VI.] THE FRIARS AND THE REFORMATION 123

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124 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. vi.

The date and character of the Soniniuni and the role
attributed to James V. are the outstanding inconsistencies
revealed by this collation ; and they are rendered more
apparent by such minor points as the dates of Buchanan's
departure from Scotland and of his arrival in Paris and
in Bordeaux, the reasons for his quitting Bordeaux, his
unfortunate jests at the expense of Friar Pinheiro, and the
total absence of any reference to so important a poem as
Franciscanus in any of the depositions collected in Paris.
In regard to the implication of the Franciscans in the
conspiracy of the Master of Forbes, this imaginary plot^
served its purpose in effecting the judicial murder of the
Master, who was at enmity with his accuser, the Earl of
Huntly, and was cordially hated by James V. on account of
his Douglas relationship, if not also on personal grounds.^
As soon as Forbes had paid the penalty which he admitted
he deserved on other grounds, James' animosity was changed
into generosity towards his family ; and there is neither
probability nor the slightest positive evidence, beyond the
writings of Buchanan, to connect the Franciscans with this
act of private vengeance or with the crescendo of royal
indignation.^ Again, a scrutiny of the texts reveals the
false measure in this crescendo. In 1547* there was a poem
against the Franciscans. In 1550-1551 there was a transla-
tion of an epigram and a satire, sharper than was intended
and divided into two parts.'^ In 1564 and 1580 there was an
elegy, an ambiguous poem and a satire. But the epigram
of 1550 and the elegy and the ambiguous poem of 1564 are
one and the same poem — the Somninm. The satire (or
burlesque) is the Palinodia in which no ambiguity lurks ; and
Franciscanus, "a product of maturity,"*^ represents a final
edition of them all, adorned with a fictitious preface. The
Soinnium was an ambiguous or contradictory poem, incapable

^ Supported by a posthumous charge of treachery against Forbes during the
regency of the Duke of Albany.

2 Pitcairn, Criminal Trials, I. 1S3-185, 199-200, 206-207.

•"' " There is no reason to beHeve that they were in any way his accompHces.
Prof. Hume Brown, p. 92.

■* AutobiograpJiy. ^ i.e. Palinodia, I. and If.

" Prof. Hume Brown, p. 95.

CHAP. VI.] THE FRIARS AND THE REFORMATION 125

however of concealing its meaning from the meanest Latinist.^
Havino- as its model " How Dumbar wes desyrd to be
ane Freir," it transformed his inoffensive lines so as to
ridicule the friars by dwelling on the Christian virtues of
the bishops- — heaven is accessible to fezu hoods, it is scarcely
considered a place for monks; I lie, then search the ancient
temples and the honoured shrine of many a bishop zuill be
discovered, the monnment is rarely graven for the hooded flock?
A formal similarity with the original is preserved in the
opening- lines and in a judicious translation of several others.
Thus the lines — AlthoitgJi the Order stand for tmith, its
cloak does not suit Buchanan's shoulders ; the friar must be
prepared to serz'c, while he prefers his native libe^iy, — receive
pungent contradiction in those which follow — he who dons the
Franciscan cloak must wear a blush upon a brazen brow, aiid
manly modesty forbids us that ; he must deceive, wheedle and
for the moment act a part, but simplicity and a sirnple life is
the poet's choice. Finally, a translation of Dunbar's preference
for a bishopric tempers the violent tirade upon the inaccessi-
bility of heaven to the friar — who passes his day after the
manner of the indolent bricte beast,^ deluding himself that his

1 In his reply to the Inquisitors, Buchanan said that he answered St. Francis
that he could not take the habit on account of the asceticism practised in the Order
with fasts and scourgings, and that he would prefer to be of the Order of Bishops
because there were more Saints in the Church who were Bishops than Friars.
Suppressio veri ! As is well known, the mitre was currently described as the
passport to Hell.

2 Dunbar desired the mitre because, as he admits, he was unfitted to be a
Franciscan. Buchanan extolled the episcopal virtues with the purpose of dis-
crediting the friars, and in the Glasgoio (Juafcrcen/cnajy Studies this standard
of comparison has also been adopted in justification of Franciscanus as a satire
upon the Order.

•"' The friars were invariably buried within the friary precincts.
■* Com]iare the similarity in Glencairn's Ryiiie : —

"Our stait hypocrisie they (Lutherans) pryssc,

And us blaspheamis on this wyse,

Sayand, that we arc heretikes

And fals, loud, hand, mastif tykes ;

Cumerars and qucUars of Christes kirk,

Sueir swongeouris that will not wirk

]5ut ydclie our living wynncs

Dc\ouring wolves into siieip skynnes

Hurkland with huides into our neck."

Knox, lt'of/:s, 1. 73.

126 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. vi.

mtgae aethereae will ivin him entrance to the inner chamber, —
and brings the poem to a characteristic close^7c^//^ rejoices in
being miserable, let him don this cloak, but if my safety touches
you so nearly, or if yon wish me well and care for my soul, let
any other prottd ??tan that pleases beg in this cloak ; but give to
me the mitre and the purple gown. Clearly, "those insolent
fathers " would take it ill to be thus mocked ; and when a
second flood of ridicule assailed them from the same pen in
the autumn of 1538, it can occasion no surprise that they
made a successful appeal to the Protector of their Order, and
by " the usual charge respecting religion " silenced their
detractor, in whom the leaven of Humanism was scarce
distinguishable from that of Lutheranism.

Sir Thomas Craig of Riccarton, in the Jus Feudale^ has
formulated another charge against the friars. It is a more
serious accusation than the allegations of Franciscamis, by
reason of the personality of its author, and the two specific
cases to which he refers in the body of this sweeping
indictment :

" Concerning the Friars Minor, there is no question ; professing,
indeed, a simulated piety, they had no lands or estates, but they
became very rich by interfering with wills under the pretext of piety, and
from a zeal born of a silly piety. This was discovered after the un-
fortunate battle of Flodden ; for those who were leaving to fight were
threatened with every kind of evil unless they made confession to, and
received absolution from, the Friars Minor. Notwithstanding, they
entrusted to them all their money, muniments and everything of value
which they possessed, expecting that, if they fell, those to whom they
were entrusting them in all good faith would restore them to their
children. But these, instead of responding to the trust reposed in them,
applied the goods of those who fell in the battle to the purchase of
land and the construction of a church and monastery for the men of
their Order. And the same thing happened at the battle of Pinkie." ^

Passing over the patent exaggeration of the Scottish army
confessing en masse to the Franciscans, and of the trembling
penitents entrusting their title-deeds and plate to their care,
it is surprising that no protest was raised against this flagrant
scandal for upwards of eighty years, and that it should be Craig,
and not Sir David Lindsay, John Knox or George Buchanan,

^ Completed 1603, published in 1655. "^ Jus Feudale, p. 122 ; Ed. 1722.

CHAP. VI.] THE FRIARS AND THE REFORMATION 127

who gives the only account of it. In a subsequent chapter^
the reader will have occasion to observe that it was a general
custom among the laity to entrust their documents and valu-
ables to the friars for safe-keeping. This practice continued
uninterruptedly until the Reformation ; and the complete silence
of our judicial records clearly indicates that this general charge
of malversation was apocryphal. In the first place, it is
more than strange that an erudite feudalist like Sir Thomas
Craig, the forerunner of Stair and Erskine, should credit a
tradition which implied that the friars could acquire a market-
able title to heritable property without the consent of the heir
of their fallen patron. Mere possession of the ancestor's
charter would be of little value to the friary disponee in a
competition with the heir ; and the three cases on record
affecting their custodiership of documents have no relation to
muniments entrusted to them by landholders " who fell in the
battle." In each of these cases the Warden was confronted by
two or more competitive claims ; and, therefore, in view of his
personal responsibility, he refused to surrender the document
in his possession without a warrant from the Lords of Council
ordering him to lodge it in the process.^ Turning from
negative to positive evidence, there are still graver doubts
concerning the veracity of Craig's statement. The charge is
a general one, and draws no distinction between the Con-
ventual and Observatine divisions of the Order, which were
entirely separate organisations. The last Conventual friary
was erected at Kirkcudbright in 1455-56, so that this
specific portion of the charge must refer to the Observatines
who founded one convent, their ninth and last, at Jedburgh
in the beginning of the sixteenth century. In regard to the
date of this foundation, no definite conclusion can be drawn
from the Bull of Erection, dated 31st January 1521-22, ^as delay
was a matter of ordinary occurrence in the Papal Chancery,
extending in the case of the Lanark Eriary to seventeen
years. The conflict is, therefore, narrowed down to that
between the statement of l^ithcr May — that the friary was

» e.i(. infra, p. 373-

- Narrative of the suits of the heirs of Cieorge Haithe ami Sibilla Cathcart,
infra, pp. 1S3-S4, 353-54.
^ Supra, ]). 61J.

128 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. vi.

founded in the year 15 13, in the beginning- of the reign of
James V., by the nobles of the southern parts of Scotland —
and the entry in the Treasurer's Accounts, which indicates a
gift of two barrels of beer to the "friars of Jedburgh"^ on
27th March 1505. These two dates might be harmonised
by the assumption that, while the friars had settled in Jedburgh
at a date prior to 1505, the friary itself was not erected until
the year 1 5 1 3 : ^ but it may at once be said that no Franciscan
house was erected in Scotland after the battle of Pinkie, and
the second part of Craig's charge is absolutely devoid of
foundation. A traditional grievance of ninety years' growth
was doubtless present in the feudalist's mind when he formu-
lated this charge. Such vague aspirations after the mythical
wealth of an ancestor have been the lawyer's friend in every
age ; and those who credit his allegation must perforce believe
that, within the short space of six months, the Order erected
a friary out of the proceeds of the clandestine sale of the silver
plate and other valuables entrusted to them.

The acquisition of wealth by testamentary robbery may
be considered in two aspects, permanent endowments and
legacies. During this period there were certain well-defined
distinctions between the Rules of the Observatine and
the Conventual Friars. The former professed a stricter
form of Franciscan discipline than the latter, in that
their proprietary instincts were controlled by the Exivi of
Clement V. which explicitly forbade the enjoyment of per-
manent sources of revenue, the acceptance of an inheritance
by an individual friar, and the prosecution of a lawsuit in
vindication of any proprietary rights by a friary. A legacy
might, however, be accepted by a Chapter, distinct from the
individual friar, provided that its substance did not contravene
the preceding conditions, and that it was bestowed in a licit
mode ;^ and, under the Merentur vestrae of Leo X., the Chapter

^ There were no Black Friars in Jedburgh.

^ The only case in which the date of erection can be completely controlled is
that of the Aberdeen Friary, which is given as 1470. The first friar reached
Aberdeen in 1461, the friary was in course of construction in 1469, the charter was
granted in the same year, and sasine followed in 1471.

^ That is, through a procurator or spiritual friend to be expended on behalf of
the friars.

CHAP. VI.] THE FRIARS AND THE REFORMATION 129

was permitted to accept gifts of sacred vessels, books and
church ornaments for the adornment of divine service, in as
much as these expressions of piety did not contribute to the
physical comforts of the friars. In the pre- Reformation
records, not a single ground annual can be traced to an
Observatine friary in Scotland, and the state of affairs
disclosed at the Reformation conclusively proves that these
friars had obeyed the letter as well as the spirit of their Rule
in this respect.^ Shortly after that event, the Collector of
Thirds compiled a return of ecclesiastical revenues, as repre-
sented by the rental value of the religious houses, the annual
rents in their possession, and the victual allowances payable
out of private lands ; and in the case of the friaries, the burghs
were in actual or contingent possession of these revenues in
virtue of Orders of the Privy Council and of Crown Charters
granted in their favour by Queen Mary and the Regent Moray.
Incidental to these returns, the Superiors of the houses were
called upon to give up detailed rentals, and this census of eccle-
siastical revenues was completed by the accounts of the intro-
missions of the buro^hs with the funds assior-ned to them for the
purposes specified in their charters." In each of these records
we find the annual rents or victual stipend of the Carmelites,
the Dominicans and the Conventual Franciscans, either in
detail or acro-reo-ate ; but we seek in vain for a sinole infraction
of the Observatine Rule.^ The legacy of the Observatines to

^ Abbot Gasquet deduce^ the poverty of the English Friars from the trifling re-
sources in their possession at the suppression of the friaries. One of his critics repHed
that this evidence merely shewed that the friars spent their income each year, and
had alienated their permanent sources of revenue in anticipation of the Reformation.
In regard to Scotland, this criticism would apply to the expenditure of casual charity
and the income that might be derived from ground annuals ; but it docs not apply to
the possession of ground annuals, whether constituted over landward or burgage pro-
perty. In the former case, they were not transmissible against heirs unless mortified
in a charter of confirmation or registered. That record is now in our possession.
In the latter case, the magistrates had cognisance of their existence, because their
participation was necessary to the constitution, transmission and extinction of the
annual rents {e.g. Haddington Writs, infra, II. pp. 1 1-35) ; and a perfect example of
their complete control over ground annuals from burgage property is offered in the
cases of the Franciscan Friary at Dundee and the Dominican Priory in Edinburgh,
which can now be controlled from four independent record sources.

2 MS. Rental of Chaphiinrics, G. R. H., laid before the Lords Commissioners
in August 1573 in compliance with an order of the General Assembly.

^ Vide Edinburgh Friary, infra, pp. 274-76.

130 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. vi.

the new Church was the ruined buildings and their sites,
which were apphed to such pubHc purposes as burgh hospitals,
churches, courts of law and graveyards/ To take one ex-
ample. In Perth, the Collector of Thirds obtained possession
of Dominican annual rents producing ^60 yearly, but entered
nothing against the Observatines ;" and, in 1569, after the
burgh received a conveyance of the ecclesiastical revenues
for the maintenance of its hospital, the accounts compiled
by the Hospital Masters conclusively prove that the Observa-
tines had owned no permanent endowments and that their
sole legacy to the poor of Perth was a sum of ^8 received
from the Town Council for the use of the Grey Friary yards as
a public cemetery.^ In the case of Jedburgh alone no record
of the revenues has been preserved : but in the remaining
seven burghs in which the Dominicans and Observatines
were settled, we have an exact repetition of the state of
matters disclosed in Perth as regards the annual rents/ In
comparison with their brother Mendicants, the Observatines
took little heed for the future/ They lived from day to day
on the produce of their glebes, and on the gifts in kind
received from the Exchequer, the burgh authorities, the
burgh guilds, the clergy, or their friends and supporters in
the district ; and food alone was accepted in those cases
where the lay brothers hired themselves out as servants.
In short, a persistent avoidance of the "detestable touch"
of money sharply differentiated the Observatines from the
other Mendicants, who detracted from the picturesque aspect
of seraphic poverty by accepting a more radical modification
of the vow of poverty. This feature may be observed in
every phase of their history from the day when the Observ-

^ Aberdeen, Ayr, Elgin, Edinburgh, Perth.

^ MS. Accounts, annis 1561-62.

2 " MS. Compt of Oliver Peblis and John Davidson, Maisters of the Hospital of
Perth 1574-75)" preserved in Rentals a7id Accounts of Religious Houses., G. R. H. ;
MS. Excerpts Hospital Accounts, Adv. Lib., Edinburgh ; Dr. Milne, Black Friars
of Perth, pp. 266-276.

* Vide comparative table, infra, p. 140.

^ This was quite in accordance with the injunction of St. Francis, which was
modified by Clement V. so as to permit the friars to hoard provisions in granaries
or storehouses if experience had shown that such an expedient was necessary.
Exivi, cap. 14.

CHAP. VI.] THE FRIARS AND THE REFORMATION 131

ance took its rise at Brogliano. In testamentary charities
they did accept small gifts of money ; but there were occa-
sions in which this characteristic was emphasised by the pious
testator, who bequeathed a boll of meal or other measure of
victual to the Observatine Chapter, while the legacy to the
Black Friary was expressed in money. In the Excheqtier
Rolls the distinction is again all but absolute. From the
earliest times, the Conventual Franciscans and the other
Mendicants received the royal alms in money ; while
those o-ranted to the Observatines were o'iven in kind,
such as chalders of barley and wheat, barrels of salmon,
herrinof, or similar commodities.^ In the case of Stirlinor
alone, this victual stipend was supplemented by a pecuniary
allowance of ^13; and it was only after 1543 that
the other friaries received an annual donation varying
from £^ to ^20, known as the Regent's alms.^ How-
ever, in relation to formal observance of the Rule, it
must be added that these payments were not made to the
friars themselves. The theory of poverty required that
the money should be given to laymen or churchmen
who constituted themselves intermediaries between the
Franciscan conscience and the exigencies of commerce ;
and thus our central records distinguish the Observatines
from the other friars in repeated references to laymen as "pro-
curators," "factors," or " provisioners of the Friars Minor,"
and to churchmen who " laid down money on behalf of the
friars."^ The Spartan character of the refectory fare and
general conditions of friary life were mollified to some extent
during the sixteenth century. Nevertheless, the scrupulous
observance of the formalities demanded of the Observatines

^ In the histories of the friaries, it will be observed that the Conventual Friars,
like the Dominicans, received cither a Crown Charter or Precept as the infcftmcnt
of their pecuniary allowance, and this instrument served as sufficient mandate to
the Auditors or in those cases where a suit was brought against defaulting Sheriffs.
With the doubtful exception of the royal Friary at Stirling, the Observatine grants
from the Crown were not so secured. Consequently, payments were made in
terms of precepts, often renewed from year to year, to the great inconvenience of
the friars, who were repeatedly informed by the Auditors that future payments
would be refused in the absence of a formal infeftment. Exch. Rolls, passim.

- Payments of those alms arc recorded in the cases of Edinburgh, Stirling and
Perth, but the defective condition of the Exchequer Rolls must be borne in mind.

^ In i)articular, Stirling, Glasgow and Edinburgh, itifra, pp. 370, 345, 284.

132 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. vi.

in conveyances of land,^ and the habitual resort to spiritual
friends,^ clearly indicate that reasonable modification of the
ideal was not followed by indifferent discipline among them.
If, then, there be any truth in the feudalist's allegation, that
testamentary charities were wheedled from laymen by the
Observatines, these charities were never expressed in the form
of annual rents or annual grants of victual from private lands ;
and the pecuniary legacies bequeathed to them were not
applied to the purchase of those rents, as was the custom among
the Conventuals. In conclusion, it is not unprofitable to contrast
the statement of Father Hay with that of John Knox, their
arch-enemy. He says : " Although in accordance with the Rule
of the Blessed Father Francis, a three-fold manner of living
is permitted to the friars — the proceeds of liberal offerings,
humble mendicity, or the wages of their manual labour — the
first mode of sustenance produced such plenty and abundance
that they seldom resorted to the two others to obtain the
necessaries of life. Hence, they had neither granaries nor
cellars.^ They lived solely upon the daily alms of the King,
of the princes, bishops, lords and people of the realm, and
such was the abundance in which they were everywhere
given — even in the last days when Religion was tottering to
its fall — that the Wardens of the convents were compelled to
return much of the proffered alms to those from whom they
had been received." As this chronicler became an inmate of
the Friary at Stirling in 1 551, he refers to a state of things
contemporary with that thus described by Knox at Perth :
"The first invasioun was upoun the idolatrie ; and thareafter
the commoun people began to seak some spoile ; and in verray
deid the Gray Freiris was a place so weall provided, that
oneles honest men had sein the same, we wold have feared
to have reported what provisioun thei had. Thare scheittis,

^ Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow, irtfra, pp. 310, 272, 344.

2 In a general statement, Father Hay says "so perfect was the system of
providing for their needs through friends that money never entered into their
thoughts."

^ This statement must be accepted with reserve ; and, in the absence of definite
evidence to the contrary, Perth may be considered as the standard of the average,
except during periods of famine and plague. Cf. Edinburgh, Dundee and
Dumfries, infra, pp. 273, 223, 476,

CHAP, VI.] THE FRIARS AND THE REF0R:\IATI0N 133

blancattis, beddis and covertouris wer suche as no Erie in
Scotland hath the bettir ; ^ thair naiprie was fyne. Thei wer
bot awght personis in convent, and yitt had viij punscheonis
of salt beaff (considder the tyme of the yeare, the ellevint
day of Maij), wyne, beare and aill, besydis stoare of victuallis
effeiring thareto. The lyik haboundance was nott in the
Blak Frearis,^ and yitt thare was more then becam men pro-
fessing povertie. The spoile was permitted to the poore ;
for so had the preacheouris befoir threatned all men, that for
covetousness saik none shuld putt thare hand to suche a
Reformatioun that no honest man was enriched thairby the
valew of a eroate."^ This statement constitutes Knox's
entire indictment of Franciscan wealth. Conventual or Observ-
atine ; and, when stripped of its rhetorical embellishments
— his professed fear of not being believed and the comparison
with the possessions of a Scottish Earl — it is not inconsistent
with the preceding. His charge is that they were in posses-
sion of some good bedding and napery, eight puncheons of
salted beef and other victuals, and some wine, beer and ale.*
We know that one noble lady did bequeath her bed linen to the
infirmary of the Friary in Ayr,^ and Knox invites comparison
with Dunbar in his description of life at the Stirling Friary —

" O ye heremeitis and handkersaidilis,
That takis your pennance at your tablis,
And eitis nocht meit restorative,
Nor drynkis no wyn confortatiue
Bot aill and that is thyn and small." ^

In harmony with this description of the friary fare, it
is only natural to find that the records ^ afford ample proof

^ The garnishing of Cardinal Beaton's dinner-table in 1 544 is similarly described
— "such aboundance of wyne and victualis besydis the other substance that tlic
lyik riches within the lyik boundis was tiott to be found 7iyihcr in Scotland nor
England." Knox, Works, I. 120-121.

^ Vide Comparison between the Observatines and Dominicans of Perth,
infra, p. 302. ^ Knox, I. 322.

* On the morning of 14th May 1543 several of the townsmen sacked the Black
Friary and carried off the "grate kettill" in which the friars' breakfast was being
cooked. The liistorian of the Black Friars of Forth aptly describes the procession
lliiouyh the; town headed by this kettle as "a sort of advertisement ot tin-
conventual liixiny and a call to make free with the stores which the liiarshad
long been accumulating." Ur. Milne, pp. xxx and 229.

^ Infra, p. 358. " Dunbar's Poems, Scott. 'ic.\t Soc. ed., U. n::-

" Treasurer's Accounts, Stirling Friary.

134 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. vi.

of the fact that James IV. found it necessary to make exten-
sive contributions to their larder, to enable the friars to extend
hospitality to those who visited the friary ; and it will be also
noticed that Knox makes no reference to money or other
signs of wealth — there was none for the rascal multitude to
steal — and therein the Earl of Glencairn echoes the statement
of his friend Knox —

" Your Ordour handles na monye ;
But for uther casualitie
As beiff, meill, butter, and cheiss,
Or quhat that we have that ye plese,
Send your Brethern, et habete
As now nocht elles, but valeteT^

The opportunity for disclosure of evidence of wealth or of
the existence of profligacy among the friars was appropriate,
and would have furnished a much more reasonable ground for
the destruction of the friary than the recital of bedding and
puncheons of salt beef. It is also remarkable that, in these
respects, there is no further invidious comment in Knox's
writings resrardine the other friaries or their inhabitants. It
is impossible to deny his knowledge of the current opinion
regarding the conduct of the friars ; but his silence is complete
and honest.

The finances of the Conventuals were governed by more
liberal laws. Like the Dominicans and Claresses, whose
rules were modelled on that of the Franciscans, the
Conventuals accepted modification to the extent of providing
for their necessary and useful purposes in the present and
the future. Consequently, the Bull of Concordance,^ which
finally differentiated the Observatine from the Conventual,
homologated the existing privileges by its sanction to the
acceptance of annual rents or inheritances and the sale of
disjoined friary lands.^ In the absolute sense, therefore, the
Conventual Friars cannot claim to have observed the Rule in
its strict interpretation ; but, in relation to Craig's accusation,
we are only concerned with the wealth that they acquired and

1 Knox, Works, I. 75. ^ Omnipotens Dciis, 15 17.

3 The Scottish Observatines acquired no land other than their composite
glebes.

CHAP. VI.] THE FRIARS AND THE REFOR^VIATION 135

with a comparative estimate of it. That is, they may have
been good Franciscans, within the limits of their vow, if the
Order represented the poor clergy of the Church and approxi-
mated more nearly to the ideal of poverty than the other
brotherhoods who professed it in an equally modified form. The
wealthiest Franciscan friary in Scotland was that of Dundee,
while that of Edinburgh took precedence in the Dominican
Order. In each case, an apt illustration of their permanent
revenues can be offered with confidence from unimpeachable
sources.'^ Dundee was the Conventual capiU provinciae. It
possessed no original endowment fund of greater or less
magnitude, as did the parish church and other secular founda-
tions in the town. In contrast with the variety of legal
sources of revenue enjoyed by the parish clergy, as such, it
had a mere/V^i" successionis through the indefeasible right of
each Conventual Friar in his family's goods,^ unless the son at
the close of his noviciate had formally abandoned his prospect-
ive share, in consideration of an immediate payment to the
friary Chapter by way of a pious premium on his acceptance
within the brotherhood.^ The value of this source of revenue
is purely speculative ; although we may assume that it was
more prolific than would have been the case if the entrants
were of no higher social standing than stable-boys, ruined
litigants and gamblers or the undesirable residue of humanity,
as Buchanan would have us believe. Tithes, the uppermost
cloth, the best beast and other perquisites derived from
baptisms and marriage were by law excluded from the friary
exchequer.* There was no discipline of the Church to compel

^ MS. Rental of the Hospital 0/ Dundee ; MS. Accoittits of iJie Collectors and
Sicb-Collectors of Thirds, 1561-89, and of the City Collector of Kirk Rents, Edin-
burgh ; Rental of Prior Bernard Stewart, MS. Books of Assumption, 1561. Infra,
II. pp. 337-371, 377-379, 373-377.

^ e.g. Friar John, a Black Friar of Ayr, was served heir to his father and
thereafter granted an infeftment of his land to the Prior on behalf of the convent,
subject to the liferent of his grandmother {The Black Friars of Ayr, Ayr-
shire and Wigtonshire Archaeological Society). Vide also MS. Protocol Books
(Edinburgh), John Foular, I. f. 273, III. f. 267, where the Priory infeftment was
burdened by the liferent of the friar's sister and mother. An example of uncondi-
tional infeftment will be found, ibid., Vincent Strachan, III. f. 135.

^ The practice followed by Friar Hugo of Haddington may have been general,
and would not have l^ecn wholly at variance with the provisions of the Exiit and
Exi7>i, liial the Chapter might accept a small share of the goods of entrants pro-
vided that the gift was voluntarily made. '' Infra, p. 431.

136

GENERAL HISTORY

[chap. VI.

attendance at its mass or confession to its priests. And,
if the layman did elect to be buried within its precincts, the
parish priest received one-fourth of the funeral offerings made
to the friary, in recompense for this invasion of his monopoly
by the Franciscans and Dominicans.^ Deprived of these
lucrative sources, we find that the Friars of Dundee enjoyed
a revenue of no more than ^140 Scots, derived from every
source that can be considered permanent. Of this amount,
^54, 7s. 3d. was represented by annual rents, the earliest of
which dates from the middle of the fifteenth century, when
the acceptance of annual rents was explicitly permitted to
the Conventuals. The remainder was derived from three
annual payments of ^19, i8s. 4d. by the Exchequer, a chalder
of bear worth ^20 from the same source, and ^40 which
represented the annual value of the crop grown by their own
labour on their arable land.^ We also know that ^39, 12s. 4d.
of these annual rents were not the product of testamentary
robbery either before or after Flodden, as we are now in posses-
sion of the original charters or contracts, which prove that they
were special grants during the lifetime of the donor and distinct
from his or her testamentary disposition of property. From
the comparative point of view, the practical poverty of the
Conventuals receives further vivid illustration from the lengthy
list of annual rents gradually acquired by the chaplains of the
parish and other churches within the towns. In the case of
Dundee alone, the proportionate value of the burghal rents in
the possession of the friars in 1559 was as low as one to
twenty ; while, among the Mendicant Orders, the Red Friars
received six times as much as the Franciscans. The per-
manent revenues of the Dominicans far exceeded those of the
Franciscans. Thus in Edinburgh, in the leading Dominican

^ Franciscan statistics are here wanting, but it is probable that those of the
Dominican are equally applicable to the Franciscans. Between 20th June 1557 and
5th May 1559, the Black Friars of Perth buried in their cemetery or church 17 of
the laity, and received in return a sum oi £y, 12s. Scots. The amount received
for each funeral, including the expense of the customary procession, the mass and
the cost of a lair, varied from 3s. 4d. to ;^i. The funeral of a child with a lair in
the church cost 4s., that of Provost Methven's servant los., and the number of
burghers who buried their wives in the Priory is truly remarkable. Accounts of
Prior David Cameron, printed in Black Friars of PertJi.

^ Vide Revenues of Dundee, infra^ p. 233.

CHAP. VI.] THE FRIARS AND THE REFORMATION 137

Priory, the rental compiled by its last Superior, Bernard
Stewart, disclosed a money revenue of ^313, 14s, id} and
a victual stipend from private sources worth ^22, lis. 8d.
These figures appear insignificant in comparison with the
revenues of the regular houses ; but, when a proportionate
disparity is observed between the revenues of the remaining
Black and Grey Friaries " in this country, we possess a valuable
indication of the manner in which the two Orders interpreted
the ideal of poverty set before them by St. Francis and his
imitator St. Dominic. The Friary in Dundee sheltered a com-
munity of at least thirteen members at the end of the fifteenth
century ; and in view of its inadequate endowments their
dependence on casual charity is only too evident, whether in the
shape of food, of clothing fashioned by the needle of devout
women or paid for out of the royal exchequer,^ of offertories
given at the daily masses which occupied the brethren of
Dundee until noon, or of legacies which were indiscriminately
represented by gifts of money, books and victual. The
" Bishop's Charity," which amounted to the sum of four or
eight pounds annually to the brethren of Ayr, was a source of
revenue beyond reproach ; so that, in the last resort, the
Franciscans were essentially the poor clergy of the Roman
Church, both in land and endowments. Their services were
voluntary and they depended upon voluntary support. The
degree of this support exasperated the reformers because it
buttressed the stron^rest bulwark of the Church in Scot-
land ; and for three and a half centuries it has been the
fashion to point the finger of scorn at the Grey Friars,
as men of wealth sheltering behind the hypocritical cloak
of poverty. Professor Brewer has aptly remarked that
their sphere of work was envied by no other churchman.
Absolute poverty was the dream of an idealist; but the
resources of their wealthiest friary in Scotland will stand
the test of the severest examination from the absolute or
the comparative point of view, if we have knowledge ot fact
and for one instant apply the canons of historical criticism

' Exclusive of the rents p;i) ;i1j1c in tci ins of leases j^iantcd by llicni. J/-")'. />'i>oA
of Assu7)iption, 1561.

- Vide comparalivc table, at p. 140. ^ Exch. Rolis, 141I1 July I454-

138 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. vi.

to the fabric of prejudice that has been raised upon ex parte
statements.

Returning to the indictment framed by Sir Thomas Craig,
the degree of support which the Franciscans received from
inter vivos gifts does not fall within its scope ; but the fascin-
ation that their humble creed of poverty exercised over the
lay mind may be appreciated to some extent from the
Aberdeen Obititary} In regard to ino^dis cansa bequests the
accusation may be controlled in some detail from the frag-
ments of the Registers of Testaments of the three dioceses
which lend themselves to critical examination after the year
1 539-" Considering the high repute which the Observatines
enjoyed,^ it is not surprising to find that they received a much
larger share of testamentary charity than the Conventuals.
But in criticising these bequests, it is only just that the
personality of the donors should be considered. The clergy,
we may presume, were beyond the influence of a "zeal born
of silly piety." They were in a position to appreciate the
value of the work clone by the friars, and were not to be
coerced into purchasing absolution or extreme unction from a
friar priest, as Buchanan expressly asserts and Craig implies
was the custom at the deathbed of a layman. Midway
between the clergy and the laity were the members of the
Third Order, less independent than the Churchmen it is
true ; but their testamentary bequests merely accorded with
their deliberate sympathies during life. They correspond
to-day to the parishioner or church member who takes an
active interest in the affairs of his church, and contributes to
its revenues in a greater or less degree. Keeping these
distinctions in view, the forty-one legacies traced to the nine

^ Summary, infra, pp. 332-341.

2 MS. Commissariot of Dunblane, 1539 to 1547, and 1553 to 1558.
„ Glasgow, 1547 to 1555.

„ St. Andrews, 1549 to 12th December 1551.

Mr. Howlett's reference {M. F., II. xviii.) to the Register of the Norwich
Consistory Court, where every third will conveyed a gift to the friars, has no parallel
in Scotland. Moreover, with the exception of legacies of ^40, ;i^3o, ^10, ^10, 100
merks and two of 24 merks, the remaining legacies from laymen were invariably of
trifling value. Vide summary annexed to each friary.

^ The situation of their friaries in the large towns, as opposed to the smaller
towns and villages colonised by the Conventuals, also contributed to this disparity.

CHAP. VI.] THE FRIARS AND THE REFORMATION 139

Observatine friaries ^ show that the bequests of the Churchmen
amounted to ^181, 13s. 4d., four bolls of malt, two stones of
cheese and some books ; while the laity contributed ;^i9i, 15s.,
one load eight bolls of wheat, two bolls of barley and
eight bolls of meal." Thus, the testamentary charity of the
clergy was an exact counterpart of the liberal support which
they gave to the friary in yearly alms during their lifetime.
May it not be accepted as a striking testimony to a prevalent
belief in the bona fides of the friar and a practical recognition
of the value of his work ? The evidence is wholly unfavour-
able to the assertions of his traducers ; and it cannot fail to
bring the impartial mind into touch with the devout of by-
gone days, or to put another complexion upon the motives
which prompted them to erect a friary in their midst, to
furnish it with books, vestments and sacred vessels, and
to provide for the sustenance of its occupants. In an age
of vague accusations, that of Craig has taken high rank.
His authority, if such existed, is now a mystery, and the
grain of truth, which may have served as the basis of his
generalisation at the close of the sixteenth century, cannot
now be separated from the prejudice and exaggeration of his
indictment. The sixteen friaries in Scotland were the product
of voluntary support, and their maintenance depended entirely
upon the continuance of that support. The annual rents in
their possession did not produce an income of ^10 for each
friary ; and, were the legacies which they received from lay-
men many times more valuable and numerous than they
can now be ascertained to have been, the Order would still
have remained the poorest of the great brotherhoods in the
pre-Reformation Church in this country.

1 Only four legacies, all by Churchmen, to the Conventual Friars appear among
the 1070 legacies recorded in the three Registers as extant.

^ Ihe entries in the Aberdeen Obituary Calendar are incUulecl where they are
defined as legacies. An indefinite legacy of ^/^ico was given by the Earl of Moray
in 1540 to the Black I'riars, Grey Friars and poor of Elgin. The share allotted
to the Observatines is unknown. J/iJ'ra, p. t^Ci^.

I40

GENERAL HISTORY

[chap. VI.

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m-5

CHAPTER VII
THE FATE OF THE FRIARS

The Beggar's Warning — Politics in the Reformation — The subjective character
of the Reformation — The Greedie Askeris — Destruction of the Observatine
Friaries — Immunity of the Conventual Friaries — Alienations of land by the
Conventual Friars — Destination of their Friaries — The Pension allowed to
recanting Friars — Recipients of the Pension — The Conventuals and the
Observatines in the Reformation — Exile of the Observatines — Their settle-
ment in Holland, France and Germany.

The active campaign against the Mendicants was begun
in January of 1559, when the reformers affixed a summons
from the " whole Cities, Towns and Villages of Scotland" on
the doors of every friary in the Kingdom, demanding restitu-
tion for " wrongs by past," and the transference of the friaries
as "commodities of the Kirk."

" The BIynd, Cniked, Bedrelles, Wedowis, Orphelingis, and all uther Fiar, sa
viseit be the hand of God, as 7!iay not worke, To the Flockes of all Freires
within this Fealme, we wische Restitictioim of Wranges bypasf, and Re-
forfnatioitn in tyme cumiiig ; for Salutatioun.

" Ye yourselfes ar not ignorant, and thocht ye wald be, it is now,

thankes to God, knawen to the haill warlde, be His infallible worde, that

the benighitie or almes of all Christian pepill perteynis to us allanerly ;

quhilk ye, being hale of bodye, stark, sturdye and abill to wyrk, ciuhat

under pretence of povertie (and nevirtheles possessing maist easelie all

abundance), quhat throw cloiket and huided simplicitie, thoght your

proudnes is knawen, and quhat be feynzeit holines, quhilk now is declared

superstitioun and idolatrie, hes thir many yeirs, exprese against Godis

word, and the practeis of His holie Apostles, to our great torment,

(allace !) maist falslie stowen fra us. And als ye have, be your fals

doctryne and wresting of Godis worde (lerned of your father Sathan),

induced the hale people, hie and law, in sure hoip and beleif, that t()

cloith, feid, and nurreis yow, is the onlie maist acceptable almouss allowit

before God ; and to gif ane penny, or ana peice of bread anis in the

oulk, is aneuch for us. Evin swa ye have perswaded thame to bigge to

yow great Hospilalis, and manteyne yow thairin be ihair purs, (juhilk

I4>

142 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. vii.

onlie perteinis now to us be all law as biggit and dottat to the pure, of
whois number ye are not, nor can be repute, nether be the law of God,
nor yit be na uther law proceiding of nature, reasoun, or civile policie.
Quahirfore, seing our number is sa greate, sa indigent, and sa heavilie
oppressit be your false meanis, that nane takes care of oure miserie ; and
that it is better for us to provyde thir our impotent members, quhilk God
hes gevin us, to oppone to yow in plaine contraversie, than to see yow
heirefter (as ye have done afoir) steill fra us our lodgeings, and our selfis,
in the meintyme to perreis and die for want of the same. We have
thocht gude thairfoir, or we enter with yow in conflict, to warne yow, in
the name of the grit God, be this publick wryting, affixt on your yettis
quhair ye now dwell, that ye remove furthe of our said Hospitalis, betuix
this and the Feist of Whitsunday next, sua that we the onlie lawfull pro-
prietaris thairof may enter thairto, and efterward injoye thai commodities
of the Kyrk, quhilke ye have heirunto wranguslie halden fra us. Certify-
ing yow, gif ye failye, we will at the said terme, in haile number, (with
the helpe of God, and assistance of his Sanctis in eirthe, of quhais reddie
supporte we dout not) enter and tak possessioun of our said patrimony,
and eject yow utterlie furthe of the same.

"Zc?/ him thairfor that befoir hes stolkfi, steill na mair ; but rather let
him wyrk wyth his haftdes, that he may be helpefull to the pure.

" Fra the haill cities, townis, and villages of Scotland, the Fyrst day
of Januare 1558." ^

Within four days of the appointed time the crash came with
awful suddenness. The fateful day, nth May 1559, which
witnessed the destruction of the religious houses at Perth,
foreshadowed the doom of the ancient Church. During the
following year^ religion was subordinated to politics until, in
the Treaty of Edinburgh, the alien champions of the Scottish
reformers won their first victory in diplomacy over their time-
honoured rivals of France. The hatreds and suspicions that
rent the eldest daughter of the Church in this crisis did not
show themselves on the frontier in a glorious pro patria mori}
The Cardinal of Lorraine and the Due de Guise were the
sole representatives of the truly national policy, that had been
pursued by her kings, nobility and people to their evident
advantage for three centuries. Catherine de Medicis, the
erstwhile anglophile Due de Montmorency, and the supine
princes of royal blood paralysed the strenuous efforts of the
Regency to offer more than an opposition of despair to the
English designs on Scotland, that were to terminate in the

^ Knox, Works, I. 320-21. " Carlyle, Fre7ich Revolution.

CHAP. VII.] THE FATE OF THE FRIARS 143

dissolution of the " auld lyig and band." With that severance,
the balance of power in western Europe entered upon the
process of its remaking, and this country was deposed from
the position of pivot that she had occupied since England
withdrew her allegiance from the Holy See. The resultant
humiliation of Catherine de Medicis by Queen Elizabeth and
her advisers during two minorities, the nervous impotency of
Philip II. in the Netherlands, and the griefs of the Papacy
lie beyond the scope of Franciscan history in Scotland.
There, the abolition of the Mass by the Act of 24th August
1560 was the logical sequence of the Treaty of Edinburgh.
Meanwhile the English generals before Leith had been
unable to extract either men or supplies from the country so
long as the issue hung in the balance ; ^ but the timorous pre-
judice of the populace had been actively fanned by the leaders
of the revolution, who recognised that William Cecil and his
hesitating mistress were irrevocably committed to the ex-
pulsion of the French from Scotland. In this crisis of his
cause, the political sagacity of John Knox was only rivalled
by the sincerity of his convictions and the stimulating in-
fluence of his virulent rhetoric upon the smouldering discontent
of his partisans against the Church. Local manifestations
against the religious houses thus preceded the era of military
disaster and ineptitude before the walls of Leith with its
diminutive French garrison. Nevertheless, the nation was
more apathetic than in any preceding crisis in her history ;
and we seek in vain beyond the ranks of the new clergy for
any strenuous enthusiasm in the task of reconstruction. In-
dividual interests emerged, tempered by a sense of justice
towards the vested and personal interests of the old clergy,
despite the demand advanced by their successors for the
transference of the Church patrimony that had won them no
small measure of support in their recent crusade.^ The wells
of charity dried up. A horde of " unsaciabill and gredie

^ Bain, Cal. Scot. Pap., I. No. 553. Knox to Croft : "partly for lack of money,
partly as men have no will to hasard we can make no number — so as you tender
the cause, provide us with both men and money with all expedition."

2 Re(^. of Church Conventwn, pp. 30-31. Keith, Affairs of Church and S/<i/c\
It has been found impossible to ascertain whether the few annual rents in the
possession of the Conventual Friars were regularly paid ; but in the case of the

144

GENERAL HISTORY

[chap. VII.

askeris " ^ ousted the needy parish minister and his reader.
The noble, whose ancestor had been wont to endow his
favourite chaplainry for the celebration of masses for his
dead, either usurped the Kirk lands and tithes under a
variety of pretexts and titles ; or, with a greater semblance
of justification, he maintained that the annual rents were no
longer payable from his estate since they could not be devoted
to their primary purpose.^ The local laird was nothing loath
to absorb the trifling friary acres into his domain, in virtue
of the charter granted to him by the distracted Chapter during
the excesses of civil turmoil ; and his often generous contri-
butions to the refectory fare were rigidly withheld from the
representative of the new faith. The local authorities
o-rudgingly provided for the minister out of the potential
revenues at their command. On occasion, the maintenance
of the burgh hospital and poorhouse, rendered necessary by
the cessation of monastic charity,^ was considered of greater
importance than the increase of the parish stipend ; ^ and the
Crown grants of ecclesiastical properties within the burgh
were all too often restricted in extent by peculation, fraudulent
rentals or erants to some favourite at Court.^ The burgher
followed in the footsteps of his civic rulers. His first care
was the concealment of the burden upon his tenement. For
his building operations, the vacant friary became a con-
venient quarry from which he filched at will ; or he freely
accorded his approval to the erection of a new tolbooth,

Black Friars of St. Andrews it is clear that landholders had been withholding these
annual payments for some years prior to 1560. Three instances occur in the brief
rental given up by their Prior, John Grierson, in 1561 — 12 merks, 35 merks and
_£97 representing the accumulated arrears for three and five years. MS. Book of
Assumption^ Fife, 5th January 1561.

^ i.e. the greedy Court favourites ; Privy Cotincil Register, I. 478.

2 This contingency was not unfrequently provided for in Charters of Mortifica-
tion granted in the sixteenth century. A Franciscan illustration is furnished in the
endowment of twenty merks granted to the Friars of Dundee by John, Earl of
Crawford, on 15th April 1506. These conditions were almost invariably ignored
after 1560 ; but an exceptional case is furnished by the Freir Croft in Haddington,
which reverted to the heirs of the donor because the conditions of its tenure — the
prayers and suffrages of the friars — could no longer be fulfilled. Ljfra^ II. p. 68.

2 e.g. Dundee, infra, p. 227.

^ e.g. Dundee, 1573, iiifra, p. 236.

^ e.g. the friaries at Lanark and Kirkcudbright, infra, pp. 245, 255.

CHAP. MI.] THE FATE OF THE FRIARS 145

slaughterhouse and other pubHc buildings by the Town
Council from the same gratuitous source/ In vain the
Privy Council issued rescissory acts and fulminated extrava-
gantly expressed orders against this venality. Blench charters
of friary lands and rents nevertheless continued to be granted
to the mendicant favourites of the new reo-ime "^ from which
the constructive enthusiasm that had marked the advent
of the Mendicant Friars, and in particular that of the
Observatines, was strangely absent. Thus, the State Church
of Scotland entered upon a new phase of its activity,
shorn of its purely voluntary clergy and of the wealth that
had contributed so largely to its undoing. Its religion was
based on simpler, if more severe lines. Like the parochial-
mendicant system, it dominated the national conscience for
three centuries, until, in the Scottish Disruption, individualism
again reasserted itself, and, within the same circumscribed
limits of dogma, the parishioner finally vindicated his right
to select the ministrations of the pastor of his choice.

During the active period of the Reformation, Franciscan
history throws considerable light upon the political tactics of
John Knox and his associates, if not also upon the psychology
of the nation. The severest attack was directed against the
stoutest bulwark of the Church while the popular vision was
partially obscured by the fetish of national independence.
Contemporary record clearly indicates that the Observatines
represented the most healthy, the most disinterested, and, it
may be affirmed, the most popular phase of ecclesiastical
activity. In later years, the official chronicler of the Refor-
mation belittled the severity of this attack by focusing
attention upon its accidental character. The "poor people"
were made responsible for the actual destruction of the
friaries. Nevertheless, we cannot ifjnore the stranije coinci-
dence between the movements of their leaders and the sack
of the principal Observatine houses. How naive is the
narrative of the pillage at Perth. I'hc sermon was vehement
against idolatry. The interruption of the Mass by the
"young boy" was chastised in a manner wliolly consonant

^ In particular, Edinburgh, Lanark and Dundee.
- r.'^'-. KirkcudbriglU, Lanark, Aberdeen and Abcrdour.
10

146 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. vii.

with the period. Thereupon, in his anger, this youthful
demonstrator gave expression to the pent-up feehngs of
" certane godly men" standing beside him, "when he hyitt
the tabernacle and brack doun ane ymage," with a stone
he had presumably picked up in church. The innocent
attendance of those godly men at this Mass is unaccounted
for ; and, ere the chronicler indulges in his only attack upon
Franciscan wealth,^ we learn that the eight friars " had
within thame verray strong gardis keapt for thare defence."
" Yit war thare gates incontinent burst upe," not by the
gentlemen but by the " raschall multitude" that began to
seek some spoil. ^ A month later, Knox glories in the
stimulating influence of the sermon which he delivered in
St. Andrews, despite the pacific protests of the Lords. He
did " entreat of the ejectioun of the byaris and the sellaris furth
of the Temple of Jerusalem," and so paralleled the corrup-
tion of Christ's days to that which they saw in " the Paplstrle,"
that "alsweill the magistratis, the Provest and Bailies as the
communalitie for the most parte did agree to remove all
monuments of idolatrie, which also thay did with expeditloun." ^
As a matter of history, the Earl of Argyll and Lord James
expressly brought Knox with them and summoned others to
St. Andrews "for Reformation to be maid thair."* The
delivery of his first sermon was delayed for a week until
Sunday, nth June; and, in place of the ready response
attributed to the magistrates and burghers, harangues and
sermons occupied four days before the townsmen set their
hands to the task^ — "and so, that Sabboth, and three days
after, I did occupie the publlct place in the middest of
the Doctors, who to this day are dumbe."*^ At Stirling,
the poor were again singled out as the culprits. The
arrival of the Earl of Argyll and Lord James bent on
military operations was just anticipated by this " rascheall
multitude" that "put handis in the thevis, I should say,

^ Supra, pp. 132-33. 2 History of the Reformation, I. 321-22.

s Ibid. I. 349. * Ibid. I. 347.

* Vide St. Andrews, infra, p. 296. The state of the Observatine Friary
was described on 21st September 1559 as "the desolated ground and overthrown
buildings of the Convent of Friars Minor." MS. Inst, of Sasine, infra, II. p. 202.

^ Knox to Anna Lock, 23rd June 1559-

CHAP. VII.] THE FATE OF THE FRIARS 147

frearis places and utterlle distroyed thame."^ George
Buchanan's account of this incident is marked by greater
candour.^ The two Lords figure as the destroyers of the
friary and not as mere witnesses of the rabble's handi-
work ; while we learn from independent sources that the Earl
of Argyll and Alexander Erskine appropriated the Franciscan
and Dominican Friaries as their respective perquisites.^ At
Edinburgh, before the " sudden coming " of Knox and the
Lords from Stirling on 29th June, Provost Seton abandoned
the defence of the Black and Grey Friaries — for which purpose
he " did not onelie lye himself in the one every nicht, bot
also constrained the most honest of the town to wache those
monstouris to thair orreat o^reaf and truble"'* — and "left the
spoile to the poore who had maid havock of all such things
as was movable in those placis before our coming and had
left nothing bot bare wallis, yea, nocht so muche as door or
windlock ; wharthrow we war the less trubilled in putting
ordour to such places."^ In point of fact, the friaries were
destroyed on 28th June by the Earls of Argyll and Glencairn,
Lord James and Lord Ruthven ; * but the controversy con-
cerning this date cannot obscure the role of these Lords in
the sack of the friaries, as the Diurnal is confirmed by
Buchanan.^ The Friary at Glasgow was probably destroyed
in the autumn, when the Duke of Chatelherault and the
Earls of Arran and Argyll led the attack upon the religious
houses of the town.^ The narrative of the work of destruc-
tion at Ayr is no longer extant. It was in a ruinous condition
in 1 56 1, and the circumstances surrounding its demolition
were doubtless analogous to those described in the letter of
the Abbot of Crossraguel to the Archbishop of Glasgow on

1 History of the Reformation, I. 362.

^ History, XVI. yj. Of this work Dempster says, " Georgius Btichananus licet
damtmtae memoriae diligens nostrarum rerum in primis XU. libris investigator.^''

2 MS. Rental of Chaplainries, infra, p. 376, II. p. 261.

■* The magistrates undertook the protection of the religious houses within their
jurisdiction, in compliance with a mandate addressed to them by the Queen
Dowager immediately after the " greit mysreull" at Perth. Burgh Records,
14th May 1559.

* History of the Reformation, I. 362-63.

'"' Diurnal of Occurrents. ' History, XVI. 37.

" Bishop Leslie, II. 428, Ed. Scott. Text Soc.

148 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. vii.

7th April 1559.^ The Friary in Aberdeen all but shared the
fate of the preceding six. Remote from the centres of civil
strife, the burghers tolerated the celebration of Roman worship
until the closing days of the year. In an impassive attitude
born of their habitual disregard for the future, the Observatines
paid no heed to the storm-clouds slowly advancing from the
south ; while their Carmelite and Dominican brethren antici-
pated forcible dispossession of their homes by granting assigna-
tions and leases of their land, and removing their writs and
charters to a place of safety." Reformation was suddenly
brought to the town by the militants of Angus and the Mearns
on 29th December. The Observatines at once surrendered
their friary to the magistrates, under the condition that it
should be returned to them if the Oueen reinstated the other
brotherhoods. Thereafter the burghers defended it in their
own interests against the invaders, although they had acqui-
esced in the sack of the other two friaries. Alone among the
Observatine houses, the unimportant Friaries at Elgin and
Jedburgh were peaceably and informally surrendered to the
local authorities. The Observatine " nests " were therefore
destroyed root and branch. The "rooks" flew away. But
the suppression of fact effected in the History of the Refor-
mation, by transferring the responsibility for this pillage to the
masses, has given rise to an erroneous belief in a national
spontaneity which had no actual existence.

In the near future, the vacant friaries were appropriated
by the magistrates for such public uses as parish churches,^
burial grounds,* or the conversion of the habitable buildings
into a town market and hospital for the sick and infirm poor.^
The title of the magistrates in Aberdeen and St. Andrews
were the Instruments of Resignation granted by the friars
immediately before their departure ; and elsewhere their

^ Keith, Affairs of CJiiirch and State, App. III. 393. This letter described the
Abbot's projected disputation with John Willok, its failure because four or five
hundred men supported Willok in the parish church, and the division of sympathies
in the countryside under the leadership of the Earls of Glencairn and Eglinton.

^ Records of Maris dial College, I. pp. 94, 108 ; Charters of St. Nicholas, p. 297
(New Spalding Club). Cf. Doiiiinicatis of Ayr; MS. Rental of Chaplainries,
Lease of nineteen years.

^ Aberdeen and Ayr.

■* Edinburgh and Perth. ^ Aberdeen.

CHAP. VII.] THE FATE OF THE FRIARS 149

assumption of the sites was legalised by the Privy Council
Order of 15th February 1561-62/ subsequently confirmed by
the several Crown Charters of the ecclesiastical properties
granted by Queen Mary and the Regency for the sustentation
of the ministry, the schoolmaster and the poor. The manage-
ment of these Hospitals, however, occasionally displeased
the Privy Council; and, as late as 1574, the magistrates of
Aberdeen were fined 1000 merks for their remissness, with
the further threat of eviction from the Grey Friary unless its
yards were at once leased by auction at a satisfactory rent
for the sustenance of the town's poor and sick."

Turnine to the fate of the Conventual Friaries, the termin-
ation of Franciscanism in Scotland may be observed in a
totally different aspect. With the doubtful exception of
Dundee, none of them were destroyed or even attacked ; and
the situation of the remaining six, in the smaller towns
unvisited by the Lords of the Congregation, offers a signifi-
cant parallel to the immunity enjoyed by the Observatine
Friaries in Elgin and Jedburgh. There was no definite
expression of the popular will. Confiscation was undreamt of
except by extremists ; and, in the summer of 1559, few could
have anticipated with confidence the brilliant temerity of
William Cecil in striking at Scotland to the danger of the
recent treaty of Cateau-Cambresis. Men were prepared for
a crisis in Church and State, likely to terminate in a constitu-
tional victory against French aggression, as well as in a
radical reformation of the evils that had brought the Church
into disrepute.^ Consequently, in their future interests, the
Conventuals adopted the plan of granting conveyances of
their heritable property in favour of provisional or absolute
vassals, always under the expressed or implied condition that
these rights should be renounced in the event of the friars
being permitted to live in the habit and under the Rule as
they had heretofore done.* Even after the Reformation

' Reg. P. C, I. 202. It refers to the undemolishcd Friaries at Aberdeen, Elgin
and Glasf^ow as being^ suitable for town hospitals.

" Ibid. II. 391-92 ; Aberdeen Council Register, infra, p. 327.
•'' Cal. Papal Negotiations (Scott. Hist. Soc).
* Haddington, infra, ]). 187.

1 50 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. vii.

and the detention of Queen Mary in England, this con-
tingency was provided for by the surviving friars of Kirk-
cudbright, when they quahfied the conveyance by the
condition that their old church should be restored to them
" if reformation shall happen to come to the Kirk and
Religion,"^ In this manner, the friars of Dumfries, Dundee,
Lanark, Inverkeithing and Haddington divested themselves
of their lands, other than the churches and churchyards, in
favour of convenient friends or the burgh magistrates under
a series of writs granted between the years 1555 and 1560.^
The extreme solidarity of the Franciscans, as an Order, is
vividly illustrated in these deeds. The friary property
belonged to no one Chapter in particular. Each had a
direct interest in it, and hence the signatures of the several
Wardens, as members of the Provincial Chapter, were
appended to the Feu Charter that was to constitute the
particular Chapter superior of the lands disponed in feu.
The common and continuing interest maintained by the
Order in its property after 24th August 1560, is similarly
illustrated in the Feu Charter of the friary and burgh
fermes of Roxburgh, granted in favour of Ker of Cesfurd
by the five Wardens resident in Scotland in 1564, Acts of
Parliament and Orders of the Privy Council anent the abso-
lute alienation of Church lands notwithstanding.^ In every
case, the validity of these conveyances in favour of the friary
nominee was ultimately recognised, often after litigation or an
appeal to Parliament arising out of the tergiversations of the
Privy Council and the plethora of competing rights created
by the Crown. Distinct from the friary acres and endow-
ments, the churches and graveyards, as res nullius, were
generally taken possession of by the burghs ; ■* and the
costly delay in the transference of the friary church at

^ Infra, p. 255. In his conveyance of the church and graveyard, Provost
MacLellane of Bombie did not grant absolute warrandice ; he merely undertook to
return the purchase price in the event of the subjects reverting to the Franciscans.

^ The custom was initiated by the friars of Dumfries, and the latest pre-Reforma-
tion conveyance of which any trace has been discovered is that granted by Mark
Fluccar, Warden of Inverkeithing, on 3rd August 1560; infra, II. p. 161, and
Histories of the Friaries.

^ Infra, p. 151.

* Under the possible exceptions of Lanark and Inverkeithing.

CHAv. VII.] THE FATE OF THE FRIARS 151

Kirkcudbright (1570), in spite of the request for its im-
mediate use as the parish church formulated by the Church
Convention in 1564/ is a fair illustration of the prevalent
indifference towards the reorganisation of the Church.-

Two questions of grave importance emerged with the
establishment of the new faith — the absolute and beneficial
ownership of church lands, and the provision to be made for
the support of both the old and the new clergy. The political
situation gave rise to uncertainty of land tenure, and the church
vassal or tacksman had good reason to dread the claim
advanced by the Protestant clergy for the transference of
the Church patrimony.^ In December 1561, the Privy
Council transformed this pretension into the dream of an
idealist, by restricting immediate confiscation to the Thirds
of Benefices, and forbidding further molestation of occupiers
under Feu Charters granted by the Churchmen prior to 6th
March 1558-59.'* The validity of these conveyances was
also affirmed until Whitsunday 1563; and they were not
subsequently invalidated, except by a provision contained in
an Act of the same year, providing that such feus were of no
avail against a " kyndlie and lauchful possessor, tenant and
occupier."^ Further feus or long leases of church lands
beyond a term of three years were forbidden ; but, among the
Franciscans, we find the five Wardens ignoring this statute in
their Charter to Ker of Cesfurd (1564), while Warden Home
of Dumfries complied with its provisions in his liferent assig-
nations of the friary rents for recurring periods of three years.^
Finally, in 1571, the Crown assumed the superiority of friary
and nunnery lands.'^

The motive of this Iccrislation was a o^enerous considera-
tion for the rights of the Roman clergy and their vassals,
who were infeft under titles that admitted of no contradiction
either in civil law before the abolition of the IMass, or in
the canon law in those cases where papal confirmation of

^ Keith, Register^ Affairs of Church and State, III. 95.

- The various destinations of the Conventual endowments do not admit of gene-
ralisation. Vide Histories of t lie Friaries.

^ Keith, Register, Affairs of Church and State, ]). 31 ; A'<:;'. /'. C, Passim.
* Reg. P. C, I. 192. •'• Acts of Parliament (Thomson), II. 540.

" Itifra, II. pp. Ii7-I2r. "^ Acts of Parliament, III. 59.

152

GENERAL HISTORY

[chap. VII.

the grant had been obtained.^ The theory on which it was
based was that of the ultimate riorht of the Crown in the
lands, endowments and buildings, y^/r^ accessionis, when the
remaininof two-thirds of the benefices were disburdened of
the liferent and possession sanctioned in 1561. Hence, from
and after 1564, Franciscan vassals secured Crown confirmation
of their rights either by registering the title granted by the
friary Chapter in the " Abbreviates of Feu Charters of Church
Lands," at the cost of certain compositions exacted by the
Lord Treasurer in Exchequer,^ or by procuring a special
Crown Charter of Confirmation. During the legal chaos —
which extended beyond the majority of James VL, and arose
from the recognition accorded to the friary charters, the
Privy Council Order of 22nd December 1561, the scandalous
multiplication of Crown cessionaries, and the claims of the
ministry — the unfortunate occupier of Franciscan lands might,
however, find himself confronted by two or more superiors
each demanding full payment of his feu-duty. In one set of
circumstances, the Crown Charters of the friary lands and
rents granted to the burghs did not always exempt those
rights already confirmed by the Crown. The vassal had
therefore to contend with the magistrates, who instituted a
strict Inquisition Into the old rentals of the friary, and with
the nominee of the friary who had registered his title In the
Abbreviates. A typical example is here furnished by
Dundee, where the authorities evaded recognition of the Earl
of Crawford's rights under the friary charter until 1594.^ In
another case, the vassal's position was less enviable, in as
much as he could not shelter himself behind the plea of
compulsory payment to a public authority. The gratuitous

^ This was unnecessary for Franciscan vassals, as the Conventuals were em-
powered to alienate their lands, "for the evident utility of their houses." Cton
saepe nuniero^ 27th November 15 19.

^ Four volumes of this important record have been preserved : — two for the
years 1564-69 in the General Register House, Edinburgh : one for the years
1576-86 in the possession of the late Lord Hopetoun, and the fourth in the
British Museum.

^ The decision of Parliament compelled them either to abandon possession or
to compensate the Earl. He accepted ^1200 Scots for the assignation of his
past and future rights ; but the Crown, under the Act of 1571, compelled him to
pay ^85, representing seven and a half yearly payments of the feu-duty of 17 merks
stipulated for in the friary charter to his ancestor. Exch. Rolls, XXII. 566.

CHAP. VII.] THE FATE OF THE FRIARS 153

Crown cessionary, so vigorously attacked by the Church
Convention, also competed with the friary nominee, as well
as with the parish minister who claimed that the friary was
thirled to his church in respect of the stipend. In this way
each party poinded the luckless bonnet-maker of Lanark,^
and the solution of the problem would have severely taxed
the ingenuity of the Lords of Session, had the minister
not withdrawn his claim while the other two serious
competitors arrived at a mutual understanding.

In considering the provision made for the Mendicants who
"recanted"^ at, or before, the return of Queen Mary from
France, three radical distinctions must be observed between
them and the regular and secular clergy. The Mendicants
possessed no parsonage or vicarage tithes in any form ; they
owned little land ; ^ and the revenue derived from ground
annuals did not suffice for their support.^ In these circum-
stances, the scheme of provision decided upon for the hierarchy
and parish clergy, on the basis of two-thirds of their old
benefices, was wholly inadequate as a pension fund for the
Friars and Sisters. Thereupon, the friary rents and revenues
were assumed by the Collector of Thirds in accordance with
the Order of Privy Council which set aside this fund^ "to
sustene the ministeris throw the hale realme and support the
Ouenis Majestie to intertein and sett forward the common
effeiris of the cuntrie." From this fund, each Mendicant who
conformed to the new faith ^ received an annual pension of
^16, occasionally increased by Crown precept in the case of
Dominican Priors.^ For the year 1561, sixty-eight pensions

^ Infra, p. 244.

2 FiV/(? Recantation of the Dominican Provincial, John Grierson, at p. 16, Kirk
Session Rci^isfer of St. Andrcn's, Scott. Hist. Soc. (Dr. Hay Fieminy).

^ The Grey Friary hinds in Dundee were leased by the Magistrates for ^31, 15s.
4d. annually. Those of Dumfries produced about £2,0, and the burghal lands of
the Ijlack Friary in Edinburgh, ;^38, 5s. 8d. MS. Accounts, Collector-General.

* Summary, supra., p. 140.

* Reg. P. C, I. 193, 202.

" Those who would not " recant by any persuasion " were not paid. Viile Acts
of Edinburgh Town Council compelling formal abjuration of the Roman fiilli by
Cluirthmen resorting to the town. Jiiirgh Records.

"' The pension allowed to simple monks and nuns of the Regular Orders was
/^20, and it frequently went unpaid ; bui if the revenues were intromitted with by
the Collector this amount was reduced to ^16, e.g. the eleven monks of Melrose

154 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. vn.

were so paid to Grey, Black, and White Friars, in 1562 the
number rose to eighty-two, and in the following year ^1018
was entered for pensions to Friars, and ^754, 3s. iid. to
Sisters and Nuns/ From an analysis, nine Conventual
Franciscans ^ and three Observatines ^ can be identified as re-
cipients of this dole for a varying number of years. Several
other Conventuals must, however, be accepted as recipients
on account of the indiscriminate entries by the Collector relat-
ing to Lanark, Kirkcudbright and Dumfries ; while a few
Observatines were doubtless included in the similar entries
pertaining to the Black and Grey Friars of Edinburgh, Perth
and Elgin/ There is also extraneous evidence to prove that
three other Conventual friars remained in Scotland in enjoy-
ment of pensions of varying value under special circumstances.^
The collection of the revenues and the payment of the
pensions followed no well-defined rule in the case of the
Franciscans. The two Friars of Roxburgh received their
allowance, and, at the same time, granted a remunerative feu

who each received that sum from the Collector-General for the year 1563 —
"Alexander Bannatyne, Johnne Hoggart, Johnne Watsoun, eldare, Bernarde
Bowstoun, David Hoppringile, Thomas Mayne, James Ramsay, James Arbuthnett,
George Weir and Johnne Foirhouse and Thomas Halyvvell as their acquittances
beris " {MS. Accounts, sub anno). Of these, Johnne Watsoun was the last survivor,
as he adds to his signature to a Tack, dated in December 1594, the almost pathetic
words, "only convent." Calendar of Charters, Mr. M. Livingstone: Pro. Antiq.
Soc. Scot., XLI. 344.

^ MS. Accounts, Collector-Geno'al, sub annis : supplemented by Keith's
Summation, III. 385.

2 Provincial Ferguson and Warden Brown, Dundee ; Warden Charles Home,
Friars George Law and Herbert Stewart, Dumfries ; Warden Henry Cant and
Friar John Furrow, Roxburgh ; Warden John Cant, Kirkcudbright ; Friar Thomas
Lawtay, Lanark.

^ Alexander Harvey, William Lamb and John Gaddy or Geddy, Aberdeen.

* Edinburgh ; eight pensions were paid to Black and Grey Friars, and of these
the only four who can now be identified are Black Friars. Perth; eleven pensions
were paid to White and Black Friars in the first account ; fifteen were paid to
White, Black and Grey Friars in the second account. No Grey Friars appear as
pensioners when this allowance was paid from the Hospital funds. Elgin; in
the first account the pensions were paid to the Friars of Elgin and Inverness ; in
the second two additional names appear, and the designation is changed to
Black and Grey Friars. This tardy accession of Grey Friars is not inconsistent
with the statement of Father Hay (p. 158), and it is not improbable that a few
returned to Scotland from the Netherlands.

* Warden Auchinleck and Friar Allan of Haddington ; Warden Fluccar of
Inverkeithing.

CHAP. VII.] THE FATE OF THE FRIARS 155

of their land which was not paid to the Collector. The
Magistrates of Dundee at once seized the lands and revenues
of the friaries within their jurisdiction ^ and disclosed
an insignificant proportion to the Collector, who paid
two pensions to Franciscans as against ^25 which he
received from the Grey Friary." Haddington was also
an exceptional case, by reason of the legal acumen of its last
Warden, John Auchinleck, who maintained possession of his
old benefice until 1572, when, in receipt of ^22 annually
as liferent superior of his old benefice in lieu of his former
" sober yeirlie pension " of £20, he surrendered the writs and
evidents of the friary to the Magistrates, before entering the
service of the new Church as salaried reader at Athelstaneford
Kirk. In the case of Lanark, Kirkcudbright and Dumfries,
the evident intention of the legislature was followed in the
assumption of the whole revenues and correlative payment
of the pensions out of the entire fund of Thirds. The Thirds
collected in 1562-63 amounted to £']2,/[(^\, 13s. 3|-d. Scots,
out of which the Protestant clergy received ^24,231, 17s. 7d.
and the Mendicant pensioners ^1772, 3s. iid.^ The surplus
was expended in remissions and grants bestowed on the
" gredie askeris " to the indignation of the Church party. In
1567, however, the latter secured a recognition — more
apparent than real — of their claims, when Parliament directed
that the whole Thirds should be paid to the Ministers "ay
and quhill the Kirk cum to full possession of thair proper
patrimonie quhilk is the tendis."'* This Act coincided with
the series of Crown Charters of ecclesiastical properties that
were ^ranted to the different burijhs ; and a chanire in the
incidence of the Mendicant pensions was thus effected, unless
the friar was the fortunate possessor of a special precept
from the Sovereign, Re^^ent, Lord Clerk Register, Lord
Justice Clerk, or the "Compter."'' In effect, the Order of

^ MS. Accounts, Collector-General, 1561 : "Thair thesauiaris introincuit and
applyit in thair commoun aiifairis before the Complaris entrie to his office."

^ This sum was intended to represent one-third.

•"' Printed Account, Kcitli, App. III. 3S4-S5.

■• Acts of Parliament (Thomson), III. yj.

* e.c[. Warden Aurhinleck of Haddinj^ton amoni; the Franciscans, paralleletl
among the Dominicans by the precepts granletl to their last Provincial and tin-

156 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. vii.

1 56 1 was revoked ; and the State renounced its responsibility
for payment or for any deficit, in the event of the friary
revenues proving insufficient to meet the pensions hitherto
paid to the surviving and conforming friars.-^ The rents and
revenues were vested in the Crown beneficiaries, and they,
in turn, were compelled to recognise the pensions as liferent
burdens upon the funds which they had acquired.^ But
in cases where the Crown Charter to the burgh was sus-
pensive, the revenues reverted to the friars, subject to the
limit of ^16 as the annual share of each friar in a fund
which was intended to revert to the Crown on the death of
the last survivor.^ Warden Home of Dumfries accordingly
appeared in the account of 1567 for the first time as intromitter,
with the official return of the friary revenues/ In 1572,
^35, 3s. 8d. had accumulated in his hands as the result of
his unscrupulous behaviour towards his brother friar, George
Law. The details of his chicanery, his fraudulent partner-
ship with Provost MacBrair — under the title of "allegeit
fewarris of the annewallis and fischeincrs " of Dumfries —
and his collusive assignations of the friary revenues to the
magistrates and his partner with a view to defrauding
George Law, are fully narrated in the history of the friary.
For the present, and the establishment of the personal respon-
sibility of the Wardens for these pensions, on the analogy
of the Abbots or Commendators of the regular monasteries,^
it is sufficient to refer to the success of Friar Law's suit
before the Lords of Session in 1573, when he obtained a
Declarator of his right to arrears and future payments of his
pension from Warden Home.

Prior of Stirling, whose pensions were increased to ^25, 6s. 8d. and £,2() re-
spectively. Accounts, 1 561.

^ e.g. Warden Cant of Kirkcudbright received only ^7, 15s., the value of the
ground annuals formerly in the possession of the friary — supplemented by his
wages as Kirkmaster paid by the magistrates, and a chalder of victual from the
Lordship of Galloway.

2 e.g. Warden Brown of Dundee now received £\b annually from the Hospital
fund, and the Dominicans of Edinburgh, Perth and St. Andrews received their
pensions in whole or part from the same source.

•" e.g. Roxburgh, Inverkeithing, Lanark, and perhaps Dumfries.

* ^33, IIS. lod., but they actually produced ^43, 12s, lod.

^ Innumerable cases of this form of chicanery also occurred in the payment of
the pensions of the regular monks, e.g. Reg. P. C, 18th January 1562-63.

CHAP. VII.] THE FATE OF THE FRIARS 157

The payment of the Observatine pensions was much less
complex. There were no ground annuals to be assumed by
them or by the Collector. There were no subsequent con-
veyances granted by any member of the Order. The
magistrates appropriated the sites of the friaries, and paid
the allowances/ so that the passing of the Act of 24th August
1560 virtually obliterated every trace of the Order from
Scottish record. It may be accepted as the severest test
of the sincerity of the Observatines as Churchmen. The
verdict was all but unequivocal, and had been foreshadowed
in the attitude of the respective divisions of the Order
towards the country and the Rule of St. Francis. The
Conventuals, as their history abundantly testifies, were men
who identified themselves with the people among whom they
laboured. Their corporate existence in the country extended
over three centuries, and, from their special views of life, they
were decidedly the more practical of the two families of
Franciscan friars. Though fewer in number than their rivals,
their influence in the country is manifest in the letters which
James IV. and James V. addressed to the Holy See, beseech-
ing his Holiness to protect the Observatines against their
encroachments. At the last, in the great crisis of their
history, they proved themselves more Scotsmen than
Churchmen at heart, and the record evidence indicates that
their property and the future were their immediate care. The
ratio of apostasy was high.^ It was not less than one

^ In Aberdeen, they ordered the Treasurer to instal four honest men in the
friary for its protection, and, consequently, the Observatines, Wilham Lamb and
John Geddy, were entered in the accounts of 1561 and 1562 as the recipients of ^10
each " for the keping of the Gray Freiris place of Abirdene and the yardis thairof
at command of the Quenis Majesties precept direct thairupoun for the year
compted." Friar Harvey received the full allowance of ^16 for 1561 and 1562,
and in 1363 the custodiers of the place were put upon an equal footing- with him ;
but they received no pension in 1567, although Friar Geddy lived until 1575, when
his death is recorded in the Aberdeen Death Register.

- That is, in comparison with the Observatines. At least thirty-five Dominicans
abjured Roman Catholicism, including the Provincial John Grierson and Bernard
Stewart, William Henderson, Andrew Abercromby, David Cameron, Francis
Wrycht and James Dodds, the Priors of Edinburgh, Stirling, Aberdeen, Perth,
Elgin or Inverness and Wiyton. John Law, Sub-Prior of Glasgow, also recanted
and received the usual pension ; but his Prior, Andrew Leich, does not appear as
a pensioner, although he remained in Scotland and granted a " pretendit " charter

158 GENERAL HISTORY [chap. vii.

half ; ^ but, in the absence of a chronicler to disclose the locality
of their exile, we are unable to follow the subsequent history
of those who refused to content themselves with mental
reservations in the autumn of 1560, and passed out of the
history of their country when they entered the friaries of
France or the Netherlands.^

On the other hand, the relationship of the Observatines
with the people and the country may be described as im-
personal. They were bound by fewer ties of affection or
sentiment to the soil. Idealists, whose devotion to duty
rested, perhaps, more on the emotions than on profound
sympathy with the people in their struggles, they excelled in
devotion to their Church. It was their fatherland in every
sense of the word, and this fact will be frequently observed in
the naive outbursts of hero-worship indulged in by their
chronicler, Father John Hay. His precious lines lead us to
a vague appreciation of the quaint conceits of friary life, of
the keen subjective pleasure experienced by the friar in his
featureless existence, and his total disregard for the claims
of nationality. The virtues or vices of the reformers are of
no concern to this historian. They are sadly dismissed as
"rebellious heretics" who overthrew Religion;^ and the
Scottish Reformation is passed over as a mere incident in
Observatine history leading up to their departure to the
Netherlands. Thus, when dispossessed of all their friaries at
the close of 1559, they preferred exile to the repudiation of
their faith. The seceders from the corporate decision are
stated to have been two, or three at most* — "Observatine

to part of the friary lands on 13th November 1560. MS. Accounts, Collcctoi'-
General and Sub-Collectors, 1561-68.

^ There were never more than fifty Conventual friars in Scotland, and in 1559-
60 their number was probably as low as thirty. Sixteen or seventeen recanted,
including their Provincial and four out of the seven Wardens. Three, if not four,
Wardens accepted office in the new Church.

2 During the progress of his mission, which terminated in the Treaty of Edinburgh,
Bishop Montluc indicates the departure of Scottish churchmen to France without
throwing any light upon the Order to which they belonged ; Negociations sous
Francois II., Doc. Ined.

^ i.e. the Franciscan Religion or profession.

* Ob. Chron. F/V/i? numbers on page 154, where three are identified. The slight
discrepancy may arise from Hay's ignorance of the return of some of the exiles to
Scotland.

CHAP. VII.] THE FATE OF THE FRIARS 159

fathers, preachers and wardens, who remained in the castles
of the nobihty, and that, too, in secular dress, in the hope of
preaching the Word and of hearing confessions. But through
daily intercourse with the heretics, and lured by the bland-
ishments of the world, they at length joined the rebellious
heretics." The chronicler's charity towards his apostate
brethren will not pass unobserved. The rest, like faithful
Franciscan " pilgrims and strangers," found temporary shelter
among their numerous friends and adherents during the spring
and summer of 1560, on occasion returning to the world of
practical affairs to comply with the formalities of the civil law
in the transference of inheritances.^ In the summer, under the
leadership of their last Provincial Minister, Father John
Patrick,- eighty Observatines sailed from Scotland to the
Netherlands, where they received a kindly welcome in the
Lower German Province from its Provincial, Father Francis
Immomelanus.^ For the Scottish Observatines, that country
possessed a special attraction ; it was the birthplace of
their Observance ; from it they were habitually visited on
behalf of the ultramontane Vicar General, and thither they
now returned to shelter from the stormy blast of the Reforma-
tion. By the year 1563, they were settled in the various
convents of the Province, one of their Wardens, Robert
Richard, having been received into the Friary of Louvain
on ist September 1560 ; while Thomas Motto was appointed
to teach in the friaries of the Lower German Province. The
tide of Observatine emigration may, therefore, have com-
menced shortly after the Treaty of Edinburgh. A second
exile, however, awaited them when the Dutch reformers

1 e.g. Friar Baxter, infra, pp. 348-49.

2 " Havin<,f attained his jubilee in the Order and the priesthood, along- with eighty
priestly fathers, he won the honour of sacred exile from Scotland for the sake of the
confession of the name of Jesus Christ and the Religion." Ob. Chron.

^ Hay's statement of this number may be accepted as approximately correct,
although the number of friars which he allocates among the friaries is undoubtedly
exaggerated. In the friary at Perth, which was of secondary rank, there were
only eight friars in 1559, and every record source now available confirms the
Observatine emigration. Friar (ionzaga, Observatine Minister C.encral ami author
of the Oiiiis Scraphicae {\i^'6']\ accepted those figures in his narrative of the Scots
Province ; and the subsequent increase of the number to 140 is i)lainly an inter-
polation l)y another friar.

i6o

GENERAL HISTORY

[chap. VII.

"overthrew the Province." Warden Motto entered France in
1579, accompanied by the majority of the survivors, and the rest
transferred their services to Coloo-ne. Among- the latter was
Father Hay, who attained the honourable position of Minister
of the Province of Coloo'ne, and our knowledoe of the doings
of the Scots Observatines terminates with the completion of
Jiis history of their Province.

St. Francis.

From "The Crucifixion" of Fra Angelico in the

Convent of St. Mark, Florence.

CHAPTER VIII
THE CONVENTUAL FRIARIES

I. Roxburgh — 2. Haddington — 3. Dumfries — 4. Dundee— 5. Lanark —
6. Inverkeithing — 7. Kirkcudbright.

Roxburgh^

The importance and prosperity of the royal burgh of Old
Roxburgh belong to another age. In the thirteenth century,
it was represented in the famous burgher parliament ; its
schools were known throughout the land, and its castle, a
favourite residence of our early kings, was the fortress that
dominated the fortunes of the eastern border. Situated on
the small peninsula formed by the confluence of the rivers
Tweed and Teviot, the position was one of great strength
from a military point of view, and it was on the maintenance
of the castle that the very existence of the burgh depended.
In the middle of the sixteenth century. Old Roxburgh had
ceased to be a place name ; and the community of Grey Friars,
who settled in this centre of commercial and ecclesiastical
activity about 1232-34, were described in 1545 as the
" Freers nere Kelso." To-day not a stone of their friary
remains ; while the ground covered by the ancient royal
buro-h to the east of the castle is now utilised as a oolf course
by the inhabitants of Kelso. After the Reformation, the friary
was converted into a mansion-house by Walter Ker of
Cesfurd, and at a later period into a farmhouse. Two small
cottages still known as "The Friars"" mark the site, while a

^ The history of the Friary at Berwick between the years 1231 and 1333, when
it was nominally a Scottish friary, has been incorporated into the General History,
Chapter I.

^ From a letter written by the Earl of Roxburgh, descendant of the Kers of
Cesfurd, on 9th October 1606, we learn that the name *' Freiris " still clung to the
I I

l62 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. viii.

few coffins ornamented by rough iron plates and a skeleton
and key found under the door of their old Church of St.
Peter constitute the sole relics^ of the friars who carried
the teachinof of their Q-reat master throuo-h the vale of the
Tweed from Berwick. Their presence was unwelcome
to the monks of Kelso; but by the year 1235 their settle-
ment was completed on the south-easterly point of the
peninsula beside the old ford of Teviot, and only the cemetery
awaited consecration at the hands of the suffragan of the
diocese. Bishop William of Glasgow, it will be remembered,
recognised the limited rights of the friars, and thus euphem-
istically recorded the termination of the dispute concerning
their rights of burial :

"To all the faithful in Christ, greeting: Be it known to your whole
community that, in the year of Grace 1235, on the morrow of the
Invention of the Holy Cross (4th May), there compeared before us at
Roxburgh Master Herbert, Abbot of Kelso, and Friar Martin, Custos of
the Friars Minor in Scotland, and they came to an agreement concern-
ing the consecration of a cemetery attached to the Church of St. Peter :
We, being satisfied that the Friars Minor are privileged to bury their
whilom brethren, and none others, wherever they possessed certain
houses, were induced to provide for the permanent peace and security
of both parties in this manner, that the said cemetery be consecrated
at the aforesaid place — and we consecrated it on the same day — under
the provision that the rights of the monks of Kelso over their churches
should suffer no prejudice." -

The recorded history of this friary until the War of
Independence may be briefly summarised as an active share
in the repeated endeavours to secure the disjunction of the
Scottish friaries from the parent custody of Newcastle.^
John Balliol, we may believe, repelled his overlord's claims
of superiority in an instrument delivered to Edward I. at

buildings of the friary after they had been converted into the mansion-house.
On this occasion the Earl apologised to Sir Robert Ker of Ancrome and his
brothers " for the unhappie accident of the slauchter of umquhill William Ker
thair father committit be me." //«/. MSS. Com. XIV. Report, III. 32, 35.

^ Found in the latter half of the eighteenth century by the occupant of the
farmhouse which replaced the mansion-house built on the site of the friary ;
Mason's Records of Kelso (reprint, 1839).

2 Liber de Calchou, II. 321, No. 418 (Bann Club) ; infra, II. p. i.

^ Supra, pp. 7-10.

CHAP. Mil.] ROXBURGH 163

Berwick on 4th April i 296 by Friar Adam Blunt, then Warden
of Roxburgh/ and a month later Edward lodged in the friary
on the eve of the surrender of the Castle." In 1297, he
sanctioned the continuance of the alms of John Balliol,
amounting annually to six pounds twelve shillings, eighteen
stones of wax and a pipe of wine;^ and in July 1301, he
again resided for three days within its walls. For this accom-
modation the Warden, Friar Robert de Rotheley, received the
sum of five shillinsjs from the Kino-'s eleemosinar.* Durino-
the interdict laid upon the country by Pope John XXI I, ,
the Warden was empowered under a mandate from the Curia
to relax the sentence of excommunication in so far as it
affected that doubtful Scot, Patrick, Earl of Dunbar, and to
grant a dispensation for his marriage with Agnes, daughter
of the Earl of Moray, to whom he was related in the fourth
degree. It was subsequently discovered that the spouses
were related in the third degree, and a second mandate was
issued confirminof the marriaije and leo-itimisin^ the children
of the union.^ In another papal mandate of the same date,
the Warden was empowered to continue John Giffard, Knight,
and Eufena de Marahon in the marriage which they had
contracted in ignorance that the lady was related in the
fourth decree to Isabella, with whom the knii-ht had inter-
married, and who had died before consummation of the
marriage.*^

From the Bruce, the friary received an annuity of twenty
merks, and in 1332, after it had been despoiled of its books
and other valuables at the instigation of the monks of Kelso,^
the Exchequer was requested to make an allowance for
240 Easdand boards intended for the roof of the friary,^ and
for 535 others which the friars had given up for the hasty
fortification of Berwick prior to the invasion of Edward III.

* Holinshed, Chronicle^ III. 299a.

^ Gouffh, Itinerary of Khii^ Eihuard I., II. 280.

' Hist. Doc. Scot. (Stevenson), II. 246 ; Rot. Scot., I. 3S.

* IJain, Cal., IV. 448.

* Cal. Pap. Reg. Letters, II. 201, 235, rjth September 1319.
" Ibid. pp. 201-2.

"^ Supra, pp. 26-28.

* Exc/i. Roils, 22nd February 1332.

i64 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. viii.

During the campaign which followed, the friary escaped
destruction, presumably owing to the fact that Edward
regarded the district as permanently annexed to England ;
and there is every probability that it was occupied by English
Franciscans in accordance with the order of loth Auoust
1333/ In 1336-37 the community numbered four friars,
and a warrant under the English Privy Seal, for the payment
to them of £6, i6s. 8d, for the use of the ford for 205
days, reveals the fact that the friars had acquired the right of
levying toll at the ford and ferry of the Teviot beside the friary,
so as to produce a daily allowance of two pence for each friar.^
Passing over the period of English occupation, during which
a treaty with England concerning the wardenship of the
borders was concluded in the friary,^ we come to the untimely
death of James 1 1, at the siege of the Castle in 1460. His body
was conveyed to the friary, where it received the last offices
of the Church from the brethren, and from this date a mass
was celebrated annually for his soul/ The demolition of the
Castle followed as a precautionary measure on the part of its
captors, and the once important burgh rapidly dwindled into
a mere hamlet. It lost all title to its burgfhal rigfhts which
were transferred to the neighbouring royal burgh of Jedburgh ;
and the measure of its decay may be clearly appreciated in
the Crown Charter of 5th October 1477, granted to the friars
by James 1 11.^ Granted for the glory of God and Saint
Peter, the patron saint of the friary, this deed conveyed to
the brethren (in lieu of the annuity of twenty merks out of
the burgh fermes granted by Bruce) "All particates, bounds
and burgh fermes of the burgh of Roxburgh, together with the
fishings and waters, and passages of waters, and old ferries of
the said burgh now in our hands by just conquest from
the hands of our enemies of England." The dwindling
fermes did not produce twenty merks annually, and the

1 Supra, pp. 33, 34. 2 Bain, Cal, III. 376.

^ Feeder a, VI. 569-71, September 1367.

* Exch. Rolls, 5th August 1501. The endowment of four pounds from the
lands of Castlemot, Orchard and Tounsteid of Roxburgh for this service on the
King's obit day may, doubtless, be traced to the influence of his heroic widow,
Mary of Gueldres.

« MS. Reg. Mag. S/g., VIII. No. 28 ; zn/ra, II. p. 3.

CHAP. VIII.] ROXBURGH 165

succeeding clause accordingly provided that the friars should
remain in possession until they had been infefted by the
Crown in another annuity of equal value ; but the correlative
obligation to account to the Exchequer for any surplus beyond
twenty merks never came into operation, and in 1560 the
sum of ten pounds was entered in the friary rental as the
income derived from the bursfh taxes. ^

This dual and inconsistent role of tax-collectors and
voluntary clergy soon brought the friars into conflict with
their powerful neighbours the Kers of Cesfurd, who received
a grant of the "Castle of Roxburgh with the Castlestead,
messuages and pertinents" from James IV. in 1488." Mark
Ker, as tutor to his nephew, put a liberal interpretation upon
this grant, and took possession of certain lands and maills
comprised in the charter granted to the friars by James III.
The aggressor was thereupon summoned to appear before
the Lords of Council; and, at the second hearing on nth
December 1503, decree was given in favour of the friars, to
the effect that "the Wardene and the convent of the freris
of Roxburgh sail brouke and jouse all the akeris, bondis,
burrow malis of the buro^h of Roxburgh, too"idder with the
fishingis, wateris, passagis and auld ferys of the said burgh,
efter the forme and tenour of the charter under the Gret Sele
made thairupon to thaim and thair successouris." ^ The reign
of James IV. is marked by a gift of forty shillings as the
King's alms during a justice ayre at Jedburgh,** one of
eighteen shillings on Christmas day 1496,'' a grant of ten
pounds for the repair of the friary paid to their Warden,
Friar John Connell, and another of similar amount from the
justice ayre, both in 1501.^ The friary is next met with
in the list of places burned and destroyed by the English
during Hertford's raid in 1545,^ and in 1547 it was still in
ruins. At this time, Buhner, the English captain, found work
for his troop in erecting a guard-house at the gate of the
friary, and in roofing over three of its vaults to serve as

1 AfS. AV^. ALijf. 5/>., XXXII. No. 13 ; vi/ra, II. p. 5.

- Reg. Mag. sig. (Print), II. No. 1765.

^ AfS. Ac/a Doin. Coticii., XV. ff. 95, 115.

■• Pitcairn, Criminal Trials., I. 22. * Treasurer's Accounts.

" Exch. Rolls, 5th August. '' Haines, Slate Papers, I. 53

i66 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. viii.

a stable for twenty horses/ It is probable that the friars
resumed possession of their home during the decade pre-
ceding the Reformation; but their history prior to 1560
is wholly a matter of surmise. In that year, the burgh
fermes provided them with an income of ten pounds,^ and
after the abolition of the Mass two of their number, Henry
Cant, the last Warden, and John Purrok or Purrow, remained
in Scotland in receipt of the mendicant pension of sixteen
pounds each.^ Finally, five of the surviving Conventual
Wardens met at Edinburgh on i8th December 1564, and
executed a charter in favour of Walter Ker of Cesfurd, who
agreed to pay Warden Cant twenty merks and two shillings
annually in respect of the acres, burgh fermes, and rights of
fishing, ford and ferry, and four merks for the friary and its
yards.* The Crown accepted this charter as a good infeft-
ment after payment of the composition demanded,^ but the
defective condition of the later accounts prepared by the
Collectors render it impossible to ascertain the recipients
of the annual feu-duty. In the absence of any burghal
authorities, it may have been equally shared among the
surviving Wardens ; and the Crown confirmation of William
Ker's title and novodamus of the friary lands on 8th April
1588, in accordance with the Act of 1571, mark the limit of
time to which Warden Cant may have survived.^

ROYAL BOUNTIES TO THE GREY FRIARS OF ROXBURGH

I. Exchequer Rolls

1332, February 22. The Accounters ask an allowance for 240 Eastland
boards intended for the roof of the Friars Minor of Roxburgh, taken
by a Letter from Sir Alexander de Seton, who is Warden for the
reparation of the town of Berwick, and for 535 Eastland boards taken

^ Bain, Cal., I. No. 98. Somerset had erected a fort on the site of the old
castle, and the friary ruins were transformed into a military post to command the
ford and prevent surprise.

- MS. Charter, infra, II. p. 5.

^ ATS. Accounts, Collector-General, aftms 1561, 1562.

* Charter MS. Reg. Mag. Sig., XXXII. No. 13 ; infra, II. p. 5. The ferry
boats continued to ply until the erection of the present bridge over the Teviot
in 1794.

^ Relative Abb. Feu Charter.

^ Reg. Mag. Sig. (Print), IV. No. 102 1.

CHAT. VIII. J

ROXBURGH

167

1501:

1501.

i5oi>

from the said Friars by Waren de Beverlay and Egidia de Mindrom,
bailies, for repairing the Castle of Berwick, by precept of Earl
Patrick, then Warden.

August 5. Paid by William Douglas of Cavers to the Friars Minor at
Roxburgh, celebrating mass for the soul of King James II., out of the
fermes of the lands of Castelmot, Orchard and Tounsteid of Roxburgh,
extending yearly to ^4, for the years of this Account, ^12.
August 5. Also paid to the Friars Minor of Roxburgh for the repair-
ing of their place, as the alms of the King, Friar John Connell, their
Warden, acknowledging receipt, ;^io.

Eod. die. Also paid to the said friars by the charity of the King from
the justice ayre, ^10.

II. Treasurer's Accounts

1496. Item, on Yule day, the 25th day of December, be the Kingis com-
mand, gevin to the Freris of Roxburgh, i8s.

1502. Item, the ferd day of November, to the Freris of Roxburgh, be the
Kingis command, 14s.

OTHER SOURCES

1300. Fratribus jMinoribus de Rokesburgh, pro putura sua trium dierum in
adventu regis ibidem, per manus Fratris Roberti de Rotheley apud
Kelshou XXIIIJ° die Julii, 5s. (Bain, Ca/., IV. 448).

1336-37. P^t allocatur ei ^6, i6s. 8d., quos soluit iiij"' Fratribus Minoribus
commorantibus apud Rokesburghe, in partem solutionis vadiorum
suorum, videlicet, cuilibet dictorum fratrum per diem duos denarios
per tempus huius compoti, videlicet pro ccclxv dies, tam per breve
regis, quam per breve de privato sigillo {J/?id. III. 376).

1495. Expenses of the justice ayre at Jedworthe — To the friars of Roxburgh
by the charity of the King, 40s. {Pitcairn, I. 22).

The Cordeliibre and the Crowned A uf Anne ot l?ritt;in\,
Cluitcau de lilois.

CHAPTER Vlll— {continued)

CONVENTUAL FRIARIES

Haddington

From Roxburgh the friars soon turned their footsteps
northwards to the Lothlans and, as early as 1242, we find
them in possession of a regular friary in the royal burgh of
Haddington/ Situated on the west bank of the river
Tyne close to the parish church^ founded by David I.,
the friary overlooked the mill pond formed by the weir
immediately above the present Nungate Bridge. When
first met with in our legal records, its southern boundary is
described as the common highway — then "the Kunzey, uther-
wyse the gait that passis to the paroche kyrk,"^ now Church
Street — leading past the friary to the parish church,* or
Lamp of Lothian, which Bower erroneously identified with
the Franciscan church. John Major, although a native of
Haddingtonshire, perpetuated this error in his account of the
destruction of the friary by Edward III. in 1355: "The
English King then, in his wrath, set fire to Haddington and
along with the town burnt that most fair church of the
Minorites which is called the Lamp of Lothian. Now I for
my part do not think it well that the Minorites should possess
churches of this sumptuous magnificence ; and it may be that

^ Lanercost Chronicle, pp. 49-50. Local writers date the foundation of the
friary from the year 1258 without giving the slightest clue to the existence of the
charter on which their statement is based.

^ The present beautiful cruciform structure, the nave of which is still occupied
as the parish church, dates from the latter half of the fourteenth century.

^ MS. Discharge, Patrick Cokburn of Newbiggin to the Bailies of Haddington.
Burgh Charter Chest.

* Charter of Confirmation, 26th October 1497 : Reg. Mag. Sig. (Print), II. No.

2375-

168

CHAP. VIII. i HADDINGTON 169

for their sins, and the sins of the town itself, God willed that
all should be given to the flames."^ The friary was de-
stroyed in this conflagration ; but considering the architectural
magnificence of the parish church, w^ith its elaborately
adorned square tower of 90 feet in height surmounting
the transept," the dwarf belfry of the friary could scarcely
have suggested the appellation ; and it is equally inconceivable
that the parish church only became known as the Lamp of
Lothian after that of the friary was pulled down in 1572-73.^
From the numerous conveyances of the friary and its
pertinents that were granted between the years 1555 and
1572, we learn that the northern and southern jboundaries
were the Freir Gowill — now Gowll Close — and the " Kunzey "
already referred to. The Tyne marched the " eister yaird,"
while the western boundary was indefinitely expressed as
land, partly waste and partly built upon, belonging to the
burgh* and known in the sixteenth century as the " Rudis
of the Freir Wall."^ These roods, with an adjoining strip
of ground on the south, were purchased by the town from

^ Ed. Scott. Hist. .Soc. (Constable), p. 297.

- Described as "one of the most graceful lanterns to be seen in stone or on
paper" : Transactio7is, Edinburgh Ajxhitectiiral Association^ I. 27.

^ B. C. B., sub anno. Bower's statement was written nearly a century after the
destruction by Edward III., and, at a second interval of seventy years, John Major
adopted and expanded his erroneous identification of the two churches. His
Puritanical reflections upon the reasons for the conflagration are of no historical
value. They are to be met with in other contexts throughout his work, and are
apologised for in his dedication to James V. It is also to be noted that he left
Scotland at the age of fifteen. The parish church, with its tower and openwork
lantern, visible to all Lothian, corresponds in every detail to the descriptions of
both Bower and Major. The front of the north transept was destroyed by the
English guns during the siege of 1548. Had the friary church possessed a tower
of similar dimensions, its destruction by fire alone would have been an impossi-
bility ; and it would have been in existence at the Reformation if not at the present
day. Hut the dwarf belfry of Franciscan churches, as required by the Bulls of
Erection, had nothing in common with the tower and lantern of Haddington
parish church ; and there is nothing in the surviving monuments of Franciscan
architecture in this country to indicate that the friary churches were other than
plain unpretentious buildings.

•• MS. Precept of Sasinc^ 9th October 1559 and relative writs ; infra, II. pp. 44-63.

•'' In 1561, the Roods occupied the land between the Freir Wall and the present
line of Hardgate .Street, "the freir wall cist and the causay west." MS. Burgh
Court Books, 6th November 1561, 22nd October 1562 and 28th May 1563. This
record is subsequently quoted by the abbreviated reference " A*. C. />'." Excerpts,
injra, II. pp. 79-96.

170 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. vm.

Patrick Cockburn of Newbi'ggin for thirty pounds Scots, and
from his receipt we learn that the front gate of the friary
opened in the west wall lo feet from Church Street/ In the
form of a rectangle, this plot of land may therefore be said to
have been enclosed, north and south, by the Gowll Close
and Church Street, and to have extended from the Mill Pool
on the east to the tenements on the roods of the Freir Wall
on the west.^ The internal configuration of the land is
not wholly conjectural. The church was oriented, with its
great east window looking over the east yard to the
river, and its nave was flanked by the altars of St. Francis,
St. Duthac, St. John the Baptist and St. Clement,^ if not also
by a fifth in honour of the Blessed Virgin. Adjoining
the church on the west was the friary cemetery, and the
remaining ground stretching up to the western boundary,
or Freir Wall, was occupied by the little croft, or west
yard, leased by the friary Chapter to James Tweedy for
nineteen years from Whitsunday ISSS."^ To the north of
the church, and separated from it by the breadth of the
cloister yard, were the conventual buildings as described
in John Grey's feu-charter of 3 roods of the "freir kirk
passand north and containing the chalmer hall and hitching."^
In its irregular course the " freir stank " or open drain from the
buildings first served as the west boundary of the east yard
and then " boundis the eist freir yard to thair said commone
at the north part thairof" — there being no wall on this part
of the north side as late as 1575 ^ — and finally entered the river
at a point " foreanent " the burgh's common ground. The rest

^ MS. Discharge, 19th May 1540. Burgh Charter Chest.

^ B. C. B., 6th November 1561.

^ Douglas, Peerage, p. 521 ; MS. Charter to the Friars by Walter Bertram,
Provost of Edinburgh, hifra, II. p. 16 ; Indenture with Sir William of Halyburton,
infra, II. p. 8. The altar of St. John the Baptist was erected on the north wall of
the nave.

* B. C. B., 22nd May 1572. Lease dated 23rd December 1557 was signed by
Warden John Congilton, Friars John Auchinleck and Patrick Allan.

^ Ibid. 13th November 1572: MS. Protocol Books, Thomas Stevin, 1565-74,
1 2th December 1572. The terms of John Douglas' perpetual license, granted loth
and 25th August 1556— "to byg and beild ane tufall to thair gavill wall of thair
closett hous " — implies that the buildings abutted on the Freir Gowill. B. C. B.,
22nd May 1572.

^ B. C. B., 25th March 1575.

CHAP. VIII.] HADDINGTON 171

of the ground was taken up by the Convent or Mekill yard, for
which George Congilton paid a rent of three pounds/ the
Warden yard worth twenty-two shilHngs annually," and the
small "Eister" yard upon which the Magistrates forbade
the erection of any buildings.^ In course of time, the friars
also became possessed of a plot described as the " Commone
Douket callit the Freir Douket," producing a rent of four
pounds eight shillings,'* of an acre in the " Capoun Flatt " on
which a crop of barley was grown, ^ of a croft on the east
side of the Poldrait leading from the friary to the Nungate
Bridge,^ and of the Lime Hole, or "the grund quher upon
the said lyme hoill is biggit," which the friary tenant con-
tended "was of all tymes bypast usit be the freris foresaidis
without impediment . . . and sett to utheris be thame."^
In the year 1478, by the gift of Sir James Cockburn
of Clerkington, they acquired a more important croft then
known as the " Kingis Palace," ^ afterwards the Freir Croft —
under the obligation to perform certain anniversary services
for the soul of the donor. This proved to be one of the rare
cases in which such conditions attached to a gift of land or
heritable security under the old regime were recognised as
permanent legal burdens after the patrimony of the Church
was seized by the nation," The croft lay 3 roods south
of Church Street ^^ and extended southwards to the north
wall of the parish cemetery and the Vicar's garden. In 1559,
Saint Catherine's Chapel and the lands of Robert Schort and
Richard Wause bounded it on the north, the King's Walls

^ B. C. />., 6th March 1560-61, loth December 1561, 4th December 1572.

^ Ibid. 2 Ibid, leased for fifteen shiUings.

^ Ibid. 2nd July 1560, i8th December 1561.

* MS. Power of Attorney, 4th August 1560 ; infra., II. p. 47.

" B. C. B., 2 1 St April 1574.

''Ibid. 22nd May 1572. Lease dated loth and 25th August 1556 granted by
the Provincial Vicar and six Wardens.

** Be/^. Mag. Sig. (Print), II. No. 2375, also called the " Kingis Yaird."

''' On 17th November 1478 the friars granted a Backbond to Sir James, under-
taking to restore the croft if they failed to perform the mass ; and in 1592, after
it had been in the possession of the Magistrates for twenty years, his heirs success-
fully assailed this vice in their title, receiving a substantial indemnity for the renun-
ciation of their rights. MS. Decree incorporating this obligation, infra, II. p. 68.

'" From which it was separated by a plot of ground, 8 roods in length and 3
in breadth, ( onfirmed to Koljert Trent on 26th October 1497.

172 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. viii.

(of Sydgait) on the west, and on the east it is indefinitely-
described as abutting on the " buttis " and the " sands." ^
Upon it a grain crop was also grown, as we learn from the
doings of Friar William Sinclair in the Burgh Court on the
forenoon of 23rd February 1542. "For the savite of thar
cornis in the freir croft," five out of the six friars then resident
in the friary^ considered it prudent to wall in the croft, and
sold the stones from one of their other walls to John Lawtay,
the town treasurer, in order to defray the cost. Friar Sinclair,
however, protested before the bailies that the Warden had
" na power to vedsett nor analy na geir belangand to the
Place," ^ and demanded the rescission of the sale. Treasurer
Lawtay expressed his willingness to return the' stones at the
price paid by him to the Warden ; but at two o'clock in the
afternoon the chapter ratified its bargain in the friary before
Bailie Thomas Ponton, and bound themselves never to "cum
in the contrair bot to defend the samyn." ^ For this infraction
of his vow of obedience Friar Sinclair doubtless suffered cor-
rection at the hands of his Superior ; and he did not dissent
from the corporate decision when the chapter, in virtue of
the authority conferred by the jDiidiim per of Clement VII. ,^
agreed to discharge an annual rent of twenty-four shillings
secured over Greenlaw's Tower in return for an imme-
diate payment of sixteen pounds.^ So far as is known,
the friars owned no other lands within or without the
burgh.

At the Reformation, the ecclesiastical buildings of Had-
dington bore evident traces of the damage inflicted upon
them during the siege of 1548. The decade of peace fol-
lowing upon the Treaty of Boulogne witnessed the partial
restoration of the simple friary church ; but its more stately
neighbour, the Lamp of Lothian, remained in a complete
state of disrepair until 1562. As the expense of reconstruc-

^ AfS. Precept of Sasine, 9th October 1559, and relative deeds; infra, II.
p. 44.

^ Summary, infra, p. 193.

^ The canonic sanction to do so was expressed in the Cuvi saepe nutnero of
Leo X., 27th November 15 19.

■* MS. Pf'otocol Books, Alexander Symson, 1539-42, ff. 30, 134.

= 7th March 1524. '^ MS. Protocol Books, ut supra, 1542-44, f. 63.

CHAP. VIII.] HADDINGTON 173

tion and repair was beyond the resources of the burgh, it was
agreed to abandon the choir ; and the assistance of James,
Earl of Moray, was enhsted under a contract, in which he
promised to contribute six hundred merks by termly instal-
ments, if the town provided one hundred pounds yearly from
the Common Good. The immediate purpose was to " byg,
beild and reedyfie sufficiently " the fabric of the church ex-
tending from the steeple to the west gable, and to roof in the
south " tufall " "with thayk of sklait and ruif," so that the
burghers might worship safe from " injurie of wedder," The
north "tufall" was also to be rebuilt, and lights and glass
provided for the whole building. When these repairs had
been effected, it was decided to proceed with the " croce kirk
of the said paroche kirk ay and quhill the samyn be perfittit
and byggit with wallis, ruffis, lychtis and utheris necessaris
apperteyning therto"; provided always "that the queir of
the said paroche kirk, quhilk wes of befoir and now left out
of this contract, may be demolisit and tane doun " as is
thought expedient, and its material used for the repair of
the other parts.^ In these circumstances, it is not surprising
to find that in 1561 the Magistrates issued stringent orders
against the demolition of the friary church, probably at that
time the only suitable structure in the burgh for public worship.
As a survival of the custom prevalent under the old regime,
John Henderson summoned George Ayton to appear within
the " freir kirk" on 13th May 1561 to accept the redemption
money of his forebooth and inner vault. In the absence of
the friars, however, the debtor did not place the money upon
the altar at his creditor's risk, but resorted to the civil courts
to compel acceptance of the fifteen pounds tendered by him.-
Eleven years later, the demolition of the church was decided
upon immediately after the Town Council had concluded a
final agreement with John Auchinleck, the last Warden of the
friary. Its pavement was removed to and laid in the parish
church,'' Three roods of the "freir kirk passand north and

^ MS. Contract, 2nd Marcli 1561-62, between James, Earl of Moray, and
Patrick Cockbiirn, I'rovost of Haddington, with sundry otiiers. AVj/-. 0/ Denis,
V. f. 66. G. R. 11.

- />' C. B. cod. die. ^ Ibid. 7th November 1^72.

174 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. viii.

contenand the chalmer hall and kitchen " were feued to John
Grey/ and its east gable was offered to Sir Thomas Cockburn
of Clerkington ; but if he refused to accept the gift, the treasurer
was directed to pay him twenty merks "for causes."" Sir
Thomas accepted this offer, and a year later he was charged
to cast down and remove the wall before St. Mungo's day,
with the further intimation that "gif he do nocht the samyn,
the toun will cast doun the samyn." ^ For the convenience
of the feuars a gate was opened into the Freir Gowill at the
town's expense,^ and a considerable portion of the site is now
occupied by Trinity Church (Episcopalian).

The first mention of the Franciscans of Haddington occurs
in the year 1242, when the young Master of Athol was buried
in their graveyard, unmourned for and without the offices of
the Church, after he had been foully burned to death in his
lodgings by certain "ministers of evil."^ In 1259, we catch
a glimpse of the friar preacher delivering his Easter sermon
on the sufferings of Christ to a cono-reQ^ation of the burghers
assembled in one of the town squares. After the custom of
the time, his discourse was punctuated by the comments
of his listeners, on this occasion to the discomfiture of one
of their number. To attract attention to himself rather than
to edify men's minds, narrates the Franciscan Chronicler, he
haughtily challenged the statements of the preacher, main-
taining that it was no crime to yield to the dictates of the
flesh during that solemn season. Sternly rebuked by the friar,
the swashbuckler quitted the meeting ; and the same evening
he met his death in a brawl that he provoked with one of
his neighbours, all as had been prophesied by the friar.^
At this time, the royal alms granted for the support of the
friary were represented by a weekly allowance of three
shillings,'^ but in 1329, along with the other five Conventual

* B. C. B.f 30th November 1572. Feu-duty, 30s.

2 Ibid. 4th December 1572. ^ Ibid. 18th November 1573.

* Ibid. 22nd February 1 572-73.

* Lanercost Chrotticle, pp. 49-50. This burial was contrary to the provisions
of the Ita vobis, pp. 6, 416,

6 Ibid. p. 68.

^ Hist. Doc. Scot. (Stevenson), II. 244-47. Edward I. ordered the payment
to be continued out of the burgh fermes. John Balliol also made them a gift
of ^4-

CHAP. VIII.] HADDINGTON 175

friaries, Haddington became a permanent creditor of the
Scottish exchequer to the amount of twenty merks annually
from the Castlewards of the bailiary of Haddington, in terms
of the generous charter granted by Robert the Bruce.^ The
Sheriff Collectors were, however, indifferent paymasters, and
their defalcations roused the friars of Haddinirton and Dundee
to lay a joint complaint before Parliament concerning the
accumulation of arrears. Their petition met with complete
success, and the Regent was directed to see that his letters
to the sheriffs were obeyed in every point." Otherwise, the
royal charities to this friary were restricted in extent. Ten
merks were contributed towards the fabric of the church in
1362 ;^ and three years later a gift of fifty-four shillings was
received from the King.* In 1490, a special grant of three
bolls of wheat was made by James IV., and three other gifts
from his privy purse illustrate the exceptional generosity of
this Franciscan benefactor.^ That of forty-two shillings on
18th November 1507 for "the Kingis Belcher in the Freris "
indicates that he partook of the friary hospitality on that
date. Four years previously, the resources of the friary
were severely taxed to provide accommodation for the night
for the large retinue that accompanied the Princess Margaret
of England on her progress northward.

The charitable bequests of the laity to the friars of
Haddington were rivalled only by those granted to the
friars of Dundee. The earliest in date — the first Franciscan
endowment of which we have any knowledge — was an
annual rent of six merks granted by some unknown donor
in 1287 out of certain lands within the burgh known as
Ralph Eglinton's Acres.*^ The purpose of this grant was the
" furnesing of wyne, walx, ule and other necessar thingis
within thare kirk of the said burgh to the uphald of divine
service within the sammyn ; " and it is clear that the friars

' Exch. Rolls, 3rd July 147 1, complete entry.
- Acts of Parliament (Thomson), I. 558.
■■' Exch. Rolls, 13th August.
* Iditl. 2ist January 1365.

'•' Accounts of the Lord HigJi Treasurer, i6th August 1497, iSlh November 1 507.
15th June 1508.

" MS. Notarial Instrument^ 12th February, 1527-2S ; infra, II. p. 24.

176 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. vm.

enjoyed uninterrupted possession of this annual rent until
1560/ The land underwent many vicissitudes,^ and there
were occasions on which the feudal rights of the Crown
threatened to prejudice the friary exchequer. One such
occurred in 15 13, when forfeiture was threatened because
the possessor had not entered with the Crown. Warden
Harlaw, however, boldly protested before the Lords of
Council at Edinburgh that, "quhatever the Lordis did
anent the mater persewit be the King of nonentres of the
akeris of Hadington, hurt nocht thame (the friars) sen the
Lordis war na jugis to thame ! " ^ Greater consideration was
doubtless accorded to the more tactful plea advanced by the
procurator of the burgh, that the King had promised that
his gift of the acres to John Lawson "suld nocht haif effect
gif the toune of Haddingtoune murmourit it."^ Desultory
proceedings during the next fourteen years were terminated
by an Inquest of the lands and a decreet upon them against
John Crumble.^ Two months later the magistrates induced
the friars to abandon their right to the annual rent of six
merks, under mutually advantageous conditions. The burgh
assumed responsibility for an equivalent annual payment to
the friars, and also guaranteed due payment of two other
annual rents worth twenty-eight shillings secured over the
tenements of Robert Greenlaw and Robert Wilson — "gfifit
sail happin in ony time to cum that the saidis landis beis
nocht poindable and strenzeable for the saidis annuellis, or
that the saidis Wardane, convent and thare successouris can
nocht get payment thareof, doand thare exact deligence for
persewing of the sammyn."^ The generous spirit in which

^ B. C. £., 23rd November 1559.

2 In 1500, it was in the possession of the family of Ralph Eychlyng, and his
bailie leased it at the accustomed rent, with the consent of the friars. Tack,
22nd February 1499-1500; m/ra, II. p. 23.

2 The friar here reasserts the old Franciscan privilege conferred by Gregory IX.
under the Cum non deceat.

* MS. Acta. Dotn. Concil., XXV. f. 172 ; ififra, II. p. 73.

^ 1st July and 4th December 1527.

^ MS. Notarial Instriimetit, 12th February 1527-28; infra, II. p. 24. In
pursuance of their obligation to use diligence before having recourse to the town,
the friars poinded Wilson's tenement on 9th October 1554, 8th October 1555, and
recovered payment on 12th November following ; B. C. B., under dates.

CHAP. VIII.] HADDINGTON 177

the magistrates carried out this agreement may be appreciated
from the receipt granted by the friars in 1538 for twelve
pounds in heu of three succeeding annual payments, " thank-
fully payit aforhand of the townis gud mynd for to help
big our dortur quhilk is fallen downe." ^ The second and
third endowments arose out of the recently established
custom of admitting the laity to burial within the precincts
of the friary. The mother of Sir William Lindsay of Luffness
was " buried with the friars" at some date prior to 1293, and
the Laird of Luffness directed the Abbot of Newbattle to
entertain the Friars Minor of Haddington at the cost of one
merk annually on the morrow of the Feast of Pope St.
Gregory, so long as they celebrated a solemn Requiem mass
on that day for Lady Margaret's soul." The parents of
Sir John Congilton were also buried in the friary church
beside the altar of St. Duthac, its patron saint ; and, in
1 3 14, their son made provision for the supply of bread and
wine to this altar in return for the celebration of an anniver-
sary service so long as three friars remained in the convent.^
Thirteen years later, the friary rental was augmented by the
generosity of the family of Seton, which appears to have
held the friars in high repute during the whole of the
fourteenth century. For the ornaments and vestments
of the church, an annual rent of twenty shillings was
granted by Sir Alexander Seton out of the Mill of Barnes
on Christmas day 1337,'* and this was increased to three
pounds by William, first Lord of Seton, who was buried
in the friary about the year 1409.^ From Sir David de
Annand, the friars received a ratification of their right,
under his ancestor's charter, to remove as many coals as
they could use from his town and barony of Tranent,
and this privilege was also confirmed by Lord William

1 MS. Receipt^ 2nd April 1538 ; infra, II. p. 27.

2 Indc7iture, 30th November 1293. Excerpt, infra, II. p. 8, from Lives of the
Lindsays, I. 418 ; Newbattle Chartulary. The Camielites of Luft'ness received
one half merk in return for similar anniversary services.

^ Douglas, Pcerai^c, p. 521, quoting Archiv familiae.
■• favuly of Seton, p. 844.

* Maitland, Genea/ot^y of the House of Seton, p. 24. Lord William is believed
to have been a member of the Third Order,
12

178 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. vm.

Seton on 26th November 1380;^ but Maitland limits
the quantity to " saix laid of coillis to be tane of his
coilpot of Tranent."^ Another local family which evinced
an active interest in the welfare of the friarv were the
Haliburtons, Lairds of Carlowry, and the indenture entered
into between the friars and Sir William Haliburton in 1389
indicates that his grandfather had also been one of their
warm supporters. Under this deed, Sir William granted
an annual rent of ten merks from his lands of Dremhills
for the erection of an altar in honour of St. John the
Baptist, on the north wall of the nave, and thereafter for
furnishing it with books, vestments, bread, wine and other
necessaries. On their part, the friars undertook to perform
a daily mass at this altar for the souls of the founder and
his family, as well as a solemn mass with funeral rites on
the obit day of Sir Alexander, his grandfather, so long as
there remained two friar chaplains in the friary.^ For 160
years the friars were undisturbed in their possession of this
endowment until, at length, the English occupation of Had-
dington in 1548 reduced the tenants of Dremhills to penury,
much in the same manner as Lord Wharton's operations on
the West Marches dispossessed the tenants of the Dumfries
friary. Nevertheless, the rents for the years 1548 and 1549
were demanded, and in 1550 the four tenants were summoned
before the Lords of Session in respect of non-payment. Decree
for twenty merks went against them by default, the archaic
warrant for diligence authorising the Chapter to " mak penny
of thair reddiest guddis to the avale of the soume of twenty
merkis money foirsaid restand awin to the said Wardane and
convent."* The infeftment on which this action proceeded
has already been referred to in relation to the independence
of the Scottish Vicariate ; ^ and we further learn from it that
Friar Patrick of Hawick, afterwards Warden of Haddington,
was delegated by the anti-Urbanist Minister General to the
office of Visitor during the early years of the great Western

^ Fa7nily of Seton, p. 844. Reconfirmed with the consent of his son on 6th
October 1404.

2 Gejtealogy, p. 24. ^ Indenture, 22nd July 1389 infra, II. p. 8,

* MS. Reg. Acts and Decreets, III. f. 466 ; hifra, II. p. 10.
^ Supra, p- 15.

CHAP. VIII.] HADDINGTON 179

Schism. He is the only Scottish Conventual who is known
to have risen to hio-h office in the Order.

A century after the foundation of this altar, the family of
Haliburton gave further proof of its appreciation for the work
of the friars, when Sir John Haliburton, Vicar of Greenlaw,
selected them as administrators and chaplains of his munificent
charity to the poor of East Lothian. In an indenture which
he entered into on i ith June 1478 ^ with Warden John Yhare,
and the eight friars then resident in the friary. Sir John
became bound to infeft them in his tenement on the south
side of the Poldrait, and another on the south side of the
Northgate. A portion of the tenement in the Poldrait
was to be converted into an almshouse furnished with three
beds, and the remainder was burdened with certain annual
rents for its upkeep and the celebration of divine service in
its oratory. The Franciscan Warden was appointed Master
at a yearly salary of forty pence, under obligation to render
an account of his intromissions to the Chapter, "and als
lang as he doys well to be continewit." The benefits
of the charity were confined to " bodiis borne or upbred of
the Barony of Dirltoun," the right of presentation to two
of the three beds beini^ reserved to the founder during his
life, and thereafter to the Lairds of Dirleton. If the Laird
neglected to present a pauper within twenty days from the
date on which the bed became vacant, the buro-h of Haddinor-
ton was empowered to "gif the said person or persones to
the said beddis, and their persones in the said house to remane
qiihill thai lif, bot gif thair opyn demeritis cause thaim to
be put forth." The third bed was placed at the disposal
of the Warden or his servant for offering a nioht's shelter to
any poor person. As befitted a quasi-religious foundation, a
certain attention to the offices of the Church was demanded
of the inmates, and in every case the Warden was entrusted
with the duty of examining the entrant's scriptural knowledge
and his ability to say his Pater Noster, Ave Maria and Credo.
Each day they were bound, as a condition of residence, to
recite the psalter of our Lady three times, and "ilk lucln ai
tho bcl of curfur sav fi\'e Pater Nosters, five Avevs and a

' J/6". Indenture^ in/ni, II. p. 13.

i8o CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. vm.

Crede," and "gif thai be letterit the De profundis." In addition
to the celebration of masses and other services in the friary
and the parish church, the friar chaplain was bound to say
one mass every Sunday after eleven o'clock in the oratory
of the almshouse, and subsequently, as the yearly value of
the endowment increased, one upon Friday and another on
Wednesday, until the service was complete. The friars were
also entrusted with the duty of distributing forty pence worth
of bread among the poor on Candlemas Day, after mass had
been said by six priests in the friary and parish churches.
One merk yearly was apportioned for building repairs, the
upkeep of the beds, and furnishing the oratory with "buk,
vestment and chalice." The purchase of rolls of bread for
the inmates between Whitsunday and Michaelmas, and of
oatmeal between Martinmas and St. Andrew's Day, absorbed
two merks annually ; while the surplus revenue, after pay-
ments for the masses, candles and the services of the town
bellman, was "wary it upon the purvyans as said is to the
sustentacione of the said puir bodies." The institution was
formally approved of by James III. five years later in a
Charter of Confirmation which, along with several other
documents relating to the Franciscans of Haddington, has
disappeared from the burgh charter chest.^ The subsequent
history of the almshouse and distribution of bread to the poor
of Haddington is wholly unknown ; and, in the same connec-

1 l7ive}7tory, ibid. No trace can now be discovered of the Friary Rental Book
which was in existence in 1543 {MS. Reniinciatio7i, ififra, p. 193), and was handed
over to the Town Council along with the writs, evidents and a supplementary
memorial of the annuals by Warden Auchinleck on 21st April 1574. The other
important documents for the Franciscan student, now missing from the charter
chest, are —

Instrument of Sasine, 31st July 1472, in favour of the Minorites of Haddington

of a house in Poldrait and Midraw.
Backbond, 17th November 1478, by the Friars of Haddington to James Cock-
burn (of Clerkington), to restore the freir croft if they neglect a yearly
mass for his soul. Vide MS. Decreet, infra, II. p. 68.
Charter of Confirmation by James III. to the friars, ist October 1483, of the
croft in the Poldrait and divers other annuities. (This charter is not
recorded in the Register of the Great Seal.)
Charter, 6th March 1487, by John Jedwart of a tenement in the Hardgate.
Letter of Alienation of their house, loth October 1555, by the friars to the

Magistrates of Haddington.
Tack, 1557, by the friars to James Tweedie of a yard in the Poldrait.

(HAP. VIII.] HADDINGTON i8i

tion, no more than simple reference can be made to the relations
between the Franciscans and the Hospital of St. Lawrence,
which contributed annually out of its revenues a chalder of
grain to the Burgh Leper House.^ Founded and endowed
by Richard Guthrie, Abbot of Arbroath, the Hospital was
placed under the control of the Dominican Order. Never-
theless, the Franciscans of Haddington would appear to have
been its spiritual directors, doubtless subject to the visitation
of the Dominican Visitor; and, under the seal of, and on behalf
of the Hospital, the Franciscan Wardens also granted the
annual receipts for twenty shillings paid to it by the Bailies
of Haddington out of the royal fermes.' This practice is some-
what remarkable, considering that the Hospital was adminis-
tered by its own Master ; but even after it had been formally
annexed to the nunnery of St. Catherine in the Sciennes,^
the receipts continued to be granted by the Franciscans.*

From and after the institution of the almshouse there is
distinct evidence that the friars received a much more ex-
tended share in the burgher's charity, under the correlative
and customary condition of performing obituary services for
the souls of the donors and their families. In 1491 the Setons
again evinced their interest in the friars. Under an indenture,
dated 7th April of that year, Lord George Seton conveyed to
Patrick Cockburn, burgess of Haddington, his tenement of
land within the burgh under burden of the payment of the
burghal ferme due to the King, an annual rent of 5s. to
the parish church, and another of 6s. Sd. to the friars.^
Walter Bertram, the devout Provost of Edinburgh and special
patron of the Observatine Friars, endowed an altar in honour
of St. Clement within the friary church, under circumstances
which illustrate the friendly relations subsisting between the
Franciscans and the Seculars. In spite of their once valued
privilege of excluding the churchmen from ihcir churches
and cemeteries,'' the friars acquiesced in the appointment of a

' Liber St. Kathcrine ScncnsiSy p. 26. (Abbotsford Club.)
2 Exch. Rolls, 23rcl July 1530, ct seq. ^ Liber Si. Ku/hcrinc, pp. 41-48.

* In 15961110 Krcir Croft was disponed for its sup|)ort ; Charier, lotli December
1596 ; Old Invenlory, Durgh Charter Chest.
■"' Family 0/ Seloit, pp. 845-846.
'' I'irlulc Lonspiciioi, 2iid Auyubl 1258 ; infra, p. 419.

1^2 CONVENTtJAL FlUARIiES [chap. vm.

secular chaplain to this altar at a salary of ^9, 2s. 8d., with
a further allowance of two pounds for ornaments and main-
tenance, to be expended in accordance with the advice of the
Warden and the patron of the altar/ Under the surveillance
of the friars, the chaplain was bound to say mass daily at his
altar, having previously exhorted the congregation to repeat
one Pater Noster for the souls of the Scottish royal
house and the founder's family. Denied the right to
appoint a substitute, he was compelled to remain in per-
petual residence ; and he was to be immediately deprived of
his office if he omitted, when in health, to perform the mass
for fifteen consecutive days, or if he were known to have
a female companion or concubine. To the friary, Provost
Bertram granted an annual rent of ten shillings as an endow-
ment for a high mass on every vigil of St. Francis, preceded
on the eve of the vigil by a placebo and dirige, after ringing
of the bell through the town as was the custom for the dead.
It was the duty of the secular chaplain to be present at these
services and to report any failure in performance to the patron.^
Other burgesses who endowed the friary with annual
rents for like purposes were the anonymous owners of two
tenements in the Poldrait and Midraw,^ one John Jed wart
who gifted a tenement in the Hardgate, Robert Greenlaw,
John Forton, Robert Galloway, Philip Gibson, John
Sibbaldson, John Lethane and John Haliburton ; but the
loss of a portion of the friary records has deprived us of the
names of many others whose charities raised its income from
endowments approximately to a sum of fifty pounds Scots.^
Of the other pecuniary benefits derived from testamentary
charity but little is known, as only two bequests can be traced :
the first, granted in 1392 by Sir James Douglas of Dalkeith,
ancestor of the Earls of Morton, of a sum of ^3, 6s. 8d.,^ and
the other of ^10, granted in 15 16 by Dame Catrine Lauder,

^ Provost Bertram and his heirs, whom failing, the Bailies of Haddington.
2 Charter of Mortification, 4th February 1494-95, incorporated in Charter oj
Confirmation, 14th March ; MS. Reg. Mag. Sig., XIII. No. 190, infra, II. p. 16.
^ Old Inventory, supra, p. 1 80.

* Vide Summaries I. and II. at pp. 194-97. There are no data from which to
establish the value of their crop.

* Bann. Club Miscell., II. 109. 114 ; infra, p. 198.

CHAi-.vTTT.] HADDINGTON 1^3

spouse of John Swynton of that Ilk.^ On occasion, the friars
themselves purchased annual rents out of moneys that had
accumulated in their hands throug^h o-ift or the sale of land
bequeathed to them ;" and, in the spring of 1509, they appear
as defendants in an action brought against them by a brother
churchman, Chaplain John Croser. The matter at issue was
the right of the friary to an annual rent of twelve shillings
over a tenement in Calparis Gate^ purchased by the friars
after a process of apprising ; but the arguments adduced
by the chaplain's " forespeker," Master David Edmondston,
failed to break down the defence offered by Sir Thomas
Cockburn of Newbiggin, the procurator of the friary/ In
1522 the friary Chapter was again involved in legal proceedings,
on this occasion as custodiers of a royal letter of gift of the
ward and marriage of the lands of Mellerstanis, that had fallen
to the Crown througrh the escheat of Lord Georg-e Hume.
The Crown donee was George Haitlie of Broomhill, and
his widow, Margaret Blacadder, as tutrix of his son John,
demanded surrender of "the saidis lettres and evidentis,
with the box that the samin ar put in, deliverit to him
(Warden Harlaw) in keiping be the said umquhile George."
The Warden had, however, to deal with several claimants
for the ward and marriage of the lands. Lord Hume
received letters of remission on 30th August 1522 ; and,
fearing a revocation of her husband's gift, Margaret leased
the ward and marriage to him. Her husband had, how-
ever, "made other assignees to the ward of Mellerstanis"
and his testament was produced in probation ; while the
Prior of St. Andrews, as "Tutor Testamentar," appeared
in the suit to defend the rights of the heir to the lands
of Mellerstanis. In these circumstances, the W^arden deemed
it prudent to await his judicial rescript, which was granted

^ Original in G. R. II. ; infra^ p. 198.

^ MS. Charter of Vcttdilion, 8tli February 1505 (?) ; MS. Instrument of Sasinc^
1 2th November 1 5 1 3, infra., II. pp. 28, 32. In regard to the sale of land and purchase
of annual rents a perfect case occurs in Dundee (p. 232). Unlike the Dominicans,
who feued oft" many of their lands from the fourteenth century onwards, the
Franciscans never appear as feudal superiors until they were compelled to resort
to this device in the years immediately preceding the Reformation.

^ The Common Vennel.

■• MS. Ada Doin. Concil.^ W. If. 1 14, 178, 203 ; /////.:, II. p. 72,

i84 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [cHAr.viii.

on 7th November 1522 ; and a fortnight later Mark Ker,
who had replaced Margaret Blacadder as tutor-dative to
John Haitlie, asked instruments on the production of
" the gift under the prive seile made to George Haitlie of
Broomhill." Thereafter, Mark Ker successfully defended
John Haitlie's rights against Lord Hume, whose claim
depended on the doubtful result of his own remission, and
the lease granted to him by Margaret Blacadder prior to
the opening of the suit. Warden Harlaw therefore acted in
the interests of John Haitlie when he refused to surrender the
letter of gift to his mother/ On nth October 1530, we find
Warden Harlaw in the burgh court in the role of pursuer, re-
questing the services of a serjeant and two witnesses necessary
to the then tedious process of diligence against heritable pro-
perty.^ This was the third step in a poinding of a tenement,
known as the Well Tower in Strumpet Street, from which an
annual rent of ten shillings was due to the friary, and, as
before, they found "na thing strengeable bot erd and stane,
quhilk he present in court as the third court of this process."^
Under date loth September 1538 in the Protocol Book of
Alexander Simson,* we find the unique record of the formal
expropriation of George Hugo, who, "off his awin fre will
with consent of his kyn and freindis, grantit to be professit in
the Freiris Minoris of Hadinton in ralegioun of the same Order
and to talk the aibet tharof." As the premium required on
his admission, his mother handed the Warden ten merks and,
along with one Jeannot Neise, undertook to pay a further
sum of ten merks at Easter. In fulfilment of the ceremony

"^ MS. Acta Donu Concil, XXXIII. ff. 2, 104, 105, 128, 130, 145, 147, 176 ;
infra, II. p. 73.

* In place of the still older procedure under which it was necessary to produce
the doors, windows, and woodwork of the house in court, it was provided that
" whasa sal wish to proceed in burgh for recourie of land or tenement unfruitful!,
because the yeirlie rent is not paid, aucht to gang to the land or the tenement
with witnesses and the burgh sarjant and tak erde and stane of that tenement and
present to the balyes at the three head courts of the burgh. And thai stanes and
erde aw to be placit in a pock saled with the balyes sale and keepit be the
persewer to the fourth head court, and then the persewer sal schawe to the balyes
in court the stanes and erde of the thrie preceding courts, and sal then craue
decreit of possession, and it sal be given him of lawe." Ancient Linus and
Customs of the Burghs of Scotland, p. 168. Burgh Record Society.

^ B. C. B., cod. dU. * MS., Burgh Charter Chest, 1 529 44, f. 1 10; infra, II. p. 36.

CHAP. VIII.] HADDINGTON 185

demanded by the Franciscan statutes, Hugo received the
symbols of his father's heirship from his mother, returned it
again to her for her own use ; and thereafter he completed
his severance from temporal interests by resigning his tene-
ment on the west side of the Sidgait into the hands of Bailie
Thomas Wause " for possession to be gyffyn to Elspeth
Gothra and hir airis." In the following year, the young friar
was one of the seven who acknowledged the redemption of
a tenement at the east end of the market cross gate — " which
they had in wadset of Richard Maitland of Lethington," and
which was redeemed by his assignee John Wolston in the
chapter-house of the friary on 13th December 1539 — "be
verteu and strenth of ane reversioun of the said tenement
maid be umquhill Freir Adam Harlaw, Warden of the said
place, . . . and seillit with thar commoun seill."^ The
Franciscans were stringently forbidden to contract debt and,
a foi'tio^d, to become creditors under a contract of loan ; but
there seems no other explanation of this incident than that the
friars had lent the poet a sum of money, receiving in security
his charter and sasine, and thereafter granting a deed of rever-
sion according to the custom of the time. It is, however,
possible that, desiring to provide for certain services, he had
granted a bond over this tenement, so that the interest should
serve as an annual rent until he was in a position to purchase
one as an endowment ; but this theory might not prove conclu-
sive in the case of the two testators whose wills state that they
owed forty shillings to the F"riars Minor and four pounds and
eighteen pence to one " Friar John Dawzell," whose Order is
not specified." As one of the granters of a discharge in 1543,
Friar Hugo must also have shared in the refusal of his brethren
to admit John Fleming to their Chapter, when the bailies
and certain honest neighbours communed with ihem to see
"quhat thai will have to mak Johne Flemyng ane freir."
We may assume that this paui)er was not even granted the
permanent shelter of the almshouse, because the treasurer was

' MS. Prof. Books, Alexander vSimson, vol. 1529-44, f. 28. Tlic Instriiinent of
Sasine was granted to Maitland of Lethington on 6tli January following ; Idiii.
MS. Vol. 1539-42, f. 30, infra, II. pp. 36-3S.

-MS. AVff. Cot7f. Testixincnts (Glasgow), f. 12a. Ibid. (St. .\nilrcws), Janet
Young, 14th March 1549-50.

1 86 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap.vhi.

directed to furnish him with clothing and sixpence for a day's
meat ; and the Council ultimately granted him an allowance
of fifty shillings yearly, after the bailies had gone through
the town to see who would give Fleming his meat.^

During the minority of Mary Stuart, East Lothian be-
came a war-swept zone, and the material prosperity of its
religious houses was severely crippled when Hertford burnt
and desolated Haddington "with the freres and a nunry.""
The mischief was completed during the English occupation
and siege of the town which followed the young Queen's
departure to France. At this date a rampart was built round
the friary enclosing the foregate,^ antecedent to the dis-
charge of the two famous shots described by Knox as
ricochetting between the walls of the friary church and St.
Catherine's chapel, and mowing down more than a hundred
Frenchmen ! ^ The aftermath of this siege was ruinous, un-
inhabitable, and often ownerless houses from which the friars
had been wont to draw their annual rents. Arrears accumu-
lated until the autumn of 1553, when Warden Congilton
initiated a series of poindings to recover payment of an
annual sum which represented about one-fourth of the income
of their endowments. The processes dragged their weary
length through the four courts until the autumn of 1555,
when the " erdis and stannis clossit in sakkis under the seill of
office " were presented. Three proclamations were then made
" at the towbuyth window gif ony man wald compeir to pay the
said annuell and to redeme the saidis tenementis." " Na man
comperand, the Court waroit and it was gevin for dome be the
mowth of the dempster that he^ awcht to haif possession."
At this juncture, the burghers were brought to a sense of their
obligations, and wholesale payments, or promises to pay, were
made, followed by the Warden's formal discharge of the pro-
cesses which he had led upon the tenements — because the
former owners or purchasers were now prepared "to content
and pay the said annuell conform to the actis of the burnt land." ^

1 B. C. B., under dates 29th January 1539, 20th July and 27th October 1540,
27th April 1542 ; 2///ra, II. p. 79.

- Dalyell, Fragments, p. 11. ^ Bain, Cal. Scot. Pap., I. 123.

* History, I. 223. ^ Warden Congilton.

^ Under the several dates specified in Summary II., infra, pp. 195-97.

cHAP.vni.] HADDINGTON 187

During the next few years the aged Warden is still to be met
with in the burgh court on a similar errand ; and, the issue of
the Beggar's Warning notwithstanding, we find him there for
the last time on nth October 1559, protesting along with
the procurator of the nunnery against any prejudice they
might suffer in respect of John Forrest's diligence upon cer-
tain tenements in which they had an interest.

Meanwhile, in accordance with the general plan of action
adopted by the Franciscans, the friars had considered the
advisability of securing a provisional disponee, who would
safeguard their lands and heritable endowments durincr the
approaching crisis. A Letter of Alienation of their house
was granted to the Magistrates on loth October 1555/ and
this disposition was homologated in a Precept of Sasine
granted by Warden Congilton on 9th October 1559 "for the
singular favour, good deeds, help and protection accorded to
us by the aforesaid provost, bailies, councillors and com-
munity, against the invaders of our Order and our foresaid
convent during the present calamity that has fallen upon the
religious and churchmen."" The provisional nature of
this disposition was acknowledged two days later in an
undertaking by the burgh, to renounce and quitclaim the
subjects in favour of the friars, " while they are permitted
to live in the habit and under the rule of the Con-
ventual friars as they have heretofore done " ; ^ and in the
same spirit the magistrates paid forehand the sum of six
merks in terms of the old agreement concerning Ralph
Eglinton's acres."^ On i8th April following, their infeftment
of the friary lands was completed by Instrument of Sasine;
but when we read that they received a Charter of Confirmation
under the Great Seal from the Oueen Dowacfer,*' we can
only conclude that they had as yet given no proof of anti-
Romanist sympathies. During the stirring events that led up
to the Treaty of Edinburgh, the friars would appear to have

^ OM Inventory : deed now lost. The yards were leased to a number of
tenants, infra^ II. p. 93.

- MS. Precept of Sasine and relative Instrument of Sasine, iStli April 1560,
infra, II. p. 44.

^ MS. Notarial Oblii^ation^ nth October 1559, infra, II. p. 46.

^ 23rd November 1559.

* MS. Declaration of Sasine, jOlh Uclubcr 1562, Uuri^h Charier Chest.

1 88 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. viii.

continued the even tenor of their ways, sowing and cultivat-
ing their crops as heretofore. Friar John Auchinleck ^ was
promoted to the wardenship during the summer of 1560, and
from his Power of Attorney we learn that he deemed it
prudent to appoint the provost to factor and gather their corn
and acre of barley on the " Capoun Flatt," enigmatically
described as held in feu by the Warden.^

With the granting of this writ, we enter upon the history
of the duel between the magistrates and Warden Auchinleck
for the possession of the friary and its revenues. It lasted
until 30th October 1572, when the sweets of victory rested
with the legal acumen of the quondam friar. During these
years the fate of his benefice was wholly exceptional. No
return of its revenues was made to the Collector of Thirds in
accordance with the Order of the Privy Council ; and, while
a certain number of the burghal annual rents passed into the
Common Good under the intermediate and final agreements,
no definite trace can now be discovered of the more valuable
endowments secured over landward subjects. Two friars
remained in Scotland to share the friary revenues with their
Warden. Thomas Lawtay, who was a member of the Chapter
in 1559 and entered the friary at Lanark in 1560, formally
recanted and received the Mendicant pension of sixteen
pounds.^ He also secured an assignation to himself of an
annual rent of three pounds from the tenement of James
Cockburn,^ and it is to be presumed that he had died or quitted
Haddington before the autumn of 1572, as he took no part
in the transference of the friary to the town. Friar Patrick
Allan, on the other hand, did not receive the Mendicant
pension, and is first met with on 27th November 1573, when,
in return for a payment of six merks,^ he appended his
signature to the charter granted to the town by Warden

1 Alias John Affleck, B. C. B., 30th August 1568.

2 MS. Power of Attorney, 4th August 1560, infra, II. p. 47.
^ MS. Accounts, Collector-General, 1561-66, Exonerations.

* In the record of this formality, he is designed as " Thomas Lautay, ahas
Freir Thomas Lautay"; but this is not, perhaps, conclusive evidence that this
annual formerly belonged to the friary, and that he received it as a quondam
friar. B. C. B., 3rd March 1565-66.

^ B. C. B., eod. die.

CHAP. VIII.] HADDINGTON 189

Auchinleck on 12th December of the preceding year. By
law he was entitled to receive an equal share of the twenty-
two pounds now paid annually by the burgh ; but in this he
was disappointed for the space of two years. He thereupon
instituted an action for payment of twenty-two pounds annually
during his lifetime, with the result that the Town Council
deemed it advisable to recognise his claim. ^ Tardy justice
was accorded to him under the cloak of fictitious generosity
on 23rd March 1575, when he was constituted the town's
creditor in an annual payment of twelve pounds and one
payment of four pounds with which to meet his current debts
— " haiffand consideration of the greit pouertie of freir Patrik
Alane, ane native born barn within this burgh, greit aige,
infirmite of his body, and decrepitnes therof."- The Council
was, however, careful to procure a renunciation of all his
rights to the friary or its revenues, and the last extant
receipt for his allowance is dated 22nd May 1578.^

Whatever provision may have been made for Friar Allan
before 1573, his masterful and nnbrotherly Warden kept a
vigilant eye upon his own interests. His first step was to
confirm Warden Congilton's conveyance to the Town Council
and, immediately thereafter, to infeft George Simson also in
the friary property.* Under the exception of the west yard
and lime hole in the possession of Warden Congilton's tenants,
the magistrates leased the Freir Croft and the yards from year
to year,^ using the rents to pay Auchinleck a pension of
sixteen pounds granted to him by Queen Mary under a letter
of gift.^ Matters remained in this position until the autumn
of 1564, when the Warden was refused payment of this pension
unless he consented to grant receipts for it in terms acceptable
to the Town Council.'^ Determined not to abrogate any of
his rights in the property, he proceeded to consolidate his
title to the superiority by formally constituting George
Simson his vassal, under sasine and charter granted at North

' Cf. analogous case of George Law, infra, p. 214.

- B. C. B., 23rd March 1574-75. " Jl/S. Receipt, iti/nj, II. p. 67.

* MS. Declaration of Sasine, 30th October 1562.

' B. C. B., 2nd July 1560, 1st March 1560-61, nth December 1561.

« MS. Re^c^. Privy Seal, XXXVI. f. 23, infra, II. p. 52.

^ B. C. B., i7ih November 1564.

I90 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. viii.

Berwick in the month of August 1565/ These writs were
then produced at Edinburgh for the grant of a Crown
Charter of Confirmation, and the petition was granted
on 7th January following" under circumstances which point
clearly to collusion between the officials of the Great Seal and
the granter or grantee. The charter proceeded on the narrative
that it was orranted in terms of the Act homoloa-atino- the
infeftments of church lands granted by the Churchmen prior
to 6th March 1558-59.^ But we know that the magistrates'
Sasine dated from 9th October 1559, and that George
Simson's orioinal rioht was created after that date."* Neverthe-
less, and in spite of the explicit prohibition against the alienation
of church lands beyond the triennial limit fixed by the Act of
1563, George Simson was permitted to enter with the Crown,
and paid his composition on the registration of the charter
in the Abbreviates of Church Lands.^ In thus permitting
Simson to complete his title to the property of the lands,
and thereby consolidating the Warden's title to the superiority,
the magistrates lost a golden opportunity, and their position
was not rendered more acceptable by the previous assignation
of Simson's rights in the friary yards, croft and douket to John
Grey for three years from 21st December 1564.° In January
1566, the Warden-superior's procurator openly poinded five
tenements for payment of annual rents formerly in possession
of the friary, the second and third courts of this diligence
being held on 30th April and 8th October following;^ and,
in further vindication of his jjretensions, he procured a second
royal letter of gift increasing his pension from sixteen to
twenty pounds by the inclusion of the six merks formerly
payable out of Ralph Eglinton's acres.^ As a countermove,

^ AfS. Fen Charter, Precept and histrwnent of Sasine, infra, II. p. 48. The
feu-duty was £,20, os. gd.

2 MS. Precept Reg. Privy Seal, XXXIV. f. 45 ; MS. Crown Charter, in
Burgh Charter Chest, not recorded in the Register of the Great Seal.

" Supra, p. 151.

* MS. Declaration of Sasine, 30th October 1562.

° MS. Abbrev. Ca}-tar. Feudifinne Terrar. Ecclesiasticar., vol. 1564— 22nd April
1569, f. 180.

6 B. C. B., eod. die.

' Ibid. 22nd January 1565-66 ; 30th April and 8th October 1566.

* MS. Letter of Gift, 21st March 1566-67, infra, II. p. 52.

CHAP. VIII.] HADDINGTON 191

the Town Council procured a blench Crown Charter of the
ecclesiastical properties within their jurisdiction, subject to the
liferent of the friars over their old home ; ^ and thereafter they
maintained their refusal to pay the Warden's increased pension,
doubtless on the ground that his rights, as a friar, were satis-
fied by the feu-duty received from his vassal. Auchinleck
held other views, and procured a warrant under the Signet
charging the Town Council to comply with Queen Mary's
second letter of gift, because " the possessouris, tenentis,
annuellaris and occupiaris of the saidis akeris, landis, tene-
mentis . . . will nocht answer our moderis letteris."" In
the following year a compromise was effected, whereby he
abandoned his right to the annual of Ralph Eglinton's acres,
and to another of twenty shillings from James Hamilton's
tenement on the north side of the Tolbooth Gate, in return
for a sum of six pounds supplemented by an annual payment of
forty shillings.^ Meanwhile the friary had been sold by George
Simson to George Scott of Sinton,^ and the new vassal paid
his first year's feu-duty forehand to the Warden.^ It was now
clear that the Town Council could not redeem the lands
without granting substantial compensation to George Scott ;
and the passing of the Act of 1571, which vested the superi-
ority of friary and nunnery lands in the Crown after the death
of the last friar-liferenter, called for immediate action on their
part, as their own suspensive blench charter might be nullified
by the grant of the superiority of the friary and its pertinents
to some successful favourite at court. Seven hundred merks
was the sum agreed upon ; and, assembled within the Tolbooth
by sound of the hand bell, the bailies decided to borrow six
hundred merks of this sum from the provost, " for performing
of the appointment betwix the toun and Georg Scott," ^ But
the vigilant Warden had not been made a party to this

1 MS. Precept, Rci^. Privy Seal, XXXVI. f. 72 ; Charier, Peg. Mao. Sig.
(Print), IV. No. 1776, 24111 March 1566-67.

^ MS. Letters tinder t/ie Si<^?jet, 23rd July 1567, preserved in the Burgh Charter
Chest; infra, II. pp. 53-55.

3 B. C. B., 30th August 1 56S.

■• MS. Feu Charter, 17th October 1567, i//fra, II. p. 55.

^ MS. Receipt, 19th December 1567, i?i/ru, II. p. 57.

" B. C. /)'., 4th September and loth October, 1572.

192 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. viii.

agreement that threatened to curtail his income ; and he
therefore brought matters to a deadlock by recording letters
of inhibition against his vassal/ He too was pacified, either
by a gift of money or a promise of the readership in Athel-
staneford parish church, and on 30th October 1572 he withdrew
his inhibition ; while, " be the faythe of ane gentilman," George
Scott denied having granted any leases or writs affecting
immediate possession of the lands.^ Thereafter, all the
parties proceeded to the friary at three o'clock in the after-
noon and there, after dual resignation by staff and baton had
been performed by his vassals, George Scott and George
Simson, Warden Auchinleck granted sasine to Provost
Cockburn on behalf of the town, a notarial protest being
made on its behalf that this infeftment merely imported an
accumulation of rights to that granted by Warden Congilton
on 9th October 1559.^ The relative Feu Charter of 12th
December following stipulated for a feu-duty of twenty pounds
and ninepence,* and it was delivered to the burgh's repre-
sentatives along with the Notarial Obligation of nth October
1559 ;^ so that the only impediment to immediate possession
of the entire friary lands were the old leases, now fortified
by Act of Parliament. George Congilton accordingly received
three pounds for " ourgevin of his rycht and kindness of the
freir yard";^ twenty pounds were paid to John Mayne for
the surrender of his Instrument of Liferent of the Chalmer
House and Cloister yard ;^ and John Tweedy abandoned the
yard on the east side of the Poldrait on terms now unknown,^
Warden Auchinleck receiving six merks for the grant of a
special sasine of those subjects.^ Five weeks earlier, he had

1 MS. Protocol Books, Thomas Stevin, vol. 1565-74, 30th October 1572 ; Burgh
Charter Chest.

2 Ibid.

^ MS. histrument of Sasine and Notarial Protest, 30th October 1572, ijifra,

II. pp. 58-61.

^ Infra,\\\. p. 61. The Town Council still remained bound to pay a further
sum of ^2 annually, in terms of the agreement concerning Ralph Eglinton's acres
concluded on 30th August 1568.

= MS. Prot. Books, Thomas Stevin, ut supra, 12th September 1572.

« Ibid. cod. die; B. C. B., 27th February 1572-73.

7 B. C.B., 2gth May 1573.

^ MS. Prot. Books, ut supra, 21st April 1574.

»^'. C. ^., 28th May 1574-

CHAP. VIII.] HADDINGTON 193

surrendered the entire writs and charters in his possession
to the magistrates, "as their awin evidentis in all and be
all thingis as he and the saidis freris mycht have usit the
samyn " ;^ and when next met with he is designed as " Jhone
Auchynleck, reidar at the kyrk of Elstanfurd, Jesus." ^ Three
years later he prepared a rental and memorial of the friary
annuals,^ and finally disappears from record on 27th November
1577, thirty-four years from the date when he was first known
to us as a Franciscan friar.

Wardens of Haddington

Andrew de Douraid, 1309.

Richard Lyon, 1389. Patrick of Hawick, circa 1400.

John Yhare, 147 1, 1478, 1495, 1501.

Adam Harlaw, 1512-14-16-22-27-28-30-34-35.

John Straithaven, 3rd August 1535-40, 1541-43.

John Congilton, 1550, 1553-58, 23rd November 1559.

John Afflek or Auchinleck, 4th August 1560.

The Friary Chapter

wth June 1478, Warden John Yhare, Friars Thomas Feyld,
Thomas Young, Nichol Balylie, Thomas Glen, Thomas
Fayr, John Lyell, Huchoun Rede and Robert Howgoun.

wth November 1478, David Rae and Robert Thorbrand (ad-
ditional) ; Thomas Feyld and Thomas Young awanting.

2nd April 1538, Warden John Straithaven, Friars John
Congilton and John Borthik.

13^^ December 1539, Warden John Straithaven, Friars
William Sinclair, John Purro, John Congilton, John
Borthik, William Hepburn and George Hugo.

237'^ Febr2iary 1541-42, Warden John Straithaven, Friars
William Sinclair, John Congilton, George Hugo, John
Moncur and Henry Bald.

^ MS. Protocol Books, tii supra, 21st April 1574.

^ MS. Receipt, 7th September 1574. He was appointed Reader in accordance
with the act of General Assembly (1573), enlisting members of the old faith in the
service of the reformed Church. His salary was supplemented by the annual
payment of £22 from the Magistrates of lladdington. MS. Receipts, 1572-77,
infra, II. p. 64.

^ B. C. B., 22nd November 1577.

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196 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. viii.

Item over William Clepane's tenement in the Hardgate,
bounded on the north by the lands of Alexander
Cockburn of Harperdean, on the south by the land of
James Home and on the east by the common causeway ;
poinded 9th October 1554, — April and Sth October 1555 £,2 o o

Item over John Thomson's land there, bounded on the north
by the lands of the deceased Robert Norre, on the south
by the lands of the deceased James Heweson and on
the east by the common causeway ; poinded 9th October
1554, — April and Sth October 1555 . . .168

Item over Thomas Simson's land in the Poldrait, bounded
on the west by the lands of the deceased William Cok,
by the lands of the deceased Alexander Brown on the
east and the mill dam on the south ; poinded 9th
October 1554, — April and Sth October 1555 . • 068

Item over David Bell's land on the south side of the burgh,
bounded east and north by the land of Alexander
Todrig and the common causeway, on the west by the
land of Sebastian Dun and on the south by the mill
dam; poinded 9th October 1554, — April and Sth
October 1555 ; process discharged 1 2th November 1555. 140

Item over Alexander Gibson's land in the Smedye Raw,
bounded east and south by the lands of Alexander
Barnis and the common causeway ; poinded 9th October
1554, — April and Sth October 1555 ; process discharged
1 2th November 1555 . . . . .180

Item over Adam Wilson's land — originally Robert Wilson's
land — on the north side of King's Street, on the east by
Lord Hume's land, on the west by the land of the de-
ceased John Eistoun, and on the south by the common
street; poinded 9th October 1554, 8th October 1555;
process discharged 12th November 1555 • • 080

Item over John Hynd's land, bounded on the north by John
Getgude's land, on the west by Andrew Wilson's land,
and on the east and south by the common causeway ;
poinded 9th October 1554, — April and Sth October 1555 150

Item annual of unknown value over Patrick Sharp's land on
the south side of the Crocegait, bounded on the east
by Master Barthelmo Kello's land, on the west by the
deceased Alexander Todrig's land, on the south by the
mill burn, and on the north by the common causeway ;
poinded 9th October 1554, — April and Sth October 1555 000

Item over the half of a half of two contiguous tenements
bounded on the north by Robert Norre's land, and on
the south by James Heweson's land; composition i6th
October 1555 . . . . . . o 10 o

Item over a tenement in the Smedye Raw, bounded on the

CHAP. VIII.] HADDINGTON 197

east by Cuthbert Simson's land, and on the south, west
and north by the common gate and passage ; process dis-
charged 19th November 1555 ; repoinded 4th May 1557 ^o 6 8

Item over WiUiam Robertson's land on the north side of the
burgh, bounded on the east by George Simson's land,
and on the west by the land of the deceased William
Robertson; poinded 26th January 1556-57 . . o 13 4

Item over Patrick Douglas' land in the Smedye Raw, bounded
on the south, north and west by the " Quheni's Hyegait " ;
poinded 26th January 1556-57 and 12th October 1557 . 068

Item over Adam Cockburn's land; poinded nth April 1559 o o o

Item over a tenement on the north side of the burgh, bounded
on the west by the heirs of John Richardson ; poinded
27th April 1558 . . . . . o 13 4

Item over Henry Thomson's land on the east side of Gryp-
well, bounded on the east by the water of Tyne and
John Blair's land on the north; poinded 22nd January
1565-66, 30th April and 8th October 1566 . .068

Item over the land of Edward Vaus on the east side of the
burgh, bounded on the east by Robert Schort's land,
and on the west by the East Port; poinded 22nd Jan-
uary 1565-66 . . . . . .080

Item over the deceased Robert Young's land on the east side
of the Sidegate, bounded on the north by the deceased
Marion Clerk's land, and on the south by the deceased
John Hume's land; poinded 22nd January 1565-66 . 100

Item over Thomas Simson's land on the south side of the
Poldrait, bounded on the west by Robert Maitland's
lands and on the east by James Tuedy's land ; poinded
22nd January 1565-66 . , . . .168

Item over James Cockburn's tenement . . .300

Item over the tenement of James Hamilton of St. John's

Chapel on the north side of the Tolbooth Gate . 100

2 1 St January 1555 Warden John Congilton protested (in the
Burgh Court) "that the process led upoun ane tenement
of land of umquhile Adam Adesone and of the tene-
ment of land of George Reclington and the tenement
of umquhile Alexander Todrig (and of the tenement of
land of Edward Wawse without the port of the said
burght) be nocht prejudiciall nor hurt to him nor his
abbay and convent thairof " It is to be presumed there
were annual rents constituted over these tenements in
favour of the friary ..... 000
Total annual value of the rents owned by the friary,
exclusive of five annuals of which the value is
unknown, and of j£i, 4s. over Greenlaw's Tower,
redeemed by Philip Gibson in 1543 . ;^4'^ 0 4

198 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. viii.

ROYAL BOUNTIES TO THE GREY FRIARS OF HADDINGTON

I. Exchequer Rolls

Payments, in whole or part, of the annual allowance of 20 merks granted
under a charter by Robert Bruce in 1329 appear in the Rolls as follows: —
13th August 1362, £(), 13s. 4d. ; 21st January 1365, ^13, 6s. 8d. ;
15th September 1456, £2^, 13s. 4d. ; 3rd July 1471, £\z^ 6s. 8d. ;
14th August 1501, £()Zi 6s. 8d.

Payments of ;^i out of the burgh fermes by the Bailies of Haddington to
the Warden of the Grey Friary, on behalf of the Master of the Hospital of
Saint Lawrence near the burgh, appear in the Rolls of 23rd July 1530,
2ist July 1531, 3rd August 1535, 7th August 1537, and annually there-
after until that of 17th March 1544.

Incidental royal charities to the friars are recorded 21st January 1365, 54s.
by the gift of the King; ist July 1460, £t^^ 6s. 8d. for the maintenance
of the fabric of the place; 21st October 1490, three bolls of wheat in
alms for this year only.

11. Treasurer's Accounts

1497, 1 6th day of August to the Freris of Hadingtoune be the Kingis com-
mand, 1 8s.

1507, 1 8th day of November in Hadingtoun for the Kingis belcher in the
Freris, 42 s.

1508, 1 5th day of June to the Freris of Hadingtown, 14s.

LEGACIES

Sir James Douglas of Dalkeith, ancestor of the Earls of Morton, under his
two wills dated 30th September 1390 and 19th December 1392: Item
fratribus minoribus de Hadyngtoun ires libfas, sex solidos et octo de?iarios.
{Bann. Club. MiscelL, II. 109, 117.)

Bequest in Testament, confirmed 3rd April 15 16, of Dame Catrine Lauder,
spouse of John Swynton of that Ilk, to the Friars Minor of the town of
Haddington, £10. {MS. Cal. of the Swynton Charters^ No. 80, and
original in G. R. H.^)

^ Captain Swynton of Swynton has recently deposited his family muniments in
the G. R. H. for preservation.

CHAPTER Ylll—{contim(ed)
CONVENTUAL FRIARIES

Dumfries

The fourth and leading Franciscan setdement in the
south of Scotland was established at Dumfries about the
year 1262, upon the gentle slope of the left bank of the Nith
to the north of the old burgh and overlooking the future site
of the Newton of Dumfries, At this date, the friary was
appropriately situated beyond the northern limits of the
burgh and at some litde distance from it, on the south-east
corner of the " Willeis " or Burgh Common, which was
reached by a track or lane continuing the High Street
north-westwards from the point where it joined the Friars
Vennel. In the sixteenth-century writs, this lane is called
the Staitfurd, ''passing oute to Poliwadum " through the
Common. It skirted the base of the present Burns Statue
and formed the east boundary of the friary graveyard,
orchard and new yards, three parallel strips of land
from south to north. The line of this track has long since
been obliterated, and the recent discovery of human
remains in the cellars under Castle Street shows that the
boundaries of the friary cemetery soon faded from the
memory of the burghers.^ On the north, the friary land
was bounded by the Common," now covered by the buildings
on both sides of Buccleuch Street ; and the western boundary
is described as the shingle or water of Nith.^ It was then
represented by marshy land, long since reclaimed and now

^ MS, Abbre7>. Fete Charter, 15th September 1555, ////;-«, II. p. 104. Excavations
described by Mr. James Lennox in Transactions of Dinnfries and Galloway
Natural History and Antiquarian Society, XVII. pt. 3, p. 255.

'^ Ibid

^ MS. Feu Charier, 14th June 1558, infra, II. p. 113.

199

200 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. vm.

covered by Bridge Street in so far as it extends between the
old and the new bridges. On the south, the boundary can
still be traced in the line of the Friars Vennel. In the
sixteenth century, the front garden of the friary occupied
fifty - six ells ^ Scots of the north side of this Vennel,
extending westwards from two tenements at the " Vennel-
heid " ^ to a passage or close which divided the friary from
the tenements of the Newton, then in course of erection, on
the north side of the west end of the Vennel.^ In 1560, this
garden was not built upon, and its depth from the Vennel
to the south wall of the church varied from eleven to nine-
teen ells. It was divided into the east and west gardens
— having a frontage of twenty-six and twenty-eight ells
respectively — by a passage which led from the Vennel to
the main entrance of the church, immediately outside the
choir. The whole area was, therefore, roughly triangular
in shape with a curved apex ; and, from the measure-
ments contained in the pre- Reformation writs, it comprised
nearly eight and a half acres of ground, excluding the two
tenements at the "Vennelheid" and the line of tenements,
known as the Newton of Dumfries, erected south-west of the
friary towards the head of the Old Bridge after the departure
of the English in 1549.* It is now impossible to offer any
satisfactory explanation why this narrow strip of land, so long
unoccupied, did not pass into the possession of the friars
along with the " Freirheuch," of which it was the southern
boundary.

The original extent of the friary glebe was, however, much
more restricted, and was enclosed by the customary "papal
walls''^ which are generally referred to as being sanctioned
by "our Holy Father the Pope."^ They started from the
western end of the front garden, ran northwards past the

^ i.e. fifty-four ells plus the width of the passage through the garden from the
Vennel to the church.

2 MS. Abb. Feu Charter, 8th July 1559, infra, II. p. 115.

3 MS. Abb. Feu Charters, loth and 14th June 1558, zV;/ra, 1 1, pp. 1 1 1, 1 1 3. The
charter of loth June describes the house on the west side of this close as " newly
built."

* MS. Abb. Feu Charter, loth June 1558, infra, II. p. in.

« Ibid.

" e.g. Dundee, infra, II. p. 144.

CHAP. VIII.] DUMFRIES 201

west end of the church and the refectory to the north-west
corner of the orchard, and thence turned eastwards as the
dividing line between the Newyards on the north and the
"grite" yard and orchard on the south, until the line of
the Staitfurd was reached. In the course of natural expansion,
these Newyards of nine roods were acquired from some
unknown donor, and the northern boundary was continued
alone the edoe of the Common down to the shingrle when the
Friarhaugh of three and a half acres was similarly acquired.
This grazing ground lay between the shingle and the old
papal walls, being bounded on the north by the Common
and the Newton on the south.^

The church was oriented and stood on the lower slope
of the hill, within the papal walls ; " but of its altars and
architectural style nothing is now known beyond the fact,
that the choir screen divided the church immediately east
of the south door, that the aisle of St. John the Baptist
touched the west lintel of that door, and that the altars of
St. Salvator and the Blessed Virgin flanked the south wall of
the nave. The cloister, refectory and other inhabited build-
ings were situated behind the north wall of the church at
its western end, and were reached by a flight of steps leading
up to our great chamber " from the passage on the east side of
the tenement of David M'Ghee, newly built." ^ Immediately
to the east of the church, and pardy to the north of it, lay the
graveyard. On its north side was the orchard with the great
yard adjoining the cloister, and to the west of them were the
friary buildings which are described as overlooking the Haugh.

Tradition, through the pen of Thomas Dempster,^ attri-

^ MS. Feu Charter., 14th June 1558, infra., II. p. 113.

^ MS. Abbrev. Feu Charters, loth June 1558 and 8th July 1559, infra, II.
pp. Ill, 115.

^ MS. Feu Charter, \o'Ca.]\xn& 1558, z«/r«, II. p. in. From these contemporary
descriptions, it is clear that " the massive gable wall containing- a great fireplace
believed to belong to the friary kitchen " — which remained intact in a house on
the north side of the Vennel— could not have formed part of the friary buildings.
These stood behind the church, and as the foregarden occupied the whole ground
from the Vennelheid westwards to the passage above mentioned, none of the friary
buildings abutted on the Vennel.

* His further statement that Duns Scotus, surnamed the Sulnile Doctor, look
the Franciscan habit in this friary, is not supported l;y any evidence.

202 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. viii.

butes this foundation in 1262 to that typical benefactress of
her time, the pious Lady Devorgilla of Galloway ; ^ and this
would appear to be one of the rare instances in which some
degree of confidence may be reposed in this writer. The
surviving fragment of the Exchequer Rolls for the years
1264-66^ testifies that the friars were then settled in the
burgh, and that they were in receipt of an annual allowance
of four pounds from the Crown ; while the meagre evidence
now at our command points to the fact that the friary and the
construction of the old stone bridge over the Nith formed parts
of the same building plan undertaken by Lady Devorgilla.
By the time of the Douglases, the bridge was recognised
as a distinguishing pertinent of the Lordship of Galloway,
which was held from the Crown in return for the payment
" of a red rose on the bridge of Dumfries in name of blench
duty " ; ^ and, having regard to the situation of the old burgh
at this date, the .site selected for the bridge is anomalous,
unless it be considered in relation to the friary and the con-
vergence of the old military roads from the west and south-
west. From the Dumfries head of the bridge, the road
continued in a straight line up the Friars Vennel ; and, as the
bridge toll was intended for their support, the friars could
thus collect the dues at their own door from the passing
travellers.^ At the same time, no inconsistency is introduced
by the fact that the earliest extant record of this unique
grant dates from the year 1426, because the charters of con-
firmation granted by the successive holders of the lordship
were couched in identical terms of present gift, and differed
from one another only in the divine services required of the

^ Apparatus ad Hist. Scot., p. 83. Neither Wyntoun nor Fordun refer to
Devorgilla as the foundress.

2 It was in existence in the Castle of Edinburgh. in the seventeenth century
when it was copied by Lord Haddington. It was the only fragment of these records
that Edward I. failed to carry off.

3 MS. Re^^. Mag. Sig., IV. Nos. no, 218, 255 ; and VII. No. 36.

■* The Sandbed Mill at the Dumfries end of the bridge did not belong to the
friary, but to the Vicar of the parish church. The placing of a culvert in one of
the arches of the bridge points to the existence of the mill at a date anterior to the
erection of the bridge. Cf. notes by Mr. James Barbour, Dion/. a7id Gall. Nat.
Hist. a7id Antiq. Soc, 1887, pp. 58-65, and also Instrument of Sasine in favour
of Lord Herries, loth November 1589, proceeding on resignation by the last
Vicar of Dumfries ; original in Burgh Charter Chest.

^9.

^-f,- ns r^^l ill*®!
. » ^ i ^-Q'i S^T '^ s I ^ *- tec

L-* ■-■-■^,.

■^^ B

i?^
^ ^

.imJ

Charter by the Duchess Margaret, Countess of Douglas,
in favour of the Grey Friars of Dumfries, confirming
their Right to Bridge Tolls. Dated i6th January
1425-26.

CHAP. VIII.] DUMFRIES 203

friars in return for this munificent charity. Accordingly,
Princess Margaret, widow of Archibald Douglas, the hero of
Verneuil and victim of divided council in face of the enemy,
as liferentrix of the Lordship of Galloway under a grant by
her brother James I., stipulated in her charter of i6th January
1425-26 that the friars should perform masses for the souls
of her late husband, her son and her brother ; whereas, that
of James, ninth Earl and last direct descendant of the good
Lord James, provided that the friars should celebrate divine
service for his father and for his brother, who had been
murdered by James IL and his courtiers in the preceding year,^

The early history of the friary is limited to one of those
stories which illustrate the profound belief of our remote
ancestors in the punishment inflicted on unconfessed sin.
Two friars from Dumfries, when journeying through Annan-
dale for the purpose of preaching in the various centres,
were met, on Christmas Day 1281, by a woman who had
travelled five miles through the night to seek a priest for
her unhappy companion lying grievously sick in a barn.
When in charge of his rector's manse, this sinner had stolen
twenty shillings, and, after demitting his charge, had received
absolution from his father-confessor by deceiving him with
fictitious protestations of penitence. As just punishment for
concealing this theft in his confession, two satellites of Satan
appeared before him on Christmas Eve, prepared a fire, and
set a cauldron of water to boil. Thereafter they dragged the
unfaithful servant from his bed, dipped him in the boiling
water, and then hung him from a beam, where they tore him
with their nails, chanting, " This wilt thou have for twenty
shillings."-

The friary next appears as one of the petitioners to
Edward I. for the continuation of the alms of the Scottish
kings ; and we learn that the annual allowance from the
Exchequer had been increased to a weekly dole of three
shillings, supplemented by a pipe of wine and seventeen
stones of wax annually.^ Their petition was favourably

* MS. Chariers, originals in Buiyh Cluirtcr Chest, />//)■</, II. pi). 101-103.

^ Lanercost Chronicle., pp. 107-8.

^ Hist. Doc. Scot. (Stevenson), II. 246 : Rot. Scot., I. 38.

204 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. vm.

received, and in 1300 Edward I. lodged twice in the friary
during his campaign against Caerlaverock/ On these
occasions, in addition to two oblations of seven shillings
each, Friar William of Annan received from their guest
a small payment for his accommodation ; and later in the
year — on All Saints' Day — Prince Edward placed an oblation
of six shillings on the altar after the celebration of mass.
Five years later, the murder of the Red Comyn and his uncle
in the cloister and church illustrates the freedom of resort to
the friary, and identifies the foundation of Devorgilla with this
romantic episode in the fortunes of Scottish independence.
There may be the elements of historical truth in the narrative
of the kindly services rendered by the friars to the expiring
Comyn ; but the main interest of this sacrilege for Franciscan
history lies in the remorse of the Bruce. Deeply permeated
by the religious piety of his time, after his government had
been firmly established by the Treaty of Northampton,
he increased the existing royal charities to the Franciscans
to an annuity of 120 merks, to be divided in equal shares
among the six friaries. To Dumfries, however, he granted
an additional annuity of twenty merks payable out of the
Castle Wards of Roxburgh. The first-mentioned annuity
was paid by the bailies directly out of the royal fermes
within the burgh, and the annual receipts of the Wardens
illustrate the surprising regularity of the payment of the
"alms of King Robert I." Even in 1384-85, when the
town was burned by the English and the royal taxes
were unpaid, the friars received the full amount of their
annuity, while that of the preceding year had only been
restricted to ^10, 15 s. on account of the devastation wrought
by the invaders. They were less fortunate during the rude
wooing of Mary Stuart and the tergiversations of the
assured Scots ; and, with the exception of a trifling legacy
of ^5 from Gavin Dunbar, Archbishop of Glasgow,^ the
year 1548 may be accepted as the low - water mark of
Franciscan prosperity in the burgh. The second of Bruce's
benefactions was a more fitful source of revenue, and sorely

' Supra, p. 22.

- AIS. Reg. Confirmed Testaments (Glasgow), f. 2i^a.

■Pi

%^rm%

1? |T| ill V'Ni-i
^^1 Pill ^

M*^

.41ll|S|a

T. *.

■ '■w»«i'!BW(|

Charter by the Earl of Doug-las, confirming the Grey
Friars of Dumfries in their Right to the Bridge
Tolls. Dated 4th January 1452-53.

CHAP. VIII.] DUMFRIES 205

taxed the submissive spirit which the brethren ought to have
exhibited towards their flock. Shortly after his death, the
Castle of Roxburgh and the surrounding country fell into
the hands of the English ; so that until 1460 there were but
rare occasions on which this welcome addition to the friary
revenues was received. Even then, however, the friars were
not permitted to enjoy the advantages resulting from the
capture and destruction of the castle. For six years the Sheriff
remained deaf to their requests for payment, with the result
that his too confiding creditors followed the example of the
friars of Haddington and Dundee in appealing directly to
the Lords Auditors for payment of arrears as well as a recog-
nition of their rights so long held in abeyance.^ During the
minority of James V., the Sheriff of Roxburgh, in the person
of Sir James Douglas of Cavers, again turned defaulter, and
he also was summoned to appear before the Lords, in re-
spect of his failure to distribute the royal alms that he
entered annually in his accounts and " tuke allowance
thairof." At the same time, the utmost rigour of legal process
was brought into play, and Douglas found himself threatened
with the "pane of rebellioun and failzeing thairof to put him
to the home." When the parties appeared by their pro-
curators in the suit at Edinburgh on 6th September 1531,
Sir James pleaded, in excuse, the deforcement of his officers
and the refusal of the unruly borderers to pay their taxes ;
and he further contended that his nobile officiuni was a bar
to any action against him. The friars consented to delay,
and the " Lordis of Counsale, with consent of the saidis pro-
curatoris, supersedis all processes of the home led or to be
led upon the said Schiref of Roxburgh unto Sanct day

next to cum, and gef he be put to the home, ordanis ane
maser to pass and relax him from the said process, and ressave
him to our Soverane Lordis pece, and deliver him the wand
thairof in hoip that the said Schiref mak payment to the saidis
freris in the meynetyme.'"' This pious injunction impressed
the rapacious Sheriff only so long as the humble litigant could
appeal to James V. for justice; and he welcomed the acces-

^ Acta Aiiditortim (Print), p. 5.

2 MS. Acta Dom. Concil., XLIII. f. 45.

2o6 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. viii.

slon of the infant Queen by withholding payment for a further
period of twelve years. In 1554, he was once more sum-
moned before the Lords at the instance of the Chapter ; and,
after admitting- his defalcations towards the friars and the
Exchequer, he entered into an agreement at Edinburgh on
19th September with Warden Charles Home, whereby the
Chapter restricted its claim to one-half of the 240 merks,
in return for his obligation to surrender the balance in certain
stipulated instalments.^ This somewhat elusive pension
followed the fate of other royal endowments in 1560 when
it reverted to the Exchequer;^ but, on 21st March 1582,
under the designation of "the ancient alms of King Robert
the Bruce from the Castlewards of Roxburgh," it was revived
under a letter of gift by James VI. to provide a pension for
Friar Charles Home, the last Warden of the friary — "in con-
sideratioun of the said Charles being of grit age and willing
to support him in his miserabill and aigit dayis, gaif and
disponit to him the foirsaid sowme of twentie merkis of the
Castell Wairdis foirsaidis during his lyif-tyme, as alsua of all
yeiris restand awand quhairof compt wes nocht maid in Chek-
ker."^ This pension was confirmed at the King's majority,
and the aged Warden continued to receive payment until his
death, in 1588, removed the last survivor of the Franciscans
in Scotland of whom any record survives.*

Another permanent right of not inconsiderable value to
the friars was that of salmon-fishing in the Nith, " between the
waters of the Laird of Lag and Glenga water," ^ which they
received from one of the Scottish kings prior to the reign of
Robert HL It is interesting to note that these fishings were
expressly reserved in the charter of the Nith fishings granted
to the burgh in 1395 ;^ and in later days the right to furnish

^ MS. Reg. Acts and Decreets, VIII. f. 613 ; infra, II. p. 123. The Deed of
Agreement was registered for preservation and execution — an early example of
this method of summary diligence.

2 MS. Accounts of the Collector-General, Charge, 1561-62.

2 MS. Reg. Privy Seal, LIV. f. 43, infra, II. p. 122.

* Exchequer Rolls, XX 1 1 . 68 .

^ MS. Abb. Feu Charter, ist June 1558, infra, II. p. 107.

® Copy Charter, Burgh Charter Chest ; MS. Reg. Mag. Sig., V. No. 23.
"... piscaria tamen data et concessa per predecessores regis fratribus ejusdevi
loci, divinae caritatis intuitu, dunitaxat excepta."

CHAP, viii.] DUMFRIES 207

this adjunct to their table was leased to a series of tenants in
return for an annual payment of five pounds Scots.^ The
brethren dealt similarly with their bridge toll, and secured
themselves against the recurring variations in income by
leasing their right to a burgess of Dumfries for ten merks per
annum. As owners of the bridge, it may be presumed that
the Earls of Douglas provided for its upkeep ; but, after their
fall in 1458, the friars were either unable or unwilling to
maintain the now aged structure. During the visit of
James II. to Dumfries in 1455, if not in commemoration of
the fall of Thrieve Castle, a master of works was appointed
by him at a salary of ^6, 13s. 4d., "to be known as the alms
of the King, to continue during his pleasure." The first
magister fabricae pontis de Nith was the Vicar of Kirk-
bene, and he was succeeded in 1460 by one Master John
Oliver, another churchman, to whom payments of ^"3, 6s. 8d.,
£\\, 5s. lod. and £6, 13s. 4d., were made for bridge repairs
until the year 1465, as alms in memory of the late King.^
Thereafter, the Exchequer appears to have discontinued the
grant ; and it was this question of upkeep that indirectly
compelled the Chapter to lease or feu the right of toll. In
the same year (1465), they received a payment of forty
shillings for the lodging of Sir John Carlyle of Torthorwald,
while acting as Justiciar for the Regent Albany in the
district ; and at some unknown date during the latter part
of this century, they became possessed of an annual rent of
thirteen shillings which ultimately embroiled them in fresh
litigation, on this occasion, with William Maxwell of
Cruvestanes. For nine years Maxwell withheld payment of
this trifling sum "pertening to the friars be reason of aid gift
in almous " ; but the record affords no information beyond
the fact that the cause was continued for proof from 23rd
April to 13th May 1513.^ In the same year, the roles of
plaintiff and defendant were reversed in another lawsuit
which Maxwell raised against Friar Andrew Fife, Warden
of Dumfries, one of the procurators for one Elizabeth

* MS. Abb. Fell Charter, ist June 1558, infra, II. p. 107.

2 Exchequer Rolls, VI. 138, 311, 400, 503, 601 ; VII. 39, 298, 372, 54S.

» MS. Acta Dom. Concil., XXV. f. 28.

208 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. viii.

Bruce who had recently been served heir to John Bruce in
a tenement within the burgh. All the parties to this Inquest
were cited to appear at Edinburgh ; and, although the
Warden is referred to as one of "the alleged procurators and
attorneys to her," it seems clear that his position was merely
one of trust under the will of the deceased John Bruce. He
appeared in the suit through his own procurator, John
Williamson,^ to maintain the validity of the recent infeftment
of Elizabeth Bruce in her ancestor's heritage.

As in the case of most of the Scottish friaries, the reign
of James IV. is marked by many acts of royal charity. In
1501, Lord Crichton of Sanquhar, Sheriff of Dumfries, handed
over a sum of ^10 as the King's alms for the reparation of
the friary,^ and from 1503 until 1512 numerous donations of
fourteen shillings and upwards were received from the privy
purse.^ That of 5th March 1504, described as " the Kingis
offerand on the bred in the Freris of Dumfries " indicates the
attendance of the King at mass within the friary ; and ^20,
6s. 8d., out of his general donation to the Franciscans for
vestments in 1506, were expended in renewing "ane caip, tua
tunycales and ane cheseb," three albs and three belts for the
friars of Dumfries. In 1520, they received from John Logan,
Vicar of Knowen, the second of the two ground annuals, now
definitely traceable to their possession.* In return for this
annual payment of five merks from a tenement at the " Vennel-
heid,"^ they undertook to celebrate two masses annually for
his soul at their altar of Saint Salvator, "within the church
beside the altar of the Blessed Virgin without the choir."
Ten years later, a further donation of ^10 from the privy
purse is to be noted,'' and in 1535 the friary church was the
scene of a solemn protest made by John Turner, Rector
of Annan and Official of the district, on behalf of the Arch-

1 MS. Acta Dom. ConciL, XXV. f. 139, 28th May 15 13.

2 Exch. Rolls, 1st July 1501. ^ Summary, hifra, pp. 215-16.

* Charter of Mortification, ist March 1519-20; MS. Reg. Mag. Sig., XXVI.
No. 34, infra, II. p. 103.

^ This tenement was one of the two which were erected upon the eastern end
of the front garden, and looked out upon the High Street. They were occupied by
Christopher Lawrie and Andrew Mathieson.

'' Treasurer's Accounts, 19th August 1530,

CHAP. VIII.] DUMFRIES 209

bishop of Glasgow, against the Archbishop of St. Andrews,
who had given benediction to the burghers of Dumfries and
had caused his cross to be pubHcly carried within the town
during his visitation. The haughty primate severely rebuked
the rector, who retired to the friary in company with the
parish vicar at nine o'clock on the morning of 22nd November,
and there, in the presence of the dignitaries of the diocese
and the Justice-General of Scotland, recorded his dissent from
this invasion of the See.^ The Franciscan confessor of
James V., it will be remembered, favoured the supremacy
of St. Andrews.

With the accession of Mary Stuart the friary fell upon
evil days. The annuity of forty merks ceased to be paid ;
and, as the English occupation suspended all agricultural
work in the district, the various tenants of the friars doubtless
argued dispossession as an excuse for non-payment. In 1548
the seven friars were reduced to destitution. Their demesne,
wrote Lord Wharton's son, was their sole means of support,
and it only sufficed for three of them ; while he disparagingly
referred to the Friarhaugh and yards as a "little land," and
purposed the erection of a fort overlooking the Nith, in the
construction of which the conventual building-s and Lord
Maxwell's house were to furnish a sufficient store of building
material. The Warden and two of his friars were summoned
to Carlisle to surrender the friary, and it seems clear that
they accepted the English domination and abjured Roman
Catholicism in the autumn of 1547. The rest of the Chapter
followed their example at the Tolbooth of Dumfries on
the 8th of November followinij, and the Eno-Hsh agents
exulted in their perfect submission and fidelity to the
reformed doctrine. The nature of this oath must, however,
be considered purely in relation to border politics. The
following spring witnessed the discomfiture of the English,
and, whatever role the individual friars may have played in
this volte face, their Warden, who had been detained as one of
the hostages at Carlisle for the town of Dumfries, was led to
the halter on 17th March 1549 in expiation of Durrisdeer.^

^ Reg. Episc. Glasgiten., II. 553.

- Cal. S. P. Elizaheth, 1601-3 ; Add. 1547-65, pp. 333-72
14

2IO CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. vm.

Thus failed the "godly purpose of marriage"; and, with the
restoration of peace under the Treaty of Boulogne, we find
the friars once more in occupation of their old home during
the decade that preceded the Reformation.

Many years had now passed since the Conventuals
had been authorised by the Holy See to sell or feu their
lands "for the evident utility of their houses"; and it
was doubtless the experience acquired during the English
occupation that induced the friars of Dumfries to initiate the
custom among the Scottish Conventuals of relinquishing
actual possession of their lands, and of acquiring in return
an indefeasible right in them as feudal superiors. Lord
Maxwell, in return for an immediate payment of twenty
merks and of an annual feu-duty of four merks, acquired two
and a half roods " of the east part of their yard lying contigue
to the said Lord Maxwell's place." ^ The much debated
situation of this house is now a matter of small importance ;
but it may serve some useful purpose to observe that it did
not occupy the site of the friary, and that from the above
description it could only have lain immediately north-east of
the friary yards. When due allowance is made for the
encroachments upon the friary boundaries after 1560, this
location is not inconsistent with the statement that it stood
at the head of the "King's Hie Street" in 1570, as streets
were built across the Common, and the present Greyfriars
Church approximately represents a site at the head of the
High Street contiguous to the friary. Four years later, on
15th September, the current lease of the Newyards, or north
part of the glebe adjoining the Common, was converted into
a feudal holding in favour of John Birkmyre at an annual duty
of thirty shillings." The lease of the bridge toll was similarly
dealt with on loth July 1557, when a charter was granted to
the then tacksman, John Johnston, at an annual augmentation
of three shillings and fourpence beyond the old rent of ten
merks.^ During the next year the process of divestiture con-

^ MS. Obligation, 24th June 1551, infra, II. p. 104.

2 MS. Abb. Feu Charter, signed in the Provincial Chapter at Inverkeithing by
the Provincial and five Wardens, infra, II. p. 105.
^ MS. Feu Charter, itifra. II. p. 106.

Feu Charter by the Grey Friars of Dumfries, in favour of
their tacksman, John Johnstone. Dated loth July
1557-

CHAP. VIII.] DUMFRIES 211

tinued apace, in view of the imminent change in Church and
State which so many professed to foresee. John MacBrair
secured the conversion of his Hmited right in the friary
salmon fishinos into a feudal holdino- at an auomentation of
one pound beyond the five formerly paid by him.^ For the
better cultivation of the land and the increase of the friary
rental, John Richardson and his wife obtained a charter to
the west portion of the front garden, having a depth of nine-
teen ells to the church and a frontage of twenty-eight ells to
the Vennel.^ The eastern portion of the garden, measuring
eleven by twenty-six ells, was acquired by John Marshall, who
received a title in the same charter to another acre of friary
land situated in the parish of Troqueer, on the other side of
the Nith;^ but it is now impossible to ascertain the total
extent of these disjoined lands which were of considerable
dimensions and in part, at least, embraced the eastern side
of Corbelly Hill. Other tenants of these friary lands were
William Thomson, John MacGowan, John Tod, William
Marshall, Patrick Kirkmyre, Robert Haliday and Isabelle
Asslowand;"* and, as late as i6th March 1652, a notice of
" five roods of land lying at the Corbellie Hill, within the
Parish of Troqueer of auld perteining to the Freir Minoris
of Dumfries " appears in a Deed of Reversion engaging a
"crown of Sfold " as their value.^ After the Reformation no
further trace of these lands can be discovered, and an examina-
tion of the friary rentals may perhaps warrant the deduction
that the friars received rents from the tenants and feuars to
the amount of ten pounds. Returning to the composite glebe
within the burgh of Dumfries, we fmd that John Richardson
became the feuar of ten out of the fourteen roods constitut-
ing' the Friarhaugh, at an auomentation of two shillinQs and
sixpence upon his former rent of sixteen shillings per acre.*^
The remaining acre adjacent to the Common was acquired

^ MS. Abb. Fcie C/uDier, ist June 1558, infra, II. p. 107.
- AfS. Feu Charter, lolh June 1558, feu-duty, 6s. 8d., infra, II. p. 109.
^ MS. Feu Charier, 8th July 1559, feu-duty, £1, os. 8d., infra, II. p. 114.
* MS. Feu Charier, 26th March 1558 ; Excerpt, infra, II. p. 109.
^ MS. Particular Reg. of Sasines, Dumfries, G. R. H. Recorded i6th March
1652.

*' MS. Feu Charier, 14th June 1558, infra, II. p. 112.

212 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. viii.

by John Cunningham, and thus in 1560 the friars remained
in possession of the restricted area comprised within the
old papal walls, under the exception of their front garden.
The son of their last-named vassal forfeited his father's feu
in 1576, when he was put to the horn for the slaughter of
Thomas MacBrair, a member of Provost Archibald MacBrair's
family/

In this manner we are enabled to account for ^24, 8s. 8d.
of the fixed annual income enjoyed by the friars from their
lands and annual rents ; and, after Franciscanism had been
peacefully abolished from the burgh, the Collector-General of
the Thirds of Benefices entered the sum of /^2)3^ us. lod. as
the annual proceeds of the friary properties," distinct from the
two annuities granted by the Bruce and now "assumed and
tane " by the Comptroller of Exchequer. Along with Warden
Charles Home, Friars Herbert Stewart and George Law,
accepted the new regime, and returned to citizen life in
the enjoyment of the customary Mendicant pension ;^ but their
example was not followed by Friars Christopher Walker
and Richard Harlaw, who appear as members of the
Chapter in 1557/ There is little doubt that the recanting
brethren did not abandon all interest in their whilom
revenues, which ultimately expanded beyond the figures re-
turned by the Collector, and offer a financial puzzle almost
as difficult of solution as that presented by the dealings of
Warden Auchinleck of Haddington. The feuars naturally
hastened to complete the validity of their recent titles by
securing confirmation from the Crown in return for the
composition required by the Act.^ The various infeft-
ments were thus gradually brought to light, and the feu-
duties secured ; but, with the exception of the church
and contiguous yards, there was no land on the east
side of the river for the magistrates to seize in virtue
of their Crown Charter of the ecclesiastical properties

^ MS. Privy Seal, 7th May 1576. The acre was escheated and gifted by the
Crown to John Richardson.

- MS. Accounts, annis 1561, 1562, 1563, 1568, 1571, 1572.
^ Ibid. Exo7ieratio7Js, 1561-68.

■• MS. Fell Charter, loth July 1557, infra, II. p. 107.
* Acts 1563 and 1571, ut supra, p. 151.

CHAP. VIII.] DUMFRIES 213

granted on 23rd April 1569.^ There were, however, several
material reservations upon this general grant. No prior
infeftments confirmed by the Crown were to be invalidated,
and the bur^h rights were therefore restricted to those of a
superior ; while only one half of the bridge toll was conveyed,
under the obligation to maintain the structure in repair.
Johnston of Novinholm nevertheless maintained his rights
under the charter of 1557 until 1591, when his title to
the bridge toll was confirmed by the Crown ; and it was
only in 1623 that his granddaughter, Marion Johnston or
Kirkpatrick, surrendered this ancient endowment of the friary
to the magistrates." Lastly, the pensions enjoyed by the
surviving and recanting friars were to suffer no diminution ;
and in this connection the intromissions of Warden Home
with the friary revenues, now increased to ^43, 12s. lod.,
call for extended comment. Their value was fixed at
;^2>3' IIS. lod. by the Collector-General in 1561, and that
sum, under burden of the pensions payable to the surviv-
ing friars, was conveyed to the town, "as thair gift under
the grit seall " at some date prior to the year 1567.^ For
the year 1568, the Warden's pension of ^16 appears in
the accounts of the Sub-Collector, and the balance of
£17, IIS. lod. is entered as remaining in Jiis hands and
those of Archibald MacBrair — "allegit fewarris (feuars) of
the annuellis and fishings." This entry reappears annually
until the account of 157 1, when they are stated to have
^35, 3s. 8d. in their hands. In point of fact. Provost
MacBrair's confirmed title to the fishings was unassailable,
and these entries show that the Warden had been dealing with
the official returns and the surplus under a collusive arrange-
ment with him, as an individual. The issue of the Crown
Charter to the burgh on 23rd April 1569 interfered with
this partnership, and Home, without the consent of any
of the surviving brethren, at once (23rd May) entered into
a formal agreement with his partner under which he farmed
the entire revenues to him in return for an annual pay-

' AfS. Charter^ original in Burgh Charier Chest.

^ MS. Original Charter and Sasine, 31st July 1623. iJurgli Charter Chest.

'■* MS. Accounts of the Sub-Collector, anno 1568.

214 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap.viii.

ment of ^43, 12s. lod.^ This assignation proceeded on
the debatable assumption that the application of the entire
Thirds to the maintenance of the Protestant clergy, under
the Act of 1567, invested the surviving Wardens with
an uncontrolled right to dispose of the friary revenues
during their life, regardless of the claims of the simple friars.
Such was not the view of the central authorities,^ and in this
instance the agreement with MacBrair was inimical to the
interests of the burgh and of Friar George Law, who was
entitled to the same share as his Warden. Accordingly the
bailies, for the benefit of the burgh and at its risk, cancelled
the agreement of 23rd May without the provost's consent,
and undertook to pay Home ^20 annually at Edinburgh
in full of his rights,^ without, however, recognising the
claim of Friar Law to an annual payment of ^16. A
holograph receipt granted by Home at Edinburgh for the
payment made at Martinmas 1570* testifies that the latter
agreement was carried out, and that the Town Council entered
into possession by allowing him an annual increase of ^4.
Therefore, assuming due payment of the feu-duty of the
fishings by the provost to his fellow-magistrates, whom he
had failed to overreach, the burgh secured a clear annual
profit of ;^23, I2S. lod. at the expense of George Law. For
two years this unfortunate friar demanded payment in vain ;
and, in 1573, on the allegation that the revenues had been
surrendered at less than half their value, under a " compactioun
that meanis to debar him of any proffeit of the samyn," he
summoned the burgh representatives before the Privy
Council. Inevitable success attended the suit of this "puyr
man having na uther thing to leif upon," and the quarrel
thereupon disappears from record."^ The motives underlying
the two contracts were clearly fraudulent, and it may be more
than a coincidence that one Charles Home was appointed

^ MS. Contract, recorded Reg. of Deeds, IX. f. 419, wfra, II. p. 1 17. In accord-
ance with the Act of 1563, this liferent assignation of the revenues was granted for
recurring periods of three years.

2 Supra, pp. 155-56.

3 MS. Contract, recorded Reg. of Deeds, XI. f. 71, 27th November 1569, infra,
II. p. 119.

* MS. Receipt, infra, II. p. 121. s Reg. P. C, II. 233-34.

CHAP, viil] DUMFRIES 215

exhorter in the parish church of Troqueer at a salary of forty
merks in the year 1568/ Finally, the financial exigencies
of the quondam Warden and supposititious exhorter form a
fitting close to the history of the friars of Dumfries, in the
pitiable tale of poverty narrated in the letter of gift that
revived the ancient annuity of twenty merks from the Castle
Wards of Roxburgh as a pension for his old age.^ The last
representative of the Scottish Conventuals was clearly a
courtier of resource, and was not immune from the amor
habendi.

Wardens of Dumfries

Andrew Fiffe.

Robert Little.

Friar William of Annan.
1459. ,, Thomas Young.

1460-65. ,, Thomas Fenton, also Provincial Vicar of the

Conventuals in 1460-62-64-65.
1466-81. ,, John Benyng, also Warden of the friary at

Lanark in 1456, and Provincial Vicar in

1474-75-
1487. ,, Walter Bachil.

1488-93. ,, Walter Bowland.

1496-98.1

1504-13./ '

1 501. ,, Andrew Haldane.

1523-29.1

1534-37-/ '

1530. ,, Herbert Stewart, a simple friar in 1555-57,

58-60.

1550. ,, Robert Harlaw, a simple friar in 1557-58.

1551-60. ,, Charles Home.

ROYAL BOUNTIES TO THE GREY FRIARS OF DUMFRIES

I. Exchequer Rolls

In accordance with the grant of an annuity of twenty merks and twelve pence
(;^i3, 7s. 8d.), payable by the Bailies of Dumfries to the friary out of
the burgh fermes, that sum appears in the Rolls of 1327, 1330-31,
1375-76, 1381-82, 1384, 1387, 1393, 1398-1400, 1426, 1428-31,

' Reg. of Ministers, p. 44. (liann. Club.) * Supra, p. 206.

2i6 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. vm.

i434-35> i446-49> 1452-60, 1462, 1465 1-69, 1471, 1473-81,
1488-89, 1497, 1499-1501, 1502-12, 1518, 1526-35, 1537, 1541-42,

1551-57-
Composite payments of the above sum and fractional arrears appear as follows: —

;^26, 15s. 4d. in the Roll of 1398 ; ^107, is. 4d. in 1445 ; ;^26, 15s. 4d.

in 1451; ^26, 15s. 4d. in 1464; £2 in 1484; ^53, 6s. 8d. in 1493;

£40 in 1496; p^4o, 3s. in 1515; ^^26, 15s. 4d. in 1517; ;^{;46, i6s. lod.

in 1521; ^26, 15s. 4d. in 1523; ^20, is. 6d. in 1525; ;,^4o, 3s. in

1540; ;!^io7, IS. 4d. in 1550; ^^26, 13s. 4d. in 1560.
In accordance with the grant of an annuity of twenty merks from the Castle

Wards of Roxburgh, payable by the Sheriff of Roxburgh, payment of

that sum is entered in the Rolls as follows: — £13, 6s. 8d. in 1471;

;^40 in 1501 ; ;^i3, 6s. 8d. in 1587-88 to Warden Charles Home.
Incidental payments appear: — £4 in 1266; £2 in 1465 for the lodging of

Sir John Carlyle, Justiciar of the Duke of Albany; ^10 in 1501 from

the King for the repair of the friary.

11. Treasurer's Accounts

1503, 7th May. Item, to the Freris of Dumfreis, 14s,

Similar payments are recorded on nth and 25th August, ist and 8th Sep-
tember 1504, 3rd August 1505, 3rd May 1506, 21st March 1507,
28th May 1508, 23rd January, 28th February and 20th June 1512.

1503-4, 5th March. Item, to the Kingis offerand on the bred in the Freris
of Dumfreis, 14s.

1505. Item, the nth day of March, to the Wardane of the Freris of Drumfreis

be the Kingis command, i8s.

1506. Item, the ferd day of Julij, for 24 elne grene birge satin, quhilk wes

ane caip, tua tunycales, and ane cheseb to the Freris of Drumfreis,
made in December bipast, ilk elne los., summa ;^i2.

Item, for 5 elne (quarter) rede satin birge to be corses to the samyn ;
ilk elne los., summa 52s. 6d.

Item, for 3 steikis bukram to lyne the samyn, ilk steik i2S.j summa 36s.

Item, for 4 unce ribanes to the samyn, 20s.

Item, for making of the samyn, ilk pece 6s., summa 26s. 8d.

Item, for 21 elne Bertane clath to be thre albes to the samyn, 42s.

Item, for making of thaim, 7s. 6d.

Item, for thre beltis to thaim, 2s.

1507. Item, the 14th day of March, to the Freris of Drumfries, thare, i8s.
1530. Item, the 19th day of August, to the Gray Freris of Drumfres, ;^io.

III. Liber Quotid. Contrar. Gardrobae"^ (Edward I.)

1300. 10 die Julii in oblac. Regis ad magnum altare in ecclesia fratrum
minorum de Dumfres, 7s.

1 At this date the additional payment of one shilling was discontinued until
1499.

2 Pp. 41, 43.

CHAP. VIII,]

DUMFRIES

217

1300. 16' die Julii in oblac. Regis ad magnum altare in ecclesia fratrum
minorum de Dumfres, 7s.

Fratribus minoribus de Dumfres, pro putura sua trium dierum in

adventu Regis ibidem mense Junii, per manus Dni. Henrici ele-
mosinar, 6s. — Eidem de dono at elemosina Regis in recompensa
com. dampnorum que sustinuerunt in domibus at aliis rebus suis
occasione adventus Regis ejusdem ibid, per duas vices mense Junii,
per manus dicti Domini Henrici, 6s. Summa, 12s.

Fratribus minoribus de Dumfres pro putura sua 4 dierum in mora

Regis ibidem mense Octobris, per manus fratris Willmi de Anand.
apud Dumfres, i die Novemb., 5s. 4d.

Primo die Novembris, viz., in festo Omnium Sanctorum, in oblacionibus

participatis ad missam celebratam in presencia Dni Edwardi filii
Regis in ecclesia fratrum minorum de Dumfres, 6s.

Grey Friars chanting the Office.
From i.ftli Century J\IS.

CHAPTER Ylll—{confmued)

CONVENTUAL FRIARIES

Dundee

During the ninth decade of the thirteenth century the fifth
Conventual friary was also founded by Devorgilla, Lady of
Galloway/ in the royal burgh of Dundee, and its erection is
generally assigned to the year 1284. The friary does not
appear as a recipient of the royal charities in the excerpt
taken from the Rolls for the year 1281 by the English
Treasurer, Cressingham ; but, in the Mandamus of Warenne,
issued in 1297, the Friars Minor of Dundee are stated to
"have been accustomed to receive ^10 sterling and twenty
pounds of wax by divers charters of the Kings of Scotland
which the friars have thereof."^ Both Fordun and Wyntoun
attribute the foundation to Devorgilla, and, as the language
used by Professor Cosmo Innes in his report on the churches
of Dundee" seems to imply that their statement was con-
firmed by a transcript of the original charter preserved in
the Hutton Collection,'* there seems no reason to doubt that
the year 1284 witnessed the settlement of the friars in
Dundee. The friary, like its three predecessors, was situated
outside the burgh, on its north side, on a piece of ground
locally known as the Howff, and presently in use as a public

^ Fordun, Scottichronicoii, k Goodall, I. 474 ; Wyntoun,
" Howssys of Freris she fwndyt tvvay ;
Wygtowne and Dundee (war) thai."

- Hist. Doc. Scot. (Stevenson), II. 244-45,

•" Dundee Stipend Case, 1850; Unextracted Processes., G. R. H.

■* In the History of Old Dundee., p. 57, Mr. Alexander Maxwell says that a
search in General Hutton's MSS. has failed to discover this transcript referred
to by Professor Cosmo Innes. This statement has been confirmed by the writer,
and a further examination of the Hutton MSS. in the British Museum has been
attended with no better success.

2l8

CHAP.viTi.] DUNDEE 219

burial-ground, in accordance with the right granted to the
burgesses of Dundee by Queen Mary in 1564 — "to bury
yair deid in yat Place and yardis quhilk sumtyme was
occupyit by ye Gray Cordelier Freris outwith and besyd
our said burght,"^ The church and buildings occupied the
south side of this area on which the friary school" was also
erected at some date prior to the year 1335. None of the
other Conventual friaries in Scotland are known to have pos-
sessed a school, and it may therefore be surmised that Dundee,
which assumed the control of the community in Scotland, and
became the recognised residence of the Provincial Vicar, was
the educational centre for the Conventuals, after the manner of
St. Andrews and Edinburgh in the Observatine organisation
of the fifteenth century. The northern portion of the area
was occupied by the friary yards, and the arable land,
extending to three or four acres, was separated from them
on the north by a small stream known as the common burn
of the town. These acres extended northward over the
rising ground of the East Chapelshade, parallel to the burgh
Common, towards the lands belonging to the hereditary
Constable of Dundee ; while a part of the friary yards, known
as the Well Yairds, lay on the west side of Kintore Hill
and the Whin Garden.^ This area is described in almost
identical terms in the contract of sale between the Earl of
Crawford and the Hospital Master in 1594, the last clause
of the description placing it beyond doubt that the friary
remained outside the burgh walls so long as it was occupied
by the friars."^ Under the systematic cultivation of the lay
brothers, the arable land acquired an agricultural value of
forty pounds per annum ;^ and, in 1594, the Earl of Crawford
accepted eighteen hundred mcrks Scots, in lieu of his past
and future rights in the entire subjects.^ The buildings were
of the unpretentious rubble work that characterised Franciscan

^ Charters and Writs of DuJtdee, p. 40 ; t?ifra, II. p. 145.

^ In certain contexts the studium was the desk allotted to the friar.

^ P/w,?//, 2 1 St March 1565-66, J/6'. /?<;;'-. /V/Vj/.S'tvj/, XXXV. f. i3,////;v;, II.p. 144.

* MS. Contract of Sale, 13th October 1594 ; Accompt Books of the Hospital;
Transcript produced in the Dundee Stipend Case, ut supra.

^ MS. Records of the Burgh and Head Courts, 7th August 1560. .Sale of the
standing crop.

" Charters and Writs of Dundee, p. 44.

220 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. viii.

architecture in this country, and the church possessed one
distinctive feature in its " gret est wyndow," a forerunner of
the better known window in the Observatine Church at
Aberdeen. Around the enlarged nave, where the citizens
assembled to hear the forceful sermons of the friar preacher,
were placed the tombs and cenotaphs of those who elected to
be buried within the friary church. No estimate can now be
formed as to the number of these monuments ; and we must
perforce rest content in the possession of one authentic record
relating to the family burial vault of the Lindsays, Earls of
Crawford, who were generous supporters of the friary, and
adopted the style of " Protectors and Defenders, under His
Highness the King, of the Friars Minor of Dundee." This
vault was probably erected in 1407 after the death of
Earl David, who died at Findhaven in February of that
year and was buried in the friary church at Dundee.^ David,
the third Earl, died in 1445-46, while under sentence of
excommunication by Bishop Kehnedy for having attacked
the lands of the church; so that it was not until 17th
November 1478, that his widow ^ was able to secure the
performance of the customary divine services for the weal of
his soul, under a charter in which she granted the friars an
annual rent of twenty merks out of the lands of Drumcarne
in Glenesk.^ The mass was to be known as the Earl of
Crawford's Mass, and during its celebration his escutcheon,
becomingly draped with tapestry, was to be brought forward
from its place in the choir and incensed after the veneration
of the Host. This charter was confirmed eleven years later
in an indenture entered into between her grandson, David,
Earl of Lindsay and first Duke of Montrose, and "his humble
bedemen'* and orators Freir John Yhare, Minister Provincial
of the Freirs Minor of Scotland, togidder with the consent and
assent of the haill Chapter Provincial, Wardens, Discretors,
and Diffinitors."^ In terms of this deed, to which "the seals
of the Minister and Wardens principal is to-hungen" in the

^ MS. Genealogy, quoted in the Lives of the Lindsays, I. 104.

^ Marjory, daughter of Alexander Ogilvy of Auchterhouse.

3 MS. Reg. Mag. Sig., XXV. No. 283, infra, II. p. 125.

•* Prayer-men. ^ Indenture, 2nd August 1489, infra, II. p. 127.

CHAP. VIII.] DUNDEE 221

Provincial Chapter at Inverkeithing, the friars undertook to
continue the celebration of the daily mass at the high altar,
and, on Fridays, to sing a Requiem mass, both to be known
as the "Duke's Mess of Montrose." " Mairatour the said
Warden and Convent shall graith an honourable epitaph,
coverit with an honourable tapet, with twa serges borne with
twa angels of brass, as chandelars, to be lightit at the said
mess, the quhilk epitaph the ministers of the altar principal,
efter the veneration and honouring of the Sacrament, shall
incense honourably."^ In token of gratitude, the Duke and
his wife were admitted to the Third Order of St. Francis
under Letters of Confraternity — " The whilk day this said
mighty prince and Lady Margaret, his spouse, was resavit in
the Provincial Chapter to the Confraternity of the Order of
St. Francis"^ — and at his death in 1495 Montrose was
buried in the friary church beside his ancestors.^ Another
member of this house who is known to have been buried in
the family vault was Earl John, one of the slain at Flodden.*
His life had been marred by the crime of fratricide, in
expiation of which he granted an annual rent of twenty
merks out of the lands of Montago, on condition that a daily
mass was celebrated at the hioh altar between the hours
of eleven and twelve forenoon ^ for the souls of his father,
his elder brother, his wife and himself, and that daily
absolution was granted at the cenotaph of the Earls of
Crawford. The friars remained in receipt of these two annual
rents until 1559, having received a Precept under the Privy
Seal on 17th April 1536 for the customary Charter of Con-
firmation granted by the Crown in respect of the latter ; ° but
the special provision for the reversion of Earl John's annual
rent to his successors, in the event of the friars being disabled

' Indenture^ 2nd August 1489, infra^ II. p. 127. ^ Docqitei, ibid.

^ Lives of the Lindsays^ I. 172. Alexander the fourth Earl— known as Earl
Beardie or the Tiger Earl, from the length of his beard and stern disposition —
who died in 1453, and Alexander the seventh Earl, who died in 15 17, were also
buried in the friary church.

^ Ibid. I. 187.

'^ MS. Reg. Mag. Sig., XXV. No. 330, 15th April 1506, ij/fra, II. p. 137.
David Ogilvy's mass, dating from 1492, occupied the time between ten ami eleven,
infra, II. p. 134.

^.MS. Reg. Privy Seal, X. f. 140.

222 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. vtit.

from celebrating the mass through lawful impediment, re-
mained unfulfilled at the Reformation, when the revenues of
the friary were immersed in the Common Good of the burgh.
Among the few incidents of general history intimately
connected with this friary, the highest degree of romantic
interest attaches to the assembly of the patriotic clergy
in its church on 24th February 1309/ There, in sur-
roundings of simplicity according well with their character
and the nature of their resolution, they homologated their
previous course of action by a solemn avowal of their inten-
tion to support the claims of Robert Bruce to the Scottish
Crown, and thus pledged the full weight of their influence
with the people to his cause. It is impossible to ascertain
whether the friary at Dundee was as yet vested with the
control of the Scottish Vicariate ; but it is nevertheless en-
titled to the honour of having been the first which definitely
associated itself with the struggling band of patriots, in
spite of the benevolent attitude adopted towards the
Order during the English campaigns in Scotland. Con-
sidering that Edward I. was a professed admirer of the
Grey Friars, a friend of the Scottish friars during the
opening years of the War of Independence, and a frequent
supplicant of the prayers of the Chapter General for the
success of his expeditions, it is more than probable that this
friary escaped the fate of the parish church, which was
wholly destroyed during his march to Stracathro in 1296.
In 1335, however, it felt the heavy hand of the English
invader. A band of piratical sailors from Newcastle, as the
chronicler is pleased to describe them, attacked Dundee,
burnt the school and dormitory of the friary, and carried
off its great bell to Newcastle, where it was sold to the
Black Friars of Carlisle. It would be ungenerous to doubt
the legal knowledge of the English Franciscan, who concludes
his narrative of the spoliation by the statement that neither
the sellers nor the purchasers had any right to carry out
this transaction.^ From the Exchequer Roll of nth June

1 Nat. MSS. of Scotland, Vol. I.

2 Lanercost CJironicle, p. 282. During the attack on the friary one of the
brethren who had formerly followed the profession of arms was burnt to death.

CHAP. VIII.] DUNDEE 223

1342, it is clear that the itinerant Court of Exchequer made
use of the friary as an hospitium 7'egis during the collection
of the royal taxes. On this occasion, the friars accepted a
donation of fivepence "for the occupation of their houses,"
although it was the custom of other religious houses to
charge a substantial sum for similar accommodation.^ During
the year 1379, a donation of £2, 13s. 4d. by Robert II.
towards the repair of the buildings is to be noted ; " and
six years later Froissart asserts that the friary was totally
destroyed by fire during the invasion of Richard 11.^ Passing
over a period of a century, during which the sources are
silent as to the progress and history of the friary, we come
to 1 48 1, a year of famine, when there was much suffering
among the less wealthy of the religious Orders. In their
extremity, the friars found it necessary, "for the maintenance
of their miserable life and that they might continue in the
service of God," to put away and pawn their books, chalices
and the ornaments of their church, in order to procure the
necessaries of life.* This incident, occurring so late as 14S1
in the chief Conventual friary in the country, would scarcely
lead us to believe that the friars had abandoned their creed
of poverty and lived a life of plenty nourished from an in-
exhaustible storehouse and cellar. A generous benefactress
in the person of Beatrice, Countess of Erroll, however,
came to their assistance with a gift of ^100 Scots for the
redemption of these cherished possessions ^ and for the repair
of the friary, " including our gret est wyndow's mending."
She also contributed such acceptable additions to the larder
"in this deyr yeir " as twenty-four shillings worth of meal,
thirty shillings worth of malt, two marks of beer, a gallon of
oil worth thirty-two pence, a kellyn thirty pence and a small
haddock sevenpence.'' The charity of the Countess was

1 Treasurer's Accounts, I. xviii., ed. note. ^ Exch. Rolls, infra, p. 239.

3 He is the only chronicler who records the presence of Richard II. beyond
the Forth.

* Indenture between the Countess of Erroll and the Friars of Dundee, 25th
November 1482, infra, II. p. 130.

° At this time silver was worth eleven shillings per ounce, and silversmiths
received about two shillings per ounce for their work. Treasurer'' s Accounts, 1506.

" Obligation by Friar James Lindsay, Provincial Vicar, 12th March 1481-S2,
infra, II. p. 129.

224 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. viti.

recognised by the Provincial Chapter held at Dundee
during the spring of 1482,^ and later in the same year their
promise to perform a daily mass was incorporated in a formal
deed of Indenture with the Countess, whereby a daily mass,
known as the Lady Mass, was to be celebrated for her
deceased husband, her son Earl William and herself at the
high altar, or at that in honour of the Three Kings of
Cologne, if she carried out her intentions of erecting that
altar in the friary.^ The principal interest of this document,
however, lies in the fact that it was signed by, or on behalf
of, the thirteen friars who constituted the Franciscan com-
munity in Dundee at this date, and that eight of them
signed propria nianu. The five illiterates were doubtless
lay brothers who occupied themselves with agriculture and
kindred pursuits for the support of the friary, in preference to
indulging in aspirations towards clerkship and its privileges.
Otherwise the personnel of the friary is all but shrouded in
anonymity. A few of the Wardens after 1462 appear by
name in the Exchequer Rolls, and claim attention on account
of their lengthy tenure of office and the evidence of their
scholarship. James Lindsay, Bachelor of Theology, comes
under notice in 1464 as Warden, as Provincial Vicar of the
Conventuals in 1466, and in the latter capacity ruled the
Province almost continuously until his death in 1483 or 1488,
an eventful period marked by the famine and by the tactful
organisation of the Observatine Province. In 1488, Andrew
Russell, Bachelor of Theology and Warden of Kirkcudbright
ten years previously, was elected to the wardenship and
granted the receipts to the magistrates for their annual
pension of ^5 until 1512. One of his successors, John
Connelson, Warden of Roxburgh in 1501, was promoted to
this friary in 15 17-18, and to the Provincialate in 152 1,
1530 and 1532. John Ferguson appears as Warden in 152 1,
and, along with his Provincial, defended the dignity of the
Conventuals against the Observatines in the Court of the

^ Obligation, supra, p. 223.

2 Indenture, 25th November 1482, itifra, II. p. 131. This Indenture was recon-
firmed by the seven Conventual Wardens in the Provincial Chapter held at Lanark
on I ith July 1490.

CHAP. VIII.] DUNDEE 225

Bishop of Brechin.^ A man of administrative genius, Friar
Ferguson rose to the Provincialate in 1541 and remained
the controlling personality among the Conventuals until 1560,
finally disappearing from record after signing the Feu Charter
under which Warden Auchinleck of Haddington transferred
his friary to George Simson on 21st September 1565.^ The
number of friars resident in 1560, or the proportion of them
who abandoned the old faith is wholly problematical. The
only friars of Dundee who appear as recipients of the
Mendicant pension, along with the six apostate Dominicans
of Montrose, are John Ferguson, the Provincial Vicar, and
John Brown, Warden for the year 1560.^ The former
received the pittance from 1561 until 1563, but his name is
absent from the account of 1566.'* The latter was appointed
keeper of the " Knok," and drew his pension from the
Thirds of Benefices until the friary revenues were trans-
ferred to the town in 1567 ; and, in 1573, the Commissioners
of Piatt decided that this sum should constitute a liferent
charge upon the funds of the Hospital of Dundee, to which
the ecclesiastical revenues of the buro^h had been assigrned.^
Friar Brown died in 1586.

The remaining history of the friary is little more than a
catalogue of spoliation, destruction and competition for its
possession. The Protestant sympathies of the burghers w^ere
displayed in the hearty welcome accorded to Friar Alexander
Dick in 1532 after his escape from Aberdeen,^ and in hanging
the image of St. Francis about 1536.'^ But when their re-
forming zeal was stirred to action in 1543 by the eloquence
of George Wishart, the clandestine assurance of viceregal
approval proved a worthless guarantee of immunity. On
this occasion, if we may judge from the indictment, the interior
and furnishings of the friary and church alone suffered at the
hands of the rioters, who carried off everything which they
could not destroy. In fact, the spoliation of the "nest"

^ Supra, p. 60. ' MS. Feu Charter, infra, II. p. 48.

^ MS. Accounts, Collector-General, 1561-62 ; Sub-Collector, 1563-66.
* Those for the years 1564 and 1565 are not preserved in the General Register
House.

^ MS. Rental of Chaplainries, infra, II. p. 14S. * Supra, p. 106.

'' Pitcairn, Critninal Trials, I, i, 286.

226 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. viii.

was so complete that the brethren were even deprived of
their cowls and bedclothes, and the process of replacement
must have taxed the charity of the Romanist burghers to an
unusual extent during the next few years, considering that
the magistrates defrauded the friars of their annual pension
until 1547.^ When the English were driven out of the town
two years later, the friary buildings were left in a ruinous
condition, and, it is now believed, were not wholly re-
paired before 1560. The friars, however, continued their
work within the burgh, receiving their usual pensions and
cultivating their glebe. On nth July 1557, they anticipated
the renewal of the storm by infefting their "defender and
protector," David, ninth Earl of Crawford, in the whole of
their land, excepting the graveyard, church and friary build-
ings, in return for an elusive feu-duty of seventeen merks,^
that was neither paid to them nor to the magistrates after
their departure.^ The provisional nature of this conveyance
is evident when we find the friars, though superiors, continu-
ingf to cultivate the land during- the lifetime of their noble
vassal, who died on 20th September of the following year ;
and the ruinous condition of the church may account for the
fact that he elected to be buried at Edzell, in preference to
the family vault in the friary that had been in continuous use
since 1407.^ His successor maintained the validity of the
Feu Charter granted by the Chapter, and conformed to
the retrospective Act of 1563 by securing its insertion in the
Register of Abbreviates,^ as the necessary preliminary to the
grant of a Crown charter in terms of a precept dated 21st
March 1565-66.*^

No record has been preserved of the manner in which the
Franciscans terminated their mission in Dundee.^ Perchance,

1 Exch. RollSy 3rd August 1547. They also withheld payment of the pension
due to the Dominicans of Perth. Blackfriars of Perth , pp. 236, 242.

2 MS. Abb. Feu Charter a?2d Precept, 21st March 1565, hifra, II. pp. 143-45.
^ MS. Hospital Rentals, Charge III.

* Test, confirmed, ist October ; Scots Peerage, III. 28 (Balfour Paul).

^ MS. Abb. Car tar, Feudifirme Cartar, Ecclesiasticar., I. f. 2 1 1 ; infra, 1 1, p. 143.

6 MS. Reg. Privy Seal, XXXV. f. 13 ; infra, II. p. 144.

' The reformation of the Kirk of Dundee, referred to by Knox in his letter to
Anna Lock, does not warrant the assumption that the churches of Dundee had
been attacked before his arrival in Scotland on 2nd May 1559. He doubtless

CHAP. viiT.] DUNDEE 227

the ruinous condition of the friary held out no inducement to
the citizens after their visit to Perth and the destruction of
Scone. The friars sowed their crop for the year 1560, and
the charter granted by Warden Fluccar of Inverkeithing on
I St August expHcitly states that the provincial and friary seals
were affixed to it by John Ferguson and John Brown at
Dundee two days later.^ It is, however, probable that the
friars had already abandoned their home before this date, and
we find the magistrates in possession of the land and buildings
on 7th August, when they sold the growing crop by auction
for ^40 to one George Hay ;'^ but they relinquished their in-
tention of proceeding with the sale of the "Acres," after a
protest and claim had been entered by Patrick Gray on behalf
of John Scrymgeour, Constable of Dundee.^ The stones and
building material soon shared the fate of the crop, a part
being used for the erection of a new slaughter house in
October 1560; and the process of demolition was hastened
by the general instructions given to the town treasurer to
remove the stones of the church and its steeple for the
"common weill of the buroh,""* A o-eneral lease of the aofri-
cultural land at a rent of ^29, los. was granted to Thomas
Monorgound in 1561 or 1562; and, on nth September
1564, during a visit to the burgh, Queen Mary legalised the
use of the friary "place and yaird " as a public burial-ground,
because "within the realme of France and uther foreign parts
thair is na deid bureit within borrowis, and grit townis bot
has thair bureall places and sepulturis outwith ye sam for
evading of ye contagius seikness foirsaids."^ In 1567, the
magistrates received a royal grant of the whole ecclesiastical
properties within the burgh and of the annual rents payable
to the various churches, altars and religious houses from
landward subjects." Two years later they executed a formal

refers to Paul Methven's reformed church established in the preceding year.
Works, VI. 22.

^ MS. Abb. Feu Charter, infra, II. p. 163.

2 MS. Records of the Burgh and Head Courts, 7th August 1560. Mr. Maxwell
(I. 178) erroneously states that the price received was ^14.

' Ibid. * Ibid, sub anno.

^ Charters and Writs of Dundee, p. 40.

^ MS. Precept for the gift, 14th April, infra, II. p. 146.

228 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. viii.

conveyance of their general rights under this charter to the
Hospital Master of the burgh — "only zat ye samen be
labourit, occupyit and manurit to ye welfare of ye puir
persons of ye said hospital and to none other use,"^ — and, in
particular, of their superior right in the lease of the friary
acres, burghal rents and five annual rents producing ^38,
5s. 8d., formerly payable to the friars out of non-burghal
subjects. They failed to recover possession of two similar
rents amounting to ^i, 6s. 8d. ; but their success in absorbing
Franciscan endowments becomes the more marked, when we
find that they recovered an annual revenue of less than ^30
from the non-burghal endowments in the possession of all the
other religious communities within the bursfh." The two
competing rights in the friary acres now emerged ; and, from
the strictly legal point of view, they entered into serious
competition with that of the Hospital Master. Fruitless
negotiations ensued until the Parliament of 1587, in which
a measure was brouo"ht forward to reconfirm the rio-hts
acquired by the burgh under the Crown charter of 1567.
David, eleventh Earl of Crawford, thereupon entered a
petition craving the reservation of his rights under the
charter granted to his ancestor by the friars in 1557.^
Success attended his claim, and the magistrates agreed to
a compromise with him and with Sir James Scrymgeour.
The latter conveyed his rights in the third part of the
common meadows on 27th August 1591 ; while, in 1594,
Earl Crawford abandoned his claim under a formal charter
in favour of the Hospital Master, in return for a sum of
1800 merks (^1200) Scots,^ and the whole friary property
passed into the undisputed possession of the town. Three
years later, the Court of Exchequer perceived that the Earl
had not entered with the Crown after the death of Friar
Brown in 1586, as was required of him by the Act of 1571 ;
and the Sheriff was instructed to recover payment of

^ Charters and Writs of Dundee^ pp. 42-43.

2 MS. Rental of Hospital, and MS. Rejital of Chaplainries.

^ Acts of Parliavient (Thomson), III. 474.

* Charters and Writs of Dundee, p. 44 ; MS. Contract of Sale, 13th October
1594, Accompt Books of the Hospital and Conveyances in favotcr of the Hospital
Master.

CHAP. VIII.] DUNDEE 229

£22, 13s. 4d. as duplicand on his entry, and ^85 as the
arrears of the feu-duty for "the tofts, crofts, gardens and
meadows of the Friars Minor," which were formerly held of
the said friars and "are now in the hands of the Kine for the
space of seven years and one term."-^

This friary was by far the most wealthy Franciscan com-
munity in Scotland, and its permanent sources of revenue can
still be reconstituted in their entirety. It participated in the
royal bounties from the date of its foundation, and in i 297
the Chapter claimed to be entitled to an annual payment of
ten pounds sterling and twenty pounds of wax from the Ex-
chequer.^ This claim was admitted by the English Treasury
to the extent of seven pounds sixteen shillings and a pipe of
wine for communion, in accordance with the return from the
rolls of John Balliol.^ During the remaining years of the War
of Independence the friars received an annual allowance of
five pounds Scots, which appears in the later records as " the
old alms,"'^ and the royal charities were ultimately represented
by three distinct annuities granted at different periods. The
first, probably the original donation of Alexander III.,
amounted to five pounds Scots'^ paid by the Bailies of Dundee
out of the burgh taxes as the yearly alms of the King. The
most marked feature of this pension is the regularity observed
in its payment by the burgh authorities ; and it was continued
until 9th August 1558, with the exception of a period of five
years from 1360, when it was temporarily superseded by an
annual rent of £\, 2s. 2\A., also paid out of the burgh fermes.
There is doubtless more than a mere coincidence in the fact
that the serious irregularities in payment date from the
beginning of the sixteenth century; and, in 1527, when the
Protestant sympathies of the burgh were acquiring notoriety,
the services of Robert Rolland, factor and procurator of the
friary, were requisitioned to secure payment of arrears to and
supervise the receipts. In conjunction with the admonition
of Provost Scrymgeour and his bailies in respect of the

1 Exch. Rolls, XXII. 566.

- Hist. Doc. Scot. (Stevenson), II. 244-45. ^ ^'^t- Scot., I. 38.

* In 1327 it was dcscrilDed as the yearly alms of the king ; Exch. Rolls, T. 63.
^ Sometimes treated in the Rolls as five merks, e.g. 1508. Summary, 1330-
1558, t7tfra, p. 238.

230

CONVENTUAL FRIARIES

[chap. VIII.

shelter accorded to the apostate Friar Alexander Dick,^ the
man of law secured prompt payment to his constituents.
This pension was reconfirmed by James I., shortly after his
return from England, in letters under the Privy Seal "to
endure until further orders" ;" and from 1398 to 1442 it was
supplemented by a regular annual payment of ^i, 13s. 4d.
by the Bailies of Crail, in accordance with a gratuitous
assignment to the friars of a right of terce in ten merks
payable out of the burgh customs to Lady Marjory, widow of
Sir Alexander Lindsay of Glenesk.^ The second, an annuity
of twenty merks, was granted by the Bruce at the close of
his reign, the first payment being recorded in the Roll of 1330.
It was at first paid directly from the Exchequer, then from
the Castle Wards of Edinburgh, and shortly afterwards in
equal portions from those of the Constabularies of Linlithgow
and Haddington. The instalments did not, however, in-
variably reach the friary treasury, with the result that the
friars appealed to the King in Parliament, and secured a
mandamus in 1389 upon the Sheriff of Edinburgh, and his
Bailies of Linlithgow and Haddington, "for prompt payment
to the friars in terms of their charters both as concerns
arrears of the past and future payments."* Nevertheless,
the pension often went unpaid for several terms, and, as
late as 1501, the Earl of Bothwell, Sheriff of Haddington,
recognised the defalcation of his predecessor by a payment
of ^46, 13s. 4d. (70 merks) in lieu of the preceding seven
annual instalments of one-half of the alms of King Robert L^
The third royal annuity was represented by a sum of eleven
shillings and eightpence paid out of the Castle Wards of
Strabrok in Linlithgowshire from 1457 until 1542; and, on
occasion, the Exchequer paid to the friars further sums
assigned to them. Thus, on 3rd April 1395, by order of the
unhappy David, Earl of Carrick, they received for one year
£4., 13s. 4d. out of his pension of ^640 paid from the
customs of the burghs north of the Forth. *^ The donor and
provenance of a chalder of bear, representing an annual value

^ Supra, p. 106.

^ Summary, zn/ra, p. 239.

'^ £xc/t. Rolls.

- Exch. Rolls, 19th April 1429.

* Ads of Parliament (Thomson), I. 558.

''Exch. Rolls, IV. clxxi.

CHAP. VIII.] DUNDEE 231

of twenty pounds in 1567, cannot now be ascertained, as it
does not appear in contemporary records until 1561, when
the accounts of the Collector-General were compiled. It is
then stated to have pertained to the " Cordelier Freiris of
Dundee " ; and, from the fact that it was not comprised in the
charter of ecclesiastical properties within the burgh, we may
perhaps infer that it was an annual allowance in kind from
the Crown. A special conveyance of it in favour of the
burgh was granted by the Regent at some date between 1568
and 1576.-^

In regard to private charities, the two annual rents of
twenty merks granted by the Dowager Countess of Crawford
and Earl John have already been referred to. In 1492,
another annuity of twelve merks was granted by David
Ogilvy of Inchmartin out of his lands of Pitmedill and
Inchmartin, for the celebration of a daily mass and other
services at the altar of the Blessed Virgin,^ In this case, a
prohibition against the sale of the right was inserted in the
charter, and the magistrates were authorised to veto any
such intention on the part of the friars by ingathering the
rents and dividing them among the clergy of the parish
church, in return for the celebration of the prescribed services.
Andrew Whitehead, Vicar of Kilmarnock, contributed another
of six shillings and eightpence in 1498;^ and, in 1509, Sir
Thomas Maule of Panmure, who had been admitted to the
Third Order of Penitents by the Observatines, granted one
of twenty shillings out of his lands of Skichen to provide
for an annual service for the souls of himself and his rela-
tives.^ He is credited with a hasty and " choloric " temper;
*'yet," says the historian of the Maules, "afterwards he
became very penitent of this, as like all other offences of
his youth committed against God and his neighbours, as may

'^ MS. Accounts, Collector-General, Victual Charge, 1561-62, 1576; Sub-
Collector, 1563, 1566, 1568-69.

^ MS. Reg. Mag. Szg, XIV. £.361, t'fi/ra, II. p. 133. Confirmed under the Great
Seal, 6th October 1505, and marked in Reg. of Privy Seal, III. 12^, gratis fmfri-
biis de Dundee.

^ MS. Reg. Mag. Sig., XIII. f. 345. Confirmed by James IV. eod. die, infra,
II. p. 135.

^ Reg. de Pantnure, 1. xxvi. and II. 276, infra, II. p. 138.

232 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. viii.

be perceived by the sundrie donations to religious houses."^
The friars of Dundee shared in these testamentary bequests
to the extent of three pounds twelve shillings for the weal of
the knight's soul.^ In 1526, under a disposition or testa-
mentary writing executed by one James Rynd of Carse, the
friars became owners of one-eighth of the lands of Lenlethyn,
subject to the liferent granted in favour of Alexander Murie
and his wife. Warden John Ferguson appeared in person to
accept sasine of this land, and formally recognised the liferent
burden,^ Two other annual rents, of forty shillings and
thirty-two shillings and fourpence, were granted to the friars
at some unknown date over the lands of the Laird of
Wauchton in the Mearns, and Alexander Strang's tenement
in Forfar respectively."^

Within the burgh itself we are in a position to form
an exact estimate of the mortifications granted by the
burgesses, and to appreciate the diligence displayed by the
magistrates in securing payment to themselves of these
ground annuals.^ A typical example of the manner in
which they were acquired and constituted is offered by a
protocol of 3rd June 1532.^ Either by gift or purchase, the
friars had become possessed of a tenement of land ^ which
they did not desire to lease to tenants or to occupy by
themselves. A Charter of Indenture was accordingly entered
into with Alexander Alanson and Cristina Thomson, his wife,
whereby the spouses received an absolute disposition of the
land in conjunct fee, subject to an annual payment of
;^5, 14s. 4d. Warden Ferguson granted sasine to them by
the hands of Bailie Alexander Lovell, and thereafter Alanson's
wife appeared alone in the bailie's court to take her great

^ Reg. de Patimttre, I. xxix. ^ Jl^id. II. 286.

^ MS. Protocol Books, Dundee (Burgh Charter Chest), 15th October 1526;
infra, II. p. 142. There is no further trace of this property or of any ground
annual secured over it in favour of the friars.

* MS. Book of ye comoiai Rentallis of the Burgh of Dundee ; Hospital Account y
entries Nos. 200 and 201.

^ MS. Register of the Bicrgh and Head Courts of Dundee, 6th October 1561 to
14th February 1562.

'° MS. Protocol Books, Dundee, I. f. 232 ; i7ifra, II. p. 142.

' Bounded north and south by Argyll Street and the cemetery of the parish
church.

CHAP. VIII.] DUNDEE 233

oath never to resile from her obligation. The two spouses
then resigned their land into the hands of the bailie ; and he,
in turn, gave Warden Ferguson one penny as the symbol of
sasine and possession of the above annual rent henceforth
payable to the friary/ In course of time this property was
subdivided among several owners, and it is interesting to
observe that ^3, 14s. of this annual can be traced in 1569-70
from the limited descriptions entered in the Hospital Rental.
These relics of burghal piety to the number of seventeen,
representing an annual value of £14, 3s. yd.,' were appro-
priated by the town almost immediately after the dissolution
of the friary ; and, as a warning to burgesses who endeavoured
to conceal the burden over their tenement from the burofh
treasurer, one offender was summoned before the Head Court
in respect of his attempted evasion. In the last resort, the
alleged fraudulent alienation of burghal annuals was Impossible,
on account of the participation of the burgh officials necessary
to any valid infeftment, and of the subsequent registration of
the transmission in the Protocol Books ;^ and by 1567-68 full
possession had been secured for the Common Good.

As early as 1542, the friars had abandoned occupation
and use of four grazing meadows, which formed part of their
composite glebe, and secured in return a yearly rent of
^2, 5s. 4d. from their tenants.

To conclude, the fixed annual income of this friary from
permanent endowments never exceeded one hundred pounds
Scots,* or one hundred and forty pounds if we include the

^ These formalities will be readily recognised as the genesis of the modern
Contract of Ground Annual. The double cereniony of resignation and the delivery
of the penny as symbol of sasine in 1532 proves that the relations were not to be
that of vassal and superior, as was the case between the Dominicans and their
disponees.

2 List A, infra, pp. 236-38.

2 Registration in these books was regulated by Act of Parliament, and the
Protocol Books were the forerunners of the system of registration of land rights
finally established in 1617.

^ Exchequer payments .
Burghal ground annuals
Non-burghal ground annuals .
Rents derived from friary meadows
One chalder of bear, worth in 1576

• X>JV '<3

• 14 3

• 39 12

2 5

20 0

£m '9

234 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. viii.

value of the crop cultivated by the lay brothers/ When
compared with the miserable stipends forced upon the
ministers of the new Church, it was indeed a slender endow-
ment for the leading Conventual friary in Scotland with its
community of thirteen friars ; and, if the chalders of wheat,
bear and oats w^ere worth twenty-four, twenty and thirteen
pounds respectively, a gallon of oil two shillings and eight-
pence, a small haddock sevenpence, and the grey cloth for a
Franciscan cloak fifty-four shillings, the assistance received
from the friary offertory and the voluntary charity of the
burghers in money and kind must indeed have been of a
substantial nature, before the friars could enjoy the bare
necessities of life.

The subsequent history of these revenues is an apt illus-
tration of finance under the new reoime. The arable land
was leased by the magistrates at a rent of ^29, los. No
account was taken of the site of the friary buildings or ceme-
tery, and the annual value of the whole was entered at £ys
in a hurriedly prepared inventory. Of this sum one-third
was entered in the "King's Patrimony"^ and also in the
accounts of the Collector-General of Thirds for the year 1561,
under burden of the pensions of ^16 allotted to the Provincial
John Ferguson and Warden John Brown. The remaining
two-thirds were collected by the magistrates, and their strict
inquisition soon resulted in an increase beyond the official
value, leaving in abeyance the two non-burghal annuals of
six shillings and eightpence and twenty shillings, formerly
granted by Vicar Whitehead and Sir Thomas Maule. Their
intromissions with, and future possession of, the entire revenues,
for the " sustentatioun of the ministrev, maister of scuill and
puir of the said burgh," was legalised by the Crown charter
of 1567. In so far as the revenues of the Grey Friary were
concerned, the result of this charter was to infeft the mams-
trates in the two-thirds of the revenues with which they had
previously dealt, and in the one-third valued at £2^ which

^ The yearly income derived by the Black Friars of Edinburgh from ground
annuals amounted to ^288, 14s. 4d. in 1561, exclusive of Exchequer payments, of
a chalder of bear and of the value of crop and leasehold rents produced by
land in their possession. Supra, pp. 136, 137, 140.

2 MS., G. R. H.

CHAP. VIII.] DUNDEE 235

had been uplifted by the Collector for the King's Patrimony.
This third had previously been assigned entire to the minister;^
but, in the account of 1568, the discharge records payment
of it to the Town Council. In 1569 they formally conveyed
their rights in the ecclesiastical properties to the Hospital
Master,^ and four years later the burgh was called upon to
render an account to the Lords Commissioners of its intro-
missions with the ecclesiastical properties. The revenue
derived from the annuals of the Grey and Black Friaries
was returned at .^53, 6s. yd. and ^10 less forty pence,
and that from those of the Nunnery of the Grey Sisters at
^i, 8s. Against this charge of ^64, lis. 3d. they pro-
duced a discharge of ^92, 13s. 4d,, comprising ^50 for
" clayth to cleyth the puir infantes and unabill personis of
the said burgh," forty merks " for the uphald of the puir being
in the hospitale furth of the freiris as the infeftementis beris,"
and ^16 in payment of the pension of Friar Brown, paid from
the Hospital fund since 1568.^ The difference between this
charge and discharge is approximately one-third ; but from
the Grey Friary revenues there are excluded in the charge
^20 for the chalder of bear, recently transferred by the Regent
to the magistrates under a special conveyance,^ and ;^29, los.
as the rent of the arable land. In point of fact, ^53, 6s. yd.
represented only the value of the "freiris annuellis,"^ and the
intention of the magistrates was to fulfil their oblio-ation
towards the minister upon the smallest possible rental, alleg-
ing that the land in their possession was exempt from this
contribution. The Commissioners were dissatisfied, and
ordered the production of a complete rental "aganis the nixt

^ AfS. Accounts^ Sub-Collector, 1566, Discharge.
2 Charters and IVrits of Dundee, pp. 42-43.
^ MS. Rc7ttal of Chaplainries, 1573.

* MS. Accounts, Sub-Collector, 1576.

* MS. Rental of Chaplainries —

Non-burghal annuals ..... ;^38 5 S
Burghal annuals . . . . .1437

Meadow rents . . . . . .254

.^54 14 7
Value of tlic ( irey Sister's Acre . . .180

Z53 f' 7

236

CONVENTUAL FRIARIES

[chap. VIII.

Assemblie." The claims of the burgh's representatives —
Scrymgeour and Kyd — on behalf of the Hospital were not,
however, to be gainsaid. The minister was compensated
by the substantial stent of 100 merks upon the " neighbours
of the burgh," ^ and the conditions attaching to the assignation
of the friary rents were abrogated by the Commissioners so
that they might "be halelie applyit to the sustentatioun of
the puir for the quhilk it wes foundat."^ In this manner, the
poor of Dundee were provided for annually to the extent of
about ^85 from the property of their old friends and helpers,
the Grey Friars.

COMPARATIVE INCOME OF FRIARY AND HOSPITAL

Friary 1560.

Hospital.

Exchequer payments
Chalder of bear .

Burghal ground annuals
Non-burghal annuals

Meadow rents
Value of crop

,^19 18 4 (discontinued after 1560) ^o o o
20 o o (passed into the burgh

accounts) . .00

, 14 3 7 . . . . 14 3

39 12 4 (under deduction of two

producing ;^ I, 6s. 8d.) . 38 5
, 2 5 4'. . . .25

, 40 o o (represented by yearly
rent of arable land)

^135 19 7

29 10 o

£84 4 7

The Book of ye comoun Rentallis of the Burgh of

DUNDIE, AlMHOUS and Kh^KWARD THAIROF, COM-
PILED 1 569-70. (Orioiiia/ MS. Lockit Book preserved
in the Council Chambers, Dundee.^

Excerpts relating to the Grey Friary

in. CHAIRGE OR RENTALL OF THE MASTER OF THE
HOSPITALL OF YE BURGH OF DUNDIE

A. Annual Rents secured over Property within the Burgh

Annualrentis, fewmailles and utheris dewties, furth of ye said
David Cokburnis land, haiffand on ye west the land of
John Jakis airis, To ye greyfreiris zeirlie . . £^0 7 6

^ Dundee Stipend Case, Process, ut stipra.

- Lord Boyd, Collector-General in 1574, revived the exaction of the third from
the friary revenues ; but on 29th October 1574 the Lords of Council granted letters
of suspension against him at the instance of the provost and bailies regarding
payment "of all ye maills and dewties of the lands, houses, zeards, etc. quhilk
pertenit to the Freirs, sometime of the said burgh." Ibid.

CHAP. VIII.] DUNDEE 237

Furth of ye land of Thomas Cokburnis aids, quhilk sumtyme
pertenit to umquhile Alexander Lowell, by and on ye
north syid of ye Flukergaitt betwix ye land of ye airis
of James Gibson and John Hany on ye West pairtis,
eisdem ....... ;^3 4 o

Furth of the land of William Palmeris airis by and without
the Nethergaitt Port, betwix ye land of ye said James
Smithis airis of ye east and ye land of ye airis of
umquhile William Maissoun on ye west pairtis, eisdem . 050

Furth of ye said David Fleming's land, by and as said is and
havand on ye east Maister Edward Henrysonis land,
eisdem . . . . . . . o 10 o

Furth of ye said Maister Henrysonis land, by and as said is and

havand on ye east George Andersonis land, eisdem . 076

Furth of ye land of Johne Ferriar, sumtyme perteining to
Thomas Henrysoun, by and on ye north syid of Ergyllis-
gaitt betwix ye land of George Baxter on ye east and
the land of ye airis of William Browne on ye west
pairtis, eisdem . . . . . .0136

Furth of ye land of ye airis of umquhile James Symesoun,
alias Swyne, by and on ye south syid of Ergyllisgaitt,
eisdem . . . . . . . o 15 o

Furth of ye land foirsaid of ye airis of umquhile Alexander
Alanesoun, havand on ye east the Kirkstyill and ye land
of Peter Wedderburn, eisdem . . . .368

Furth of ye laird of Ogillis land, by and on ye north syid of
Argyllisgait, betwix ye land of Thomas Annand on ye
east and the land of George Bellis airis on ye west
pairtis, eisdem . . . . . .050

Furth of ye land of Johne Baxter, by and on ye east syid of
the Buriall Wynd, betwix ye land of James Craill on ye
south and ye land of David Campbell on ye north
pairtis, eisdem . . . . . .1128

Furth of James Lowellis land foresaid, quhairin the Ketchpile is

biggit, havand on ye east Sanct Salvatoris landis, eisdem 010 o

Furth of ye land perteining to Thomas Patersoune, alias
Sandie, and Alexander Young, maissoun, quhilk pertenit
sumtyme to umquhile Alexander Piggot, by and on ye
north syid of ye Murraygaitt betwix ye land of James
Ferriare and James Lowell on ye west and ye land of
James Roch, his airis, on ye east pairtis, eisdem . 053

Furth of ye said Thomas Davidsounis land forsaid havand on

ye east the land of Thomas Stewart, eisdem . .050

Furth of ye airis of Robert Thomesoun, by and on ye Kow-

gaitt, eisdem . , . . . .076

Furth of ye land of Alexander Mathow, by and on ye north
syid of ye Seagaitt, betwix ye Seagaitt Port and the townis

238 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. viii.

comoun landis on ye east and ye land of Thomas Smith

on ye west pairtis, eisdem .... ;£o 7 6

Furth of ye Laird of Murthle, his land by and on ye north
syid of ye Seagaitt, betwix ye land of Thomas Cowstounis
on ye west, and ye land of Robert Manis airis on ye east
pairtis, eisdem . . . . . .076

Furth of ye medow pertening to ye said William Kynloch, by

and on ye north syid of ye buriall place, eisdem . o 14 o

^14 3 7

B. Annual Rents secured over Property outwith the

Burgh

Furth of ye landis of Drumcarne and Symok, by and in

Glenesk, pertening to ye laird of Edzell, eisdem -^13 6 8

Furth of ye landis of Montaigo, by and in ye Carss of Gowrie,

pertening to ye laird of Ewlik, eisdem . . .1368

Furth of ye lands of Pitmidle, by and in ye bray of ye Carss

of Gowrie, pertening to ye laird of Inchmartene, eisdem 800
Furth of ye landis of ye Brethertown, by and in ye Mernis

pertening to ye laird of Wauchton, eisdem . .200

Furth of ye land of Alexander Strang by and in ye burgh of

Forfare, eisdem . . . . . .1124

^52 9 3
C

Rent of the Grayfreiris acris of Land and Croft, by and about
Sanct Francises Well, occupiet by David Abirdene last
sett for ye zeirlie maill of ... . £2() 10 o

Of William Kynloch's meadow . . . .0140

Of Andrew Barry's meadow . . . . . o 18 o

Of James Lowell's meadow . . . . . o 13 4

Total annual income derived by the Hospital of Dundee

from the ground annuals and lands of the Grey Friary . ;^84 4 7

ROYAL BOUNTIES TO THE GREY FRIARS OF DUNDEE

I. Exchequer Rolls

In acquittance of a pension known as the " old alms of the King," amounting
to jQs paid by the Bailies of Dundee, whole or partial payments are
recorded under the years 1327-32, 1365-67, 1369, 1372-73, i37S-77>
1379-82, 1384, 1386-93, 1395-1407, 1409-10, 1413-18, 1421-22,
1425-26, 1428-31, 1434-35, 1438, 1442-51, 1454-60, 1463-69, 1471,
1473-93. 1496-99. 1508, 1511-12, 1518, 1528, 1531-34, i537> 1540-43.
1551-58.

Composite or multiple payments of the same are recorded: ^6, 13s. 3d. in
the Roll of 1359; ;^io in that of 1412; £,\o in that of 1420; jQie, in

CHAP. VIII.] DUNDEE 239

that of 1441 ; ^10 in that of 1453 ; ^^15 in that of 1462 ; ;2^io in that
of 1495; ;£i$ in that of 1502; jQ\^ in that of 1505; ;!^ 10 in that of
1507; ^10 in that of 1510; ^25 in that of 1517; ;^i7, los. in that
of 1522 ; ^27, los. in that of 1527 ; £10 in that of 1530 ; ^10 in that
of 1539 ; P^20 in that of 1547 ; ^15 in that of 1550.

In acquittance of an annual rent of ^4, 2s. 2|d., which replaced the fore-
going pension of ;^5 between the years 1360 and 1365, payments are
recorded as follows: ;^4, 2s. 2id. in 1360; ;£6, 3s. 6d. in 1361 ;
£t,, i6s. id. in 1362; ^10, 13s. iid. in 1364.

In acquittance of the pension of 20 merks or ^13, 6s. 8d. granted to the
friars by Robert the Bruce, payments are recorded in the following
Rolls: ;^i3, 6s. 8d. in those of 1330, 1365, 1455, MS^, 1463, 1471 ;
jQ6, 13s. 4d. in those of 1461, 147 1 ; ^46, 13s. 4d. in that of 1501.

In acquittance of the pension of iis. 8d. paid out of the Castle Wards of
Strabrok, payments are recorded in the following Rolls: 11 s. 8d. in
those of 1457-58. 1469, 147 1, 1475-82, 1487-88, i49i-92> MQS-qS,
1503-5, 1508-14, 1542; i6s. 8d. in that of 1466; 17s. 3d. in that of
15°! 'y jQ^i 3S- 4d. in those of 1465, 1468, i486, 1490, 1507.

The following incidental payments are recorded: iith June 1342, fivepence
for the occupation of their house.

5th April 1359, forty shillings as the King's alms.

April 1379, £2, 13s. 4d. for the repair of their houses.

13th July 1454, ;^2, 14s. paid by the Custumars of Dundee to Friar Henry
Bowie of the Order of Minors for grey cloth to make him a robe, which
cloth he sold on the morrow for ready money.

In acquittance of the right of terce of Lady Marjory of Lindsay in one hun-
dred shillings of the fermes of Crail assigned to the friars, payments are
recorded by the Bailies of Crail in the following Rolls : £,1, 4s. 6d. in
that of 1426; £1, 13s. 4d. in those of 1398-1400, 1402-7, 1409-10,
1413-18, 1428-31, 1434; £2, IDS. in those of 1401, 1435; £t„ 6s. 8d.
in those of 141 2, 1420, 1422 ; £4, 3s. 4d. in that of 1442.

Edinburgh, nth November, 1594. The Sheriff will answer for ^85 of
feu-farms of the whole tofts, crofts, gardens and meadows of the Con-
ventual Friars Minor of the burgh of Dundee, which lie within his
bailiary, excepting only the church, place and burying ground of the
said Friars, which [feu-farms] are in the hands of our Sovereign Lord the
King for the space of seven years and one term or thereby immediately
bypast, sasine not being recovered ; and for ;^2 2, 13s. 4d. as duplication
of the said feu-farm : which formerly were held from the Friars Minor
of the burgh of Dundee and now, etc., due to his Majesty conform to
sasine granted to David, Earl of Crawford.

II. Treasurer's Accounts

6th October 1504. To the Freris in Dundee, 14s.

1 8th March 1531. To the Cordilleris of Dundee by the Kingis precept,
^10.

CHAPTER VII \—{co7itinued)

CONVENTUAL FRIARIES

Lanark

The friary at Lanark owed its foundation between nth
November 1328 and 15th May 1329 to Robert the Bruce, the
most lavish benefactor of the Conventual Franciscans amone
the Scottish Kings. From one, Ellen de Ouarantly, he acquired
by excambion "a manor and orchard within the burgh of
Lanark as they lie and are enclosed by a wall " ; ^ and, in the
Roll audited on 7th August 1329, "those lands granted to
the Friars Minor for the site of their place " were exempted
from payment of the old tax of twenty pence due to the
Crown. ^ This land measured one acre one rood,^ and, from the
only extant description of it now preserved in an Instrument
of Sasine, dated 20th October 1620,^ it lay at the east end
of the burgh on the south side of the High Street. In 1620
it was bounded on the west by the "Common School" of
Lanark and the two tenements on either side of it. The
garden ground of two burgesses marched it on the east, and to
the south lay three roods of land to which, as in other burghs,

^ Charter of Excainbio7i^ undated ; Reg. Mag. Sig. (Print), I. 15, No. 76, '■'■ infra
biirgum de Lanark sicut jace7it et claudimtur in circiiitu per muruni}''

2 Exch. Rolls, I. 163, Account of William Aldyn, Bailie of Lanark. In the
preceding Roll, rendered 5th February 1327-28, the exemption of the friary does
not appear.

2 MS. Rental of Great Benefices, 1561, Harleian, 4623, pt. II. f. 9.

* Recorded eod. die, MS. Particular Register of Sasines (Lanarkshire), II.

f. 21. This Sasine proceeded upon a charter of the site of the friary by Sir James

Lockhart of Lee, whose ancestor received a grant of it from the friars before the

Reformation {i7ifra, II. p. 15S). The draughtsman of these two documents treated

the High Street as running south-east to north-west, and therefore, as was customary

with conveyancers of the time, the High Street appears as the east boundary.

This change of the cardinal points will also be observed in the conveyances relating

to the Aberdeen Friary ; and, in this case, the north, east, south and west in the

writ of 1620 would be more accurately described at the present day as west, north,

east and south.

240

CHAP. VIII. j LANARK 241

the friary gave the name of Freiryards, although they never
were in the possession of the friars.-^ In 1505 they were
described as the "land behynd the Freris " ; " and, in view
of the confusion that has arisen concernino- the site of this
friary,^ it must be observed that the Freiryards were distinct
from the " Burijh Roods," in which the friars themselves owned
two roods as rentallers of the town.* Between this date and
1560 these two roods were increased to an acre, to which was
added another plot cultivated by the friars as a kaill yard.^
From the uniform description contained in the writs granted
between 1570 and 1588, we are enabled to identify this dis-
joined land as lying in the " Burgh Roods," otherwise in
" Weitlandsyde within the territory of the said burgh." ^ The
Freiryards, on the other hand, were bounded on the south
by a vennel called the Freirwynd — now the South Vennel —
which turned west or north-west past the Old Kiln^ in the
Freirwynd and the garden of John Lindsay, minister of Car-
luke, until it gave access to the friary at a point between the
houses of the minister and James Mowat, writer.^ We also
learn that the friars acquired a servitude of passage and entry
to their Place over this Freirwynd, and over another vennel
that divided Mowat's tenement from the burgh school.^ The
Franciscan friary therefore lay between the South Vennel and
the High Street, and had no connection with the site of the
present Clydesdale Hotel. If that building does occupy friary
lands, it can only be those of another body of Mendicants
called the Fratres Egregii, who were settled in the burgh and
possessed a church in the year 1550;^'^ but it is much more

^ Cf. Roods of the Freir Wall in Haddingto7t^ supra, p. 169.

^ Records of Lanark (R. Renvvick), p. 19.

2 Ibid. p. xvii. •* Ibid. p. 1 5.

^ MS. Letter of Redemption, 6th May 1610, recorded Particular Res^isfer of
Sasines {ha.n?ir\C), II. f. 90 : "the ground, place or seat house, biggings and yeardis
adjacent thereto pertaining of old to the freris, callit the little Cordilerfreris of
Lanark, with ane acre of land pertaining thereto lyand on the Weitlandsyde."

" Charters granted to Adam Stewart, Bernard Lindsay of Inglisberry, and
James Lockhart of Lee, and Summons of Ejection, infra, II. pp. 154-158.

'' Records of Lanark, p. 302. ^ MS. Instricme7it of Sasine, ut supra.

^ Ibid. Vide also Records of Lanark, p. 1 20. It was still known as the Freirwynd
in the seventeenth century.

'" Testament of Andrew Allan, Vicar of Lanark, MS. Reg. Cotifirmed Testaments
(Glasgow), 49^, 8th June 1550.
16

242 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. vm.

probable that the human remains discovered behind the hotel
identify the site as the cemetery of the Laigh Kirk, now
the parish church.^

In addition to this land within the burgh, the friars also
acquired one acre in the Mains of Lee, and two others in the
Mains of Cleghorn called the Vicar's croft.^ These acres
were arable land, and it is more than doubtful whether the
friars ever enjoyed any higher right in them than that
of leaseholders or rentallers. From their founder they
received the customary annuity of twenty merks^ which
they retained until the Reformation, when the burghers
procured an assignation of it to the " Parson of Lanark."^
The formal Bull of Erection was granted by Clement VI. in
1346 on the petition of David II. and his Queen Johanna,
one of its clauses expressing the intention that the Chapter
should consist of twelve members " dwelling therein decorously
and fitly ; " ^ but in view of the number of friars known to have
been resident in the larger friaries at Dumfries, Haddington
and Dundee, it is highly improbable that this provision was
ever complied with in Lanark. Seldom visited by the
sovereigns or their justiciars, its friary is the only Franciscan
house in Scotland which does not appear as the recipient of
one or more gifts from the privy purse of James IV. and his
successors ; ^ and the charity of the burghers was represented
by one annual rent of five merks that was expressly included
in the Crown charter of the friary and its pertinents granted
to Bernard Lindsay of Inglisberry Grange in 1581.^ The
monks of Kelso also contributed two bolls of oatmeal annually
from the revenues of the Priory of Lesmahagow,^ a cell of the
Abbey ; and two other bolls were given in 1535 by the Earl
of Arran from his barony of Liberton, as well as a further

^ That is, St. Nicholas Chapel.

2 J?e£^. Mag. Sig. (Print), 18th March 1587-88.

3 Exch. Rolls, payments recorded 1359, 1388, 1455-56, 1471, 1501.
* MS. Rental of Great Benefices, 1561, Harleian, 4623, pt. II. f. 9.

*" B. F., VI. No. 192, p. 26 ; II. p. 149. *^ Tj-easterer's Accounts.

"> Reg. Mag. Sig. (Print), i8th March 1587-88 ; mfra, II. p. 154. MS. Accounts
of the Collector-General, 1561-72. This paucity of endowment is paralleled in the
cases of the three other small friaries, Kirkcudbright, Inverkeithing and Roxburgh.
Vide Summary, p. 140.

^ Liber de Calchou, II. 480 (Bann. Club).

CHAP, mil] LANARK

243

allowance of twenty shillings from his barony of Crawfordjohn/
During- the eight years embraced in the extant fragment of
the diocesan register of wills, no legacies were received by
the friars from laymen ; but within the same period Gavin
Dunbar, Archbishop of Glasgow, and Andrew Allan, Vicar
of Lanark, each left them one of two pounds Scots." The
Vicar directed that his body should be buried in the aisle of
St. Mary within the friary church, for the fabric of which he
left an additional two merks ; and the friars would also
participate in the sum of sixteen pounds left by him for the
purchase of sixteen torches for the altars within the burgh,
and a gift of two shillings to each priest or chaplain there
on his obit day. This kindly churchman had already dis-
tributed much of his personal fortune among the poor in
his parish, and he bequeathed the residue to "my poor
friends."

Li anticipation of the Reformation, the friars feued their
lands to James Lockhart of Lee at a feu-duty of three bolls
of meal,^ and the entire history of their home centres round
the competition for its possession. The manner of their
expulsion from the burgh is unrecorded ; but, in addition to
Friar Thomas Lawtay who joined this friary from Haddington,
one or more of their number are doubtless included in the
Collector's entry relating to the twelve friars of Glasgow,
Lanark and Kirkcudbright, who received their pensions
in 1563.* The townsmen soon found a convenient quarry
in the deserted buildings, and continued to carry off the
stones for their own purposes until 1566, when the Lords
of Council ordered George Tailzefeir, a mason, and other
burgesses to restore and deliver "the samin stanis again to
the said place (of the Cordelcris Freris of the burcht of
Lanerk) quhair thai war takin fra to the effect libellat or ellis
to pay the prices thairof, and alse to desist and ceise fra all
forther demolesing of the said place," now in possession of

^ AfS. Accounts, Thomas V^'ilson, Chamberlain to the Earl of Arran, 1535, now
preserved at Hamilton Palace.

- AfS. Reg. Confirmed Testaments (Glasgow), ff. 21 ''a, 49/'.

^ Charter unknown ; partial Transcript in Crown charter to his son, Reg.
Mag. Sig. (Print), 7th February 1587-88 ; infra, II. p. 158,

■* MS. Accounts., sub anno, Div. XIII.

244 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. viii.

the Crown/ Meanwhile, in virtue of his infeftment by the
friary Chapter, Lockhart of Lee had leased all or part of the
lands within the burgh, and several of his tenants erected
houses on their plots, although he had not as yet received a
Crown confirmation of his charter. The position of these
"maillers" was far from an enviable one, and the first to
enlist our sympathies as a victim of the process of poinding
by the four competitors for the friary between 1567 and 157 1,
was Robert Mure, the bonnet-maker of the town, and Lock-
hart's tenant-in-chief of the composite glebe. Like the parish
priest of pre- Reformation days, the minister resorted to the
full rigours of legal process to secure payment of rent for the
crop of 1567 and 1568," and intimated to the tenant that
future payments would be secured by a series of annual
poindings. As parish minister, David Cunningham had
already received an assignation of the old friary annuity, and
this further claim was based on the Act of 1567 which
assigned the entire Thirds of Benefices for the ministry.
The clue to these proceedings is the death of Friar Thomas
Lawtay, the last survivor of the Chapter, which may be
presumed to have occurred in 1566 when the last payment
of his pension is recorded in the Collector's accounts, and
the friary is described as being in the hands of the Crown.^
Lockhart of Lee delayed entering with the Crown, ^ and the
minister endeavoured to secure the rents from the bonnet-
maker, whom he could not displace as "a kyndlie and lauchfull
tenant " in terms of the Act of 1563.^ The hitherto negligent
Collector of Thirds,^ however, vetoed the pretensions of
the minister and executed a poinding against the tenant in
respect of the three bolls of meal in 1569,'^ but not for the

1 MS. Reg. Acts a?td Decreets, XXXVII. f. 136 ; infra, II. p. 150.

2 Cf. similar proceedings by the minister of Ayr, in which the magistrates
opposed his claim. Charters of Ayr, pp. 109-10, Ayrshire and Wigtonshire
Archaeological Society.

3 MS. Reg. Acts and Decreets, XXXVII. f. 136.

* His son paid the composition required on entry in 1587 : charter, 7th February
1587-88. Vide analogous case, Earl of Crawford, supra, p. 228.

* Acts of Parliament (Thomson), II. 540.

*^ He exacted the three bolls of meal, stipulated in the friary charter to Lock-
hart of Lee, for the first time in 1568. MS. Accounts.
"^ MS. Accounts, 1569.

CHAP. VIII.] LANARK 245

rent of the crop to which neither he nor the minister had any-
right. A worse fate, however, awaited the luckless bonnet-
maker. On 22nd March 1570-71, Adam Stewart, brother
of Sir John Stewart of Minto,^ received a Crown gift of the
friary and its burghal yards," and thereupon instituted success-
ful proceedings against Mure in the Glasgow Burgh Court
for the recovery of the rents since 1567, when Lockhart of
Lee ought to have converted his title into a Crown holding.
This right entered into competition with that of Lockhart of
Lee, so that he, the lawful but negligent landlord, had no
other alternative than to secure the rent for 1571 by diligence.
The tenant's " ignorance and simplicitie for feir of the said
horning " was now changed into despair, and the four
claimants were summoned to appear before the Lords in an
action of Declarator. Possessed of no legal right to the
friary rents, neither the minister nor the "procurators for the
kirk " appeared in the suit ; while the Crown, in view of its
recent charter to Adam Stewart, also entered no claim. The
owners of the competing charters thereupon agreed to a
compromise, whereby decree was given in favour of Adam
Stewart, who, in turn, leased the subjects to Lockhart of
Lee, at a rent now unknown^ — " quhilk Laird of Ley wes
takisman, at the leist tennent and mailer, to umquhile Mr.
Adam Stewart." Ten years later six other tenants of the friary
lands experienced the fickleness of Scottish justice during the
minority of James VI., when another favourite of the Court,
Bernard Lindsay of Inglisberry Grange, commenced an action
for their ejection on the strength of a Crown charter in his
favour of the identical subjects conveyed to the now deceased
Adam Stewart in 1571.* Their plea of possession for twenty
years was met by the answer that they had paid their rents
to the Lockharts ; and, as that right received scant con-

^ The royal Collector of the district.

2 MS. Precept, eod. die, Reg. Privy Seal, XXXIX. f. 74. His charter was
produced in the Court of Session, but has not been engrossed in the Register of
the Great Seal.

^ MS. Reg. Acts and Decreets, 14th April 1573, XLVIII. f. 382 et scq., XCIII.
ff- 9. 393, 418 ; infra, II. pp. 151, 156.

* MS. Charter Reg. Mag. Sig., XXXV. 274 ; infra, II. p. 154. Relative Instru-
ment of Sasinc, 27th January 1580-81, MS. Protocol Books, T. Lindsay, XXXVII.
f. 297, G. R. H.

246 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. viii.

sideration in relation to the charter of 1581, decree of
summary ejection was given against the unfortunate occupiers
who had erected houses on the ground embraced in their
leases/ The Lockharts nevertheless maintained their claims ;
and, when the most eventful minority in Scottish history came
to a close, two competing charters were granted, perictdo
petentis, the one to the son of Sir James Lockhart, conveying
the site of the friary, its garden, yards and the Weitlandside
acre, and the other to Bernard Lindsay conveying the whole
property possessed by the Friars Minor — "the place, gardens
and mansion, called the Freiris place of Lanark, and four
acres of land pertaining to them, viz., one acre among the
burgh roods of Lanark, between the lands of Andrew Lempit-
law and the deceased Andrew Blackie, one acre in the Mains
of Lee, and two acres called the Vicar's croft in the Mains of
Cleghorn, with five merks of an annual rent from certain
tenements within the said burgh." ^ Ultimately, the chicanery
of Court intrigue was swept aside by Parliament on 5th June
1592, when the rights of the Lockharts were fully recognised
in regard to the subjects conveyed to them by the friars ; ^
and in 1620 his successor sold to James Carmichael of
Hyndfurd " that piece of waste ground where of old stood the
mansion or dwelling-house of the Friars Minor of Lanark,
with the stable on the east side thereof.""^ In regard to the
disjoined lands in the burgh roods and the Weitlandside
acre, the family was no less successful in vindicating its
rights under the charter granted by the friars. On 15th
August 1622 Sir James Lockhart acknowledged their re-
demption from him by his two sons ; ^ so that, if the magis-
trates did not purchase Sir James Lockhart's rights, the
" certane freirlandis, houssis, biggingis and tenementis hand
within the territorie of the said burghe, whilk hes beine and
ar brukeit by the said burghe and inhabitentis thairof past

1 MS. Reg. of Acts and Decreets, XCIII. ff. 8, 393, 418 ; mfra, II. p. 155.

2 MS. Reg. Mag. Sig., XXXVI. 455 ; XXXVII. 123 ; infra, II. p. 154.

^ Acts of Parliament (Thomson), III. 639. Bernard Lindsay paid the feu-duty
of three bolls of meal between the years 15S5 and 1589; ijfra, II. p. 355.

•* Instrument of Sasine proceeding on charter, recorded MS. Part. Reg. Sasines
(Lanarkshire), II. f. 21, G. R. H. ; infra, II. p. 158.

^ MS. Letter of Redemption, recorded ibid. II. 90 ; inf-a, II. p. 159.

CHAP, VIII.]

LANARK

547

memorie of man," referred to in the charter granted to the
burgh by Charles I./ were those formerly in the possession
of the Fratres Egregii}

Wardens

John Benyne, 1456.

Adam Ker, 1471.

Richard Inglis, 1490.

Thomas Fair, 1501.

Andro Ouhithead, 1552, 1555-56.

1 20th February 1632, Records of Lanark^ p. 325.

* The yard at the West Port belonged to these friars, and does not appear in
any charter of the Franciscan lands.

Cordeliere uniting the lily to the wing of the cygnet — emblem of

Claude of France, first wife of Francis I.

CJidtcati de Blots.

CHAPTER Y III— {continued)

CONVENTUAL FRIARIES

Inverkeithing

During the latter half of the fourteenth century a
Conventual habitaculum was formed at Inverkeithing, then
the principal ferry port on the north side of the Forth/ and
some unknown benefactor permitted the little community
to occupy a tenement within the burgh that had formerly
paid a tax of two shillings and fourpence to the Crown.
The habitaculum was subsequently converted into a regular
friary, in terms of the Bull of 1346, which empowered
David II, to erect a second friary "far removed from the
attacks of enemies," ^ and it may have been in commemoration
of this transformation that Robert II. remitted the payment
of the royal tax. The entry in the Exchequer Roll of loth
March 1384^ thus records the royal grant: "Paid by the
bailies of the burgh of Inverkeithing, by the gift and grant
of the King made in perpetual alms to the Friars Minor of
Inverkeithing, from a certain tenement situated in the town
of Inverkeithing, which the said friars inhabit, 2s. 4d. ; so
that the said tenement is otherwise free from all payment
of this pension and from all secular burdens whatsoever."
This house stood on the shores of the Firth of Forth ; and
there is good reason to believe that an ancient building
known as the Palace now stands on the old friary demesne,
if it does not also enclose a part of its buildings, because
the boundaries of the area occupied by the Palace,* from the

^ The right of ferry belonged to the Abbey of Dunfermline in virtue of a grant
in its favour by David I.

2 Supra, p. 26.

* III. 127. In the print of the Roll the date is erroneously given as loth
March 1364.

■* " There still remains a vaulted kitchen (now subdivided), and to the south of

this a circular stair, and close to the bottom of this a pointed arch with a concentric

248

CHAP. VIII.] INVERKEITHING 249

street on the north to the foreshore on the south, correspond
in ofeneral terms to those contained in the old title deeds of
the friary. It is doubtless more than a coincidence that this
building is to-day exempt "from all secular burdens whatso-
ever " — i.e. from the payment of burghal taxes. In view of the
remission of the tax recorded in the Exchequer Rolls, and the
improbability of a royal residence being converted into a friary,
it is, however, impossible to accept the further tradition that
the Palace was also one of the minor palaces of David II.,
and a residence of Queen Annabella, the consort of Robert
III. At the Reformation the Chapter conveyed its friary
and garden to one John Swynton,^ and we learn from the
Charter of Confirmation granted by James VI. in 1605 to
Mark Swynton, Provost of Inverkeithing, that the subjects
disponed by Warden Fluccar were "that place, tenement or
hospital of Inverkeithing with the garden thereof by the
bounds and marches underwritten, lying between the lands
of Robert Dempsterstoun on the east, the seashore on the
south, the lands of David Stanehouse on the west and the
public highway on the north ; which tenement or hospital
formerly belonged to the Friars of the Order of St. Francis
and the Convent of the Friars of the said place of Inver-
keithinsf of that Order and diocese of St. Andrews."" The
friars also acquired two disjoined acres of the arable land of
Tofts, "of which the one lies among the lands of Hilfield
belonorinef to the Constable of Dundee, and the other lies
beside the Constable's lands of Mylnsid in the barony of
Inverkeithing."^ These lands were feued by the Chapter
on I St August 1560 to James Scott, the then tenant, at a
feu-duty of thirteen shillings and fourpence.*

and higher rear or saving arch on the inner side. This probably led to a passage
and by it to the street. At some distance from the houses, and in the garden
behind them, are some ruins with vauUs which have been referred to as the ruins of
the Monasteries of the Black or Grey Friars." (Mr. Henry F. Kerr, Trans. Edin.
Arch. Assoc, III. 74.) The Black Friars never had a settlement in Inverkeithing.

^ Feu Charter, 4th July 1559 ; original unknown, referred to in relative Crown
charter, ifi/ra, II. p. 165.

2 MS. Reg. Mag. Szg, XLIV. No. 284 ; /n/ra, II. p. 163.

^ AfS. Feu Charier, ist and 3rd August 1560, infra, II. p. 161.

* Ibid., and Crown Charier of Confinnaiion, 29th May 1565, Reg. Mag. Sig.
(Print), IV. No. 1628.

250 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. vm.

So far as can now be ascertained, the annual allowance
from the Exchequer was restricted to the remittance of the
tax of 2S. 46.., but the passage of the ferry doubtless brought
a considerable number of casual gifts into the friary coffers ;
and the Treasurer's Accounts disclose as many as thirty-
seven gifts of fourteen shillings and upwards from James IV.
between the years 1501 and 15 13; while one churchman,
Andrew Mudye, Chaplain of Cupar, left a legacy of twenty
shillinofs to the friars/ Of the various deeds executed within
this friary, the most remarkable was an official declaration
by Johan Buty, dated ist November 1424, denouncing as a
forgery the charter of the burgh of Kinghorn alleged to have
been granted by King William the Lion. According to the
statement of this burgess, it had been revealed to him "oft
times and mony " by his elders in the burgh that the
charter had been written by a clerk to the order of certain
of the burghers — who "war mast a tentty folk" — and that a
seal which had been found in the " toun " of Orok had been
attached to it. " And thus this fals charter was fyrst con-
trewfyt and maid."^

The only other event of general interest associated with the
friary was the Provincial Chapter held within its walls under
Friar John Yhare, Provincial Vicar, on 2nd August 1489,^
when Friar John Lyle was the Warden. In i486 and 1487
Friar William Younger had held the office ; Friar William
Sinclair attended the Provincial Chapter at Dumfries in that
capacity in 1552 ; and the last Warden was Friar Fluccar,
whose pension must have consisted of the feu-duties payable
under the charters to their friends, as neither he nor any of
his friars appear in the Collector's Accounts of any year.

^ AfS. Reg. Conf. Testainents (St. Andrews), loth September 1549.
" MS. Transcripts^ G. R. H. ; infra^ II. p. 167.
2 Supra, p. 15.

CHAPTER VII \—{co7itinued)

CONVENTUAL FRIARIES

Kirkcudbright

The eighth and last of the Scottish friaries which sprang
from the mission of Agnellus to these islands was founded
amid the sylvan groves of Kirkcudbright by James II. in
1455-56, at the time when he raised the town to the dignity
of a royal burgh in commemoration of the overthrow of
Thrieve Castle. It occupied a small area upon a headland
formed by a bend in the River Dee, and is described in a
Signet Letter of 1569 as "lying between the river and the
sea on the north, the public road on the west and the land
of Robert Forrester on the south. "^ In the lease orranted
by the friars in 155 1, the friary croft and meadow are
described as lying to the north of the burgh, between the
croft of Walter Beithane upon the north and the common
street called the Crek Gait that passes to St. Cuthbert's
Kirk upon the south. ^ The church occupied the eastern
portion of the ground overlooking the creek or harbour,
where the school of Captain Hope now stands ; and the
ivy-clad ruins of the Castle of the Maclellans, partly built
out of the deserted friary buildings and now known as
Kirkcudbrio^ht Castle, mark the old western boundarv of
the demesne.

The charter of foundation, and the names of those who
were associated with the settlement of the friars within the
burcrh have Xow^i since been lost ; and there is now no more
than a possibility that the editor of the Bullariiun may
disclose the Bill of Erection in his eighth volume. Before
the middle of the fifteenth century, Kirkcudbrii^ht was doubt-

1 MS. Retr. Mag. Sig., XXXVIII. No. 105 ; htfra, II. p. 170.

2 Hut ton MSS., I.61 ; Inventory of Writs of the Earl of Selkirk, infra, II. p. 168.

251

252 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. viii.

less visited by the friars of Dumfries ; and when their
friendly hospitium was converted into a regular friary, it
was placed under the Conventual regime, instead of being
colonised by the Observatines who had recently settled in
Edinburgh. For their support, James II. promised the
brethren an annuity of ten pounds Scots, and the various
entries in the Exchequer Rolls during the next twenty
years entirely disprove the Inference that the friary dated
from the thirteenth century,^ or that the well-known
Friar, John the Carpenter, was a member of it. The first
payment to the Chapter appears under date 17th September
1456, when forty shillings were received out of the proceeds
of the Justice Ayre from the Chamberlain of Galloway as the
King's alms ; and, in 1458, the bailies of Kirkcudbright are
stated to have paid £6, 13s. 4d. "to the Friars Minor of
the said burgh newly founded by the present King" in
part payment of ^10 granted by him to them." The
remaining third of their annuity was regularly paid by the
Custumar of the Stewartry conform to a precept under
the Great Seal ;^ but in 1496 the friars appear to have lost
their infeftment of the five merks, and the unfeeling Auditor
intimated that no further payments would be made until it
was produced. In their difficulty they appealed to the
generosity of James IV., and the annuity was continued
"by tolerance of the King," during 1498 and 1499 in spite of
the Auditor's threats and orders. The share of the magistrates
was drawn from the burgh fermes, and, although no pay-
ments are entered between the years 1465 and 1505, there
is no reason to suppose that the civic authorities were more
remiss than the Custumar. Agriculture would appear to have
been neither an engaging nor profitable occupation for this
community. In 155 1, they leased their right of salmon
fishing and croft for nineteen years to their " lufifit friend
Ninian Muirhead " at a rent of two merks ;^ and, in the
following year, they converted the former lease of fifty-two

1 Supra, pp. 36-37.

2 See also entries for the years 1463, 1465, 1466, and 1476. Summary, infra,
p. 257.

* Exchequer Rolls, 21st July 1466.

■* MS. Tack, nth September 1551, infra, II. p. 168.

cHAP.viiT.] KIRKCUDBRIGHT 253

acres of erazine around in the lands of Spittelfield near Dum-
fries, into a feudal holding in favour of John MacBrair at an
annual feu-duty of ^5/ The rental was further supplemented
by a chalder of grain and an annual income of /*/, -iss., derived
from a number of ofround annuals constituted in their favour
by certain donors now unknown.^ At the Reformation, Friar
James Cant, the last Warden, secured this revenue in payment
of his pension, under deduction of the annual allowance from
the customs of the burgh that passed into the "property
account" of the Exchequer. The ^7, 15s. derived from the
annuals were expressly assigned to him as part payment of
his pension until the account of 1572;^ and his continuing
interest in his old benefice may be gauged from the Precept
of Clare Constat under which, as superior of the lands of
Spittelfield, he infefted Archibald MacBrair in his father's feu-
holding on i6th June 1561/

Remote from wars and civil turmoil, the featureless lives
of these students of humanity furnish little that is of historical
interest. In 1458 they received an allowance often shillings
from the Auditors to celebrate masses for the soul of their
royal patron ; ^ and it may be presumed that, after his death
at the sieee of Roxburgh Castle, divine service was cele-
brated annually on his behalf. It is interesting to note that
the transumpt of the royal charter, recently granted to the
burgh, was certified in the friary church on 13th February
1467 by the Vicar of Kirkcudbright, as Commissary or
Official of the Bishop of Galloway." It was also on
the high altar of the church that Philip Nisbet of Nisbet
placed the redemption money of the lands of Carlestoune,
at the risk of his creditor, Alexander McClelane of
Gilestoune, who refused to accept this payment. Nisbet
accordingly summoned him to appear before the Lords of
Council in 1499, to shew cause why he should not grant a

1 MS. Abb. Feu Charter, 5th July 1552, infra, II. p. 168. The rent under the
lease had been fifty shilling's.

2 MS. Accoimis, Collector-General, 1561, 1562 ; Sub-Collector, 1563-72.

3 Ibid. * MS. Instrument of Sasine, infra, II. p. 169.
« Exchequer Rolls, VI. 548.

" This transumpt was confirmed by Charles I. in 1633 in place of the original
which had been lost.

(

254 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. viit.

deed of renunciation of these lands lawfully redeemed at the
high altar in the " freir Kirk of Kirkcudbright."^ In 1501,
James IV. visited the town in the course of his pilgrimage
to the shrine of St. Ninian at Whithorn, and, with his
customary generosity to the Franciscans, provided ^5, 12s. for
the purchase of an eucharist, in addition to a trifling donation
of fourteen shillings six years later." The history of active
Franciscanism in Kirkcudbright was brought to a peaceful
termination in the autumn of 1560; and the last Warden,
Friar James Cant, is the only member of the Chapter who can
now be identified in the post-Reformation records. In enjoy-
ment of his pension, he conformed to the new religion, and was
appointed by the Town Council under the title of Kirkmaster
to take charge of his old kirk, after it had been selected as
the parish church." He was re-elected annually at a salary
of three merks, supplemented by another merk for " mending
and upholding the Tolbooth " ; and in 1578 the Kirk Session
authorised him to make a charge of " two shillings for every
marriage, and twelve pence for the baptism of every sub-
stantial man's child and sixpence for the simple folks, the said
\ Kirkmaster findincr a form and book to the bridegroom and

bride and conveying them to the solemnisation, and having a
basin and towel to the baptism." *

The Town Council evinced little desire to enter into
immediate possession of the friary or its church and crofts.
They disregarded their duty under the order of the Privy
Council to apply the friary rents and buildings for the mainten-
ance of schools, hospitals and other godly purposes ; ^ and even
the request formulated by the General Assembly in June
1564, "for obtaining the gift of the Freirs' Kirk of Kirkcud-
bright to be holden hereafter as the Parish Kirk of Kirk-
cudbright," passed unheeded.^ Consequently, in 1569, the
Provost, Thomas Maclellan of Bombie, considering that
the demolition of the deserted buildinofs would facilitate the

1 MS. Ada Dom. Concil, VIII. f. 150.

2 Treastirer's Accotmts, 22nd April 1501 and 19th March 1507.
^ MS. Burgh Records., 23rd January 1576-77.
■* Ibid, nth June 1578.
5 Reg. P. C, I. 202.
^ Supra, p. 151.

CHAP. VIII.] KIRKCUDBRIGHT 255

completion of his castle, obtained a blench charter from the
Crown conveying to him the buildings, site and lands of
the friary, on the narrative that "the place and church of
the friars have for long time past been demolished and now
lie waste, so that no benefit nor profit accrues to any one."^
This alleoed ruinous condition was nothino- more than a
plausible exaggeration suitable for the preamble of a royal
charter granted during minority ; and the shrewd provost
found a site for his castle, and a quarry ready to hand,
in return for an annual payment of one penny. His bailies
regretted their former apathy ; but they found that the friary
church and that of St. Andrew could still be acquired by the ex-
cambion of a tenement known as the Peithouse, and a payment
of two hundred merks and one hundred bolls of lime.^ A dis-
position of the church and churchyard was accordingly accepted
from Maclellan on these terms, under the further condition that
orrowino- timber should not be cut or removed from the church-
yard ; and the granter undertook to uphold the " queir or third
part of the said kirk called the Freirs' Kirk, which is the
east part thereof, for the parson's part,"^ and to assist the
bailies in compelling the inhabitants to maintain the remaining
portions in " thack, tymmer and stanes.""* The final clause
of this deed illustrates the doubts of the contracting parties
concerning the stability of the new faith in 1570 — " it is further
agreed that when reformation shall happen to come to the
kirk and religion within the realm, so that the said Thomas
may not lawfully warrand and defend the said kirk to the
bailies, he shall return the purchase price to them, and they

1 Charter, 6th December 1569. MS. Reg. Mag. S/g., XXXII. No. 77 : AfS.
Reg. Privy Seal, XXXVIII. f. 105, infra, II. p. 170.

^ MS. Burgh Records, gtli June 1570.

^ In pre-Reformation times, the proprietor of the teinds, whether the rector of
the parish or a lay proprietor, was bound to pay for the upkeep of the choir,
hence the designation, ^arjc»«'j part. Bishop David de Bernham of St. Andrews
decreed in his constitutions of 1242 that it was the duty of the parochial clergy to
keep the walls, windows and roof of the chancel of their churches in repair, but
those round the church were to be put in order by the parishioners. He also
decreed that the churchyards should be enclosed by walls, the portion extending
round the chancel by the rectors, and the remainder by the parishioners. Rol)ert-
son, Stat. Eccl. Scot., II. 53.

^ MS. Copy Disposition (imperfect), 24th March 1570, Burgh Charter Room ;
infra, II. p. 171.

256 CONVENTUAL FRIARIES [chap. vm.

shall surrender the infeftments following upon this disposition."
The church of the friary was thus transformed into the parish
I church, and the cemetery was walled in — " quhairthrow bestiall

is debarrit fra passin thairin, and sa is decent and honest for
I the said burial/ In the same year the Council followed the

' now general custom of forbidding interments within the parish

/ churches under a penalty of ^lo upon the executors — "that

na person or personis be bureit or bidit in the paroche kirk
of the said burgh, sumtyme callit the Freiris Kirk thairof " ;^
but three years later they relaxed their veto to permit of
the burial of their former provost and his wife, Lady Grizel
Maxwell, in the vault underneath the old aisle. The beautiful
monument erected over their grave by Robert, Lord Kirk-
cudbright, still remains intact, and the walls surrounding it
in Captain Hope's school constitute the single fragment of
the old friary church that survived the extensive alterations
carried out in 1730.

Wardens of Kirkcudbright

Adam Scherynlaw, 1458.

John Fawls or Fawlow, 1465-76.

Andrew Russell, 1478.

William Yhonger, 1486-87.

Andrew Crummy or Crombie, 1491-95.

John Wardlaw, 1500-5.

Nicholas Bailye, 15 10-16.

William Tennand, 1517-23.

John Blackburn, 1526-27.

William Sadlare, 1540-42.

Christopher Walker, 1551.

James Cant, 1552, 1558-60.

^ MS. Burgh Records, 1590. 2 /^j/^.

CHAP. Mil.] KIRKCUDBRIGHT 257

ROYAL BOUNTIES TO THE GREY FRIARS
OF KIRKCUDBRIGHT

I. Exchequer Rolls

In acquittance of two-thirds of the allowance of ;!{^io granted to the friary by
James II. out of the customs of the burgh, payments of ;^6, 13s. 4d.
by the bailies are recorded in the Rolls of 1458, 1505, 1508-10, 1513,

1515-18, 1527, 1540-41, 1556-

Multiple payments of this allowance are recorded: ;^46, 13s. 4d. in the Roll
of 1465; ;^i3, 6s. 8d. in that of 1507; £2,6, 13s. 4d. in that of 1523
for five and a half years ; £,\S^ ^3^- 4'^- '^^ that of 1526 ; ^80 in that
of 1539 ; £'^° i^ that of 1550 ; ^33, 6s. 8d. in that of 1555.

In acquittance of the remaining third payable by the Custumar of Kirkcud-
bright, in terms of a precept under the Great Seal, payments oi £2)i 6s. 8d.
are recorded in the Rolls of 1467-69, 1473-81, 1487, 1494-1500, 1504-12,
1516-18, 1523, 1526-27, 1532-35, 1537, 1540-42, 1551, 1555.

Multiple or fractional payments of the same are recorded: £\, 13s. 4d. in
the Roll of 1554; ^6, 13s. 4d. in those of 1463, 1466, 1471, 1483,
i49i> 1493, 1503, 1515, 1520, 1539; ^10 in that of i486; ^8, 6s. 8d.
in that of 1523; ;z^i3, 6s. 8d. in that of 1531 ; ;^26, 13s. 4d. in that
of 1550; £^ in that of 1554.

Incidental payments —

17th September 1456. Forty shillings from the proceeds of the Ayre as the
King's alms.

14th July 1459. Ten shillings paid by Donald McLellane of Gilston, Steward
of Kirkcudbright, for the soul of the King and by consideration of the
Auditors for the present.

20th July 1 512. Twenty shillings in alms by command of the Lords Com-
missioners.

23rd July 15 1 7. Forty shillings in alms by the same authority.

II. Treasurer's Accounts

22nd April 1501. To the freris of Kyrkcudbricht be the Kingis command

to buy thaim ane Eucharist, 8 Franch crownis, ^5, 12s.
19th March 1507. To the same, 14s.

258

CONVENTUx\L FRIARIES

CHAP, VIll.

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CHAPTER IX
THE OBSERVATINE FRIARIES

I. Edinburgh — 2. St. Andrews — 3. Perth — 4. Aberdeen — 5. Glasgow — 6. Ayr —

7. Elgin — 8. Stirling — 9. Jedburgh

Edinburgh

In the history of Edinburgh we enter upon another phase
of Franciscanism, more real as such but less intelHgible to the
laity of this century. It is the lifework of revivalists bent
upon realising more completely the ideal life of St. Francis
both within and without the friary. On the one hand, these
enthusiasts detached themselves from all worldly interests,
actual or contingent ; and, on the other, by their personal
merits as evangelists and missionaries, they won the recogni-
tion of the clergy, towards whom they maintained that
attitude of respectful deference desiderated by their founder
at a time when local prejudice and pride of caste threatened
to neutralise the liberalism of the Holy See. In fact, the
interest of the Scottish clergy in Franciscanism may be said
to date from the foundation of the first Observatine friary in
Edinburgh ; and the most striking feature in the subsequent
history of the Order, so far as it can now be reconstituted,
is the continued support accorded to these friars by the
more enlightened members of the Roman hierarchy. The
reason is ready to hand. As the active missionaries of
the large towns the Observatines became the yeomen of the
Church, eager to enhance its prestige by their evangelical
activity in the parish, and to protect its fair name by a
rigid observance of their vows. The friar was ever ready
to answer the call of the sick or moribund burgher ; but he

was no frequenter of public places. Friary discipline imposed

262

CHAP. IX.] EDINBURGH 263

aloofness upon him. Hence, "on days other than holy-
days," whenever the friars were observed in the streets of
the town, the people exclaimed in astonishment " the friars
are going out, someone is dying." ^ Within the friary, no
intercourse or meals with laymen were allowed, but on
his journeys the friar was a favoured guest. St. Francis
himself admitted a certain compromise in providing for his
clothing and the care of the sick, for whom Scottish
churchmen built infirmaries. We hear of the devout patron
who contributed warm coverlets for the hospital pallets ;
and the chronicler pictures for us the high-born lady
who fashioned the under and upper tunics, and deemed
it an act of religion to spin the web of cloth within the
year. Incidental to the possibility of attaining the ideal
religious life amid these favouring conditions, esprit de corps,
born of a friendly rivalry with the other Orders, no doubt
strengthened Observatine discipline during a century that
was marked by a gradual decline in ecclesiastical morality and
scholarship. Nevertheless, it may be claimed on behalf of
the Scottish Observatine, that his loyalty to the spirit of the
Rule, to the tripartite vow of poverty, obedience and chastity,
and in the last resort to his Church, constitutes one of the
brightest pages in the history of Roman Catholicism in this
country.

When Father Cornelius with his six associates arrived in
Edinburgh in the year 1447, he found that the town desired
his acceptance of a friary in a "conspicuous and conveniently
situated portion of that metropolitan city," which had been
acquired by the burghers under the lead of James Douglas
of Cassillis.'-^ The chronicler lays particular stress upon the
magnificence of the ecclesiastical buildings which already
occupied the southern slope of the valley of the Cowgate
and Grassmarket. They seemed " not to be the dwellings
of poor men but of the great ones," and so Cornelius —
the vir twioratae conscientiae of the annalist^ — refused to
accept the buildings placed at his disposition, because
St. Francis had ordered the friars to dwell in poor and

1 Ob. Chron. 2 j^f^, Reg. Mag. Sig., IX. No. 2 ; p. 61, II. p. 195.

"^ A. Ar., XI. 321, No. 89.

264 OBSERVATlNE PRlARlES [chap. ix.

neglected houses. Eight years later, however, " this despiser
of the world" yielded to the representations of the Bishop
of St. Andrews, who procured the incorporation of the friary
into the patrimony of the Church under apostolic letters,^ and
thereafter gave it to the friars "to be occupied by them as
pilgrims according to their Rule." It is by no means im-
probable that Father Cornelius did protest against the
acceptance of stone buildings, as the Observance was still
in its infancy, and these protestations were common occur-
rences in every country. Vacant chapels in the towns and
in the country had been hastily converted to the use of its
pioneers, and not a few Conventual friaries had been handed
over to the Observatines, the permanent sources of revenue at-
tached to them being renounced in the first vigour of their
enthusiasm.^ Nearly half a century was to pass ere they
admitted the principle that the acceptance of churches of
stone and lime, embellished with ornaments and furnishings,
constituted no violation of their vow.^

From our native records we learn that the friary was
a gift from the town and certain devout citizens.^ It was
accepted, in the Franciscan signification of the term, by
Friar Richardson, who accompanied Father Cornelius from
Holland, and became the most strenuous propagandist of
the Observance in Scotland.^ The site selected for the
friary on the outskirts of the town was a plot of land
which, in modern topography, is bounded north and east
by the Grassmarket and Candlemaker Row.^ In the
middle of the fifteenth century, the houses of Edinburgh
were confined to the crest of the ridge which runs from
the Castle down to the Abbey of Holyrood, and the
northern slope of the valley of the Cowgate was rough,
uneven ground intersected by winding paths. The first city
wall, erected in 1450, crossed the crest of the Castlehill at
the West Bow and continued eastward behind the houses,

1 Supra, p. 56, note 2. ^ Infra, p. 442.

^ Merentiir vesirae, 3rd January 15 14-15.
^ MS. Reg. Mag. S/g, IX. No. 2, supra., p. 61.

'^ Aberd. Ob. Cal. Another of his companions was Friar Gerard of Texel,
who died in 1473 when Warden of the Aberdeen Friary. Ibid.
'^ Reg. Mag. Sig. (Print), II. Nos. 2302, 1692.

cHAiMx.] EDINBURGH 265

slightly descending the slope until it included the ground
now covered by the library of the Faculty of Advocates.
The valley itself was still the peaceful via vacca7'um traversed
by the bestial on their way to and from the pastures beyond
the Grassmarket and the road which ran from the West Bow
to ToUcross, now the West Port/ The southern slope of the
valley was entirely covered by religious houses and their
grounds. At the extreme east, overlooking the little nunnery
of St. Mary of Placentia in the Pleasance, was the Dominican
Priory, from which the High Street was reached by the
Black Friars Wynd. Immediately to the west of it was the
Collegiate Church of our Lady in the Fields, with its domains
extending southwards as far as the line of College Street.
Farther west near the end of the Cowgate was the Maison
Dieu, with its chapel of Mary Magdalene, now the only relic
of these religious houses, while the Grey Friary completed
the chain on the west. Its eastern boundary was a road
then known as the Loaning,^ that zigzagged down the north
slope from the West Bow to the valley, and thence continued
up the south slope past the east side of the hamlet
of Murebureh^ on the south side of the Burrow Loch/
This road was the principal approach to Edinburgh from
the south,^ and, although it is described as the east boundary ^
of the friary in the fifteenth century, the Feu Charter
granted by the magistrates to John Preston on 20th
November 1567 indicates that a stretch of waste ground
then divided the south portion of the eastern wall of the
friary from the Loaning — "the piece of waist grund lyand
at the Gray Freir Port within the toun wall langis the
yaird wall of the said freiris, the samyn wall upoun the
west."'^ This site was part of the lands of Highriggs, which

^ Reg. Mag. Sig. (Print), II. No. 616, 2nd September 1458.

- Lonyng. Ibid. No. 2302. ^ Now the Sciennes.

^ Ibid. Nos. 2302, 616; Disposition by Sir George Tours of Gariltoun, 17th
June, recorded MS. Books of Couticil and Session, 20th August 161 8— "the King's
highway which leads from the said burgh upon the east side of the Seynis to the
Burrow Muir."

'" Leland, Collectajiea, IV. 258-300. It followed the line of Candlcniaker Row.
Lindsay Place, Bristo Place, Bristo Street and Causewayside.

'' Reg. Mag. Sig. (Print), II. 2302.

' MS. Extracts, Town Council Register, f. 115, Adv. Lib. Ui)on this bUip of

266 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

extended from the Grassmarket on the north to the Burrow
Loch on the south/ and were bounded east and west by the
Loaning and the road leading from the West Bow to
Tollcross.' The friary, therefore, occupied almost the entire
north-eastern corner of the Highriggs;^ but, owing to the
custom of describing lands by their original descriptions
without exception of the portions sold or feued in the interim,
it is now impossible to interpret the Crown charter granted
to the friars in 1479 from the titles of the lands of High-
riggs. The charter implies that James Douglas of Cassillis
had some interest in the site,* and that his rights were
acquired by the town prior to the transference of the land
to the friars in gift. The subsequent extension of the friary
yards up to the crest of the south ridge of the valley was
presumably the gift of some member of the family of Tours.

Most of the religious houses of Edinburgh, therefore, lay
in an exposed position beyond the first city wall, the Grey
Friary ^ and the Maison Dieu alone sheltering under the guns
of the castle. Accordingly, the second city wall, known as
the Flodden Wall, enclosed an area of ground comprised within
a line drawn from the north-eastern boundary of the Dominican
Priory along the southern limits of its yards and of those of Our

waste ground Preston and his successors erected the buildings which now hne the
west side of Candlemaker Row. It was also stipulated in this deed that this road,
called the " commoun passage and calsay," shall be " of the samyn breid of ten
einis frie on all sydis."

^ Now the West Meadows.

' C/iarlers, 29th April 1388, 2nd September 1458, 17th June 1618, ut supra.

" Four tenements of land occupied the apex of the angle, and from the descrip-
tion of their boundaries we learn that they formed a part of the north boundary of
the friary cemetery — '''■ de terra sive teneiiiento Wmi Hopringill^ alias Loksinyth, . . .
jacente sub umro castri apiid ccclesiam Fratrum Minortim . . . i)itcr terrain Patricii
Denunc ex boreali ct inuruiii ciniiterii dictc ecclesie ex parte australi, et terrain
Andree Ballerno ex parte occidentali et publicum stratum ex parte orie?itali"
Charter of Confirmation {Reg. Mag. Sig.), 23rd May 1483. Vide also Charter of
Confirmation {ibid.), 25th October 1587, Charters of St. Giles (Laing), p. 161, and
MS. Protocol Books, Edinburgh (A. Guthrie), 1565-68, III. f. 134. On Hopringill's
ground, a Temple land with a frontage to Candlemaker Row was afterwards
erected. Vide Sasine in favour of William Smith, 4th March 1562, MS. Protocol
Book (A. Guthrie).

* Probably that of a feuar.

■' It escaped pillage during Hertford's raid in 1544 on this account, and in
1573 the English General Drury placed a battery of his artillery upon its west or
great yard during his attack on the Castle : Diurnal of Occurrents.

CHAP. IX. J EDINBURGH 267

Lady in the Fields, across the Loaning west-north-westwards
to a point about a hundred yards from the north end of the
Vennel, and thence northwards to the Castle.^ At the point
where the wall crossed the Loaning a gate was built which
became known as the Grey Friars or Bristo Port, and in 1618
as the Society Port ; " while the continuation of the Loaning
within the w^all past the friary yards and church was described
in 1547 as "a close way lytle inhabyted with peple."^ The city
was therefore spreading southward under the protection of the
Flodden Wall, and the Cowgate was being built upon from the
east end. In 1560, its causeway did not extend so far west as
the friary, which was then reached by a rough uneven track.
In 1562, however, during the conversion of the friary yards
into a public burial-ground, the Town Council extended the
highway "foment the Grey Freris " ; and, to facilitate access
to the cemetery, spent a considerable sum of money
in levelling the foreground, " casting bak of the muck
and red and seiking of the ground," and in removing
" ane greit hill of red lyand outwith and inwith the buriall yet"'
at the Gray Freris."^ On the west side, the present wall
runninor from the old iron oate, at the south-west corner of
the graveyard, down to the Grassmarket, approximately
indicates the limits of the friary yards ; and, in the sixteenth
century, they adjoined the tenements of the Laird of Inner-
leith and Katherine Dee. The friary yards were then divided
from the back portion of Katherine Dee's tenement by a
landmark known as the Friary Ditch, which touched the

1 i.e. Drummond Street and College Street, the south wall of the Royal Scottish
Museum, the cul de sac which separates Bristo Place from Lindsay Place, and
thence in a straight line, passing along the front of the U.F. North Church through
the aperture between Nos. 7 and 5 Forrest Road to the old iron gate at the south-
west corner of the gra\eyard. Here it turned northward down to Katherine Dec's
tenement, and then westward along the northern boundary of Heriot's Hospital
grounds, whence it again turned northwards down the Vennel until it joined the
Castle walls.

- MS. Disposition., Sir C^eorge Tours, /// supra.

3 Cal. Scot. Pap. (Hain), I. 45. During the war the keeper of this gate— an old
soldier— undertook to open it to Patrick Kennedy, who proposed a surprise attack
on the Castle in English interests. The city only employed three night watchmen
at this date.

* Gate.

■' Accounts of t lie Treasurer of t/te Royal Hurch of Edirdniriili (Print;, sub anno.

268 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

second city wall at the point where it turned westwards
as the north boundary of the grounds of George Heriot's
Hospital/

The internal configuration of the ground at the Reforma-
tion may still be reconstituted. The forewall divided the
church and buildings from the Grassmarket, and the principal
entrance adjoined the four tenements which occupied the
north-east angle. From this gateway there was a passage
to the church, which was oriented, and therefore stood at
an angle to the street ; while another led westwards to the
inhabited buildinors. The cloister was built against the south

o o

wall of the church, and overlooked the usual "greit zairde,"
which is vaguely described as bounded by the Loaning,^ and
extended up the slope to the mid wall.^ On its east side
were the friary garden and the east yard, or arable land of the
friary. Immediately after the Reformation this yard was ap-
propriated by one Rowye Gairdiner, a flesher ; but the felonious
instincts of this burgher were curbed by the magistrates who
placed an arrestment * on the " hale cornys sawin be him upoun
the ground of the eist yarde of the Grey Friars," and compelled
him to consent that the crop should be "furthcumand to the
gude toun and failling of the said cornys the avale thairof."^
To the east of the church and south of this yard was the friary
cemetery, which was converted into the public burial-ground, in
accordance with the gift of Queen Mary ; ^ and the progress
of the repairs and improvements can still be followed in com-
plete detail in the accounts of the burgh treasurer. These

1 MS. /'r^/^r^/ ^ccZ'j- (Edinburgh), William Stewart, 1566-67, 25th July 1566,
'''' Ad terras posteriores quondam Jacobi Makgill cum horto . . . jacenies infra
tenementum quondam Katherine Dee inter terram anterioretn eiusdem, tenementum
et terras quondam Jacobi Makgill respective ex borcali, et imtrum dicti burgi et
fossain Fratrum Minorum respective ex australi, et terras dicti quondam Jacobi

Makgill ex occidentali, et terras Dotnitti de Intierleith et dictam fossam Fratrum
Minorum ex orientali partibus, ab una et aliis. . . ." In Walter Spens' title in
favour of the City, granted in 1807 (City Chambers, Box No. 9), the subjects are
described as bounded on the nortJi. and east by the City Wall. This tenement
was, therefore, only divided from that of Katherine Dee by the City Wall, and it
was from this point that the wall turned southwards to the iron gate. Vide notes
to plan.

2 Reg. Mag. Sig. (Print), II. No. 1932, 14th February 1490.

^ Records of the Royal Burgh of Edinburgh., 27th August 1562.

* 22nd August 1562. ^ Ibid. '^ 17th August 1562.

GROUND PLAN OF THE EDINBURGH FRIARY

EXPLANATORY NOTES TO PLAN

The site of the friary lands is coloured red on plan. At the north-east corner
were, in 1483, four tenements {C/i. of St. Giles., p. 161) : —

Nos. I and 3. Andrew Ijallcrno's interior and anterior tenements. Over
the former, Tours of Inverleith granted an annual of 14 merks to the
Altar of St. Anne in St. Cuthbcrt's Church.

No. 2, tenement of William Hopringill, <z/zaj William Loksmylh. In 1562,
and in 1 567, it is called a tenement of Temple land {City Prat., A. Guthrie,
II. f. 29 ; and III. f. 134). In a Sasine of 1817 {Fetcr Spalding, MS. P.R.
Sasines, Edin., 805, f. 9) the subjects are described as the easier and
wester tenements of Temple land, the former "pertaining to the deceased
William Steill, Merchant burgess of Eilinburgh, lying at the head of the
Cowgate near the Cunzie Nook, beside the Minor or Grey Friars on the

270 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

for 9000 merks, ten acres of his lands of Highriggs, the
subjects disponed being bounded on the north by the Flodden
Wall — "the Town wall of the said burgh from the turn and
west round of the said wall to the Society Port upon the
north." ^ Eieht and a half acres ^ of this land were sold
by the town to George Heriot's Hospital in 1628, while
the remainder was afterwards conveyed to Trustees on behalf
of the Charity workhouse. A small strip west of the work-
house was portioned off as an addition to the graveyard.^
It was here that the unfortunate Covenanters, to the number
of 1 184, were imprisoned after the battle of Both well
Bridg-e : and the inhumane treatment accorded to them
during their exposure to wind and weather "in ye Grey-
friars and Heriots Hospitall " is vividly illustrated by
the daily allowance of a penny loaf to each prisoner.*
The Charity workhouse did not, therefore, occupy any
portion of the acres formerly belonging to the Grey Friars
of Edinburgh ; but within the burial-ground of these friends
of the poor the paupers from the workhouse were for long
interred by their Master ; ^ and it is not without interest to
observe that George Buchanan and Sir Thomas Craig also
found a last resting-place in the east yard ^ of the friars whom
they had held up to obloquy.

Returning to the infancy of the Observance in Edinburgh,

^ MS. Disposition, by Sir George Tours, ut supra, note 4, p. 265.

2 MS. Records of Heriofs Hospital, 4th May 1628, for 7600 merks.

3 Now known as the south burying-g round. The south boundary in 1799 was,
and still is, a part of the third wall which also bounded the yards of the Charity
workhouse on the south.

* MS. Ti-easury Warrant, 1679, and MS. Accounts of Provision supplied
to Prisoners, from 25th June to 15th November 1679, G. R. H. From 25th
June to 1st July they received 100 bolls of meal, worth sixteen shillings Scots,
baked by the baxters of Edinburgh and Canongate. On 3rd July the allowance was
one pound weight of biscuits, and from 4th to loth July they were again served
with meal instead of bread. The gradual diminution in their number can be
traced through this account until 2 10 remained on 15th November.

^ From June 1847 there is a payment by the Town Council to the
Parochial Board of ^52, los., described as an annual allowance "in lieu of their
alleged rights to inter paupers" in the old friary yards {MS. Search, Burgh
Chambers). Revoked in 1868-69 {Bks. of C. and S., 22nd January 1869; City
Chartulary, 18, f. 162).

" The lower part of this yard was utilised as the common burial-ground for
malefactors, etc., among whom were included the Covenanting martyrs during the
Episcopalian ascendancy.

CHAP. IX.] EDINBURGH 271

Father Hay speaks of the rapidity with which " the fame of
Cornelius and his associates spread in every direction," and
some confirmation of this immediate popularity is offered by
the decision of James II. to provide for the extension or repair
of the friary in 1458-59. On this occasion, the state of the
royal exchequer necessitated recourse to a loan of ;^200 from
one Nicolas Spethy, a burgess of the town, " for the reparation
of the place of the Friars Minor." ^ The campaign against
Roxburgh and the constitution of a regency afford some ex-
planation of the delay in the application of this loan. During
the lifetime of James II. ;^ioo had been given to the friars, a
second instalment of ;^50was paid in 1464, and the remaining
^50 was to be paid at some future date, because £^0 out of
the loan had been assigned to the Queen-mother for the require-
ments of another religious house in which she was interested.^
No description of the friary has been preserved ; but at
this date it is improbable that it possessed a regular church
within its precincts, an oratory sufficing for the devotions of
the brethren. In 1464, however, during the wardenship of
Father Crannok ^ the clergy of St. Giles acquiesced in their
natural desire to obtain possession of a church or chapel to
which the citizens might resort. Accordingly, they transferred
to the friars the Chapel of St. John the Baptist situated
outside the West Bow, under the wall of the Castle upon the
west side of the track that wound down the north slope of the
valley to the Grassmarket.^ The exact site of this chapel,
the period of time during which it served the purposes of a

^ Exch. Rolls, 27th July 1463. As money-lender to the Crown, this burgess
may be considered the prototype of the better known George Heriot.

^ i.e. the Trinity College Church.

^ The successor of Cornelius and a former physician of James II.

■* Charier of Co7ifirmation^ Sir John Tours of Inverleith, 2nd September 145S ;
Reg. Mag. Sig. (Print), II. No. 616. This chapel must not be confounded with the
chapel of St. John the Baptist founded in 15 12-13 ^^Y John Crawford, Prebendary
of St. Giles, in the Sciennes on that part of the Burgh Muir which then formed part
of the Grange of St. Giles. This will be readily recognised as the former suburb
of the Sciennes which was called "the Mureburgh newly built "and occupied the
rising ground behind the Burrow Loch {ibid. No. 3818). P'our years later, the
chapel in the Sciennes, with its patronage and possessions {inter alia., 22| acres of
land, of which 4] acres formed part of the Burgh Muir), was transferred to the
nunnery of St. Catherine of Siena, and thenceforth this hamlet became known as
the Sciennes instead of as the Mureburgh.

272 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

friary church, and its fate when abandoned by the friars

prior to the year 1490^ are wholly unknown. The charter

granted to Sir John Tours in 1458, and the disposition of the

chapel to the friars by Vicar Forbes of St, Giles alone affirm

its existence :

" To all the sons of Holy Mother Church to whose notice these letters
shall come, William of Forbes, Canon of Aberdeen, and perpetual Vicar
of the parish church of St. Giles of Edinburgh in the diocese of St.
Andrews, greeting in the Universal Saviour. Whereas I learn from the
venerable Father, Friar David of Carnok of the Order of Minors, that he
and the friars of the said Order desire to war for God in the church or
chapel of St. John the Baptist, belonging to my church, situated outwith
the burgh of Edinburgh, and to serve Him according to the grace which
may be given them from on high, conformably to the Rule of the Friars
Minor of Observance handed down to them by St. Francis — which they
are unable to do without my consent : Wherefore, the said Friar David
on behalf of the whole Order earnestly besought me to yield my consent
for the sake of divine charity and the increase of godliness. Whereupon,
I, Vicar aforesaid, recognising the justice of this petition — in observance
of the duty laid upon me by the canons of the Sacred Councils to
establish our holy religion and to cherish it by every means in my power
wherever it is planted — homologate the consents given by those having
interest in the premises, and charitably give and assign, from me and my
church, to God and our most blessed father the Pope of Rome, the said
place in length and breadth as it lies with its commodities and easements
for behoof of the said friars, so long as they may desire to occupy it.
Protesting that, if it be not occupied by the foresaid Friars of Observance
for these purposes, the said place with its former liberties, commodities
and easements shall revert to me and my successors." ^

No record now survives of the original provision made for
the material sustenance of the friars, as the Roll of 1463
merely indicates that it was the " Custumars " of Edinburgh
who paid them the stipend allotted by the Crown. Twenty-
six years later we learn that they had been accustomed to
receive "by his majesty's special command" a weekly allow-
ance of fourteen loaves of bread, beer and kitchen provisions
to the value of ten shillings.^ During the plague of 1505 a
boll of wheat was sent to them by the Chamberlain of Ballin-
creif; in 15 16 the Regent Albany sanctioned a contribution

1 Reg. Mag. Sig. (Print), II. No. 1932.

2 This grant was confirmed by Bishop Kennedy of St. Andrews on 26th
November 1464 ; Charters of St. Giles (Laing), No, 81 ; infra, II. p. 200.

^ I)t esculentis et poctileftiis, Exch. Rolls, 25th July 1489, and 1st July 1490.

CHAP. Tx.] EDINBURGH 273

of thirty bolls of barley; and, from the Roll of 1522, it is
evident that their victual stipend had previously been twelve
bolls of wheat as entered in " the diet books of the Kine."
From 1525 onwards, the royal alms in victual were raised to
one chalder of barley and a half chalder of wheat, and in 1555
the Queen Dowager granted a precept for one chalder of each
kind of grain. During her daughter's minority, they also
received an additional allowance of ^20 as the alms of the
Governor, dating at latest from the year 1546 ;^ and the royal
alms were also frequently supplemented by gifts of pigs from
Shetland and marts from Orkney to be killed and salted for
provisions during the winter.^ Incidental payments from the
privy purses of James IV. and James V. are of the same
value, although apparently less numerous than those made to
other friaries. The merciless destruction of the city records
during Hertford's invasion in 1544, when the Grey Friary
escaped destruction, deprives us of any information con-
cerning the previous extent or duration of the municipal
grants. From the year 1552, however, there is abundant
evidence to illustrate that the friary received material support
from the Town Council. Along with the Black Friars, the
Observatines were employed by the magistrates to preach in
the streets of the town ; and for these services each Chapter
received a half last^ of sowens beer, a drink much used by the
labouring classes, and consisting of sour beer mixed with the
fluff or refuse of oatmeal. The value of this grant varied from
£6 in 1552 to £<^ in 1557, and on occasion it was increased
to one last each. For some years, also, the Grey Friary
received special grants of ^4, ^5, or £6, "be ane precept,"
and for incidental repairs to the friary the burgh treasurer
paid £\, 1 6s. to one Patrick Boyman of Leith " for ane dosane
eistland burdis." ^ The extent of the burgher's charities is
now purely conjectural ; but some entries in the records of
the Guild of Hammermen of Edinburgh are extremely

^ Supra, p. 82, note 2.

- 1 5 18, a mart and a pig . . . . . . . . iSs.

1532, 4 Orkney marts 48s.

1536, 6 do. do. and 4 pigs 96s.

1536, 6 carcases of pigs 36s.

^ .Six barrels. '' Summary, infra^ p. 2S6.

274 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

significant of the widespread support which the Observatines
received from this substantial section of the community — "To
ye Gray Frars at ye masteris qumand as other craftis dois xx
shilHngs. " ^ Of testamentary charity we learn but little. Among
the churchmen, Gavin Dunbar, Archbishop of Glasgow,^ left
ten merks to this friary as a share of his legacies to the
Scottish Observatines, and Rector Burnet made a similar
donation towards the end of his life.^ Among the pious
donations of Sir William Cockburn of Scarling were five
merks and a load of wheat to the Friars Minor of Edinburgh
in 1552 ; * while John Lindsay of Covington^ and Alexander
Hume of Redbraes*^ each left a legacy of forty shillings. For
their own support the friars doubtless procured a certain
amount of food and money by mendicancy, although Father
Hay would have us believe that their larder was wholly
provided for by unsolicited charity. Their glebe was devoted
to pastoral uses, and we learn that the Comptroller paid them
£\\, 8s. in 1527 "for six barrels of suet" sold to the King.
In Edinburgh, as in the other towns and burghs where the
Observatine and Dominican friars worked side by side, the
distinctive feature of the Franciscan was his uniform refusal
to accept any annual rents as endowments for the celebration
of masses for the dead ; '^ and the records compiled under the
new regime thus enable us to reflect upon the precarious
nature of the Grey Friars' resources, compared with those
of the Black Friars. The sole legacy of the former to the
town was the friary buildings and yards. On 12th June 1560,
the Council was already on the alert to preserve the stones
of the ruined churches "for the commoun werkis." Four
months later the Dean of Guild was directed to prevent
further pilfering by the townsmen and, in particular, to

^ The Hammermen of Edinburgh^ pp. 97, 99, 104, 106 (John Smith).

- MS. Reg. Conf. Testament (Glasgow), f. 2r\'i.

•■' Aberd. Ob. Cat.

^ MS. Reg. Conf. Test. (Glasgow), f. 69a.

^ Ibid. f. 59a, 15th August 1 55 1.

''■ Hist. MSS. Commission, p. 76, 14th Report.

'^ The nearest approach to an endowment of this nature occurred in Glasgow,
where Rolland Blacader, Subdean of the Cathedral, directed his chaplain to pay
six pennies for each of the twenty-two masses to be celebrated on his obit day, ten
in the Grey Friary and twelve in the Black Friary ; ittf'a, p. 346.

CHAP. IX.] EDINBURGH 275

recover the stones which four of them had removed ; so that
they " be brocht with all deligence and transportit fra thair
warkis and placis foirsaidis to the kirkeyaird of this burgh for
big-ging- of the dikkis of the samyn and otheris warkis quhilk
thai ar preparand within thair said kirk and als to cause
certane men cast doun the rest of the said places yet
standand . . . and this to be done with deligence possiball
because the saidis stanis ar all stollyn away and intro-
mettit with be divers personis, incontrair thair proclama-
tionis maid thairanent of befoir."^ As a contemporary
illustration of the amenities of lano^uaoe even in official
documents, we may note that another depredator, William
Ramsay, was ordered to build up the hole which he had
made in the "Gray Freir dyke," and, in the favourite de-
scriptive phrase of Knox, to pay the expenses of the town's
workmen during the three days they were occupied " in the
the vis hole."'

From the Black Friary the town derived greater benefits.
Its site and buildings were also swept into the Common
Good of the city,^ and a large part of the annual revenues
was assigned to the magistrates from the Thirds of Benefices,
as endowments in support of their hospital for which a Crown
Charter of the Collegiate Church and Hospital of the Holy
Trinity was granted on 12th November 1567.^ For Francis-
can history, however, the importance of Prior Bernard Stewart's
rental,^ and the assignation of the ground annuals comprised in
it, lies in the fact that it facilitates the correction of an error
made by the scribe, who copied into the Town Council Register
of Edinburgh ^ a charter under the Great Seal granted by

^ Records of Edinbwgh, 14th October 1560.

^ Ibid. 22nd April 1562.

^ The first intention was to erect a hospital for the poor on the site, but this
idea was abandoned, and in 1583 the City High School was erected instead.

■* The entire burghal ground annuals, amounting to ^74, 12s. 6d., were so trans-
ferred {MS. Accounts .^ .Sub-Collector., 1 568), and, of the non-burghal ground annuals,
formerly in the possession of the Dominicans, ^y]., 13s. 4d. can now be ascertained
to have formed part of the original Trinity College Fund which still continues
its role of benefactor to indigent citizens. The hospital as such has ceased to
exist. Vide infra^ p. 283, re Accounts of the Edinburi^h Collector of Kirk Rents.

^ Infra, II. pp. 373-77.

" Guthrie's Inventory., sub " Kirk Livings."

276 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

James III. on 14th May 1473^ to the Provost and Council of
Edinburgh, confirming all previous mortifications granted or
homologated by his predecessors for the support of the Black
Friars of Edinburgh. In this transcript the copyist has uni-
formly written Grey instead of Black Friars ; but his error is
completely established by a collation of the original charter
with the copy and the rental of Prior Stewart. Each of the
five annual rents in question ^ is described in identical terms
in the original charter and its copy ; while the rental proves
continued possession by the Dominicans until 1560, and so
disproves an apparent infraction of the Observatine Rule by
the friars of Edinburgh.^

i MS. Reg. Mag. Sig., VII. No. 289.

2 Charters. An annual rent of ten merks Rental MS. Books of Assumption.

furth of the burgh maills. (This allow- G. R. H. Item of the customes of

ance was made to the Black Friars the toun of Edinburgh, x merks.

by Robert II. long before the Obser-

vatines settled in Edinburgh.)

The gift of Lord Seton, with the con- Item, of Hartisheid and Clyntes, xx
sent of Christina Murray, his spouse, merks.

of an annual rent of twenty merks
furth of the lands of Hertisheid and
Clintis.

By Philippa Mowbray of Barnbugall of Item, of Litill Barnebowgall, xx
an annual rent of 20 shillings ster- shillings,

ling furth of the lands of Littill
Barnbugall.

By John Berkeley of Kipps of an Item, of the Laird of Boward's lands
annual rent of los. yearly furth of in Duddingston, x shillings.

the lands of Duddingstone.

By James Finguid of an annual rent of Item, of Finguid's land, now John
13s. 4d. furth of his land in Leith. Carketill's, 13s. 4d.

^ Guthrie repeated his mistake in copying a decree obtained by the town
against Alexander Aitchison of Gosford to enforce payment of an annual rent of
^16 out of his lands. This annual also appears in the Prior's rental ; in the
Exchequer Rolls of 1557 and 1559 continued possession by the Black Friars is
proved in terms of the charter granted by James III. ; and, in the post-Reformation
Rolls, it is described as " ane annual rent quhilk vas vont to be payit furthe of
the maillis of Gosfuirde to the Blakfreris" {Exch. Rolls, XIX. 25, 98; XXI.
407). Owing to a mistake in his authority — a late inventory of titles — Sir D.
Wilson has erroneously identified {Memorials, II. 65, 2nd ed.) certain land in South
Gray's Close as having belonged to the Grey Friars. The granters of the feu of
1456 were not Grey Friars. A detailed examination of the eighteen extant volum"es
of the registers compiled by the notaries in Edinburgh, 1501-60, confirms the

CHAP. IX.] EDINBURGH 277

Concealed behind an all but impenetrable cloud of ano-
nymity, little is known of the personality of the Wardens or
friars who studied in the schools or passed a period of their
brotherhood at Edinburgh.^ The provincial seminary of
philosophy and theology was established here at some un-
known date ; ^ and Father Hay tells us that, after his arrival
in Edinburgh, Cornelius gathered round him many Scotsmen
from the Universities of Paris and Cologne. As the parent
house of the Observance, it was the custodier of the provincial
seal and the customary residence of the Provincial Minister,
as well as of the Visitor who corrected the province on behalf
of the ultramontane Vicar General.'^ Within its walls Robert
Reid, Bishop of Orkney and founder of the University of
Edinburgh, received the Cistercian habit and anointment as
Abbot of Kinloss, at the hands of that generous Observatine
patron, Gavin Dunbar, Bishop of Aberdeen ; and thirteen
years later, when promoted to his See, there is reason to
believe that Bishop Reid was also consecrated in the
friary church."* Of the friars themselves, we know that
Thomas Johnson died while battling with the pestilence that
ravaged the country in 1545;^ and the names of George
Lythtone, Andrew Cairns and Ludovic Williamson, who all
abandoned the guidance of the province in their extreme old
age, alone survive to indicate the regard in which Edinburgh
was held, as well as the custom of burying distinguished
members before the high altar of its friary church.

The activity of the Scottish friars among the poor and
the sick is probably the most obscure chapter of their history.
In the golden age. Friar Leo dwells upon his master's love
for the leper and the beggar ; but the chroniclers of later
days no longer illustrate the perfect Franciscan from his
solicitous care of the unfortunate victims of plague, pestilence,

total absence of Observatine annual rents. Innumerable infeftments in favour of
the Black Friars and the other religious bodies in the town appear in these volumes.

^ The Exchequer Recoi-ds disclose the names, and even the University degrees,
of many Conventual Wardens who signed the receipts for their money allowance-
Not a single receipt granted by an Observatine Warden ai)pcars in these records ;
but, on occasion, their factor or procurator is recorded as llie consignee of the
victual allowance.

^ Ob. CJiron. ^ e.g. Visitations of 147 1 and 1504, iiifra^ p. 310.

* Chro7t. of John Smith, Records of Kinloss, pp. 1 1, 50. ' Ibid. y. 11.

278 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

famine and invasion. To refuse the proffered alms because
there was one who had greater need of them than the friar,
to abandon the coarse grey habit that some wandering beggar
might have shelter from the cold, or to sell the friary Testa-
ment in order that a poor woman might have food to eat,
are salient examples of personal abnegation that could flourish
only in the period of idealism ; ^ but we seek in vain for
kindred eulogies of the friar either in the chronicle of Father
Hay, or in the Aberdeen Obituary Calendar, where the scribe
records the Franciscan virtues most appreciated in his day.
Then, as now, the picturesque charity of the Poverello had
become subordinated to the fetish of theology and the minutely
ordered life imposed upon the churchman. Nevertheless,
pauperism was a problem of ever-increasing gravity ; the
number of the " cauld and hounger sair, compellit to be
ane rank beggair,"^ increased to an alarming extent; and
the conditions under which they were compelled to live can
scarcely now be realised. Considered from the practical,
or objective, point of view, the limited resources of the
friary were naturally incapable of supporting any part of
the pauper population, and we must therefore regard the
friar more as a worker among the poor than as their muni-
ficent benefactor. For this role he was pre-eminently
fitted by his severe training in the school of self-denial ;
and, whatever may have been the degree of his enthusiasm
in the task, his contemporaries were not slow to recognise
him as "the friend" or "the father of the poor." That is
to say, the Franciscan took a prominent, if not the leading,
share in battling with disease,^ and the Grey Friary became
a centre to which a section of the hungry poor looked for
the food that the friars procured for them from the more
wealthy members of the community. Thus, the practical
and devout Vicar of Greenlaw entrusted the administration
of his almshouse to the Franciscans of Haddington, and

1 spec. Per/., caps. 12, 17, 19, 29-38. - Henryson.

^ Cf. Friar John, Romeo and Juliet, Act v. Scene 2. In their combat with the
Black Plague more than half of the Franciscans in Europe perished in their efforts
to assist the stricken. They " perished literally by thousands through their devoted
attention to the sick and the dying. Here there is no room for detraction."
M. F., II. xxiv.-v.

CHAP. IX. J EDINBURGH 279

placed the distribution of his obit charities, and the casual
shelter of the third bed, entirely in their hands.^ In Edin-
burgh, the Observatines soon became the recognised assist-
ants of the chaplains of St. Giles in the distribution of obit
doles, then a fashionable form of charity among the wealthy
burgesses and churchmen. In terms of the charters of
mortification — vivid pictures of the pious customs of the time
— the chaplain received an endowment for the celebration of
daily or annual services at his altar, and a further annual
allowance for the purchase of "portions," or doles of meat
and drink, to be distributed among the poor on the anniver-
sary of his patron. Of these portions a certain number were
invariably entrusted to the Observatines of Edinburgh, and
with them, in the task of distribution, were frequently asso-
ciated the Sisters of the "Hospital of St. Mary in the Vennel
beyond the gates," the Leper Hospital and the Hospitals of
St. Paul and St. Leonard. After the anniversary service,
the remaining portions were distributed by the chaplain "to
honest puir personis that hes maist myster," and, by granting
an additional annual rent of six shillinos "to be o-iven to
uther pure folkis that gettis nane of the daill," one thoughtful
churchman provided against the disappointment of some of
the beggars who crowded round the altar of the Holy Blood
on his " patrone day " ^ in the hope of securing one of his
seventy-six doles — " ilk portion to be ane quhete laif worth
4d., and 6d. in money upon the heid of ilk." In this case
thirty-six of the portions were entrusted to the Observatines
for division among that number of poor people ; and it cannot
be contended that these doles were given to the friars for
their own personal use, because they were numbered and
thus differentiated from the cases in which the donor gave
the endowment directly to the Conventuals or Dominicans,
with the further direction to distribute a quantity of bread
or meat among the poor after his anniversary services.^

^ Supra, p. 179.

^Indenture, Thomas Ewin, loth July 1522; summary of lliis and other
similar characters, i/ifra, II. pp. 196-99.

^ e.g. Haddington, sitp>-a, p. 180. An analagous case occurs in one of tlie
charters to the altar of St. Lawrence in St. Giles, in which the chaplain is taken
bound to inquire if the Dominicans were '■'■ negligentes in celcbrationc missaniin

2So OBSERVA^rlNE PRlARlES Ichap. ix.

It will also be observed that the uniform association of the
Observatines with the Leper House and other hospitals
of the town raises a strong presumption that some of their
number habitually carried the soothing influence of religion
and medicine into the haunts of the poor/

The earliest charter of this series, dating from the year
1477, was granted by Provost Walter Bertram of Edinburgh
who endowed the altar of St. Francis, his favourite saint,^
with certain annual rents for the support of the chaplain, and
provided for the annual distribution of fifty doles among the
poor, eight portions being entrusted to the Observatines,^
three to the Leper House and three to the Sisters of St.
Mary's Wynd — "And each portion shall consist of three
pennies in bread, three in bear, and also three pennies in
flesh, fish, cheese or butter, as the season requires." Provost
Andrew Mowbray executed a similar charter in 1478, pro-
viding an annual rent of twelve shillings for his twenty-four
obit doles;* while a third Provost of Edinburgh, who gave
part of his obit doles to the Observatines for distribution, was
Sir Alexander Lauder of Blyth, one of the slain at Flodden.
His charter was granted on nth October 15 10, and was
confirmed by James IV. on 17th August 15 13, two days
before the unfortunate provost and his bailies joined the
Scottish army on the Burgh Muir, leaving behind them a
president and four others to act in their place, "for the
common weill and proffeit of the toun and guid reuU thairintill
to be had after thair passage to the King's armye." Sir
Alexander was also Justice- Depute to Lard Gray, the
King's Justiciar, and being a man of considerable wealth he
bequeathed sixty portions to the poor, the Observatines alone,
among the charitable institutions, receiving twelve.^ As late

vel in distribiitione eleinosinarum ift alia infeodatione inea eis facia contentaruinP
Charters of St. Giles., p. 178 (Bann. Club).

^ " The Mendicants were far more in sympathy with the poor than were the
endowed monks, and possessed far more than the parish priest the confidence of
the people." Vide authorities, Mr. A. G. Little, The Grey Friars in Oxford, p. 78.

2 Cf. his donations to the friaries in Haddington and Aberdeen, pp. 181, 312.

^ No. I, ?>//;'«, II. p. 196. Provost Bertram executed a second charter in
identical terms in February 1495, ^^^d.

* No. 2, infra., II. p. 197, re-executed 19th December 1492.

^ No. 4, infra., II. p. 197.

cHAiMx.] EDINBURGH 281

as 1535, another provost, Sir Adam Otterburn of Reidhall,
continued this custom in his charter which provided for
the distribution of fifty-two doles among the aged and
deserving poor of the time. On this occasion, the friars
and the sisters each received five of the portions repre-
sented by a wheat-meal bannock and the sum of eightpence
for the purchase of flesh or beer/ Among the burgesses
of the town who admitted the poor to a share in their
testamentary charities were Richard Hopper and Alexander
Rynde ; ^ and, of the clergy, William Brown, Vicar of
Mouswald (15 17), Sir Thomas Ewin, chaplain above-
mentioned, and Robert Hopper, Prebendary of St. Giles
{1527), abundantly recognised the vicarious position of the
friars towards the poor.^

Before the period of active Reformation is reached, the
events that claim attention are the defence of the friary by
the burghers in 1543, when the Earl of Arran was prepared
to acquiesce in its sack,^ and the presence of at least four
Observatines at the Provincial Council held in the Black Friary
in 1549.^ Six years later, if it be not apocryphal vaticination,
we may believe that Father Ludovic Williamson, the Observa-
tine Provincial, summoned the magistrates to his bedside in
this friary, and, after warning them that the leading members
of the realm would withdraw their allegiance from its spiritual
as well as its temporal head, addressed an earnest appeal to
them to remain steadfast in the old faith. A forcible illustration
of this anti-clerical temper of the times was given in 1558 at the
annual civic festival of St. Giles. On ist September it was
discovered that the image of the saint had been stolen from
St. Giles and thrown into the Nor' Loch,^ whence it had been
rescued and committed to the flames. In this emergency,
a small statue of the Saint was borrowed from the church of

^ No. 9, infra, II. p. 199.

2 Nos. 3 and 5, infra, II. pp. 197-98.

3 Nos. 6, 7, 8, infra, II. pp. 198-99. ■* Supra, p. 81.

'^ Stat. Eccl. Scot., \\. 84 (Robertson). Friar Patcrson, Provincial Minister,
Wardens Andrew Cottis of St. Andrews and James Winchester of Perth, and
Friar John Scott of St. Andrews.

** The usual ducking-place for scolds and offenders against the Seventh
Commandment.

282 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

the Grey Friars, and made secure with iron clamps to the
"fertorie"^ on which it was to be carried. Attended by all
the clergy and friars resident in the city, the statue was borne
with tabrons and trumpets, banners and bagpipes through the
principal streets. "And who was there," says Knox in his
rugged, humorous account, "to lead the ring, but the Queen
Regent herself, with all her shavelings, for honour of that
feast." The Queen, however, had no sooner left than the
mob made a violent attack on " Little St. Giles," as they
contemptuously styled the borrowed image. " Some of those
that war of the enterprise drew ney to the idole, as willing to
helpe to bear him, and getting the fertour upon thare schulderis,
begane to schudder, thinking that thairby the idole should have
fallin. But that was prevented by the irne nailles. So begane
one to cry ' Doun with the Idole ! doun with it ! ' and so with-
out delay it was pulled doun. Some brag maid the preastis
patrons at the first ; but when thei saw the feebliness of thare
God, thei fled faster than thei did at Pynckey Clewcht. One
took Sanct Giles by the heillis, and dadding his head to the
calsay, left Dagon without head or handis ; exclaiming, ' Fye
upon thee, young Sanct Geile, they father wold haif taryed
four such ' " ; and then, as Knox describes with rollicking
enjoyment, "doun goes the croses, of goes the surpleise,
round caps cornar with the crounes. The Gray Freiris
gapped, the Black Frearis blew, the Preastis panted and
fled, and happy was he that first gate the house ; for such ane
sudden fray came never amonges the generatioun of Anti-
christ within this realm befoir." Eight months later was
enacted the sack of Perth, and on 14th May, in a letter
addressed to them by the Queen Dowager from Stirling,
the Town Council received knowledge of the "greit mysreull
laitlie maid within the burgh of Perthe be certane seditious
and evil gevin persouns,"^ and strict orders to "gif gude
heid and attendance that na sic uproir nor seditioun rys within
your toun bot that the religious places be surelie keptit."
Lord Seton, as Provost, accordingly provided for the defence
of the friaries, and on the 3rd of June a menial, Mathow
Stewinstoun, was indicted before the bailies because "the

1 A portable shrine. ^ Records of Edinburgh, 14th May 1559.

cHAiMx.] EDINBURGH 283

last nycht that he was upon the waiche " he threw stones at
the windows of the Black and Grey Friaries. His master
was thereupon obliged to furnish a surety of ^200 "for
entre of the said Mathow within the tolbuyth, or quhat tyme
he be requerit." But on the morrow of the destruction of the
friaries, in the circumstances already narrated/ no such penalties
were visited on the depredators who have since served to
shield the Lords from the odium of the pillage. Driven
from their home, the friars sought refuge among their ad-
herents while the oreat duel was beino' fouo;ht out between the
French and English outside the walls of Edinburo-h. Within
six days of the signing of the Treaty of Edinburgh the magis-
trates were working for the possession of the religious lands
and endowments. Including those of the " freris and Magdelene
landis"; and the register of their deliberations thereafter
discloses themi as strenuous supporters of the new religion.
One or two Observatine Friars may have remained in
Edinburgh subject to the draconian edicts' which followed
the Act of 24th August 1560. Four out of the eight Black
and Grey Friars of Edinburgh who received the pension
of ^16" can now be identified as Black Friars, and
fortuitous accident may establish the identity of the remaining
four."^ From the accounts kept by the civic Collector of
Church Rents, but little information can be gleaned. He tells
us that " becaus of the troublis " of the times no accounts
were kept for the years 1567 to 1573 "except twa yeiris and
ane half of the samin " ; and down to the year 1590 he only
records the names of two friars — undifferentiated, but both
Black Friars — as recipients of the pension of ^16, the last
payment being made to Friar John Chapman in 1585.^ The
civic collector was also custodier of the chartularies of all

• Supra, p. 147.

'^Records of Edinburgh, 20th September 1560, 24th March and 2nd October
1561.

^ MS. Accounts, Collector-General, Exonerations, 1561.

* The assignation of the Black Friary rents to the Burgh Hospital was bur-
dened by payment of this pension to the surviving friars, and, on 7th April 1568,
the 15ailies and Council, " cfter consideralioun of the jjouerlie and auld decrepit
aige of freir Andro Lcis, blak freir," instructed the Collectors to pay hiui £\G out
of the said rents. Records of Edinburgh, p. 247.

'' MS. Accounts of the Collectors of Kirk Rents ; infra, II. pp. 377-79.

284 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chaimx.

the religious houses in Edinburgh, and there is a payment
entered in these accounts for "the careing of the coffer with
the freir evidents out of the counsalhouss to my houss " —
a procedure which explains, to some extent at least, the
reason for the disappearance of so many of these documents.

I. ROYAL BOUNTIES TO THE GREY FRIARS OF

EDINBURGH

I. Exchequer Rolls

1463, 27th July. Paid by the Custumars of Edinburgh to the Friars Minor
and others, as appears in their accounts.

T464, 12th July. Paid by the Custumars of Edinburgh to the Friars Minor of
Edinburgh, of the ;^2oo due by the King to Nicolas Spethy, of which
there was assigned to the Queen ;^5o, and the remainder for the repairing
of the place of the said Friars, the said Friars acknowledging receipt,
viz. : — ^50, and so there remains still to be paid to the said Friars,
;£s°y because other ^^50 were allowed to the Treasurer in last year's
account.

1489, 15th July. By delivery to the said Friars of the alms of our Lord the
King, as they have been wont to receive by His Majesty's special
command, as appears by his letters under his signet and subscription of
date 4th February, until the 13th December next, which are 45 weeks,
rendering to them weekly for bread, that is to say, 14 loaves, beer and
kitchen provisions, 10 shillings of composition by the Auditors for the
past arrears only, ^^22, los.

1490, I St July. By delivery made to the said Friars receiving of the King's
charity in eatables and drinkables los. weekly, to the 3rd of July
inclusive, which are 28 weeks, by precept of the Lord the King, as
appears by his letters under his signet and subscription shown upon the
account, ^i^-

Payments of the victual allowance are recorded in the Rolls audited as follows : —
19th July 1505, I boll wheat; 7th August 15 16, 30 bolls barley; 31st
May 1522, 2 chalders 15 bolls of wheat; 12th April 1524, 4 bolls
2 firlots wheat and i chalder 10 bolls 2 firlots of barley; 14th August
1525, 8th August 1526, 27th August 1527, 20th August 1528, 19th
August 1529, 31st July and 5th September 1531, i6th August 1532,
October 1533, ist October 1534, 3rd September 1535, 9th September
1536, 18th September 1538, i chalder of barley and 8 bolls of wheat;
6th September 1540, i chalder 9 bolls 2 firlots of barley; 3rd August
1540 and 27th July 1542, 8 bolls wheat; 6th September 1555, 8th
November 1556, 3rd September 1557, 12th August 1558, 14th August
1559, 30th October 1560, 20th March 1560-61, 1 chalder of wheat and
I chalder of barley.

CHAP. IX.] EDINBURGH 285

1518, 27lh August. The Comptroller pays for a mart and a pig given to the

said Friars as the alms of the King in Edinburgh, iSs.
1527, 22nd August. Paid by the Comptroller to the said Friars for 6 barrels of

suet sold by them, ^11, 8s.
1532, i6th August. Paid by the Comptroller to the said Friars for four Orkney

marts given to them in alms by the King, 48s.

Also a chalder of barley as the King's alms for the year of this

account.
1536, 9th September. Paid by the Comptroller delivering to the said Friars six

marts and four pigs from Orkney (^4, i6s.).

Also, other six carcases of pigs, extending to 36s., in all, ^6, 12s.
Also, I OS. for two skins delivered to the said Friars as alms gift of

the King.
1538, 1 8th September. Paid by the Comptroller to the said Friars as the

King's alms, for certain marts and pigs from Shetland delivered to them,

£9-
1550, The Comptroller pays to the said Friars receiving annually

^20 of the alms of the Governor, for the years of this account, ^80.
1555, The Comptroller pays to the said Friars receiving annually

;^20, for the term of this Account, ^10.

2. Treasurer's Accounts

1496. Item, the 12th day of Januare, giffin to the Gray Freris in Edinburgh,
at the Kingis command, 40s.

1503. Item, the 21st day of December, to Schir Andro Makbrek, to the Gray
Freris in Edinburgh, 42s.

1504. Item, thesecund day of Junij for tua barrellis beir to the Gray Freris
of Edinburgh, 25s.

1505. Item, the 9th day of August, to the Gray Freris, 20s.

1506. Item, the third day of Junij, to Schir Andro Makbrek to the Gray
Freris of Edinburgh, 40s.

1526. Item, deliverit to the Gray Freris for Ixiij unce siluer stollin fra the
King and revelit to thaim in confessioune, be the Kingis precept, to the
men that had the said siluerwerk in wed, ;^2o.

LEGACIES TO THE GREY FRIARS OF EDINBURGH

1548, 30th May. Testament of Gavin Dunbar, Archbishop of Glasgow : —

"Item, to the Friars Minor of Edinburgh, ^6, 13s. 4d."
1551-52, 1 8th March. Testament of Sir ^Villiam Cockburn of Scarling,

Knight, who desired to be buried in the aisle of St. Gabriel in the

Church of St. Giles of Edinburgh, leaves to the Friars Minor of

Edinburgh a load of wheat and 5 merks.
1551, 15th August. Testament of John Lindsay of Covington, leaves to the

Friars Minor in Edinburgh, 40s.

286 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

1532-33, 15th March. Testament dated at Edinburgh 28th November 1532,
by Alexander Hume of Redbraes, leaves to the Friars Minor 40s.

EXCERPTS FROM THE ACCOUNTS OF THE TREASURER ETC.
OF THE BURGH OF EDINBURGH

1552. Item, to the Blackfreris and the Grey freris forthair penschioun yeirlie,

twelve barrels beir, summa, ;Qi2.
1552. December. Item, payit to the Gray freris be ane precept of the date the

nynt of December 1552, ^6, 13s. 4d.
1553-4. Item, to the Blackfreris and to the Grayfreris for thair preching

yeirlie twelve barrels beir, price thairof, ;^i4, 8s.
1553? December. Item, payit and delyverit to the Grayfreris be ane precept

daittit the first day of December 1553, ;^6.
1554? July. Item, payit to the Gray frerisbe ane precept datit the 20th day

of July, £a.
1554-5. Item, to the Blackfreiris and to the Grayfreiris for thair preching

yeirlie, ilk ane of thameself ane last of sowndis beir, price of ilk boll,

28s., summa, ;!^i6, i6s.
^5SSj August. Item, payit to Patrik Boyman in Leyth, for ane dosane eist-

land burdis to the Grayfreirs, be ane precept the i6th day of August

i555> ^4, i6s.
1556, Julii. Item, to the Gray Freiris be ane precept datit ultimo Julij, ^^5.

1556. Item to the Blackfreris and the Gray, for thair preching yeirlie, twelve
baralis beir, price thairof ;^i8.

1557. Item, the i8th day of Junii, be ane precept, for half ane last of beir to
the Grayfreris gevin thame for thair preicheing.

1558. Item, to the Gray Freris, be ane precept of the dait the 5th day of
Junij, anno 1558, for the half last beir grantit to thame yeirhe for thair
precheing, the sowme of ^6, 13s. 4d.

EXCERPTS FROM THE RECORDS OF THE HAMMERMEN OF

EDINBURGH!

1536. At ye maisteris qumand to ye Gray Frars, 20s.

1537. To ye Gray Frars at ye masteris qumand as other craftis dois, 20s.

1539. At ye maisteris qumand to ye Gray Freris, 20s.

1540. To ye Gray Freirs as use is, 20s.

^ John Smith, The Hammermen of Edinburgh, pp. 97, 99, 104, 106.

CHAPTER I X—{co7ifinued)
OBSERVATINE FRIARIES

St. Andrews

The erection of the second Observatine friary is identified
with Bishop James Kennedy of St. Andrews and with the
early history of the parent University in Scotland. In 1458,
contemporaneously with the foundation and endowment of
St. Salvator College by this enlightened churchman, a small
colony of Observatines from Edinburgh was invited by
him to settle in the capital of his See.^ The nucleus of a
home and a diminutive glebe were his gift to them, to
be enlarged some years later by his nephew and suc-
cessor, Patrick Graham, first Archbishop of St. Andrews."
At the Reformation, this land measured six particatae in
width,^ and lay "within the city of St. Andrews in Market
Street on the north side thereof extending northwards
towards North Street, between the lands of the heirs of the
deceased Robert Smith and William Symson on the east,
the land of the deceased John Jakson's heir on the west,
and the public streets of the said city on the north and south
sides."* The plan of old St. Andrews, dating from the year
1540, represents this site as roughly rectangular with North
Street and Market Street as its northern and southern
boundaries ; while a line drawn from the Port of Market
Street to North Street, and another from the Port of North
Street to Market Street, enclosed it on the east and west

^ Ob. Chroit.

"- Ibid. Confirmed in narrative of Crown Charter, 2ist December 1479.
MS. Reg. Mag. Sig., IX. No. 2 ; supra, p. 62.

^ Its depth is not stated. The town received a rent of eighteen merks from
their tenant of it in 1573. ATS. Roital of Cliaplainrics. G. R. H.

"* MS. Notarial Ittslrmnent, 21st September 1559, Reg. Rviden. Civitai.

S. Andree, f- 3' 5 infra, II. p. 202.

287

288 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

sides/ The friary buildings were sirriple and unpretentious in
character, and all that now remains of them are a fragment of
the enclosing wall — the western boundary of several gardens
at the north end of North Street,^— the friary well, and
some carved stones which were placed in the old chapel of
St. Leonards after their discovery among the accumulated
rubbish in the well about seventy years ago.^ On two of
these stones the following inscriptions are engraved in beau-
tiful characters, '' Sz vis ad vitam mg7'edz, serva mmidata.
Mat. xix.'" ; '' Maiidata ejzis gravia non stmt. Primae
Joan, v!'

The sanction of the Curia to Bishop Kennedy's
foundation was granted in the Intelleximus te of 1463 ;
and the brethren were confirmed in their property by
the Crown Charter of Mortification granted by James III.
on 2ist December 1479.* Father Hay singles out Friar
Robert Keith (Creth), a doctor in theology and kinsman of
the Earl Marischal, as the leading personality in the early
history of the Observance in St. Andrews. With him was
associated his "marrow," Friar Richardson, already referred
to as an associate of Father Cornelius and one endowed
with the migratory instincts of the true Franciscan. While
he turned his steps northwards to take an active share in
the erection of the friary at Aberdeen, Friar Keith remained
in St. Andrews as its first Warden ; and, in later life, he was
thrice elected Provincial Minister of the Observatines. He
would appear to have been an ideal Franciscan, quick to
observe his vow of obedience by implicit submission to the
corrections of his superiors, and to have possessed the faculty
of imparting to his listeners a keen desire to emulate his own
purely Franciscan virtues. His noviciate in the friary at
Edinburgh became a tradition considered worthy of particular
notice in the chronicle of the Order ; and his wardenry at
St. Andrews appealed so strongly to the vague longing of

1 The Port in Market Street stood twenty yards west of Bell Street, and that of
North Street fifty-five yards east of Greyfriars Gardens. Both have long since
been removed, the latter in 1838. Dr. Hay Fleming, Gicide to St. Andreivs, p. 13.

- Guide to St. Andrews, pp. iio-ii i.

" Lyon, History of St. A7idrews, I. 226-227 (note).

■* A^S. Reg. Mag. Sig., IX. No. 2.

CHAP. IX.] ST. ANDREWS 289

his contemporaries after the perfect religious life, that "the
flower of the youth of the sacred University deserted the
allurements of the world and became followers of the holy
father in his profession." ^ Under his guidance, we may there-
fore infer that the friars took an active share in the spiritual
life of the University. At an early date, the Observatine
schools of philosophy and theology in Edinburgh were
supplemented by a seminary for the novices of the Order
who came to study the Arts in St. Andrews ; but Father
Hay affords us no information concerning the date of this
extension. Nor does he pause to illustrate its customs and
management in his haste to reflect upon the numerical
strength of the friary,^ and the appointment of its ordained
priests by the Archbishop to hear the confessions of the
students.^ The voluntary nature of the origin of this custom
in Scotland — also put into practice by the Archbishop of
Glasgow and the Bishop of Aberdeen — together with the
benevolent attitude of the clergy towards the Observatines,*
are significant indications of the disappearance of caste in
the Church ; while the self-effacing loyalty of the Observatines
in their care of the confessional offers a strikinor contrast to
the aggressive militarism forced upon the Conventuals
by the reactionary churchmen in the thirteenth century.
The prevalent desire had been to exclude the friar from the
office of confessor, and the puerile tactics of the obstruc-
tionists had gradually alienated him from the spirit of
his Rule. Now, when a modus vivendi had been estab-
lished,'' he was empowered to hear confession irrespective
of diocesan or parochial sanction, and this foundation of
canonical privilege, won amid general disregard of the Rule,
rendered possible a reasonable observance of it. The Order
returned to the friendly relations with the clergy so strongly

^ Ob. Chron.

2 Twenty-four friars, he states, ordinarily resided at St. Andrews. In the total
absence of evidence concerning this friary, it is now impossible to contest his
estimate, although it may be accepted with reserve if the number be intended
to include only licensed preachers and fully ordained priests.

^ Vide analogous custom among the Franciscans at Oxford ; Mr. A. G. Little,
TJie Grey I-yiars in Oxford, p. 63 ; iiif>-a, p. 430, note 3.

* Edinburgh, St. Andrews, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Stirling, Dunblane and Brechin.

^ Boniface VIII., Super Cathedram.

290 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

desiderated by St. Francis ; and, in the history of this friary,
we have the first well-authenticated case of the realisation of
this ideal by the Scottish Franciscans. In the management
of the Colleges the friars also took some share. Archbishop
Hamilton appointed their Warden, in the absence of the
Observatine Provincial Minister, to act as one of the six
patrons and visitors of St. Mary's College, founded on 5th
March 1553-54 ;^ and it was also provided that the meetings
of these patrons for the election of the Provost or other officials,
should be preceded by due intimation of the sederunt affixed
to the gates of the three Colleges and of the Grey and Black
Friaries fifteen days previously.^ In the domain of University
finance, the integrity of the Observatines, and the confidence
reposed in them by the high dignitaries of the Church, could
receive no better illustration than the charter granted
by Gavin Dunbar, Bishop of Aberdeen, as executor of the
Bishop of Orkney. This deed provided for the foundation
of three chaplainries, two in the parish church and one
in St. Salvator's Chapel, and directed that the redemption
money should be placed in the custody of the Grey Friars of
St. Andrews until the purchase of new securities had been
arranged, in the event of any of the annual rents assigned as
endowments happening to be redeemed.^

The elaborate educational machinery maintained by the
Order makes it only natural to suppose that the most promis-
ing novices passed from the provincial schools to one of the
Colleges. The name of Friar Alexander Arbuckle, can, how-
ever, alone be identified ; unless Dempster's reference to one
John Wadlock — alleged to have been a famous mathematician
in the reign of James V. and to have resided for the most part
at this friary — be considered sufficient to warrant the inference
that this mathematician was a Franciscan.* In fact, our know-
ledge of the history of these friars is almost entirely confined

^ Regulations of the College, new foundation ; Lyon, History of St. Andrews,
II. 261. After the Reformation this appointment gave rise to much contention.
Reg. P. C, II. 561.

2 Ibid.

3 Laing Charters, No. 368, loth April 1528. Vide similar instances at Stirling
and Ayr ; i?ifra, pp. 353, y]2>-

^ Repeated by Spottiswood, Religiotis Houses, p. 451.

cHAP.ix.J ST. ANDREWS 291

to events arising out of their connection with the University
and their mental activity. Their missionary or educational
work is unnoticed by the native historians ; ^ but, on the
approach of the Reformation, they are revealed as vigorous
preachers and disputants, as men endowed with a caustic wit,
and as strenuously intolerant defenders of their Church. But it
is an irony in the history of the Reformation that several cases
of disinterested apostasy in the Order should spring from this
strict living community, and that John Knox should select
one or more of the sermons delivered by its preachers, in the
cause of internal reformation, as his illustrations of ecclesi-
astical profligacy, ignorance and superstition. Nevertheless,
the gulf between heresy and criticism was wide ; and we find
that the friars of St. Andrews were pre-eminently the repre-
sentatives of inquisitorial zeal among the Scottish Franciscans.
Their responsibility for the exile of their apostate brother,
Friar Melvil, is less definitely established than are their vigor-
ous endeavours to wrest Friar Dick of Aberdeen from the
protection of his friends in Dundee. Warden Dillidaff, in
1528, sat among the judges who condemned Patrick Hamilton
on the accusation of the Dominican Prior, Alexander Camp-
bell; ^ and, in 1540, along with his Provincial Vicar, John
Paterson,^ he formed one of the tribunal that passed
judgment in absence upon Sir John Borthwick. Another
Warden, Symon Maltman or Legerwood,'* earned obloquy
by his share in the trial and martyrdom of Friar
Jerome Russell at Glasgow in 1539;^ and Pitscottie
asserts that he was the preacher of the sermon in the
Abbey Church of St. Andrews which preceded the trial
of Walter Myln, the last Protestant martyr in Scotland.
But the supremacy of the new faith was at hand. Four-

^ In 1504, the Observatine Provincial Chapter was held in this friary under
the presidency of Friar Anthony, the ultramontane Vicar General. It granted
letters of confraternity admitting Sir Thomas Maule and his wife to the Third
Order ; hifra, II. p. 265.

- History of the Reformation, I. App. 508.

^ He had been Warden of the Glasgow Friary in 1531.

* As " Friar Symon Lydzartwood " he appended his signature as a witness to a
deed of presentation, dated loth October 1539, by the Earl of Bothwell to a pre-
bend of Hauch in the Collegiate Church of Dunbar. Mutton Jl/SS., Adv. Lib.

* History of the Reformation, I. 64.

292 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

teen months later this "Sergeant of Sathan," as a frail
old man, assisted through the ceremony by Vicar John
Ferguson, experienced the full bitterness of defeat when he
resigned his friary into the hands of the Magistrates, in the
vain hope that they " themselfis (be) left undisturbut,"
Another Observatine of St. Andrews vigorously assailed by
John Knox, was Friar Scott, ^ one of the " twa Gray feindis "
who invited George Wishart to confess to them before he
was burned on the Castlehill. " Schir," they said, "ye must
maik your confessioun unto us." " I will mak no confessioun
unto you," answered the reformer. " Go, fetch me yonder
man that preached this day and I will maik my confessioun
unto him." Dean Wynram, invidiously selected as the
Scottish Vicar of Bray, was thereupon sent for; "but what
he (Wishart) said in this confessioun I cannot schaw."^ Friar
Scott is again singled out as the target of obloquy in the
narrative of the opposition offered by the Franciscans to the
sermons delivered by the apostate Black Friars, Williams
and Rough, under the protection of the Regent Arran.
" Amonges the rest," says Knox in his parenthesis, was
" Frear Scott, who befoir had given himself furth for the
greatest professour of Christ Jesus in Scotland, and under
that cullour had disclosed, and so endangered many."^ From
the context and phraseology of this sentence we ought,
perhaps, to infer that Knox accuses Scott of having given
himself forth as a zealous convert to the new doctrines, with
the intention of furnishing the Scottish inquisitors with valu-
able information acquired during his confidential intercourse
with the unavowed supporters of Protestantism.^ Resident
in the hotbed of religious intolerance, there is every prob-
ability that he was an active seeker after heresy, and that he
did institute inquiries into the doctrines of many ; ^ but, in the

^ There is no evidence to support Mr. David Laing's inference {Hist. Re/., I.
96, note), that the charlatan preacher and faster of this name ever entered the
Franciscan Order. Cf. the Earl of Glencairn's Rhyme.

- History of the Reformation, I. 168. " Ibid. I. 196.

* The use of the vi^ord " endangered " implies that no one denounced by Scott
suffered the last penalty for his convictions.

^ Cf the frequent examinations made into cases of doubtful doctrine — e.g.
Dean Thomas Forret — which only terminated in martyrdom in exceptional cases.

CHAP. IX.] ST. ANDREWS 293

interest of historical justice, it would have been more satis-
factory if the historian had expressed his accusation in less
elliptical form. It is, of course, possible that he does not
accuse Friar Scott of tactical apostasy. The parenthesis
must therefore be held to imply that Scott betrayed the
secrets of those who confessed to him, under the impression
that his denunciations of the prevalent evils in the Church
betokened a personal sympathy with the new faith. The
duty of a Roman Catholic priest placed in such a position
requires no discussion ; and we cannot lose sight of Knox's
extreme disapproval of the confessional, as well as of his dis-
tinct fear of the base uses to which it may be, and sometimes
was, put by unprincipled men.^ In the preceding pages,
grave exception has frequently been taken to this writer's
conception of the functions of history ; but the debonair
manner in which he lavished disparagement upon the
clergy of the old Church is nowhere more aptly illustrated
than in his serio-comic account of the convention of
"Gray Freiris and Blak feindis" held in St. Leonard's
Yards in 1547, under the presidency of Dean Wynram."
The central figure was John Knox himself, summoned
to explain " the heretical and schismatical doctrine "
which he had expounded in the Abbey Church in the
presence of the local clergy and certain Grey Friars. The
subject of disputation was a summary of his sermon con-
densed into nine articles, in which, while " otheris sned^ the
branches of Papistrie, be (Knox) stryckis at the roote to
destroy the hole." ^ In brief, Knox set out to disprove the
central tenets of the Roman Catholic form of worship,^ and
promised further discussion on two important questions of the
day — "There is no Bischoppes except thei preech evin by
thameselfis, without any substitut ; and the teindis by Goddis
law do not apperteane of necessitie to the Kirkmen."^ His
leading opponent in the disputation was Friar Alexander
Arbuckle, and this choice of an Observatine as the Romanist

' Vide pp. 409-15, 426, llie Franciscans and the confessional.

- History of the Ke/ormation, I. 191-201. ^ Pruned.

■• The Laird of Niddrie's comment. Idii/. I. lyi.

^ Summary, ibid. pp. 193-94. " Cf. infra, p. 432.

294 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

champion will not pass unobserved. From the insertion of
his name in the list of Determinants of the fourth class under
the year 1525, he would be a man in the prime of intellectual
vigour at this date. He was thrice Observatine Provincial
Minister, and Father Hay asserts that, " thoroughly versed in
all the liberal sciences and without his equal in the kingdom in
the three tongues — Latin, Greek and Hebrew — he engaged
in many disputations with the heretics and arch-heretics, from
which he always emerged victor. Afflicted unto death with
stone, and driven from the exercise of Religion in his native
land, he ended his life in the household of a certain catholic
bishop in the year 1562."^ Knox presents his opponent in a
totally different light. He was a man of small wit — few
would have thought so learned a man would have oriven so
foolish an answer, and yet it is even as true as he wore a
grey cowl. He suffered many a fall, he made the best shift to
correct his fall, and thereafter could speak nothing to the
purpose, producing no better proof of purgatory than the sixth
book of the yEneidl If truth be told, this garbled account
of the argument upon the nine articles would lead the modern
reader to form the meanest opinion of the dialectic skill of
both disputants. The trumpery jests of the " Suppriour " on
meat and drink were brushed aside, and the principals opened
upon the ceremonies of the Church. But these, and "the
question of God's true worshipping, without which we can
have no society with God," were alone discussed; "many
other thingis war merealy skooft ower." We are not
surprised to hear that the greater part of the ceremonies
were " papistlcall inventionis," or that faith, as their basis,
brought about the downfall of the friar, who, " while he
wanderis about in the myst, falles in a fowll myre." To
this sad plight he was brought by the reformer's logic ^ —
freely interspersed with petitio principis, argttmentuin ad
kominem, and fallacious minor premises which the friar at

^ Ol>. Chro7i.

^ " That which may abyd the fyie, may abyd the word of God.

But your ceremonies may not abyd the word of God.

Ergo — Thei may not abyd the fyre.

And yf thei may not abyd the fyre, then are they not gold, silver nor
precious stones."

CHAP. IX.] ST. ANDREWS 295

once refuted. As a fitting termination, Arbuckle was so
nonplussed as to reply "that the apostles had not received
the Holy Ghost, when thei did ivryte thare epistles ; but after,
thei received Him, and then thei did ordeyn the Ceremonies " !
We may therefore surmise that Knox's enthusiasm in the
perpetration of a satirical sally against this "foolish Feind "
made him blind to his own fallacies, as well as to those
glaring improbabilities which found ready acceptance among
the reading public of his day. Father Arbuckle thus shared
the common fate of John Knox's opponents, escaping no
more lightly than did Bishop Leslie — "the complete dunce
and ignorant."

Twelve years later, Knox's words bore different fruit in
St. Andrews. In the summer of 1559 politics transformed
windy disputations upon doctrine into the severest condemna-
tions of the Church, delivered with the express purpose of
inciting the populace to pillage the religious houses. News
of the blow that had fallen upon Perth (iith May) soon
reached St. Andrews. A week later, the Observatines
invoked the protection of the magistrates ; and the ownership
of the friary was transferred to the burgh by Warden Malt-
man, on the understanding that the friars themselves should
be left undisturbed in their occupation of it.^ Although this
immediate and practical provision for the future totally failed
in its purpose, it would be surprising if it had sprung from
their own initiative. In point of fact, we can trace in it the
suggestion and active participation of Friar John Ferguson,
Provincial Vicar of the Conventuals, who had already selected
convenient friends, or the magistrates of the respective
burghs, as the provisional disponees of five out of their
seven friaries. The Provincial Minister of the Observatines
for this year was Friar Patrick,^ and the writ, which infefted
the burgh of St. Andrews in the site of the friary, thus
furnishes us with the singrle recorded instance in Scotland of
any intimate connection between the Observatine and Con-

'^ Narrative of MS. Notarial I/jsiriii/ieiit, 21st September 1559. Resignation
was carried'out on iSlh May preceding, htfra, II. p. 202.

^ Ob. Chron. The Observatine Superior was invariably styled Minister,
whereas the Conventual Superior of the Vicariate was officially designed as
Vicar, because his seven friaries never rose beyond the dignity of a vicariate.

296 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

ventual friars.^ Knox chronicles the overthrow of Roman
CathoHcism at St. Andrews in his customary inexact manner.
The third of June was appointed by the Earl of Argyll and
Lord James "for Reformation to be maid thair." "Which
day they keap and broght in thair cumpany Johne Knox,
who, the first day after his cuming to Fyfe, did preache in
Carraill, the nixt day in Anstruther, mynding the third day,
which was the Sonday, to preache in Sanctandrois." The
Archbishop, however, threatened to greet Knox at the door
of the Abbey Church "with a dosane culveringis quhereof
the most parte should lyght upon his nose," and a certain
amount of dramatic effect is introduced into the narrative by the
contrast between the fixity of the reformer's resolve to deliver
his sermon and the abortive dissuasion of his friends. Never-
theless, a week did elapse before the crusade against idolatry
was opened in the parish church on Sunday nth June, with
his sermon upon " the ejection of the byaris and sellaris
furth of the Tempill of Jerusalem." He would have us
believe that the burghers responded to his call " with expedi-
tioun " ; ^ but three more days were consumed in exhortation
ere reformation, complete and drastic, was effected on all the
beautiful ecclesiastical buildings in the town upon the following
Thursday.^ The Grey Friary shared in the general ruin, and,
on 2ist September, it was described as "desolated ground
and overthrown buildings,"* from which only one document
has survived.^ In company with the rest of the Observatines,
Friar Arbuckle and his brethren retired to the Netherlands,
where he died two years later ; and, in marked contrast to
the Dominicans,*' not a single Observatine of St. Andrews

^ Vicar Ferguson is designed as Warden Mailman's " brother for them and
thar convent."

^ History of the Reformation, I. 347-50.

^ Knox to Mrs. Anna Lock, ibid. VI. 25. "This reformatioun there was begun
the 14th of June. . . . And so that Sabboth and three dayes after I did occupie
the pubHct place in the middest of the Doctors."

* MS. Notarial Instrutiieiit ; iiifra., II. p. 202.

^ Transumpt of the Charter, dated 20th July 1469, granted by Richard Vaus
of Many to the Observatines of Aberdeen. It is now preserved in the burgh
archives ; infra., pp. 308-10.

^ Provincial John Grierson had a special pension of ^25, 6s. 8d., and gave up
an incomplete rental of the friary lands and ground annuals dated 6th February
1561-62. I^MS. Books of Assumption., 1561.) Friar Bernard Thomson received a

CHAP. IX.] ST. ANDREWS 297

was entered as a pensioner out of the Thirds of Benefices.
Possessed of no ground annuals, the extent of their former
possessions was summarily expressed in the town's answer
to the Lords Commissioners in 1573, that, as owners of the
friary in terms of Queen Mary's Charter of the ecclesiastical
properties, " thai gett nathing thairof hot alanerlie eighteen
merkis for the Gray Freiris places and yaird."^ The allow-
ance of two bolls of wheat and barley from the Exchequer
ceased to be paid after 1560 ; but it is extremely improbable
that this diminutive grant represented the whole victual
stipend of the Grey Friary. In this respect, there is a
complete analogy between the friaries in the three episcopal
towns, distinct from the other Observatine houses. In
Aberdeen the royal charity was restricted to one barrel of
salmon, and in Glasgfow to a barrel of herrin^ : whereas two
chalders of grain were allowed to the friaries in Edinburgh
and Stirling, one chalder to that at Perth and similar propor-
tions to the less important houses. It may, therefore, be
concluded that episcopal support was substituted for the
royal grants in St. Andrews, Aberdeen and Glasgow ; and,
in conjunction with Knox's direct allusion to the " Bishop's
Charity " in St. Andrews, we must look to this source as a
material contribution to the sustenance of the friars in these
towns —

" For, shaw thay all the veritie
Thaill want the Bischop's charitie." -

pension of ^16, "at command of the Comptroller's Precept." {Sub-Collector's
Accounts, 1564, Discharge.) Friar Andrew Abircrumby received one third of the
parsonage and vicarage of Mukarsy, valued at ^{^33, 6s. 8d. {Ibid. 1568.) Friars
Thomas Lyston and Henry Masoun received the customary pension of ;^i6.
{Collector-GeneraPs Accounts, 1562.)

^ MS. Rental of CJiaplainries ; infra, II. p. 205. The permanent endowments
of the Dominican Priory in St. Andrews were returned in the Books of Assumption
and Accounts of the Collectors at ;^io3, 6s. 8d., irrespective of four bolls of wheat
from a croft at Cupar and ^20 in money from the Crown. This amount was
burdened by the pensions of the surviving friars ; but, by 1 563, it had been
reduced to ^67, 6s. 8d. through the disappearance of several of the annual rents.
Out of this sum, in 1568, £\o was assigned to "the crypplis, lamyt, blind antl
pouer of Sanct Nicolace hospitale beside Sanctandrois." In 1573, the representa-
tives of the burgh made no return to the Lords Commissioners of the annual
revenues received from the Dominican l^riory.

- Sir David Lindsay, "Ane Satyrc," II. 739-760.

298 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

ROYAL BOUNTIES TO THE GREY FRIARS OF ST. ANDREWS

I. Exchequer Rolls

Payments of two bolls of wheat and two bolls of barley are recorded in the
Roll of 3rd September 1538 and each succeeding Roll until that of
14th July 1542.

1550. The Comptroller pays to the Friars Minor of Observance of St.
Andrews the Governor's alms for the year 1549, ^5.

II. Treasurer's Accounts

1497. Item, the 17th day of December, to the Gray Freris of Sanctandrois,

be the Kingis command ane unicorne and ane ducait ; summa, 33s. 6d.
1504. Item, to the Gray Freris of Sanctandrois, 42s.
1504. Item, the 29th day of Januar, in Sanctandrois, to Schir Andro

(Makbrek) to the Gray Freris there, 40s.
1504. Item, to the Gray Freris of Sanctandrois, be the Kingis command, for

the Archdene of Sanctandrois, ^t^.
1506. Item, the iSth day of March, to the Gray Freris of Sanctandrois, 42s.
Three other indefinite entries of payments to the " Friars of St. Andrews " also

appear in these accounts.

INTER VIVOS GIFTS

Master Alexander Gordon, Vicar of Mains, near Dundee, is mentioned in the
Aberdeen Obituary as having conferred many benefits on this friary
during his life.

Rector Burnet of Methlick, in Aberdeenshire, sent 108 merks to its friars.

LEGACIES

No testamentary bequests to the Observatines are recorded in the extant
fragment of the diocesan register of confirmed testaments 1549-51. In
the inventory of debts owing to one testator, Robert Robertson, mention
is made of the Friars Minor, who owe him " duas bollas ordei, pretium
bolle, 38s." ; 1 and Margaret Pitmaden's inventory mentions as goods in
her possession "duo rethia, viz., de Minoribus, pretium petie, 15s."

^ The Dominicans owed Margaret Pitmaden ^10, and she and Isobel Richert-
son both elected to be buried in the church of the Friars Preachers.

CHAPTER IX— {continued)

OBSERVATINE FRIARIES

Perth

The foundation of the Observatine Friary at Perth is one
of the few Instances in which oral tradition was an indifferent
servant to the chronicler. "The third convent of Observ-
ance," he narrates, "was erected in Perth by Lord Ollphant^
in the year 1460. Thither was sent Father Jerome Lindsay,
son of the Earl of Crawford, a convert of Father Cornelius of
Zierikzee, and a Doctor of Civil and Canon Law of Paris
before the coming of Religion. His piety and preaching
so deeply stirred the hearts of the citizens and people to
good works that, in the space of three years, other religious
men of the order of St. Dominic and the Carmelite friars
received convents in the same town."^ Father Jerome
Lindsay was not a son of the Earl of Crawford, although
he may have been a kinsman ; and, considering that the
Dominican and Carmelite friaries dated from the thirteenth
century, his preaching in the Observatine habit could have had
no influence with the bursfhers in regfard to these foundations.
There is, however, no definite evidence on which to contest
the year 1460 as selected by Father Hay, and his statement
may be accepted as approximately correct. The omission
of this friary, and those at Ayr and Elgin, from the Crown
Charter of Mortification granted by James III. in 1479^
occasions no surprise, Inasmuch as that was an exceptional
document ; and It will be observed that the four Bulls of
Erection granted by the Curia to the Scottish Observa-
tines during this century do not conflict with the dates of
foundation given by F'ather Hay. The first notice of the

' Sir Laurence Oliphant of Aberclalj^ie, created first Lord Oliphant before 1451S.

- Ob. Chron. The Abo'dccn 0/nti/ary Calendar states that Friar Richardson

procured the erection of Aberdeen, the third convent, doubtless mcaniny that

Aberdeen was the third convent in which this friar was interested.

^ Supra, pp. 61 -62.

299

300 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

friary in tlie central records occurs on ist November 1496,
when the Chapter received a gift of forty shilHngs from
the privy purse of James IV. ; and, as was customary
during this reign, several other gifts varying in value
from twenty to forty-two shillings were received from
the same source.^ In the Exchequer Roll of 7th August
1 5 16, we learn that the victual stipend from the Crown
was eight bolls of wheat and an equal quantity of barley,
delivered in that year by James, Archbishop of Glasgow,
as Chamberlain of Fife. This stipend occasioned the brethren
the same anxiety as the informality of the grant of James II.
did to the friars of Kirkcudbright.^ Having neither a letter
of gift nor a precept as warrant for payment, we can infer
from the entries that the Chapter was frequendy compelled
to appeal to the King or Regent to secure the continuation
of its allowance. The Regent Albany addressed a precept
on its behalf to the Chamberlain in 15 16. The payment
was allowed in 1527 "by the charity of the Auditors,"
accompanied by the threat of non-payment for the next year
in the absence of a proper warrant. Consequently, in 1528,
James V. granted a precept, and thereafter the stipend
appears as the King's alms until 1543 when the Rolls abruptly
cease. From the year 1538 it was supplemented by two
bolls of the same kinds of grain from the bailiary of Errol ;
and, in 1550, we learn for the first time of an annual money
allowance of ^5 to continue during the will of the Governor.^
The Crown Charter of 15th November 1600, in favour of
the burgh for the maintenance of the bridge, enables us to
identify the provenance of this allowance as the King's fermes
of Perth, which amounted to eighty pounds, and were, in pre-
Reformation times, apportioned to the extent of ^69, 8s. 8d.
among the religious houses of the town.^ The spiritual

^ Treastt7-er's Accounts, 1497-1504, Summary, infra, p. 305.

- Supra, p. 252. 2 Vide supra, p. 82, note 2.

■* Reg. Mag. Sig. (Print), VI. No. 1098. The Exchequer Rolls record a
slight difference in the total amount-
Black Friary, ^26 and £'], 6s. 8d. from the Customs of Dundee.
Carmelite Friary, ^3, 6s. 8d.
Observatine Friary, ^5.
Charterhouse, ^33, 6s. 8d.

CHAP. IX.] PERTH 301

friend who received this money on behalf of the Chapter in
1550 was one John Roger, junior; but the brevity of the
entries framed by the Treasurer's clerk, when he recorded
two gifts of ten pounds by James V, in 1527 and 1530,^ leaves
us in doubt as to whether these friars habitually observed the
letter of their Rule in this respect.

The testamentary charities are represented by a legacy
of ten merks in 1548 from Gavin Dunbar, Archbishop of
Glasgow, two stones of cheese from James France, Chaplain
of Dunblane, two bolls of oatmeal from Sir Robert Menzies,
one pecuniary legacy of thirty shillings from Marjory
Lawson, Lady Glenegeis, and two others of ten and thirty
shillino-s." That orenerous benefactor of the Observatines,
Rector Burnet of Methlick, also contributed 109 merks for
the renovation of the friary church about the year 1552 ;^
while the gift of seventy pounds, "be my lord Gouvernour's
command," on 22nd July 1553 may have been intended for
the same purpose.^ Otherwise our knowledge of the history
of the friary before the memorable nth of May is confined
to two notices of it, although the Gaelic-speaking friars, who
aided Bishop Brown of Dunkeld as missionaries among
the Highlanders, may have been Observatines of Perth. On
25th January 1544, six Protestants were burned in Perth
on various pretexts, Robert Lamb, William Anderson and
James Ravelson suffering martyrdom "for hanging up the
image of Saint Fraunces in a corde, nailying of rammes
homes to his head and a cowes taile to his rumpe."^ Five
years later Warden James Winchester attended the Provincial
Council held at Edinburgh in 1549 for the recognition and

^ Treasurer's Accounts, 25th July and 5th December, infra, p. 305.

2 Summary, infy-a, pp. 305-6. ^ Aberd. Ob. Cal.

* Treasurer's Accounts. Friar Strang of Aberdeen ornamented some of the
windows of the original church with stained glass. Aberd. Ob. Cal.

^ Foxe, Actes and Monu?uents. Knox, IVor/cs, I. App. I. The counterpart of
this scene was enacted in the Dominican Priory on the 14th of IMay preceding,
when several of the townsmen broke into the friary between "aucht and nine
houris before noon " during the celebration of mass. They broke up the doors,
carried off the locks, candelabra and glasses, and "tukc off the fire the kettil
with thair mete and careit it about the toune." The brethren valued this kettle
at three pounds. " Summonds of Spuilzie," B/ac/c Friars of Perth, p. 229,
Dr. Robert Milne.

302 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

uprooting of the evils that had crept into the Church/ Soon
afterwards, he migrated to Aberdeen, and, while acting as
Warden of that friary, died in 1553 during the course of a
mission to France.^

As already narrated, the friary shared the fate of the
other religious houses in Perth, before the first destructive
blast of the Reformation, and the pillage of its larder by the
poor has focused undue attention upon the material comforts
enjoyed by the Observatines as compared with the Black
Friars. "The lyik haboundance," says Knox, " was nott in
the Blak Frearis ; and yit thare was more than becam men
professing povertie." While recognising the unhistorical
character of this accusation, and aptly stigmatising the former
sack of the Black Friary as an "advertisement of con-
ventual luxury," the historian of the Black Friars of Perth
is unwittingly unjust to the Grey Friars in accepting this
statement of John Knox.^ The census of ecclesiastical
endowments is a practical commentary. Neither of these
Orders observed the letter of their Rules ; but the Ob-
servatine, in his observance of the Rule of St, Francis as
interpreted by the Exivi oi Clement V., followed the inten-
tions of his founder much more closely than did the
Dominican, whose vow came to imply personal but not
corporate poverty.^ The Exivi and Qtt-orufidavi exigit
sanctioned a practical provision for the future by the storage
of victuals ; ^ but the prohibition of the Exivi against the
acceptance of annual rents, or of land with a view to the sale
of its produce, remained absolute. In Perth, the Grey Friary
owned neither ground annuals nor disjoined lands. The
ruined buildings became a convenient quarry for the burghers,
and its cemetery and exiguous yards were converted into a
public burial ground, which was assessed at an annual value

1 Stat Eccl. Scot. (Robertson), II. 84, ^ Aberd. Ob. Cal.

2 Dr. Robert Milne, The Black Friars of Perth, p. xxvii.

* The Dominicans of Perth began to acquire annual rents during the reign of
Robert Bruce, and before the middle of the fifteenth century granted feus of their
lands like other churchmen. Ibid. Charters.

^ Father Hay states that "even in the last days when Religion was tottering
to its fall, the Wardens of the convents were compelled to return much of the
proffered alms to those from whom they had been received."

cHAP.ix.] PERTH 303

of /^S immediately after the Reformation.^ The citizen no
longer placed his offering in the friary tronc or paid the
Chapter a few shillings for a funeral service and burial lair
within the friary ; " the merchant did not require to be paid
by him for goods supplied to the friars ; and their larder
had ceased to be his care. They were exiles, and their
legacy to the town was a piece of land not exceeding two
acres in extent. On the other hand, the Dominican Rule
in its current observance sanctioned the acceptance of annual
rents or any other form of permanent endowment ; and so
the state of the larder was a matter of much less concern
to these friars who could replenish it from time to time
out of the money that flowed into their coffers from four
distinct sources. As in the case of their rivals, the revenue
from the offertory box is purely conjectural. The Ex-
chequer contributed ^33, 6s. 8d. annually.^ The minimum
value of the victual stipend drawn from private lands during
the Reformation period was ^50,^ distinct from the sale of
bestial and the crop derived from their own lands extending
to about ten acres.^ Annual rents in their possession pro-
duced an income of ^68,^ occasionally supplemented by
grassums paid on the entry of heirs to land of which the
friary was superior,'^ and so the Dominican with a fixed
money revenue of more than two hundred pounds, supple-

^ " MS. Compt of Oliver Peblis and John Davidson, Maisters of the Hospital of
Perth, 1574-75," preserved in Re7itals and Accounts of Religious Houses. G. R. H.

- Vide note, p. 136.

2 ^7, 6s. 8d. of this sum was paid out of the Customs of Dundee, and, on 23rd
December 1543, the Regent Arran ordered the magistrates to resume payment
because the Dominicans of Perth were " pure rehgious men and has Htill mair
patrimonie of thair said place to leif on."

* Payment of the victual was frequently withheld by the landowners after 1560,
and in 1568 the Collector's entry states that "William Moncreif of that Ilk, for
non-payment, he is at the horn." Sub-Collector's Accounts, 1568, Div. III.

^ In 1547 "the haill croft on the north and west sides of the priory" was
leased to a tenant on the following conditions : The friary and the tenant shared
equally in the work of cultivation : the friary took one half of the crop : and the
tenant paid to the Chapter annually forty bolls, forty pecks of bear, " mercat mett,"
as rent for his half of the crop. At this date the friars were selling bear at the
rate of ^12, 5s. for 10 bolls i firlot. Lease (Printed), Black Friars of Perth, p. 239.

^' The Collector-General returned them at J\,(dO in 1560.

' "Accompt book of Prior David Cameron, 20th June 1557 to 5th May 1559,"
Rentals of the Black Friars, pp. 243-76.

304 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

mented by the offertory and partial crop, could view the
future with greater complacency than the less practical Ob-
servatine. As churchmen also, irrespective of a rule of life,
the loyalty of the Observatines was in no way inferior to that
of the Dominicans. Six of their number in Perth ^ preferred
the exile forced on them by the Act of 1560 to continued
residence in Perth ; while the high percentage of apostasy
among the Dominicans after 1560^ was contributed to by
Prior David Cameron and at least five of his brethren who
accepted the pension granted to each recanting friar.^ The
remnant of Observatine history in Perth is brief. The
friary site passed to the town under the Crown Charter of
undisposed ecclesiastical properties granted on 9th August
1569 for the foundation of a hospital "for the poor, the
maimed, persons in distress, orphans and infants deprived of
their parents."* The Masters thereupon secured an annual
rent of eight pounds from the magistrates for the use of the
friary cemetery as a public burial ground ; ^ and six years
later, on 20th December, the Kirk Session, " ordainis in all
time coming the yard of the Gray Friars to be buriall, and
further that the outer yet, which is pendit, be transported to
the inner yet."° For two hundred years it served this
purpose, until, at the close of the eighteenth century, it was
extended by the incorporation of what was then believed to
have constituted the site of the old friary,'^ thereby utilising
for this purpose the whole of the ground that had once
belonged to the Observatines.

^ Knox says there were eight friars on nth May 1559.

2 i.e. distinct from the cases of voluntary apostasy between the years 1528 and
1560.

^ MS. Accounts, Collector-Gefteral, 1561 et seq. Michael Seill, George Eviot,
John Johnnestoun, Patrick Neilson and John Gray. The four last mentioned
drew ^6, 13s. 4d. of this pension from the Hospital Fund as late as 1575, in
accordance with the reservation contained in the Hospital Charter of 1569.
Hospital Accounts, ut sicpra.

* MS. Reg. Mag. Sig. XXXII. No. 61, infra, II. p. 206. From this general
grant were excepted the Feu Charter of the Carmelite lands granted by these
friars to Patrick Murray of Tibbermure and also the liferent pensions previously
granted to the churchmen out of their benefices.

^ In 1573 they paid 20s. for the mending of the "bureall dik of the Greyfreris."
MS. Rentals a7id Accounts. G. R. H.

® MS, Extracts from the Session Register, I. 244-45, made by the Rev. James
Scott ; Adv. Lib., Edinburgh. 7 jbid.

CHAP. IX.] PERTH 305

ROYAL BOUNTIES TO THE GREY FRIARS OF PERTH

I. Exchequer Rolls

Delivery of a victual stipend of eight bolls of wheat and eight bolls of barley
by the Chamberlains of Fife, in terms of a variety of precepts, is recorded
in the Rolls of 7th August 15 16, 4th August 15 17, 9th August 15 18, 14th
April 1524, nth July 1525, 19th July 1526, 13th August 1527, loth
July 1528, i2th July 1529, 8th August 1530, 31st July 1531, 8th July
1532, 4th August 1533, 17th August 1534, 27th July 1535, 7th August
1536, 7th August 1537, 19th August 1538, 20th August 1539, 3rd
August 1540, 1541, 27th July 1542, i2th July 1543.

A supplementary allowance of two bolls of wheat and barley from
the bailiary of Errol is recorded in the Rolls of 3rd September 1538,
i8th August 1539, 13th August 1540, 27th August 1541.

1550. The Comptroller pays John Roger, junior, in name of the Friars of
Observance of Perth, receiving annually ;(^,$ in the Feast of the
Circumcision of our Lord, during the will of the Governor, ^10.

II. Treasurer's Accounts

1496, Item, the ist day of November, to the Gray Freris of Perth, 40s.

1497. Item, the 19th day of December be the Kingis command, giffin to the
Gray Freris of Perth, ane ducait and ane leo ; summa, 33s.

1503. Item, the loth day of Januar in Perth, to the Gray Freris there, 20s.
1503. Item, the 29th day of Junij, to the Gray Freris in Sanct Johnstoun, 42s.

1503. Item, the 17th day of October, to the Gray Freris of Sanct Johnstoun,
28s.

1504. Item, the nth day of October, to the Gray Freris of Sanct
Johnnestoun, 40s.

1527. Item, the 25th day of Julii, to the Freris Minoris of Perth in almous,

be the Kingis precept, ;^io.
1530. Item, the 5th day of December, be the Kingis precept to the Gray

Freris of Perth, ^10.
1553, 22nd July. Be my lord Governor's command to the Gray Freris of

Perth, ^70.

LEGACIES TO THE GREY FRIARS OF PERTH 1

1543, 6th May. Testament of Christian Balquhannan at Innerlochark, to the
Friars Minor at Perth, los.

1544, 3rd May. Testament of Elizabeth Mury at Abruthven, to the Friars
Minor at Perth, 20s.

1548, 30th May. Testament of Gavin Dunbar, Archbishop of Glasgow: —

" Item, to the Friars Minor of Perth, j£6, 13s. 4d."
1553. ist June. (Beginning of Testament awanting). . . . " Minoribus de

Pertht orandi . . . ij boll ordei, ij boll farine avenatice."

^ MS. Reg. Cotif. Test. G. 1^ II.
20

300

OBSERVATINE FRIARIES

[chap, IX.

1553, 19th June. Testament of Marjory Lawson, Lady of Glenegeis, to the
Friars Minor, 30s. (Perth?).

1558, 12th November. Testament of Mr. James France, chaplain, made at
Dunblane, to the Friars Minor of Perth, 2 stones of cheese.

1523, 1 8th July. In his Testament, Robert Menzies of that Ilk directed
his body to be buried in the choir of the parish church of Weyme
founded by himself, and left 20 merks to its priests subject to the
payment of his other funeral expenses, 40 merks for repairing the lamp
of the choir newly founded by him where his body lies, to the Friars
Minor 2 bolls of oatmeal, to the Friars Preachers 30s. He appointed
Robert Menzies, his son and heir, to be his executor. Confirmed 7th
April 1524. (Original in the Charter Chest at Castle Menzies.)

Aberdeen Friary Church in 1661. Gordon's Map.

CHAPTER IX— {continued)
OBSERVATINE FRIARIES

Aberdeen

This friary was a foundation of gradual growth dating
from the year 1461, when Friar Richardson and his
companion Friar Gerard of Texel reached Aberdeen in
accordance with the preconcerted scheme of colonisation.
Their arrival was doubtless attended by those incidents
already observed in the southern burghs, and several laymen
were quickly attracted by the personality of Friar Richardson.
Two of his first converts were brothers, John and Walter
Leydes, carpenters by trade ; another was John Louthon,
who afterwards undertook the office of scribe for this friary
and for that at St. Andrews ; the qualifications of William
Marschell have not been preserved in the Obittiary Calendar ;
and the opposite extreme in the social scale was reached
when Alexander Merser, the young laird of Innerpeffry,
chose the Observatine habit in preference to his father's
lands and succession. For the next few years, this little
community shared in the work of the parish and diocese
with the full approval of Bishop Thomas ; and in 1468-69
they came under the notice of Richard Vans of Many in the
course of their visits to the parish of Belhelvie. The idea of
a permanent settlement and friary, in place of the informal
habitaculum, generated in the mind of this devout patron —
under the influence of Friar Richardson ^ — and, in the spring
of 1469, he enlisted the sympathy and pecuniary assistance
of the Town Council in his project." Part of the site of the
present Marischal College belonged to him at this date, and
formed a suitable site for a friary on the outskirts of the town
at the edo-e of the common — the burcrh midden or refuse

1 Aberd. Ob. Cal. - MS. Inst, of Sasinc, 12th July 1471 ; infra, 11. p. 220.

307

3o8 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap.ix.

ground before the friary gates adding a realistic touch of
squalor/ Following upon an agreement with Provost
Alexander Chalmers to disburden the ground of an annual
rent of twenty-six shillings and eightpence payable to one of
the chaplains in the church of St. Nicholas, on ist May 1469
Richard Vaus granted a Letter of Gift, in which he expressed
his intention of assio-nina- his land on the east side of the
Gallowgate for the use of the friars, provided that the Pope,
the King and the Bishop of the diocese gave their consent
to his mortification.^ The consent of the Holy See had
already been given under the Intelleximus te ; that of
James III. was given at Edinburgh on the 9th of May;^
and a fortnight later the foundation received the approval
of Bishop Thomas, who had meanwhile arrived in the capital.*
Accordingly, with the concurrence of the civic authorities, a
formal charter was granted by Vaus on 20th July in the
following terms : —

" Richard Vaus of Many to all the sons of Holy Mother Church
to whose knowledge these letters shall come, steadfast greeting in the
Lord : Considering that we shall all stand before the tribunal of our
Lord Jesus Christ to be rewarded after the manner of the deeds of
our body, whether they be good or evil, it is good and expedient
by our actions to provide against the day when we shall lay aside
our outward form, so that we may reap with manifold increase in
heaven that which we have sown upon earth : Know ye that I, for the
furtherance of divine worship and for the weal of my own soul, the souls
of my parents, my wife, my offspring, brothers and all and sundry my
relatives by blood or marriage, alive as well as dead, in honour of
Almighty God, the glorious Virgin Mary, St. John the Baptist, as also
of that other confessor of Christ, Francis, and of all the Saints, have
given, granted and confirmed, and by this present charter do give, grant
and confirm to the Friars Minor, commonly called of Observance, in the
Vicariate of the cismontane ^ division, serving the Lord according to the
constitutions of Pope Eugenius, all and whole that my land lying in the

^ This unsavoury frontage of 75 feet long by 11 feet wide remained an
eyesore until 1552, when the magistrates feued it to certain burgesses for the
erection of five booths or shops. In the charter it is described as " the pece of
vast ground before the Gray Freiris quhair thei had wont to gadder myddingis and
fulzie and culd nocht be kepit clene." Another clause in the same deed describes
it as the place " where it has been customary to store all kinds of fikh and
rubbish." MS. Charter., 9th January 1552-53 ; z>7/r<a:, II. p. 229.

- MS. Letter, infra, II. p. 216. ^ MS. Letter, infra, II. p. 217.

* MS. Letter, iiifra, II. p. 217. ^ i.e. from the Scottish point of view.

CHAP. IX.] ABERDEEN 309

Gallowgate of the Burgh of Aberdeen on the east side of the same,
bounded by the land of David Colyson on the north, by the land of
James Bissate on the south,^ and by the common highways on the east
and west ; to be holden the said land with its pertinents, in a manner
conform to the tenets of the said Friars of Observance, in pure and
perpetual alms, along with all and sundry liberties, commodities and
easements, with wood and stone, and buildings erected thereon and all
adjacent thereto, as well those unnamed as named, both under and above
the ground, adjoining or at a distance, belonging or which may justly be
held to belong thereto in any manner of way, in all time to come, as freely
and quietly, fully, entirely, honourably, well and peacefully, in and
through all things, as any land or tenement within the kingdom of
Scotland or furth thereof, by the said Friars of Observance, after
the manner lawful and possible to them and in harmony with their
tenets. And the said land is given, granted and is to be possessed for
the future without revocation, reclamation, or any contradiction to be
made hereafter in all time by me or my heirs or assignees or any others
whomsoever in our name or upon our behalf, so that the friars, more
sincerely serving God and themselves, may minister to the glory of
Almighty God and all the saints, and by their beneficent example reveal
to their flock the pathway of salvation, as also by this means they may
assist me and my parents, wives, offspring, brothers, all and sundry
relations by blood and marriage, as well those in life as in death, so that
both to themselves in their occupation of the said land, and to us
through the grace of the divine compassion, may come the abundant
fruits thereof with constant increase and perpetual multiplication thereof.
And, since the aforesaid land or tenement is obliged in payment of an
annual rent of twenty-six shillings and eightpence to the chaplain of the
altar of St. John the Baptist in the parish church of St. Nicholas of
Aberdeen, the provost, councillors and community of the said burgh of
Aberdeen are bound and obliged, and by these presents they bind and
oblige themselves, to relieve and disburden the said land, and the
foresaid friars dwelling thereon, of the said annual rent, and to pay the
same to the said altar and chaplain thereof and his successors at the
appointed terms out of their own treasury and the common good of the
said burgh, until they shall have infefted the said altar and the chaplain
thereof for the time in a like annual rent secured over an appropriate
site and lands. And I, the aforesaid Richard Vaus, and my heirs and
assignees shall warrand, acquit and for ever faithfully maintain the
foresaid land with its pertinents against all mortals as well to the
foresaid Friars of Observance as to their successors, in and through all
things according to the premises. In witness of all which my seal,
together with the common seal of the said burgh, is appended to these
presents at the said burgh of Aberdeen the 20th day of July 1469;

^ In the letter of gift [infra, II. p. 216) the southern boundary is said to be the
lands of the heirs of the deceased Duncan Patrickson.

3IO OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap.ix.

witnesses, Alexander Chalmer, Andrew Allan,^ Robert Colonic ^ and
John Vaus,^ burgesses of the said burgh, along with sundry others called
as witnesses to the premises."^

It will be observed in the dispositive clause of this charter
that the ultramontane vicariate of the Observatines was
selected as the disponee, and this deference to the pro-
prietary scruples of the individual friars settled in Aberdeen
was continued in the relative Instrument of Resignation
directed to the donor's kinsman, Alexander Vaus, Official
of Aberdeen, and bearing that he "gave over and assigned"
the land "to the said Alexander in name and place of the
religious men, the Friars Minor who are about to take
up residence there, and to repair the buildings for the
worship and glory of God."^ The transformation of the
buildings, the erection of cells for the brethren and of a
dwarf belfry for the church, were at once proceeded with,
Friar Walter Leydes taking an active part in the con-
struction of these adjuncts.^ In 1471 the friary was ready
for occupation, and the final ceremonies necessary for the
consolidation of the title to the lands and buildings were
carried out. Alexander Vaus visited Edinburgh, and, at
ten o'clock forenoon on the 8th of May, he demitted his
trust in the chapter house of the Grey Friary, by resigning
the lands and writs into the hands of John de Mitia,^ who
had been sent to Scotland on 7th February preceding as the
Visitor or Commissary of the ultramontane Vicar General,
Friar Francis Blonde.^ Thereafter, Provincial David Cran-
nok (Carnok) accompanied the Official back to Aberdeen
to assist at the opening of the friary on the forenoon of
1 2th July. The ceremony took place in the presence of

^ The Provost of Aberdeen in 1471.

^ A neighbouring owner and benefactor of the friars.

^ One of the magistrates who performed the ceremony of granting sasine
when the friary was completed in 1471.

* MS. Trmisiimpt of Charter of Donation^ infra, II. p. 211.

^ MS. Instrument of Sasine., infra, II. pp. 215-21. " Aberd. Ob. Cat.

' MS. Instrument of Resignation, infra, II. p. 218.

8 MS. Letter, infra, II. p. 219. John de Mitia was the Warden of the friary at
Limburg, in the Province of Cologne, and his presence is an interesting illustration
of the connection which the Scottish Observatines maintained with their parent
Province.

cMAiMx.] ABERDEEN 31 1

Provost Allan, the magistrates, and a number of the leading
citizens. Sasine and the symbols of corporal possession were
granted by Bailie John Vaus to Father Crannok, as the
Superior of the Observatine Province, and at the same time
the provost graciously discharged the ground annual in
accordance with the obligation of his predecessor in office/
At this point the narrative of the investiture, and of the friary
hospitality to those who acted as witnesses, has no further
place in the unwonted plethora of legal writs which describe
this unique example of Franciscan conveyancing. Never-
theless, it was by no means the only occasion on which the
Chapter endeavoured to preserve the corporate conscience
unsullied in relation to the Rule ; and, as an example of
diligent observance of their statutes, it is interesting to note
that the same formality was observed as late as 1504, when
sasine of some additional ground was granted to another
Vicar-Commissary instead of to the Warden on behalf of the
Chapter,^

For so important a centre as Aberdeen the whole friary
establishment was soon found to have been conceived on too
small a scale, and the ground provided by the charity of their
patron proved inadequate to meet their increasing needs.^
Relief was accordingly obtained by the incorporation of some
of the adjoining properties. The Charter of Confirmation
granted by James III. on 21st December 1479^ described
the subjects as "the site of the place belonging to the said
friars in our burgh of Aberdeen, and the ground and lands
contained within the said place given to and purchased for
them by the community of the said burgh of Aberdeen, and
by the late Richard Vaus of Many, James Bissate, or other
devout persons whomsoever." In the charter of 20th July
1469, the lands of David Colison and James Bisset were
specified as the northern and southern boundaries of the

^ MS. Instrument 0/ Sasine, dated 12th July 1471 ; infra, II. pp. 215-21.

^ ATS. Registration of a Grant by Sasine, 12 th February 1503-4; iitfra^
II. p. 224. In a charter of an additional piece of ground purchased for the friars
in 1494, the ultramontane Vicariate was again specified as the disponce, infra,
II. p. 221.

^ Its value was ;^ioo Scots. Aberd. Ob. Cal.

< MS. Reg. Mag. Sig., IX. No. 2 ; supra, p. 62.

312 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap.ix.

friary site, so that Bisset must have conveyed a portion of
his land to the friars before the date of the Crown Charter.
Subsequent conveyances enable us to identify this gift as
the west side of his tenement abutting on the midden, and
it was converted into a garden for the infirmary of the friary.
The remaining portion of his land — then measuring 30 feet
in breadth and upwards of 60 feet in length — was purchased
on behalf of the friars, at his death, by Walter Bertram, the
o-enerous benefactor of the Franciscans settled in Edinburgh
and Haddington;^ and a formal Charter of Donation was
granted on his behalf to the ultramontane vicariate by the
Town Council in 1494.^ Ten years later, their new neigh-
bours, Mrs. Margaret Candoche or Kanduly and her husband
Alexander Modray, made a gift of their strip of land,
which, like that of the friary and of the late James Bisset,
was bounded, east and west, by the highways, and in-
cluded the southern portion of the midden.^ This gift
was burdened with an annual rent of two merks payable
to Andrew Kennedy ; but the charitable creditor freed the
ground of all encumbrances by abandoning his latent right
in favour of the friars, who were now owners of his security
lands.* The southern boundary in this case had been ill
defined on account of the midden, and differences arose with
Gilbert Menzies, their new neighbour on the south. Sir
William Keith of Inverugie was chosen arbiter, and a deed
of agreement was then drawn up between Menzies and
Warden Childe, whereby the friars acquired a narrow strip of
the land under dispute, and were obliged to replace a timber
fence, temporarily erected by Sir William Keith, by a stone
wall running from the western gable of Menzies' house to the
south end of the midden.^ This line marked the southern
limit of the friary lands at the Reformation,*^ and the cost
of erecting the wall was defrayed by William, third Earl of
Erroll — "a nobleman who was ever ready to provide for all
the needs of the friars, and annually bestowed upon them

^ Supra, pp. 181, 280. 2 ^5_ Charter, infra, II. p. 221.

^ MS, histriiinents of Rcsigitation, Registration of Sasine, etc. ; infra, II. p. 223.

* Ibid, at p. 224.

^ MS. Instrument of Agreement, 2nd April 1505 ; infra, II. p. 225.

*' Aberdeen Council Register, 18th April 1561.

ROUGH GROUND PLAN {not draivn to scale), showing relative positions
of the areas of ground gifted to the Grey Friars of Aberdeen.

LU
<

Gilbert Menzies

Original site (including Patrickson's property),
gifted by Richard Vaus in 1469.

Western portion of James Bisset's tenement,
gifted by him before 1479. In 1553-54
the portion behind the northmost booth
(L) was utiHsed as the friary cemetery
{Infra, II. p. 231 n.).

Walter Bertram's gift, 1494, being the eastern
portion of James Bisset's tenement.

Mrs. Modray's gift, 1503.

David Colison's gift for enlargement of
cloister (before 1481).

F Gift of Thomas Myrton, as executor of Bishop
Elphinstone, in 1515.

G Andrew Colanc's barn, gifted by Town
Council in 1539.

H Strip acquired by arbitration in 1505.

K Gift of William Stewart, afterwards Bishop of
Aberdeen.

L Site of the burgh midden, afterwards feucd to
three burgliers (in 1552) for Ihe erection of
dwarf booths.

CHAP. IX.] ABERDEEN 3 1 3

large doles of victuals and meat."^ It was probably about
this date that another permanent wall, 75 feet in length, was
erected, and ran in a southerly direction from the front gate
of the friary parallel to, and 1 1 feet distant from, the Gallow-
gate, so as to shut out the view of the midden. In 1552-53
the magfistrates, in the interests of cleanliness, undertook the
removal of this nuisance in one of their public streets, and
feued the ground to three burgesses for the erection of five
booths.- The friars, as owners of the wall, gave their con-
sent to this charter, which stipulated that the booths should not
rise above the copestone of the wall (4I ells Scots), so as to pre-
serve the view of their new church from the Gallowgate,^ and
that no windows or chimneys should be opened in it overlooking
the graveyard. By the year 1505, the eastern wall of the friary
adjoining the burgh common had come to be used by the poor
of the neighbourhood as a drying-ground for their clothes when
washed ; and, to put a stop to this practice, a draconian edict
was issued by the Town Council, providing that "nay maner
of persone nor personis lay nor hing na maner of stuff, gair nor
guddis on the wall of the place of the Grey Freris before the
takin of the Haly Croice; and quha happinis to do the contrar,
the gudis sal be eschet and thei sale pay ane amerciament of
the court to the bailzes uneforgevin for the first time, and
the secund tyme thai sal be expellit the toune and thair gudis
eschet."^ On the north side, the friary lands underwent con-
siderably less extension, portions of the backland of David
Colison's tenement alone being acquired at different dates.
This house faced the Gallowgate, and, in 1481, when a coun-
cillor of the burgh, he facilitated the enlargement of the
cloister by a gratuitous cession of the plot^ marked E upon
the plan. His son shortly afterwards constructed a passage
to the choir. In 15 15, Thomas Myrton, Archdeacon of
Aberdeen, as executor of the late Bishop Elphinstone, extended

1 Aberd. Ob. Cal. His mother was the Countess who came to the rehef of the
Dundee friars during the famine of 148 1.

- MS. Fell Charter^ itt/ra, II. p. 229.

^ In later years the restriction upon the height of the booths was ignored, and
the buildings which replaced them obscured the south or south-west end of the
Grey Friars Church.

■* Aberdeen Council Register^ 27lh July 1505.

5 Aberd. Ob. Cal.

314 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

the garden ground towards the north by purchasing for
seventy merks the plot F, lying to the east of the cloister
and south of Andrew Colane's land/ and shortly after-
wards Robert Schand, Rector of Alness, gifted the north
part of the lower garden,^ which was then enclosed by a
wall built out of the money bequeathed to the friary by
another clergyman, William Crichton, Rector of Oyne.^
During the building of the second church, 1518-32, an
additional piece of ground, K, to the west of the cloister
was purchased at a cost of forty pounds as the site of the
north end of the church by William Stewart,'^ who after-
wards succeeded Gavin Dunbar as Bishop of Aberdeen.
Finally, in 1539, the Town Council acquired for the friars, by
excambion, the barn G, belonging to the above-mentioned
Andrew Colane : "The prowest, baizes and haill towne con-
sentis and assentis that the Gray Freiris of this burght get the
barne perteyning to Androw Cullane lying at the eist syd of
the said burght next adiacent to thair yard, to thair profyt and
use as thai think expedient, to dispone thairupoun for suffrage
to be done to thaim in all tym to cum ; and that the said
Androw get als mekill rowme of the townis commonty besyd
the aid hattis (huttis) behind the Gray Freris besyd the said
Andrew's croft to byg him ane uder barne upoun of the same
ly nth and breid."^ At the Reformation the friars therefore
possessed a frontage of 135 feet to the Gallowgate, 75 feet of
which was occupied by the booths, from which they received
no rent, and from east to west their boundary extended on
the curve about 1 20 feet.

Little can be said of the original friary buildings which
abutted on the east side of the first church. They were of
small extent, and the process of enlargement continued in
proportion with the charity of those who sought the ministra-
tions of the friars. The infirmary stood in the south-east
corner of the original site, and was replaced by a new building
by Bishop Stewart,^ 1532-45, after the infirmary garden had

^ Reg. Episc. Aberdeen, II. 310 ; Abet'd. Ob. Cat. He was authorised to spend
eighty merks on the purchase of this land ; infra, II. p. 228.

2 Aberd. Ob. Cal. - Ibid. * Ibid.

^ Aberdeen Council Register, 23rd June 1539. '' Aberd. Ob. Cal.

CHAP. IX. ] ABERDEEN 3 1 5

been used as part of the site of the new church and graveyard.
In 1 48 1, the larger part of a new dormitory was built by Robert
Colane, and the gifts of Duncan Scherar, Rector of Clat,
William Chalmer of Balnacrag, John Maitland, and Andrew
Rainy of Davolz ^ in the beginning of the sixteenth century
seem to indicate that considerable structural alterations were
effected upon the inhabited buildings about this time. In the
matter of church furnishings, the seven Observatine friaries
erected before 1493 found a lavish benefactress in Elizabeth
Vindegatis, whom they admitted to the Third Order in recog-
nition of her gift of 3000 merks Scots expended upon chalices,
ornaments, candlesticks, images, bells and other necessaries."
Another tertiary, William Ogilvy, Chancellor of Brechin, left
many books to the friary library at his death in 1480, and this
gift was supplemented fifteen years later by James Lindsay,
Archdean of Aberdeen, who added seventy volumes and a
large chest.^ The first church possessed at least two sub-
sidiary altars, one in honour of the Blessed Virgin and the
other in honour of St. Francis, to which chalices were given
by Chalmer of Balnacrag and Lady Elphinstone respectively.*
This church was erected wholly on the plot comprised in
the charter of 20th July 1469, and did not therefore exceed
60 feet in length. In 1505, as we have already seen, the
friars had acquired in all an additional 75 feet of ground
towards the south, and it was then possible to proceed
with the enlargement of this diminutive buildiuQ-. Several
notabilities of the district interested themselves in this scheme,
which was carried out by the munificent Bishop Gavin
Dunbar and Alexander Galloway, Rector of Kinkell, his

1 Aberd. Ob. CaL, £40, ;^2o, 100 merks and 20 merks respectively for the
building of the convent.

2 Ibid.

^ Ibid. Professor Stuart claimed that the library of the friary was incorporated
with that of the Marischal College, but it is to be feared that his statement or
identification of the volumes cannot be supported by any definite evidence. During
the thirty-six years which elapsed between the surrender of the friary and its
transference to the Earl Marischal, the buildings were put to a variety of uses, and
a minute examination of the manuscript books, other than the Obituary Calendar,
has failed to discover the slightest mark or indication which could be held to con-
nect them with the Observatincs of Aberdeen. Vide Summary and Descriplion
of llic volumes by Mr. P. J. Anderson, iii/ru, II. p. 237.

* Ibid.

3i6 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

architectural associate in all such undertakings. In addition
to the pecuniary assistance received from William Elphinstone,
Lady Egidia Blair of Row/ and William Stewart, his suc-
cessor in the See, he expended 1400 merks in the demolition
of the old church and the erection of another in its place,
measuring 115 feet in length and 27 feet 7 inches in width. As
befitted its Franciscan character, it was of simple design ; yet
the simplicity and purity of its lines, combined with the great
south window and the quality of the workmanship bestowed
on its buttresses and mullioned windows on the west, placed it
within the pale of the minor creations of architectural genius.
Its north end commenced on the land of David Colison's heir,
and, running in a southerly direction towards the south end of
the midden over the land acquired from James Bisset and
Mrs. Modray, it incorporated within its walls the whole of
the first church, of which the high altar and burial ground
in front of it remained in their original position and were
extended in length and breadth.^ It is more than probable
that the eastern wall of the first church was not disturbed in
regard to the space abutted on by the recently repaired friary
buildings ; and the building plan of Bishop Dunbar was
completed by the erection of a building displayed in the plan
of 1642 and known as the north house, out of the charity of
John Flescher, Chancellor of Aberdeen. Thus, these humble
sons of St. Francis were installed in a building which the
citizens of Aberdeen regarded with justifiable pride ; and
the extraordinary amount of assistance which they re-
ceived from the clergy of the diocese cannot fail to attract
attention. Clearly, they were not regarded as intruders, but
as welcome auxiliaries ; and, when it is remembered that the
Bishops of Aberdeen have always been regarded as holding

^ Wife of James Kennedy of Baltersan and a generous benefactress to the
Observatines of Ayr.

- Professor Cooper {Transactions of the Ecclesiological Society, 1904) suggests
that, on account of certain masonry in the east wall of the second church, the
first church was oriented. This seems impracticable, (i) because the east wall
of the second church was not more than forty feet from the Gallowgate, and the
first church must therefore have been little more than thirty feet in length and
huddled up against the north boundary ; (2) a change from west and east to south
and north would have entailed the total reconstruction of the inhabited buildings
of the friary, as those abutted on the east wall.

CHAP. IX. J ABERDEEN 317

an honourable position in the Roman hierarchy, their active
personal support of the friars is a significant sign of the high
esteem enjoyed by the latter among the burghers.

During these years, a considerable amount of information
concerning the personnel of the friary may be derived from
the surviving pages of the Obituary Calendar. Friar Gerard
of Texel was its first Warden in 147 1, and, as an illustration
of the migratory habits of the individual Observatine, was
succeeded at some distance of time by Friar George
Lythtone, who filled a similar office in several other friaries
before his death in 1499. Another Warden, Friar John
Lytstar, was twice elected to the office of Provincial Minister,
and the Deed of Ao^reement with Gilbert Menzies shows
that Friar Childe was Warden in 1505. Friar Robert Bailie,
a man of profound humility singularly beloved by the friars,
was one of his immediate successors, 15 10; Friar James
Winchester, who had been Warden of Perth in 1549, held
the same office in this friary in 1553, when he died in
France, and Friar John Roger, the last Warden, resigned the
friary into the hands of the magistrates on 29th December
1559. before leading his brethren into their long exile.^
From the list of twenty-five friars ^ whose names have been
preserved, some idea may be formed of the quaint con-
temporary opinion of those who merited special mention ; but
perhaps the greatest value of the Obituary, within its restricted
limits, is the light which it throws upon the practical nature
of a Franciscan community. Layman and cleric alike took
their share in every phase of menial work, in which, like the
friars of Essen, those of Aberdeen received the womanly
assistance of one Mariota Chalmer, now known to us as
an excellent mother of the convent and, as a member of
the Third Order, buried in the Franciscan habit before
the friary altar of the Virgin. Instances abound of lay
brothers who observed the distinction laid down by Haymo
of P'aversham in considerinir honest work in sanctified
surroundings as a phase of religion. Thus, the community
benefited from the exercise of the trade practised by the
Friars Leydes before they renounced citizenship to join

1 Infra, pp. 322, 323. 2 i„fya^ p. 330.

3i8 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

Friar Gerard. John Leydes attended to the repair of
the buildings, and, when his services were not required in
his home friary, he set out to help in the construction of
that at Elgin and in the repair of others. There are no
indications that agriculture was practised on a consider-
able scale at Aberdeen, as at Edinburgh, Dundee or
Dumfries ; but the notice of Friar John Thomson proves
the persistence of the old custom of the friars going out as
servants or humble labourers to earn food as the wage
of their work. Friar Louthon was one of the itinerant
scribes of the Province, and the trade of Friar Patrick
Stalker has not been put on record. Friar John Strang
is an exception, in that he was a priest and at the same
time a skilled worker in glass. Like many others, his
energies found scope in several friaries. Perth, Ayr
and Elgin were beautified by specimens of his work ;
but, looking to the date of his death, it is to be noted that
he took no share in the Mazino- of the o^reat south window
in Aberdeen or of any of the windows on the west side
looking out into the Gallowgate. Less individuality is to
be observed among the clerical members of the community,
who are frequently recorded as the confessors of the clergy
and of the students under the sanction of the Bishop. Many
of them spent a period of their brotherhood at St. Andrews
and Edinburgh before settling in Aberdeen, and Friar
William Fleming is a notable case of longevity closely
rivalling Provincial Ludovic Williamson, who attained his
jubilee in the Order. Father Hay makes particular reference
to this characteristic, and a glance at the summary of
Conventual Friars^ will show that it was a common occurrence
for the Wardens to live thirty years after their appointment.
It would, however, be prudent to accept with reserve his
statement of the average number of the community in
this friary. It is placed at twenty-four, whereas twelve to
sixteen was probably the outside limit. Their activity was
not confined to the city and its immediate neighbourhood.
They wandered in pairs from town to town, and, in par-
ticular, the friaries at Elgin and Ayr were offshoots from

^ Stepra, pp. 258-61.

OHAP. IX.] ABERDEEN 319

the more important centres of Aberdeen and Glasgow. In
course of time these itineraries became stereotyped, and
certain houses were recognised as regular hospices where
the friar was certain to meet with a friendly welcome. Two
such cases are recorded in Brechin, where two clergymen,
William Ogilvy, Chancellor, and John Lees, Chaplain of the
Tertiary Congregation there, were successively known as the
hosts of the friars, and were admitted to the privileges of the
Third Order under Letters of Confraternity,^

A relative estimate of the resources of this friary may be
formed from the total absence of local evidence of mendicancy
— which Father Hay asserts was little practised — and from the
declaration of Commissioner Mar, that the town had received
" na gift of the freris chaplainrles nor annuellis,"" Attention
has already been drawn to the Observatlne observance of
the Rule, which forbade the acceptance of fixed sources of
revenue, and the Aberdeen friars carried their unpractical
detachment to its utmost limits.^ At the Reformation they
abandoned everything within the space of a few hours, and,
consequently, the officials of the reformed government passed
no animadversion upon their dishonest alienation of lands
and annual rents. It was otherwise in the case of the
Dominicans and Carmelites of Aberdeen, who occupied the
period between nth May and 29th December 1559 in
disposing of their land and annual rents to private persons ;
while the remainder was claimed by various burgesses, who,
through the negligence of the burgh officials or the connivance
of the friars, obtained Chancery brieves infefting them in the

^ Infra, P- 384. - MS. Rental of Chaplaitiries.

^ The Collector of Thirds from 1561 onwards disclosed no ground annuals or
victual stipend from private lands in their possession. He returned the rents of
the other friaries at the following sums : —

Rents. Victual.

£ s. d. ch. bs. fs.

White Friars . . . 78 1 1 4 Bear, i 5 2

Black Friars . . . 38 6 8 ,,290
Trinity Friars . . . 54 i li

John Cristesoun, I'rovincial of the Carmelites, Andrew Abircrumby, Prior of the
Dominicans, and fourteen other friars of these two Orders remained in Scotland
in receipt of the customary pension. MS. Accoujtis, Collector-General and Sub-
Collector., 1561-63.

320 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

lands or rents as heirs of the original donor. This form of
dishonesty, "after the abolition of the popish religion and
superstition," was vigorously assailed by the draughtsman of the
Crown Charters, and in 1583 all such alienations and infeft-
ments in Aberdeen were rescinded by the Privy Council.^ In
the absence of this source, the Obituary indicates payment in
kind for the services of such friars as followed the example of
Friar Thomson. The Exchequer Records place the Obser-
vatines of Aberdeen on the same footing as their brethren in
St. Andrews and Glasgow in regard to a permanent allowance
from the Crown ; and casual donations from the royal purse
ranged from nine shillinfjs for half a stone of wax, to sums
of forty shillings — reminiscences of visits by James IV. to
the granite city.^ In 1548, Governor Arran sent a gift of
;^4, and again in 1552, "by my Lord Governor's special
command," the friars received a sum of £20. It is now
impossible to ascertain the value of the " Bishop's Charity "
or of the annual municipal allowance, if any ; but the inter-
mittent charities of their sympathisers may be estimated from
the summary of inter vivos and mortis causa gifts towards the
erection and maintenance of the friary buildings, ornaments
and vestments.^ It is of interest to note, that the Observatines
of Aberdeen were instrumental in attractinof the attention
of James IV. to the services rendered by the Dutch
Grey Sisters of the Third Order to Scotsmen at Camp-
vere. In this port, which was the great entrepot of trade
between Scotland and the Low Countries durinsf the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries,* these ladies had established a
hospital where they nursed and tended the sick of all nations
and both sexes, unhampered by the vow of perpetual cloister

^ Crown Charter, James VI. to the Burgh of Aberdeen, 26th October 1583.
Anderson, CJiarters, etc., pp. 71-80, at p. 78 ; e.g. the Carmehte revenues returned
at ^78, IIS. 4d. in 1561 only produced ^48, lis. 4d. in 1567. Captain Hew
Lauder secured an assignation from the Crown of the thirds of the revenues
derived from the Black and White Friaries. MS. Accoimis, Sub-Collector,
Div. I. 1573.

- Treasurer's Accounts, loth October 1497, 25th October 1501, 3rd November
1504, 27th November 1505.

3 Inft-a, pp. 332-41-

* The Conservator of Scottish privileges in the Netherlands was commonly
spoken of as the Conservator of Campvere. — Ledger of Andrew Halyburton.

CHAP. IX.] ABERDEEN 321

taken by the Sisters of St. Clare.^ King James was quick
to recognise their services, and from 1501 sent them a
barrel of salted salmon annually through the " Friars Minor
of Observance of i\berdeen." The gift varied in value from
forty to fifty-five shillings, and was continued until the year
1523, when it was diverted by the Lords of Exchequer to
the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena at the
Sciennes, Edinburgh.^

The single incident in general history with which the
friary is now identified occurred in 1530, when a long-
standinor feud between the maoistrates of Aberdeen and
John, sixth Lord Forbes, terminated in a " strubbling " of the
town by the baron's followers, on account of the withdrawal
of an annual gift of a tun of wine paid by the magistrates to
Forbes in return for the preservation of their salmon fishings
in the Rivers Dee and Don. In reality, Forbes was himself
the pfreatest contravener of the rig^hts that he had been chosen
to protect ; and, to legalise his depredations, he claimed the
additional riofht to a half net's salmon fishing in the Don.^ A
vigorous but unsuccessful attack on the town by his kinsmen,
John Forbes of Pitsligo and Arthur Forbes of Brux, followed
the refusal of the magistrates to recognise this claim. The
invaders were worsted by the burghers in the street fighting,
and fled for refuge to the Grey Friary, after one of their party
had been killed and several wounded. Here, in a state of
passive siege, they enjoyed the right of asylum until the
following day, when the citizens permitted the marauders to
retire from the town, probably on the mediation of the friars,
to whom Forbes of Pitsligo is recorded as having been a
"great friend during his life and at his death."* There is

^ In the Exchequer Rolls these Regular Tertiaries are indiscriminately
described as Sisters of St. Clare and Sisters of St. Martha. The latter designation
is correct, vide relation of their Rule to that of the Claresses at p. 389.

^ Exch. Rolls, infra, p. 342.

^ Aberdeen Council Register, 20th May 1530.

^ Aderd. Ob. Cal. He died on i6th May 1556. Love for the Observatine
Order must have been hereditary in the family. Two sons of the eighth Lord
Forbes joined the French Capuchin branch, both assuming the title of Brother
Archangel : William, who entered the Capuchin Convent at Ghent in 1 589, where he
died on 21st March 1592, and John, who took the habit at Tournai in 1593. Having
survived his father for a few weeks, he became the titular ninth Lord Forbes. He is
21

322 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap.ix.

nothing to indicate how the magistrates viewed the role of the
friars in this affray, but the prosecution of the Forbes faction
was at once decided upon. On 31st July, the provost was
deputed to appear before the King and Council to demand
justice against them;^ on 13th December the King's letters
were issued at Perth, ordering them to find security for
;!^200o;^ and on 26th January following, the father and his
three sons with their accomplices were summoned to underlie
the law for their share in the brawl. In default of appearance,
they were put to the horn.^ Another instance of " hurting and
blud-drawing " within the town by Jerome and James Chene
occurred in 1546-47. In the Burgh Court the prisoners
claimed their privileges as clerks in bar to the jurisdiction of
the magistrates, only to be summarily convicted of deforce-
ment and contempt. Thereafter, in deference to their
contention, the question of their status, in relation to the
punishment to be inflicted, was referred to four arbiters and
an "oddman." This commission was directed to meet in
the Grey Friary,^ and is one of many instances which show
how freely the citizens resorted to the friary, as fitting sur-
roundings in which to conduct their arbitrations and carry
out the formal ratification of their agreements.^

More fortunate than their brethren in the south, the
friars of Aberdeen were permitted to continue in peaceful
exercise of their religion for a further period beyond the Feast
of Whitsunday 1559, prescribed in the " Beggars Warning."
At last, however, Reformation reached the town, and, on the
forenoon of 29th December, Warden John Roger received
definite intelligence of the approach of a band of militant

said to have converted 300 Scots soldiers to Catholicism at Dixmude, and "another
body of Scottish heretics to the bosom of the Church at Menin." Cf. Balfour Paul's
Scots Peerage, IV. 58-60.

^ Factory and Commission, Anderson, Charters, etc., p. 389. On 17th August
the magistrates successfully defended an action brought against them by the laird
of Brux, one of the invaders, for imprisoning him and five of his followers in the
friary for twenty-four hours.

^ Aberdeen Council Register.

^ Pitcairn, Criminal Trials, I. i, 172 ; Diurnal of Occurrents.

■• Aberdeen Council Register, 2ist March 1546-47.

5 Vide summary of analogous cases drawn from AIS. Notarial Protocol Books,
G. R. H. ; infra, p. 484.

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Instrument of Resignation under which Warden John
Roger infefted the Town Council and Community
of Aberdeen in the possessions of the Grey Friars
within the burgh. Dated 29th December 1559.

cHAiMx.] ABERDEEN 323

reformers from Angus and the Mearns. Considering the
now equivocal temperament of the burghers, and the previous
experience of this class of depredator, peaceful surrender of
their home was the only course open to the garrison of the
last Observatine stronohold in Scotland. Friar Rosfer hast-
ened to the Town Hall to communicate their intention of
vacating the friary in favour of the magistrates and com-
munity ; and, at three o'clock in the afternoon, the Council
and citizens assembled in the chapter house to witness the
resignation of the friary, now despoiled of the sanctity with
which it had been clothed for nearly a century. They were
about to replace the voluntary services of the Mendicants by
a State Church, and one spiritual absolutism by another no
less stern. From the midst of his brethren, Friar Roger
explained the dangers which threatened the friary, and the
course of action which the brethren had been forced to adopt.
Certain wicked men, animated by a spirit which God alone
could understand, had destroyed and levelled to the ground
numerous churches, hospitals, monasteries and other religious
houses ; and now, according to common report, certain of that
sect threatened their house with a similar fate. He was
wholly unable to resist these invaders, and, therefore, with
the consent of his Chapter, he resigned the whole of the
friary property into the hands of Bailie David Mar on behalf
of the magistrates and community of the burgh. He made
but one stipulation : " If it shall happen that our Sovereign
Lady, the Queen, shall restore to the rest of the religious
brotherhoods their places, churches or buildings, then similar
restitution shall be made to the Friars Minor, without pre-
iudice to them or incurrinof the wrath of the Oueen."^ In
the absence of the mob bent on destruction, this singularly
pathetic scene closed with the friars' last prayer in front of
the high altar before they passed out through the western
portal into the Gallowgate, to seek shelter among a people
whose gratitude for past services was represented in a gift of
;^24 by the Town Council," and the temporary shelter of their
houses to their now homeless pastors. One of them, at least,
did not long survive the severance. Friar Alexander Gray
* Instru7}ieiit of Resignation, infra, II. p. 233. ^ Aberdeen Council Records.

324 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

died in his brother's house on loth January following, and
was buried in his habit before the altar of St, Catherine
in the Church of St. Nicholas.^ Three members of the friary
turned to the new faith in preference to exile in the Nether-
lands. Two of them, John Geddy and William Lamb, were
appointed custodiers of their old home on behalf of the
Town Council,^ in terms of a precept from Queen Mary which
infefted them in a pension of ten pounds for these services.^
The Collector's Accounts appear to indicate that they held
this office during the years 1561 and 1562 ; and in 1563 they
were allowed the full pension of ^16 which the third apostate
friar, Alexander Harvey, had enjoyed for the past three years. ^
This allowance continued to be paid by the Collector until
1567, when the magistrates assumed responsibility for future
payments as a temporary burden upon the Crown grant of
the friary and its pertinents, to be used as a hospital for the
poor, impotent and orphans.^ The inventive Dempster *^
notices two others, Thomas Gray, at one time Warden, and
John Patrick of Banff, both of whom left the country in
1560. The former accompanied the section of the friars who
quitted the Netherlands for Rouen in 1579, and is credited
with the authorship of an Admonition to Novices, a treatise
on the Universal Philosophy of Aristotle, and a Commentary
on Four Books of the Sentences. All other examples of
Franciscan longevity pale before this remarkable friar, who
attained the ripe age of 137 years, in full enjoyment of an
active memory, unimpaired sight and digestion, while an
infirmity of the feet alone betokened physical debility. The
literary activity of Friar John Patrick was no less pro-
nounced ; so that, after recognising certain points of agreement
between Dempster's narrative and the authentic history of the
Scottish Observatines in their new homes, the embellishments
of these biographical notices may be accepted with the cus-
tomary reserve.

The citizens had scarcely quitted the friary on the after-

^ Aberd. Ob. Cat. 2 jnfra, p. 325.

" MS. Accounts, Collector-General, 1561. * Ibid, sub a7inis.

^ Charter, 30th December 1567 ; in extenso, P. J. Anderson, Charters of Aber-
deen, pp. 68-71. Friar Geddy died in 1575, MS. Death Register, Aberdeett. G. R. H.
^ Hist. Eccl. Gent. Scot., I. 234 ; II. 539.

CHAP. IX.] ABERDEEN 325

noon of 29th December, when they were called upon to resist
an attack on the spire of their parish church by the men of
Angus. A lull ensued until 4th January, when the total sack
of the Carmelite and Dominican Priories whetted the appetite
of the mob for the demolition of the Grey Friary. At this
point, however, the citizens interposed,^ and, as a safeguard
against further attack, the treasurer was ordered to instal four
honest persons in the friary, "to remane thairin and awyt
diligently thairupon at the townis expensis."^ When they
directed the burgh treasurer to uplift the rents of the friars'
croft for the "town's utilite and proffitt,"^ the magistrates
had, however, to defend their rights in the friary property
against several competitors. The adjacent proprietors on
the north and south, the direct heirs of David Colison and
Gilbert Menzies, were now members of the Town Council,
and not unnaturally claimed the return of the portions of
their tenements which the friars had acquired by gift for
religious purposes. This claim met with scant considera-
tion at the Council meetings, and, as " dishonest persons,"
these two burgesses dissented from all the decisions of the
town concerning the Grey Friary.* With similar confidence
the Corporation replied to the Earl of Huntly's missive bill
upon the ground and buildings, and refused to recognise the
more formidable claim put forward by Master Duncan Forbes
of Monymusk as of any weight in a competition with their
own right derived directly from the Observatine Chapter.
Immediately after the vacation of the friary, Forbes, for
some unexplained reason, received a grant of it from
the Queen Dowager, "with power to him to laboure, use,
manure and occupy the landis and yardis (along with the
keeping and observing of the said Gray Freir place) be
himself, his servandis and utheris in his name at his plesour " ;
and this gift was ratified by Queen Mary in a Letter under
the Signet, commanding the magistrates to put him in full
possession of the whole friary property "and to kccj) and

^ The payment in the Hur-li Treasurer's Accounts (1594-95) for 950 slates for
the repair of the Grey Friars Church illustrates the amount of damage sustained.
^ Aberdcett Council Register, 23rd January 1559-60.
•' Ibid. iSlh October 1561. "• Ibid.

326 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

defend him thairintill, ay and quhill it plesit hir Grace to tak
ordour thairanent." ^ The magistrates nonetheless refused to
grant the infeftment, "without thai be compellit," and con-
verted the friary into the burgh malt and meal market, where
all orain enterine the town was to be stored, measured and
sold, subject to a tax of "ane hard heid of every laid of
victual " in place of the former dues." In the spring of 1562,
their position was rendered less assailable by the order of
the Privy Council directing the provosts of Aberdeen and
other burghs to uphold and use the Friars' Places for "the
common weill and service of the saidis townis " ; ^ and, on
30th December 1567, the Instrument of Resignation granted
by the friars was reinforced by the customary charter under
the Great Seal, conveying to them the friary site and
buildings for the erection of a hospital for the poor."^ Little
diligence was displayed in the furtherance of this humane
project, with the result that, on i8th August 1574, the
magistrates were summoned before the Privy Council and
instructed to provide that " the haill place, alsweill kirk as
the rest, sumtyme pertaining to the Gray Freris — except
samekle as is thocht requisite for the ludgeing of the pure —
be roupit to the maist avale and sett in few heritabillie to sic
as will gif maist yeirlie dewtie thairfore, and the same to be
fully apply it to the use and sustentatioun of the pure."^ In
respect of their previous remissness in making provision for
the paupers and destitute of the burgh they were fined 1000
merks,^ and F'orbes of Monymusk considered the opportunity
favourable for pressing his claim, in support of which he
produced the Letter of Gift from the Queen Dowager and
the Confirmation of Queen Mary. This infeftment was of
little value in 1574, and the Privy Council had no hesitation
in deciding in favour of the magistrates, on the ground that
their charter superseded Forbes' title by reason of its pro-
visional nature — "that the same suld indure quhill forder

^ Reg. p. C, II. 391-92.

2 Aberdeeji Cotiticil Regis ler, nth October 1561.

3 Reg. P. C, I. 202. •* Charter, ui supra. "^ Reg. P. C, II. 391.

" Aberdeen Coimcil Reg., 2nd September 1574. The Regent Moray discharged
this fine and accepted in its place the personal bond of the provost and bailies to
employ the money in accordance with the Crown Charter, 1567.

CHAP. IX.] ABERDEEN 327

order were tane."^ At the same time, the Regent and
Council intimated that their departure would be deferred
until the friary had been exposed to auction and the pro-
ceeds devoted to the poor, adding that the burgh charter
would be revoked unless a satisfactory bid were elicited.^
The magistrates finally fulfilled their obligation on 8th
October,^ and two years later the lessor renounced his right
in their favour.^ The church was leased by auction at a rent
of ^10, 13s. 4d. ;^ and, under reservation of the "kirk and
the lytill hacht howss*^ passynd furth of the queyir on the est
syd wall of the said kirk callit the fowalhowss,^ as it is
presentlie mercheit betuix four stane vallis, and of the grait
foryett cloiss and passage to the kirk be the grait dur and
be the lytill dur," the land was thereupon feued to David
Indeaulth, Andrew King and Andrew Jack, as the highest
bidders at a feu-duty of ^40, "to be deput and consignit to
the support of the indigent and puir in thair hospitall."^ In
1587, the charter granted to the magistrates twenty years
previously was reconfirmed by James VI. on attaining his
majority,^ and on 29th July of the same year the indefinite
rights of the Earl of Huntly were recognised in a Crown
charter which conveyed to him, in return for a feu-duty of
^40 payable to the hospital of Aberdeen and its inmates,
the subjects feued by the magistrates in 1576.-^° This con-
veyance in the Earl's favour was as little respected by the
town as that in favour of Forbes of Monymusk, and the
vassals, Patrick and Gilbert Jack, sons of Andrew Jack, re-
mained in possession until 1593, when the Earl Marischal
executed the deed of foundation of the magnificent college
with which his name is now identified.^^ As the friary build-

1 Reg. P. c, II. 391-92. 2 /^/^_

^ Aberdeeji Coimcil Register. * Ibid. 12th October 1576.

^ Treasurer's Accotinis, Charge, 1591. ^ Hayshed.

'' i.e. the fowl or hen house (at this date).

^ Records of Marischal Coll. and Univ., I. 87. On 5th December, Patrick
Jack, the successor of the last-mentioned feuar, received a Precept of Sasine
from the magistrates infefting him in one-third of the Grey Friars' Place ;
Charters 0/ Aberdeen, p. 391.

^ Charters of Aberdeen, pp. 88-90.

'« Reg. Mag. Sig. (Print), V. No. 1308.

" Records of Marischal Coll., I. 39. The deed of foundation was dated

328 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

ings were considered most " opportune and convenient " for
this purpose, the Council agreed to pay Andrew and Gilbert
Jack 1800 merks in full of all their rights, and, on 24th
September, after considerable dissension,^ " by a publict deed
gave away the convent itself to the richt honourable George
Erie Marishall of Scotland."^ The friary glebe became the
garden of the Principal of the New College, and from his
first rental we learn that it was worth fifty merks annually —
"it shold pay more bot we dispense with John Crafurd
because he is occupied in our farmis."^

ANALYSIS OF ABERDEEN OBITUAR Y CALENDAR *

I. Observatine Provincial Ministers^

Friar David Crannok (Carnok), Provincial Vicar of
this Province and also Commissary of the Reverend Father,
the cismontane*' Vicar General, died in England. In early
life he was a physician, especially of James II., King of
Scots, and his Queen, Mary, by whom he was held in high
repute, and thereafter he took the habit and became a doctor
of souls, 1472.

Friar Andrew Cairns, Provincial Minister of the Province
of Scotland, in truth a Father of high repute, for he was an
erudite and enlightened scholar in the sacred writings ; he
took high rank as an expert in the canon law, and was a
shining example in every phase of devotion. Four times he
filled the office of Minister with dignity and honour, and
peacefully fell asleep during his last term of office. He was
buried before the high altar in our convent at Edinburgh,

I543-'

2nd April, presumably in accordance with an agreement with the magistrates ;
it received the approval of the General Assembly on 26th April, and the ratifica-
tion of Parliament on 21st July following ; ibid. p. 84.

^ Several members of the Council wished the site and buildings to be held of
the magistrates as Superiors.

^ Records of Mar is dial Coll., I. 87. ^ Ibid. pp. 92-93.

* Facsimile and text, infra., II. pp. 2S5-336.

^ Having no ascertainable connection with the friary in Aberdeen.

^ i.e. from the Scottish point of view.

' In the role of mediator between James V. and the Earl of Angus, supra, p. 76.

CHAP, jx.] ABERDEEN 329

Friar Ludovic Williamson honourably filled the office
of Provincial Minister on two occasions, and peacefully fell
asleep while in office. He was buried in our convent at
Edinburgh, 1555. [Observatine Chronicle, 1553.]

II. Wardens of Aberdeen Friary, 1469-1559^

Friar Gerard of Texel, "one of the fathers who first
brought the sacred Observance to this kingdom. He con-
tinued to prosecute his labours in this Province for twelve
years, and died in this convent, while its Vicar, 1473."

Friar George Lythtone, "Warden of this convent, a
man of praiseworthy life, and a striking example in word and
action. For the space of about eighteen years, he laudably
directed the government of the friars in several of the
convents of this Province with continuous and burdensome
labours, from which at length he happily rested in the Lord
in the convent at Edinburgh, 1499."

[Friar Childe, designed in Deed of Agreement with
Gilbert Menzies dated 2nd April 1505.]

Friar Robert Bailze, " a man of profound humility,
patience and overflowing charity, sometime Warden of this
convent, and by reason of his gentle conversation singularly
beloved by the friars over whom he ruled, 15 10."

Friar James Pettigreu, " Provincial Minister of this
Province, in truth a Father of great repute for he was a most
enlightened scholar in the sacred writings and a shining
example in every phase of devotion. Before he obtained the
office of Minister, he thrice ruled the Province'^ worthily and
honourably as its Provincial, 15 18."

Friar James Winchester, "a venerable and zealous
friar who filled the offices of Warden and Gustos, and died in
France while Warden of this convent of Aberdeen, 1553."

Friar John Lytstar, "who for long honourably presided
over the brethren as Warden, and twice as Provincial. He
was a devout man of dove-like simplicity, a distinguished

' Additional notices enclosed in brackets [ ].

""' ?•<'■ The Wardemy or Custody of Aberdeen, comprising Elyin .md I'.rccliiii,
distinct from llie Ubbcrxutine Province uf Scotland.

330 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

reader in philosophy and theology, and a fervent preacher of
the divine word." N.D.

[Friar John Roger, the last Warden, who resigned the
friary into the hands of the magistrates of Aberdeen, 29th
December 1559.]

III. Friars of Aberdeen

Friar John Leydes, " layman and carpenter, a faithful
workman at his craft for this and other convents. He was a
devout and zealous brother, 1459." (1479 ?)

Friar Walter Leydes, " carpenter, who faithfully con-
structed a belfry for this convent, and cells for the friars,
and did much other good work, 1469."

Friar John Richardson, "who was one of the brethren
who first brought the sacred Observance to this kingdom.
He received the convent in Edinburgh, secondly that of
St. Andrews, and to him was mainly due the founding of
this, the third convent. He was buried in the Church of
St. Nicholas near the high altar, 1469."

Friar Alexander Merser, "specially devout and
exemplary, son and heir of the deceased Robert Merser,
laird of Innerpeffry in Strathearn, 1469."

Friar William Marschel, "devout and exemplary,
1469."

Friar John Louthon, " specially devout and exemplary,
who did much writing for the community here and also at
St. Andrews, 1473."

Friar Duncan Alexander, " specially devout, humble
and exemplary, 1483."

Friar Patrick Stalker, "devout and exemplary, who
laboured faithfully in this convent for 26 years, 15 12."

Friar John Strang, " priest and glass-worker, a faithful
workman in his craft, who did much of the work of his craft
in many convents throughout the Province, and, in particular,
in those of Perth, Ayr, Elgin and Aberdeen, 15 17."

Friar Alexander Van, " preacher and confessor, who,
in various convents, underwent much burdensome toil for the
common good, 1523."

CHAP. IX.] ABERDEEN 331

Friar Alexander Marchel, "priest, a devout and
zealous brother, of service to the community in many respects,
1526."

Friar Alexander Redy, "priest and confessor, a devout
and simple Father, who served God day and night to the end
of his life, 1529."

Friar Alexander Blair, "a devout father confessor,

1549."

Friar James Elphinstone, "preacher and confessor,

1553."

Friar William Fleming, "priest and preacher, who,
after completing ten years in Edinburgh and St. Andrews
under the yoke of our Observance, served God con-
tinually day and night in this convent for thirty-four
years in divine praises and rigid observance of the holy
communion." N.D.

Friar William Lesle, "priest and chantor, faithful in
divine service, young in years, of sedate manners, and comely
in body." N.D.

Friar William Gilruif, "priest, who died in the flower
of his youth, 1555."

Friar Francis Jamisone, "priest, preacher and confessor,
a devout Father, exemplary and zealous. He died on
St. Laurence Day, 1557, at a ripe old age."

Friar Alexander Gray, "priest and confessor, a man
of great faith and zeal in all that pertained to religion. He
died on loth January 1559, in the city of Aberdeen, at the
house of his brother, John Gray, and was buried in his
habit in the Cathedral Church before the altar of Saint
Catherine."

Friar John Ouiiitfurd, "priest, preacher and confessor."
N.D.

Friar John Thomson, " layman and carpenter by trade,
who in all that concerned his craft and that of the masons
was a more faithful workman than the seculars of these crafts.
Nor, outwith the friary, did lie accept any food or
drink on any occasion for his labours, but within the com-
munity his food for the greater part was the leavings of the
other friars, and in the common repast no one was more

332

OBSERVATINE FRIARIES

[chap. IX.

abstemious than he. In every good work, he was specially
vigilant, and slept but little." N.D.

Friar Walter Leche, "priest, preacher and confessor of
the seculars." N.D.

To these may be added —

[Friar Alexander Dick, who turned apostate in 1532.]

[Friars Anderson and Towris.]

[Friar John Geddy, who died in Aberdeen in 1575.]

[Friars Lamb and Harvey, who received pensions for the
years 1 561-1563.]

IV. Donors and Benefactors of the Aberdeen Friary

Elizabeth Barla or Barlow, Lady of Elphinstone and
Forbes, gave a silver chalice worth ^20 for the altar of
St. Francis.

She was an English lady, maid of honour and favourite attendant
of Princess Margaret, whom she accompanied to Scotland on the
occasion of her marriage to James IV. She is mentioned in the
Treasurer's Accounts during the years 1504 to 1507, one item being "for
ane pair of bedis of gold to Maistres Barlee and ane cors with them,"
valued at /^62. In or about the year 1507 she married Alexander
Elphinstone, a " familiar servitor " of the king, and many royal favours
were conferred upon them, including a gift of the Lands of Invernochty
and others in Aberdeenshire on 8th August 1507. This grant was made
"for good service and because the said Elizabeth has become naturalised
in Scotland," 1 and on 19th July 1508 they also received a Crown
Charter of the lands of Kildrummy Castle, which formed her dowry.^
Alexander Elphinstone was created Lord Elphinstone on 14th January
1 5 10, and fell with his royal master at the battle of Flodden, 9th
September 1513.^ His widow subsequently became the third wife
of John, sixth Lord Forbes, — a charter in their favour being dated
29th July 1515,* — and died in 15 18.

Egidia Blair, Lady of Row, gave 120 merks towards
the construction of the second church.

She was the eldest daughter of John Blair of Blair, and married
James Kennedy of Row, said to be first laird of Baltersan, who was the
second son of Gilbert, first Lord Kennedy, ancestor of the Earls of

' Reg. Mag. Sig. (Print), II. No. 31 15.
- Ibid. No. 3875, 1 2th August 15 13.
•* Reg. Mag. Sig. (Print), III. No. 2>2,-

'■'' Sco/s Peerage, IIL 530.

CHAP. IX.] ABERDEEN 333

Cassilis.i In addition to her donation of i 20 merks towards the con-
struction of the new church of this friary, she bequeathed, by her
Deed of Settlement, dated "at her dwelUng house of Baltersyne "
31st August 1530, twenty merks to the chaplains and friars on the day
of her burial, and forty pounds, two pairs of blankets, three bed-rugs and
one bed-cover of needlework to the Grey Friars (the Fratres Minimi)
of Ayr. She died in 1537, and was buried in the aisle of the Blessed
Virgin in the Abbey of Crossraguel.'-'

Duncan Burnet, Rector of Methlick, a special friend of
the Friars Minor, to whom he made an annual gift of ten
merks, alongr with diverse other alms and a scarlet cloth for
the high altar. He also gave 108 merks to St. Andrews,
109 merks to Perth, ^100 to Aberdeen, and 10 merks to each
of the other friaries towards the close of his life.

He was the younger son of Alexander Burnet of Leys and Janet
Gardine, and secured a renewal of his father's leases of Pittenkerrie, etc.,
on 29th April 1529, at which date he was described as Vicar of Kirkin-
tilloch.^ On 8th July 1529, James V. presented him, prospectively, to
the rectory of Methlick, a prebend of Aberdeen Cathedral, as soon as
a vacancy should occur. He was a Canon of Aberdeen, and, while
celebrating divine service in the Cathedral there, he was "assaulted
and several times felled to the earth" by John Elphinstone, Rector
of Innerochtie, who had to undergo his trial upon that charge in
1550."* The date of his death is entered in this Obituary and in that
of Aberdeen Cathedral as 1552.

Margaret Chalmer, Lady of Finlater and Drum, gave a
silver spoon and three sums of £20, £1^ and ^10 for the
needs of the friars.

It is narrated in her Deed of Gift to the Church of St. Nicholas,
Aberdeen, dated i8th January 1530-31, that the gift consisted of twenty
pounds Scots in gold and silver money, of which 13s. 4d. was to be
distributed annually by the collector, 6s. to be given to the poor, and
the collector to take 8d. for his trouble.'^ The following entry of her
death appears in the Register of Deaths for the parish of Aberdeen :
" Medonis Chalmer, lady of Fynlater, departtit the saxt day of April), the
yeir of God, 1532 yeirs."^

^ Scots Peerage, III. 453-54.

- Crossraguel Charters, I. 92. Transactiofis of the Ayrshire ami Gailoway
Archcrological Association, 1882, p. 87.

^ Family of Burnett of Leys, Spald. Club, p. 17.

■• Pitcairn, Critninal Trials, I. 356. '•' Chart, of St. Nicholas, p. 147.

« MS. Reg., G. R, H.

334 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

William Chalmer, of Balnacrag, gave ^20 for the needs
of the convent and its building, and ^8 for a chalice.

He died in 15 16, and was buried with the friars. He was witness to
a charter signed at Kintore on 9th August 1499.^ The lands of Balna-
crag were, about 1330, granted by Randolph, Earl of Moray, to Sir
James de Garvieaugh (Garioch), from whose son they were acquired by
Robert de Camera (Chalmers). This Robert Chalmers, ancestor of the
donor above-named, became the founder of the house of Chalmers of
Balnacrag, which flourished for more than four centuries.^

Duncan Chalmer, son of the above, gave ^20 in addition
to other frequent alms.

Robert Colane, a notable benefactor of the Order.

In 1458 a "Robert Culane," son and heir of Andrew Culane, was
made a burgess of the Guild and Trade of the Burgh of Aberdeen, and
on 20th September 1479, John de CuUane, son and apparent heir of
Robert CuUane, was entered as a burgess.^

David Colison made a gift of land necessary for the
extension of the cloister in 1481 ; his eldest son built a trance
to the choir and a-ave liberal alms.

He married a daughter of Matthew Fichet, was made a burgess of
Aberdeen,^ and was elected member of Aberdeen Town Council during
the years 1474 to 1477 inclusive. In the latter year he witnessed
several charters, in which he is designed as burgess of Aberdeen.

William Crichton, Rector of Oyne, gave liberal alms, and
bequeathed ^40 out of which a large part of the north wall
of the lower garden was built.

Gavin Dunbar, Bishop of Aberdeen, built the new church
at a cost of 1400 merks, and left as a legacy to the friary a
silver chalice, a scarlet chasuble and ten merks.

William, third Earl of Erroll, gave large annual doles in
victual and meat, and provided for the building of a large part
of the south wall of the friary.

He was second son of the first Earl of Erroll, and succeeded to the
earldom on the decease of his elder brother, Nicholas, in 1470. His
mother, Beatrix Douglas, Countess of Erroll, assisted the Friars Minor in

1 Reg. Episc. Aberd., I. 344. ^ ^/^/^ ^^^_ of Scot., XII. 29.

5 Aberdeeyi Council Reg.., V. 803 ; and VI. 536.
■* Burgess Reg. of Aberdeen, p. 12.

CHAP. IX.] ABERDEEN 335

Dundee during the famine of 1481-82, and provided for the celebra-
tion of masses for the welfare of the souls of herself, her deceased
husband, and her son, William, this donor. He was a Privy Councillor
to James III., from whom he had a charter of the Kirkton of Erroll on
22nd March 1482-83, and died in 1506-7.

William Elphinstone, Rector of Clat, gave liberal yearly
alms in money and kind, a chalice worth ^22, ten merks for
the construction of the wall of the old choir, and ^100 towards
the construction of the new church. As a legacy, he left
;^20 and four bolls of malt.

On 8th April 1505 he founded a mass in the Church of Saint Nicholas,
Aberdeen, for the salvation of his own soul and the souls of his parents,^
James Elphinstone and Isabella Bruce. His nephew was Alexander, first
Lord Elphinstone, who married Elizabeth Barlow, above-mentioned.
This donor was one of the Scottish ambassadors to England who
received safe conduct on 7th July i486. He resigned the tutorship of
his grand-nephew, the second Lord Elphinstone, on 15th March 1518,2
and in a charter of 3rd October 15 12 by him to the Church of the new
College of Aberdeen, in which he is designed as " Prebendary of Clatt
and Canon of Aberdeen," he bequeathed four merks annually for per-
formance of an obit.^ He died in 1528.

John Flescher, Chancellor of Aberdeen, gave liberal yearly
alms, and £20 Scots for the construction of the north house.

He was elected Chancellor of the diocese on 7th September 1493, and
gave a silver chalice and paten to the Cathedral.'* On nth July 15 16 he
received a sasine of part of a tenement belonging to Christina Blinseill,^
and after he had resigned the chancellorship gave 20s. for a mass to be said
in the Church of St. Nicholas.'' His death is recorded in this Calendar
in 1520, but in the Episcopal Register of Aberdeen' the date is fixed as
9th February 1522.

John Forbes of Pitsligo, in life and in death a great friend
to the friars.

Alexander Galloway, Rector of Kinkell and architect of
the second church, obtained 50 merks for the friars every four
years, and left them thirty merks at his death.

He was closely associated with Bishop Dunbar in most of his muni-
ficent structural undertakings, and enjoyed a high reputation in the

' Chart. St. Nicholas, p. 204 ; G. R. H., Chart. 679.

2 Scots Peerage, III. 530-32. ^ Original in University Archives.

•* Reg. Episc. Aberd., II. 21 1. ^ Aberdeen Charters., p. 399.

'' Chart. St. Nich., p. 172. " II. 21 1.

336 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

north of Scotland as an architect of ecclesiastical buildings. The second
church of the Grey Friars in Aberdeen was erected by him in 15 18
or shortly thereafter, at the request, and largely at the expense of his
friend, Bishop Dunbar, and remained for nearly four centuries a fitting
memorial to his architectural genius. At his own expense, he built an
altar in this church in honour of St. John the Baptist.^ From the
Earl Marischal he received a charter of the Croft of Skene on 12th
December 1539, for the purpose of building a manse ;2 and in his Deed
of Gift of Cryne's lands in Futtie to the Chaplains of the Cathedral of
Aberdeen, in 1543, he is described as "Parson of Kinkell, and bachelor
of the canon law, in decretis." ^ He was Rector of Aberdeen University
from 1516 to 1549,'* and died in the year 1552. His parents were
William Galloway and Marjorie Mortimer, for whom he caused masses
to be said in the Cathedral Church.'^

Adam Gordon, Rector of Kinkell, did much good for this
convent and for that of Elgin ; and after he lost his reason the
friars of Aberdeen received ten merks annually out of his alms
by direction of the Bishop, in consideration of his previous
generosity towards them.

In the Council Register oj Aberdeen, under date 22nd January 1484,
there is mention of this donor having paid 30s. " for the hiring of a cart." *^
Adam Gordon, prebendarius de Kinkell, witnessed a charter at Aberdeen
College on i6th March 1475.'' He died in 1508 — " Anniversarium pro
anima magistri Adami Gordone olim rectoris a Kynkell, qui obiit secundo
nonas Aprilis anno domini 1508."^

Thomas Halkerston, Provost of the Collegiate Church of
Crichton, Midlothian, gave 34 merks.

His name appears as one of the Commissioners for the Archbishop
of St. Andrews in an Instrument relating to the fixing of boundaries to
the lands of Kynnescot, dated i6th October 151 1. On 13th December
of the following year his name is given as one of the Lords of Council
in an Extract Act and Decree pronounced by them on that date ; and
on 29th April 1513 he consented to a Charter of Sale of the lands
of Guikhill by Lord Bothwell to John Heislop.'' There are letters of

^ Aberd. Ob. Cat.

^ Common Good of Aberdeen, Munro, p. 29.

^ Coll. Aberdeen aftd Banjf, p. 573.

* Records of Univ. and King's Col., Aberdeeti.
^ Reg. Episc. Aberd.

" Council Reg. Aberd. (Spald.), p. 413.
^ Reg. Mag. Sig. (Print), IIP No. 837.

* Reg. Episc. Aberd., IP 12.

^ MS. Cal. of Chart., G. R. H., 774, 793, 799.

CHAiMx.J ABERDEEN 337

date 24th and 25th February 1514, whereby the Papal Penitentiary,
Leonard, Cardinal of St. Eufame, directed this Thomas Halkerston, as
Provost of the Collegiate Church of Crichton, to give dispensation of
marriage to Alexander, Lord Hume, Great Chamberlain of Scotland,
and Agnes Stewart; and on 3rd June 15 14, in the Castle of Crichton, he
absolved the parties " so that they may remain married." ^ He died in
1516.

John Leis, Chaplain and member of the Third Order,
was alive in 1482 ;" he gave 12 merks, and acted as host of
the friars in Brechin.

Elizabeth Lewynton, sometime Lady of Ruthven, gave
40 merks, and liberal alms to other friaries.

James Lindsay, Archdean of Aberdeen, gave victuals and
daily alms, seventy well-bound volumes and a large chest.

He died in 1495, ^'""^ ^^'^^ buried in the friary at Edinburgh, the
anniversary of his death being celebrated in the Cathedral Church of
Aberdeen on 17th January.^

John Maitland, Subdeacon of Ross, contributed 100 merks
for the building of the lower part of the convent. This
Calendar records his death in 15 18, but he was alive
on 18th May 152 1, when he witnessed certain Letters of
Collation.'^

Thomas Myrton, as executor of Bishop Elphinstone, pur-
chased a plot of land for 70 merks.

The year 1515 recorded in this Calendar as the date of his death has
reference only to the date of his purchase of the land for the friary, in
accordance with the instructions of the Vicar of St. Andrews concerning
the estate of the late Bishop Elphinstone given on i6th November 1514.^
When the parish church of Auchindoir was annexed to the College of
Aberdeen on 24th March 15 13-14, Myrton, at that time Archdeacon of
Aberdeen and Rector of the said church, was created a Prebendary of the
College, to which he provided a chorister as well as a vicar to the church.
For the sum of ;,^2oo he also purchased a heritable annuity of ^10, and
presented it to the Collegiate Church of Crail, of which he was provost,
by the hands of Sir William Myrtoun, " his vicar, near kinsman and much

* Laing, Charters, No. 301.

^ Reg. Episc. Brechinensis, App. 116.
^ Reg. Episc. Abcrd., I. 269 ; and II. 2.

* Laing, Charters, No. 329.

'^ Reg. Episc. Aberd.f I. 387, 391 ; Chart. St. Nich., pp. 69, 70.
22

338 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

trusted," whose charter to the church is dated 20th April 1526.^ Letters
of Obligation, dated i6th December 1536, describe this sum as an endow-
ment to the church of Crail " for performance of masses for the health
of soul and safety of person of Sir Thomas Myrtoun, Archdeacon of
Aberdeen and Provost of Crail, for the souls of the late William Elphin-
stone. Bishop of Aberdeen, Mr. John Myrtoun, formerly Rector of Mony-
musk," and others. ^ The following anniversary notice appears in the
Episcopal Register of Aberdeen: "Julius, anniversarium pro anima
domini Thome Myrtoun, olim Archidiaconi Aberdonensis, qui obiit
anno Domini 1540." ^

John Murray gave ^20 in addition to other small alms.

By charter dated 7th March 1526-27, John Murray, burgess of Aber-
deen, with consent of his spouse, Janet Gray, gifted his tenement in
Castle Street to the Church of St. Nicholas. This was a death-bed
gift, and on 3rd June 1529 a further charter was granted to this
church by Patrick Gordoune of Methlik, as executor and intromitter
with the effects of this donor, narrating that the chaplains were doubtful
of the validity of the charter on account of the circumstances sur-
rounding its execution. The corroborative title was thereupon accepted
from his executor, who had "conquest of the same for payment of a
sum of money from John Alanson, the true and undoubted heir of the
said defunct."^

William Ogilvy, Chancellor of Brechin and host of the
friars, left many books to the Order at his death in 1480.

Lady Janet Paterson, relict of Sir Alexander Lauder, gave
liberal alms, and 100 merks as a legacy.

She was a daughter of John Paterson, burgess of Edinburgh, and
Mariota Wintoun, his spouse, and became the wife of John Carkettill,
also a burgess of Edinburgh.^ After his decease she married Sir Alex-
ander Lauder of Blyth, who, with the exception of a few short intervals,
was Provost of Edinburgh from 1500 until his death at the battle of
Flodden on 9th September 15 13.*' There is a Confirmation of date 24th
December 1506 to him and Jonete Patersone, his spouse, in the lands of
Estpleuchlandis de Nortoun." On 3 1 st May 1 509, the King, for good service,
gave a charter " to his familiar servant, Alexander Lauder, Provost of Edin-
burgh, and Jonete Patersoun, his spouse," of the lands of Thirlestane and
TuUosfeu, including the lands of Blyth in the county of Berwick,^ She sub-

^ Register of Collegiate Church of Crail.

2 Laing, Charters, No. 412. ^ Reg. Episc. Aberd., II. 15.

■* G. R. H., Chart. 1003, 1040 ; Chart, of St. Nicholas, p. 136.

^ Reg. Mag. Sig. (Print), III. No. 234.

^ Edin. Council Reg., I. 271-78.

'' Reg. Mag. Sig. (Print), II. No. 3019. ** Ibid. 3348.

CHAP. IX.] ABERDEEN 339

sequently acquired the lands of Over Libertoun from Alexander Dalmahoy
by charter dated 2nd July 15 17, and also the lands of Finglen in the
regality of Dalkeith, by one from the Earl of Morton, to herself in Uferent,
and John Carkettill, her grandson and heir, in fee, dated 13th June 1532.^
On 2nd September 1494, she gave her consent to her father's mortifica-
tion to the altar of St. Sebastian in St. Giles "for his soul and that
of Mariota Wintoun, his spouse"; and, in her own charter of loth June
1523, she gifted an annual rent to a chaplainry founded by her second
husband at the altar of Gabriel, the Archangel, in St. Giles, on nth
October 15 10. The relative Crown Confirmation, 17th August 15 13,
provided that the Friars Minor of Edinburgh were to receive a
portion of the alms gift. Lady Paterson also endowed the chap-
lainry of St. Sebastian, " for the weal of the souls of her deceased parents
and husbands," by charter, dated ist June 1523.- The date of her
death is given as 1534.

Andrew Rainy of Davolz contributed victuals and pecuni-
ary alms almost from the foundation of the friary until his
death in 15 19, when he left to the friars a legacy of 24 merks.

Alexander Richard or Richardson contributed upwards
of ^10 to the friary at Aberdeen, and /^6oo in all to the
Scottish Franciscans during his lifetime.

Robert Schand, Rector of Alness, gave alms at different
times, and purchased the north part of the lower garden.

In a Charter of Foundation by this donor, designed as Parson of
the parish church of Alness and Canon of Ross, to the Church of
St. Nicholas, dated 12th July 1542, he directed daily mass to be said
at the altar of St. Ann for himself and the souls of Donald Schand
and Margaret Forbes, his parents. On 20th February 1549, he gave
a donation of a silver chalice to this altar, of which he was
chaplain; and shortly before his death in 1549 he founded a mass
at it by assigning to the Curate and Chaplains of the Church of
St. Nicholas an annual rent of 26s. 8d. Scots, to be uplifted from
subjects in the Gallowgate — "for which they shall celebrate mass on
7th March until the day of my death, and, after my decease, on such
day as I shall have migrated from this world." " This Charter of Foun-
dation was dated 12th January 1548-49, and he "migrated from this
world" on ist August thereafter.

Duncan Scherar, Rector of Clat, in the Garioch district of
Aberdeenshire, gave upwards of ^'40 for the buildings and
other needs of the friars, in addition to occasional alms and
wine for the celebration of mass.

1 Reg. Mag. Sig. (Print), III. No. 1355. " Ibid. Nos. 234, I'i'l'^'

^ Chart, St. Nicholas, II. 181, 217.

340 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

He was a son of William Scherar and Isabella Rutherfurde, and
entered into an agreement with the Curate and Chaplains of the parish
church of Aberdeen, on 15th November 1488, for the celebration of
masses on their behalf. By a charter dated 1st March 1 501-2, in which
he is designed as Prebendary of Clat and Canon of Aberdeen, he en-
dowed the altar of St. Andrew in the Cathedral Church, and made a
donation to its altar of St. Duthac.^ On 20th July 1456 he appeared
personally before the Bailies and Council, declaring that he had been
promised the gift of the first vacant " chapilnary," and applied for that
of St. Nicholas, then vacant. Henry Hervy was, however, appointed,
but " Mayster Duncan " was promised the first vacant chaplainry for
his own acceptance, or to give to one of his friends;^ and there is a
charter to Andrew Ranison of certain lands burdened with a payment
to the chaplains of St. Nicholas, dated loth May 1496, by this donor,
in which he is designed "of Betschaur." ^' He was appointed Vicar
General of Bishop Elphinstone during the absence of the Bishop when on
his last embassy to Rome in 1491-92, and was therefore designed in a
charter, dated 10th May 1491, "Canon of Aberdeen and Vicar General
of William, Bishop of Aberdeen, then in remote parts." He died on
4th October 1503. " Anniversarium Magistri Duncani Scherar, olim
rectoris de Clat, qui obiit anno domini 1503."'*

William Stewart, Bishop of Aberdeen (1532-45), con-
tributed daily alms, ^40 for the purchase of the site of the
north part of the new church, and built a new infirmary for
the sick and infirm friars.

He was a son of Sir Thomas Stewart of Minto and Isabel, daughter
of Sir Walter Stewart of Arthurly, and was born at Glasgow about 1479.
He was Prebendary and Dean of Glasgow in 1527, Rector of Lochmaben,
Ayrshire, in 1528, Lord Treasurer and Provost of Lincluden in 1530.
In 1532 he was elected Bishop of Aberdeen, and in the following year
was sent as an ambassador to England.^ He erected an infirmary for
the sick friars of this convent, and it is also on record that he built " the
librarie hous, and with a number of books furnisht the same, as also he
built the Jewell or charter hous and vestrie or chapter house for the
University." <5 He died on 17th April 1545.^

Robert Valterstone, Provost of Bothans Church, gave

^ CJiart. St. Nicholas., pp. 61, 64.
- Cotmcil Register Abej'd. (Old Spald. Club), p. 21.
^ Chart. St. Nich., p. 34. * Reg. Episc. Aberd., II. 20.

^ Scot. Monas., Walcott, p. 109 ; Keith's Bishops, pp. 71, 72.
. " Records of Univ. and Kiitg's Coll. Aherd., p. 533.
"^ Scot. Monas., p. 109.

CHAP. IX.] ABERDEEN 341

He was Provost or Principal of the Collegiate Church of Bothans
(Yester or Gifford) in East Lothian, which was founded in 14 18 by Hugh
Gifford, last Lord Yester of that surname,^ and, as Provost in 1529, wit-
nessed a charter, dated at Haddington on loth June of that year.^ On
20th June 1535 in this capacity he accepted sasine of certain acres in
the burgh of Haddington from John Atkynssoun, burgess of Edinburgh,
and immediately resigned the same in favour of Sir William Dobsoun,
Vicar of the Church of Bothans, in name of his brethren and their suc-
cessors.^ He was one of the Commissaries delegated by the Papal See
in terms of letters, dated at Rome 13th May 1535, to ratify a lease of
the lands of Maysheill in the county of Berwick, between the Prior of
the Convent of Pittenweem and William Cockburn.^ He also witnessed
a charter signed at Kelso on 19th February 1539-40.^

Elizabeth Vindegatis gave 3000 merks (;^2000 Scots) for
the purchase of chaHces, ornaments, images, bells, etc., for
the seven friaries erected prior to her death in 1493.

Richard Vaus, Laird of Many, Aberdeenshire, secured the
permanent settlement of the friars in Aberdeen upon a plot
of ground valued at ^100 Scots in 1470.

The name of "Vaus" is a corruption of " De Vallibus," and, as
owner of an estate in close proximity to the burgh, and a burgess of
the town, he was a man of considerable importance among the citizens.
On 15th June 1448 he was appointed with others to inquire into a
charge against the parson of Dunottar for manslaughter." He died on
17th January 1478-79, and on ist February following, his son and heir,
Gilbert Vaus, along with his brother John, was admitted to the burgess
roll of Aberdeen." The lands of Many, by charter dated 22nd January
1555-56, came into the possession of John Carnegie of Kinnaird,
a scion of the Earls of Southesk, on his marriage to Margaret Vaus,
daughter of John Vaus of Many, a descendant of this donor.^

ROYAL BOUNTIES TO THE GREY FRIARS OF ABERDEEN

Treasurer's Accounts

1497. Item, the loth day of October, to the Gray Freris of Abirdene, 40s.
1501. Item, the 25th day of October, for half ane stane of wax to the Gray

Freris of Abirdene, 9s.
1504. Item, on Sonday the 3rd day of November to the Gray Freris in

Abirdene, be the Kingis command, 42s.

» Keith's Bishops. 2 ^fs. Cal. of Chart., G. R. H., 104 1.

'■* MS. Swtnton Charters, (i. R. M., 1 10.

* Laing's Charters, No. 402.

'^ Ibid. No. 441. ^ Council Records, Abcrd. (Spakl.), p. 16.

^ Aberd. Burgess Reg. (New Spald. Club).

* Douglas Peerage y I. 513.

342 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap.ix.

1505. Item, the 27th day of October, to the Gray Freris in Abirdene, 42s.
1548. October, to the Gray Freris of Abirdene, ;^4.

1552, 5th July, be my Lord Governor's special command to the Gray Freris
in Abirdene, ^zo.

ROYAL BOUNTIES TO THE SISTERS OF ST. MARTHA AT
CAMPVERE IN THE NETHERLANDS

Notices of payment by the Custumar of Aberdeen of a barrel of salmon, sent
to these Sisters by the Friars Minor of Aberdeen as the alms of
James IV., who inaugurated the custom, appear in the Rolls audited
2nd August 1502, 8th July 1503, 26th June 1504, i8th July 1505, 17th
July 1508, loth July 1509, 29th August 1510, 8th August 1511, 13th
August 1512, 26th July 1513, 3rd September 1515, 20th August 1518.

1 52 1, 9th March. Gilbert Menzies and John Mar, Custumars of Aberdeen,
take credit for a barrel of salmon due annually to the Sisters of St.
Clare de Veris instead of ;^3 of money by command of the late king
during his pleasure for the (four) years of this account, ;^i2; and the
Accountants are ordained by the Auditors of Exchequer to deliver this
barrel of salmon in future yearly to the Sisters of St. Catherine dwelling
near the Burgh Muir of Edinburgh.

SELECTED EXAMPLES FROM MS. NOTARIAL PROTOCOL
BOOKS (G. R. H.) OF DOCUMENTS AND AGREEMENTS
COMPLETED WITHIN THE FRIARY

1524. Agreement ratified in the place of the Friars Minor of Aberdeen, 5th

October 1524. (Sir John Cristisone, No. 2.)
1527. Arbiters appointed to meet in \S\q. place of the Friars Minor of Aberdeen,

3rd February 1527. {Ibid.)

1 55 1. Instrument of Resignation done in the public street of Aberdeen at the
place of the Friars Minor, 19th April 1551. (Robert Lumisdane, No. 6.)

1552. Procuratory of Resignation made in the chapter of the Friars Minor of
the town of Aberdeen, 20th February 1552. {Ibid.)

1552. Agreement made in the cloister of the Friars Minor of the town of
Aberdeen, 24th June 1552. {Ibid.)

1553. Agreement made in the church of the Friars Minor of the town of
Aberdeen, 7th October 1553. {Ibid.)

CHAPTER lX—{cofitifwei)

OBSERVATINE FRIARIES

Glasgow

During the latter half of the fifteenth century, the city
of Glasgow evinced no promise of its future commercial
greatness. Its importance rested entirely on its position as
the ecclesiastical capital of the west of Scotland, in the same
manner as St. Andrews dominated the east ; and the circum-
stances surrounding the settlement of the Observatines in both
cities were identical. " Since, in the kingdom of Scotland,
there are two metropolitan churches, the one in St. Andrews
and the other in Glasgow, the Archbishop [sic) of the latter,
imbued with an earnest love for the Order of Observance,
sent for some holy friars, converts of Cornelius, and in 1472
built a magnificent convent for them in his city. Twenty
worthy priests generally resided in it, with the special duty
of hearincr the confessions of the students."^ The Charter
of Mortification" of this site confirms the active participation
of Bishop Laing, and supplies the further information that
Thomas Forsyth, Rector of Glasgow, contributed to his
Superior's gift, because the southern portion of the site
selected for the friary in the ecclesiastical quarter of Glasgow
formed part of the parsonage lands.^ The "magnificence " of
the friary and the extent of its site is now entirely a matter
of conjecture. It lay on the west side of the Grey Friars

1 Ob. Chron. - MS. Reg. Mag. S/g., IX. No. 2 ; supra, p. 62.

^ In 151 1, the north portion of the western boundary was the archiepiscopal

lands of Ramishorne, and at the same date the southern portion was part of

the parsonage lands, which also included the " Craegmak," the southern boundary

of the friary. In 1575, the western boundary was vaguely described as "the lands

of the Rector of Glasgow and Medoflat." D/ocesau J\fg/s/crs of Glasgow

(Grampian Club), 22nd March and 22nd February 1511; Glasgotu Protocols

(R. Renwick), IV. No. 1061, and VII. No. 2242.

343

344 OiBSERVAtiNE FRIARIES [chaimx.

Wynd/ which gave access to it from the High Street and
divided it from the rear portions of the tenements fronting
the latter street. The western wall of the friary garden
abutted on the open lands of Ramishorne and the parsonage
lands.^ The common vennel leading to Deanside well and
yard ^ and the garden of one Ranald constituted the northern
boundary;* and, in 1530, the south or " baksyd of the
Grayfreris, callit Craegmak," was a plot of land feued to
William Smyth and his spouse at a feu-duty of 3s. 6d.
per rood.^

As a special Bull of Erection was granted to Edinburgh
on the procurement of the Bishop of St. Andrews, the
sanction of the Curia for the erection of this friary may be
held as expressed in the Intellexiinus te. In 151 1, the local
clergy decided to increase the friary demesne, and on this
occasion the apostolic license to accept the gifts of
Archbishop Bethune and Rolland Blacader, Canon and
Prebendary of Glasgow^ — with clauses de 7'ato et grato —
was granted in a separate instrument. "This little piece
of land " comprised two contiguous strips immediately
beyond the west wall, the northmost portion, measuring
20 feet in width, being bounded by Ranald's garden, and its
continuation southward over the Rector's lands 22 feet. The
purpose of this addition is vaguely expressed as the " ex-
tension of the buildings and gardens of the said friars " ;
but the loss of the titles granted by these two donors is of
greater moment, in that it has deprived us of one of the
rare illustrations of the special form of destination inserted
into conveyances by the churchmen in favour of the Observa-
tines. In completion of the feudal ceremonies of investiture,
Warden John Johnson asked instruments of Canon Blacader's

1 MS. Reg. Acts and Decreets, XXVIII . f. 344, G. R. H. "... the gait passand
fra Gray Freris place in the said cietie to the market croce thereof." Sasine dated
8th March 1557-58.

2 Diocesan Registers, ut supra. ^ Protocols, VII. No. 2242.
* Diocesan Registers, 22nd March 151 1.

^ Protocols, IV. No. 1061. At the Reformation, WiHiam Hegait was the feuar
on the south, and the Craegmak extended down to the road leading eastwards from
the High Street past the grammar school to the Ramishorne lands. Ibid. VII.
No. 2242, and IV. No. 1745.

" Diocesati Registers, ut supra.

CHA1-. IX.] GLASGOW 345

gift from the notary in the friary chapter house ; while
the Observatine Provincial Minister appeared in person
to accept the symbols of ownership of the Archbishop's
grant.

If this friary received a money or victual stipend from the
Crown, no trace of it now survives in the Exchequer records,
except three notices of barrels of West Sea herring given as
royal alms/ The analogy with St. Andrews and Aberdeen
is complete in this respect ; and it seems impossible to explain
why these important friaries in the three episcopal centres
should have received practically nothing from the Crown,
unless we consider their situation in relation to the " Bishop's
Charity."^ The donation of 40s. from the Earl of Arran
in 1535 may have been an annual payment,^ and there is
no reason to suppose that this friary did not receive a share
of the Governor's alms in money like the other Observatine
houses during the minority of Queen Mary.* From the
accounts of the Treasurer, we learn that they carried out their
theory of poverty by selecting a "provisioner," to whom the
gifts from the Privy Purse were given to be expended on
their behalf.^ The donation of six French crowns, on the
occasion of the King's journey through Ayr and Glasgow
on his return from Whithorn in April 1503, illustrates the
connection which was maintained by the friary at Glasgow
with its offshoot in Ayr; and that of ^10 — "to the Gray
Freris of Glasgow, the time of the air of Dumbartan, be the
Lordis componitouris consideratioun " — doubtless implies that
some use had been made of the friary during the circuit.
Legacies were not an abnormal source of revenue. Between
the years 1547 and 1555, the Commissariot Record of Glas-
gow ^ discloses ten legacies from laymen, worth ^24, 13s. 4d.,
varying in value from 6s. 8d. to 20 merks, and three

1 Exchequer Rolls, 1529, 1538, 1560. 2 Supra, p. 297.

^ MS. Account of Thomas Wilsott, Chamberlain to the Earl of Arran ; original
at Hamilton Palace. Payments of ^8, 6s. 8d. to the Black Friars of Glasgow are
also entered in this Discharge.

■* The Exchequer Rolls are incomplete.

'' 5th February 1501. Summary, infra, p. 350.

^ This is the only pro-Reformation fragment now extant. G. R. H.,
Edinburgh.

346 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

from churchmen, amounting to ^26, 13s. 46/ From other
sources, we learn that Hugh, first Earl of Eglinton,
by his will dated 23rd September 1545, bequeathed ^10
to the friars to pray for the souls of himself and his wife
during one year,^ and Rolland Blacader, Subdean of Glasgow,
directed his chaplain to pay six pennies for each of the
twenty-two masses to be celebrated on his obit day — "ten
with the Friars Minor and twelve with the Friars Preachers
dwelling in the city of Glasgow."^

Otherwise the pre- Reformation history of the friary is
restricted to notices of four legal instruments completed
by the parties within its chapter house and church,* and
of the presence of Warden Johnson, Friar Tenand, and
Alexander Cottis and Thomas Bawfour, lay brothers, in the
role of witnesses to the renunciation of his offices by the
moribund Alexander Inglis, Treasurer of the Church of
Glasgow.^ Another Warden, John Paterson,^ is also recorded
as a witness to the deed of indenture of the " Prenteischip of
Patrick Dunlop of the saydlar craft." '^ During the stormy
scenes of Reformation, the religious houses in Glasgow enjoyed
immunity from attack until the autumn of 1559, when the
ever active Earl of Argyll, accompanied by the Duke of
Chatelherault and his son, "profaned the sacred things
hitherto unviolated."^ The fate of the friary is uncertain.
The Privy Council order of 15th F"ebruary 1562^ refers in a
general manner to the undemolished friaries of the Mendicant
Orders in Aberdeen, Elgin, Inverness and Glasgow ; and the

^ Summary, inf7-a, pp. 350-51.

2 Confirmation, 12th March 1545-46; Hist. MSS. Coftt., Tenth Report., I. 26,
No. 72.

^ Protocols., II. p. Ill ; Deed of Foundation of a Chaplainry at the Altar of St.
John and St. Nicholas in the Cathedral Church. As this deed was granted by a
churchman it indicates that there were at least ten ordained priests in the Grey
Friary.

* MS. Protocol Books, Gavin Ross of Ayr, I. 21st November 1516, G. R. H. ;
Glasgow Protocols (Print), 6th March 1556, V. Nos. 1334-36.

* Diocesan Registers, 9th April, 15 13.

^ Provincial Minister in 1540 and 1549.
^ Glasgow Protocols, IV. iioi, 24th October 1531.

** Leslie, II. 428, Ed. Scott. Text Soc. The Earl of Arran reached Scotland
from France about loth September, Cal. Scot. Pap., I. 538.1
» Reg. P. C, I. 202.

cHAP.ix.] GLASGOW 347

subsequent Protocol of 23rd December 1575, which records
the conveyance " of the place formerly of the Friars Minor
of Glasgow with yards and surrounding wall " ^ throws no
light on its then condition. The magistrates ought to have
assumed possession of the site both under the above order
and the charter of the ecclesiastical properties within their
jurisdiction granted by Queen Mary on i6th March 1566-7 ;^
while the Crown Precept of the Thirds and Superplus^
of the endowments formed a necessary link in the title
antecedent to the transference of these lands to the
University on 8th January 1572-3/ The Black Friary was
dealt with in this manner. Its yard was let at an agri-
cultural rent of £^ in 1561 and 1562.^ By 1563, an
annual revenue of ^32, 4s. 5d. had been assigned to the
" Regents of the University " as the official value of the
annuals formerly payable to the Black Friary from " my Lord
Dukis landis of the nether toune of Hammiltoune and
annual lyand in Avendale, togidder with the annuellis of
the toune of Glasoow."" The " Regents of the Pedaoroore "
also received an assignation of nineteen bolls of malt formerly
uplifted by the Dominicans from the lands of Ballagane in
Lennox ; but, after the date of the Crown Charter, this
assignment was revoked, and the malt, along with ten bolls
of meal that had escaped notice until 1566, was transferred
to " the sustentatioun of thair minister." ^ The pre-Reformation
characteristics of the Grey Friary were, however, accurately
reflected in its history during these years. It had possessed
neither ground annuals, victual stipend payable out of

^ MS. Prot. Books, Henry Gibson, II. f. 241 ; i/ifra, II. p. 248. The church
of the Black Friary remained intact until its destruction by lightning in 1670.

^ Precept, MS. Reg. Privy Seal, XXXVI. f. ^^ ; Charter, Miaii/nenia Univer-
s it at is Glasg.y I. 71.

^ 5th June 1568 ; Liber Collegii, pp. Ixxxii-lxxxiv. * Ibid.

^ MS. Accounts, Collector-General, 1562.

^' Ibid. 1 56 1 and 1562. Sub-Collector's Accounts, 1563 and 1566, Sect. XIII.
Dr. Joseph Robertson {Liber Collcgii, Maitland Chib) discloses the titles of
burghal and landward annual rents to the value of X3S) 12s. 4d. constituted in
favour of the Black Friars ; but the restricted definition of those secured by the
Collector of Thirds makes it clear that a considerable number of landward annuals
escaped notice in 1561. The ultimate destination of the annual allowance of J\,i'})i
13s. 4d. to these friars from the fermes of Dumbarlon and Cadiow is now unknown.

' Ibid, anno 1568.

348 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

private lands, nor land outwith the town. Consequently,
unheeded by the Collectors or the Regents, and probably with
the connivance of the magistrates, it passed into the private
ownership of Sir John Stewart of Minto, then Provost of Glas-
gow and Collector of Thirds. His title was attacked by the
University in 1575, when a decree of ejectment was obtained
against the tenants and occupiers of the lands comprised in its
grant; and Signet Letters were issued on 12th December
forbidding further alienations of these lands by the churchmen.^
Nevertheless, eleven days later, through his procurator, John
Herbertson, he asserted his right of ownership as an individual,
by resigning the friary^ to one Joanna Conyghame ; and, with
her subsequent resignation of the subjects to her eldest son,
the friary passed permanently out of the patrimony of the
University.^ Sir John was, therefore, one of the " greedie
askeris," already referred to. The friars themselves had long
since quitted the scenes of their former labours. None
remained in Scotland to receive the Mendicant pension out
of the Thirds of Benefices, and the closing scenes of their
mission of self-denial in Glasgow offer an apt illustration of
personal poverty as practised among them. The preparations
of James Baxter, ere he went into exile, are the counterpart
of the expropriation of George Hugo, the Conventual friar
of Haddington. In early life, by the consent of " Johne
Smyth's bayrnis," James Baxter became the Archbishop's
rentaller of the 43s. lod. land of Haghill, in which his
predecessor had been rentalled on 5th August 1513.^ When
he took the Observatine habit. Friar Baxter necessarily

^ Mtatimenta^ I. 96. ^ Barony land.

^ MS. Prof. Books, Henry Gibson, II. f. 241 ; iufra, II. p. 248. There is no
evidence that Sir John Stewart's title was burdened by any right of superiority
{Vide Disposition of the Friary in Haddington, infra, II. p. 56). The changes
efifected in civic and ecclesiastical government within the Barony in November
1573, the Privy Council's exoneration of Sir John's intromissions with the Thirds,
and the fact that the Crown Charters were subject to innumerable and unexpressed
reservations, prove that the Grey Friary in Glasgow was a direct gift by the Crown
to this " greedie asker." His brother, Adam Stewart, also obtained a gift of the
lands of the Grey Friary at Lanark ; supra, pp. 152, 155, 245.

* Rental Book of the Barony of Glasgow, I. 48, 84. The subsequent transmission
of this right, recorded in the Protocol of 19th June 1560, specifically states that
"the said James was rentalled by the Archbishop of Glasgow, superior thereof" :
MS. Prot. Books, Henry Gibson, 1. f. 36 ; infra, II. p. 247.

CHAP. IX. J GLASGOW • 349

abandoned his beneficial ownership of the land in accordance
with the statutes of the Order ^; and thus we find it in the
possession of George and Robert Gray, as tenants, while he
was an inmate of the friary. Ex facie of the register, James
Baxter, however, remained rentaller ; - and coincident with
the expulsion of the friars, the death of his brother Robert
invested him with an heirship of considerable value. If the
friar had intended to remain in Scotland, a suitable provision,
therefore, awaited him on his return to civil life ; but his
intention was to observe his vow of poverty and to remain
faithful to his Church. Accordingly, he appeared in the
Barony Court of Glasgow on 19th June 1560, to comply
with the exioencies of the civil law in the execution of two
instruments.^ Under the one, he renounced his brother's
heirship in favour of his kinsman Robert Herbertson,'* and
in the other he granted a gratuitous assignation of the lands of
Haghill also to Herbertson, the writ making reference to the
personal or incompleted right ofhis brother Robert to the lands.*^
It is therefore clear that James Baxter accompanied his fellow
friars into exile, and, together with our knowledge derived
from extraneous sources, the resignation of his share in this
world's goods illustrates a scene that must have been enacted
in many another town by Mendicant Friars who subordinated
the instincts of nationality to the dictates of conscience.

^ M. F., II. 85. They demanded a complete severance from temporal interests,
actual or contingent. In 1565, the Church recognised common ownership of
property by all the Mendicant Orders, except the Observatine and Capuchin
Franciscans.

- There is nothing to indicate who received the rents from the tenants and paid
the Archbishop's duties ; but the strict provisions of the Observatine Rule against the
possession of land in this manner, the practice indicated by the case of George Hugo,
and the personal right in the lands acquired by Friar Baxter's brother, make it reason-
able to suppose that Robert Baxter, or some member of his family, drew the rents.

" Glasgow Protocols^ V. 1370-71.

■* The Accounts of the Collector-General further pro\e that James Baxter did
not receive the pension of ^16 granted to recanting friars.

^ In an article on the Grey Friars of Glasgow {Scot. Hist. Review, III. 179) Mr.
John Edwards assumes that the lands of Ilaghill were the site of the friary, and
suggests that Friar Ikixter remained in Glasgow in enjoyment of a liferent share
in the friary property. His renunciation of the heirship and the Accounts di\s'^xo\&
the latter suggestion ; and, if there were any doubt concerning these lands, it is
set at rest by the fact that the site of the friary was not rentalled land, and that the
conveyance was granted by liaxter, as an individual, and not by the Warden and
Chapter as was done in every other case.

350 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

ROYAL BOUNTIES TO THE GREY FRIARS OF GLASGOW

I. Exchequer Rolls

1529, 19th August. Paid by James Colville of Ochiltree, Comptroller, to the

Friars Minor of Observance of Glasgow, two barrels of herrings from the

Western Sea.
1538, 1 8th September. Paid by James Colville as the King's alms for the

term of this account, to the Friars Minor of Observance of Glasgow, one

barrel of herring.
1560, 20th March. Paid by the Comptroller to the Friars Minor of Observance

of Stirling and Glasgow, as the alms of the King and Queen, two barrels

of herring of the Western Sea.

II. Treasurer's Accounts

1500, 5th February. Gifitin be the Kingis command to the Gray Freris of
Glasgo, deliverit to thair provisour, 28s.

1503, 1 8th May. Payit to the ComptroUar that he laid doun be the Kingis
command to the Freris of Air and Glasgo when the King com fra
Quhithirn in Aprile bipast, 6 Franch crounis — Summa, ^4, 4s.

1504, nth June. To the Gray Freris of Glasgow, 40s.
i505> 25th April. To the Freris of Glasgow, 14s.

1505, 7th June. Payit to Lord Avendale, he gaif to the Freris of Glasgo, 14s.
1505. Item, the nth day of Junij to the Gray Freris of Glasgo, 40s.

1 53 1) 30th September. To the Gray Freris of Glasgow, the time of the air
of Dumbartan, be the Lordis componitouris consideratioun, ^10.

LEGACIES TO THE GREY FRIARS OF GLASGOW, 1547-55,
appearing in the MS. Heg. Conf. Test, of the Diocese of Glasgow at ff. i8b,
3b, 2i5a, 24a, 34a, 34b, 37a, 51b, 48a, 59a, 80a, 89b, 85b. G. R. H.

1547, 24th March. Testament of Peter Adam, to the Friars Minor of
Glasgow, 20s.

1547, 4th November. William Cunningham of Glengarnok to the Friars
Minor of Ayr and Glasgow, 20 merks.

1548, 30th May. Testament of Gavin Dunbar, Archbishop of Glasgow.
" Item, to the Friars Minor of Glasgow, ^10."

1548, 19th June. Cuthbert Adam. " Item, lego fratribus minoribus Glasguen.
pro trigentalio aureo celebrando pro anima mea, 30s."

1549, 27th April. Testament of ... to the Friars Minor, 20s.

1549, 26th June. Janet Maxwell, wife of John Knox, citizen of Glasgow, to
the Friars Minor, los.

1549, loth December. Janet Mulzeane, to the Friars Minor of Glasgow, 40s.

1550, 13th February. Richard Hucheson, to the Friars Minor of Glasgow, 20s.
1550, 1 8th October. Mr. James Houston, Subdean and Vicar General of

Glasgow, to the Friars Minor of the city of Glasgow, ^10.

CHAP. IX.]

GLASGOAV

351

1551, 15th August. John Lindsay of Covington, to the Friars Minor in
Glasgow, 40s.

1 55 1, loth October. Janet Bailie, Lady of Cruddildyks, to the Friars Minor
of Glasgow, two bolls of meal.

1552, 6th February. Cuthbert Simson, Vicar of Dalliell, to the Friars Minor
of Glasgow, 10 merks.

1553, i6th April, John Haisty, to the Friars Minor of Glasgow, 6s. 8d.^

Additional
1545, 23rd September. Earl of Eglinton to the Friars Minor for one year,

^ During the same period the Black Friars received eight legacies, amounting
to ;^26, 13s. 4d., of which ^20 was contributed by churchmen. In five instances
the testator left legacies to both friaries.

'Wmm^sm'M^^mMm

The Cordeli^re and the Ermine of Brittany.
Chateau de Blot's.

CHAPTER I X— {continued)

OBSERVATINE FRIARIES

Ayr

The friary at Ayr appears, in the chronicle of Father
Hay, as an offshoot from Glasgow, and was wholly due
to the religious zeal of the burghers, stimulated by the
"fragrant" report of the friars settled in the episcopal city
two years previously under the auspices of Bishop Laing.
"A great throng of merchants," we are further told, "re-
sorted to it to confess to the fathers, and in the friary church
the Blessed Virgin, the mother of God, was worshipped with
the highest veneration by the crowd of Christians ; and
through her prayers and merits many miracles were wrought
there." ^ The foundation received papal sanction under the
Bull obtained by the Bishop of Dunkeld in 1481-82,^ and its
site was that now occupied by the Old Parish Church on
the south bank of the river Ayr, in full view of the "auld
brig," over which the friars passed full many a time on
their missions of mercy,^ Nothing whatever is known of
the buildings, beyond the fact that at least a portion of
the beautiful stained glass of the church windows was the
work of the artistic Friar Strang of Aberdeen;* while the
names of Wardens Arthur Park and Rae, and Friar John
M'Haig,^ who was summoned to Stirling as a witness in
1502, alone appear in the local and central records. Their
intimate relations with the commercial life of the community
may be appreciated, to a certain extent, from the notices
occurring in the Protocol Books of Gavin Ross of Ayr.^ In

^ Ob. Chron. ^ Ittfra, II. p. 250.

' The lane, now leading from the High Street to the church, was, as in several
other towns, then known as the Friars Vennel.

* Aberd. Ob. Cal. ^ MS. Acta Dom. Condi., XIII. f. 94.

^ MS., G. R. H., Vols. I. and II.

352

CHAP. IX.] AYR 353

an action for divorce instituted before the Commissary of
Lesmahagow, one John Symontoun asked for a decree in
his favour on account of the non-appearance of his wife in
the suit. The judge, however, delayed sentence to allow
the husband an opportunity to consult the Grey Friars (of
Ayr or Glasgow), and to find security for the return of the
lady's dowry.^ In 1529, conform to a decree of court,
Margaret Crawford, widow of William Hebburn of Lowis,
and Janet Crawford, widow of William Cathcart of Drums-
muddan, delivered to Friar Arthur Park in sure custody,
"a sum of twenty merks in a closed purse" for the use of
David and Margaret Cathcart, children of the said William
Cathcart.^ From the records of two other lawsuits of this
period, we learn that the friars of Ayr also enjoyed the
favour of the ancestors of the Earls of Cathcart, and that
they were the trusted custodiers of part of the title deeds
of the hundred merk land of Carlton. In the first action,
affecting the rights of Margaret and Sibilla Cathcart, heirs
portioners of Allan Cathcart of Carlton, to certain Letters
of Reversion, the parties had agreed to place the Letters in
the hands of the friars for safe custody.^ The heirs of Sibilla
then demanded delivery of the documents from the Warden,
during the competition with the assignee of their deceased
father ; and they obtained a warrant from the local court
ordering the Warden to produce the Instrument in their
mother's favour. However, on the appeal of the assignee
to the Lords of Council, the impartial attitude of the Warden,
as custodier, was vindicated by an interlocutor of June 1530,
directing him to retain the Letters pending the decision of
the question at issue."* As an interesting illustration of
contemporary judicial procedure, it may be noted that
this interlocutor was communicated to the friars by the
Macer of the Court, who received 20s. for his travelling
expenses.^ These two sisters had been infefted in the
barony as heirs portioners of their father under two
Instruments of Sasine on 2nd May 15 10; and twenty-two

1 MS., G. R. H., Vol. I. I2th November 1516. 2 /^/,/. n_ .^ih j^^^ 15.9.

^ Ibid. I. 1 2th November 15 16. * J/.S'. GiM^a/'^/'a/^rj, Family Charter Chest.
" Treasurer's Accounts, 15th June 1530.
23

354 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

years later the Crown endeavoured to seize the lands
under an apprising on the ground of non-entry. To
John Campbell, natural son of John Campbell of Little
Cesnock, James IV., or the Regency, had meanwhile granted
the "ward of all landis and annuellis baith properteis and
tenandries which pertained to the deceased Sibill Cathcart,
lady of the half of the barony of Carltoun, and to the
deceased John Cathcart, her spouse, with the marriage
of Marion and Janet Cathcart, their daughters, and of
Margaret and Janet Kennedy, also daughters to the said
Sibill." The Crown departed from its claim against Margaret
and her husband on the production of her Sasine of 1510;
but, in view of their competition with John Campbell on
the question of their ward and marriage, the procurator of
Sibilla's four minor children could only plead that "the said
Sibilla Cathcart was sufficiently sesit in the saidis landis of
Carltoun and that hir instrument of sesing wes in keping
of the Wardane of the Gray Freris of Air, qitha wald nocht
deliver the samin ivithout cojnmand of the saidis Lordis.''
The Lords thereupon granted warrant for its production,
and a week later, on 21st June 1532, the instrument, " massit
in papir and closit under the cheptour sele," was lodged in
the process, sent "autentikly fra the saidis freris of Air
under the signe and subscription manuale of Schir Jhon
McOuharr, notar public." Nonetheless Sir Adam Otterburn,
the King's Advocate, alleged that the document " was fals and
fenzeit in the self, and offerit him to impreif the samin civilly
and lauchfully." The Warden was accordingly summoned to
appear at the next diet, " to give informatioune to the Lordis
in sic thing as sal be opinnit and schawin to him at his
cuming " ; and, in view of the final decree absolving Sibilla's
heirs from the claim of the Advocate, we may assume that
Friar Rae convinced the Lords that there was no truth in the
allegation of forgery. But the recognition of John Campbell's
claim to the ward and marriage of the minor heirs, which was
inserted in this decree, testifies to his practical sagacity in
requiring judicial sanction to his surrender of the writ.^

^ MS. Acta Dom. Coiicilii et Sessionis, I. ff. 21, 22, 36, 51, 52 ; II. ft". 17, 28 ;
infra, II. p. 251.

CHAP. IX,] AYR 355

Two entries in the Exchequer Rolls appear to indicate
that the friars received an annual royal bounty of four bolls
of barley/ which may have been supplemented by a similar
quantity of wheat as was the case in the other friaries. The
notices of gifts from the royal purse, ranging from 14s. to
40s. to the Grey Friars of Ayr, indicate the personal interest
of James IV. in their welfare; and on another occa-
sion he waived his rights to the succession of Sir Robert
Bell of Mauchline, who had bequeathed six bolls of bear to
the friars, because, in the words of the prosaic Treasurer,
"Sir Robert deit bastard and the King gat his eschet."
For church furnishings he also contributed a chasuble of red
camlet — "with cors of slicht gold" — worth ^4, los., six and
a half ells of Bertane (Breton) cloth for an alb to the
same, and a silver chalice weighing eighteen ounces, the
metal being paid for at the rate of iis. per ounce and the
silversmith remunerated for his workmanship at 2s. per
ounce. The cost of regilting another chalice was also paid
out of the royal purse,^ and a gift of ^10 by James V, is re-
corded under the year 1530. On the eve of the Reformation,
the Queen Dowager gave another of £\2 \^ and from an
endorsement — " Item to the Grey Freris of Ayr 40s. for
ther mydsomer term " — on a letter of instructions by Henry,
Bishop of Galloway, to the Factors of the Abbot of
Crossraguel,* we may surmise that this stipend represented
the " Bishop's Charity," so often referred to by Sir David
Lindsay, John Knox and the Earl of Glencairn, as being-
paid to the friars in return for their services in the diocese.
The municipal charities were represented by an annual grant
of wine, varying in value from 45s. to ^5, an occasional
boll of salt worth 29s. and, in 1547, by a gift of 53s.
4d. paid "to the Gray Freris at the tounis command."''

'^ Exch. Rolls, 5th August 1542 and 5th August 1543. In 1551 the Burgh
Treasurer was allowed iis. "to tak afield the freiris discharge to the chakker."
MS. Accoicnts, infra, p. 360.

2 Treasurer's Accounts, summary, infra, p. 359.

3 Ibid. MS.

* 5th July 1536. Arch, and Hist. Collect, of Ayr and Wigton, Culzean
Muniments, No. 338.

'' MS. " Bulk of the Comtnoun Comptis of the Com in on n Glide of the Ihirgh of
Air, beginnand in the yeir of our Lord 1535." Summary, infra, p. 360.

356 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

Testamentary bequests were but a slender source of
revenue for this friary, and the eight small legacies,
recorded in the Register of Testaments between 1547 and
1555,^ are wholly at variance with the assertions of Sir
Thomas Craig that the friars acquired great wealth by
testamentary robbery. In this case, putting aside the
legacy of ^10 from Gavin Dunbar, Archbishop of Glasgow,
and a gift of ten merks from Duncan Burnet, Rector of
Methlick,^ the remaining seven granted by laymen amounted
in all to 2 IS. 8d., three merks, a boll of meal, and the
transfer of a debt of 40s. due to the testator.^ Hugh,
first Earl of Eglinton, directed that they should be paid
^10 annually for three years in return for prayers and
masses for himself and his wife ; ^ and Egidia Blair, wife
of James Kennedy of Row, left a legacy of £40, two
pairs of blankets, three bed rugs, and one bed-cover of
needlework.^

Of the riot of 1543 and the imprisonment of the outspoken
Grey Friar in the Tolbooth, mention has already been made.^
In the stormy days of the Reformation the friary was
sacked, and the friars quitted the burgh in a body, not one
of them appearing as a pensioner under the new regime.^
After the abolition of mass, the burghers gave free rein to
their predatory instincts, and ere long the ruined buildings
of the deserted friary had totally disappeared, the stones
being filched by the citizens for their own purposes. The
authorities at Edinburgh put an end to this scandal in 1567,

^ There is a blank in this record between the years 1555 and 1560.
2 Abcrd. Ob. CaL, 9th March 1552.
^ Summary, infra, p. 358.

* Confirmation, 12th March 1545-46, Hist. MSS. Com., Tenth Report, I. 26,
No. 72.

* Charters of Crossraguel, I. 94-5. This gift appears in the will as directed to
the Fratres Minimi of Ayr ; but, while it is possible that this Order may have
possessed a friary in Ayr, no trace of it can now be discovered from Scottish
sources. Cf. Fratres Egregii in Lanark, whose presence there is alone vouched for
by the Testament of Vicar Andrew Allan.

" Supra, p. 80.

^ MS. Accounts, Collector-General, and Book of Chaplainries. As late as 1577,
two Black Friars were in receipt of their pensions, and in 1584 David Allason
alone remained {ibid?) ; the Town Rentals also prove that the magistrates
received no annual rents from the Grey Friary.

CHAP. IX.] AYR 357

when William Campbell, younger of Skeldoun, received
a nineteen years' Crown Lease of the acre comprising the
friary yards, fortified by a retrospective clause author-
ising him to recover possession of " the stainis of the
place, kirk and houses of the said Gray Freris quhairever
the samin may be apprehendit."^ Two months later, for the
making of an honest provision for the ministers of the word
of God and for the support of a hospital or poorhouse, the
magistrates received the now customary Crown charter,
infefting them under a conjunct Sasine in the whole of the
properties formerly in the possession of the religious houses
within the burgh, and annulling all previous and col-
lusive alienations,' many of which were, however, sanctioned
by the Act of 1563 with its retrospective clauses. The
Rental of Chaplainrics shows that the Dominicans had
prudently leased their property for nineteen years to one
Charles Crawford, and that his brother William was in pos-
session of the lease in 1567 ; ^ but the Grey Friary had not been
provided with a provisional disponee, and the town's Rentals
record the Council's feu grants of the remaining portions of the
yards at an annual duty of 53s. 4d. — presumably in respect
of two acres — of two roods to Edward Wallace for 13s. 4d.,
and one rood to Alexander Power for 6s. 8d.^ The total
extent of the friary lands was therefore 3 acres 3 roods,
producing annually at that period ^4, 13s. 4d. ; and nearly a
hundred years after the departure of the friars, the site of
their home reverted to religious purposes. During the
Cromwellian period it was decided to erect a fortification at
Ayr, and for that purpose the parish church of St. John the
Baptist with its graveyard and surrounding ground, extending
in all to eleven acres, was taken possession of by the military
authorities in 1652. Towards the cost of erection of a
new church, Cromwell contributed 1000 merks ; and, at a
meeting of the Town Council in July of that year, it was

1 Tack, MS. Reg. Privy Seal, XXXVI. f. 16. Rem, 20s. ; infra, 11. p. 254.

2 Precept under the Signet dated 14th April 1567, AfS. Reg. Privy Seal,
XXXVI. f. 74, and Crown charter, eod. die, MS. Reg. Mag. Sig., XXXII. f. 322.

^ Cf. Charters of Ayr, pp. 109-10. In the Crown Confnmation of this lease
two of the surviving friars were joined with the lessees in respect of their pension.
* MS. Rentals, Burgh Charter Room.

358 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

agreed that the site of the old Grey Friary "be bocht, and
that the toun be stented for als muche as to outred the samyn
what is deficient of the money to be had fra the EngHsh."
Four years later the churchyard was levelled, and "saittis
and pewis " were distributed in the building since known
as the Old Parish Church of Ayr.

LEGACIES BEQUEATHED TO THE GREY FRIARS OF AYR

1504, Sir Robert Bell of Mauchline to the Friars Minor, 6 bolls of bear
{Treasurer's Accounts).

Among the legacies in a Deed of Settlement^ executed 31st August 1530
by Egidia Gillian Blair, Lady of Row, daughter of John Blair of that Ilk, and
wife of James Kennedy of Baltersan, laird of Row, and son of Gilbert, first
Lord Kennedy, are : —

" Item, to the Minimi Friars ^ of Ayr, forty pounds.

" Item, on the day of my burial, to the Minimi Friars of Ayr, two pairs
of blankets, three bed rugs and one bed-cover of needlework."

In Testament"' of Hugh, first Earl of Eglinton, dated 23rd September
1545, and confirmed by the Archbishop of Glasgow, 12th March 1545-46 —

To the Friars Minor of Ayr for the space of three years, x^\o Scots for
prayers for the weal of the souls of himself and his wife.

In MS. Register of Confirmed Testaments, Commissariot of Glasgow,
G. R. H., the following legacies appear :—

1547, 17th November. Testament, dated 20th August 1546, of Jessie
Boyll, wife of John Muir, half a merk.

1547-48, 14th January. Testament of Archibald Weyr, who died 7th

October 1547, 6s. 8d.
1547-48, 13th January. In his Testament, Gilbert Kennedy of Balmac-

lanochan, who was killed at the battle of Fauside on 12th January

1547-48, left a debt of 40s. due to him.

1548, 30th May. Testament of Gavin Dunbar, Archbishop of Glasgow,

1549 . . . Testament of Patrick Dunlop, a boll of meal in return for

a tregintal of masses.
1550, 5th August. Testament of Andrew Wilson, 15s.
1550, 13th March. Testament of Margaret Fullerton, wife of John

White, half a merk.
1552, 25th April. Testament of Alexander Boyd, two merks.

1 Charters of Crossragiiel j Arch, and Hist. Coll. of Ayr and Wigton, \. 94, 95.

" Vide note 5. p. 356.

^ Hist. MSS Com. Tenth Report, L p. 26, No. 72 ; Fraser's Earls of Eglinton.

CHAP. IX.] AYR 359

ROYAL BOUNTIES TO THE GREY FRIARS OF AYR

I. Exchequer Rolls

1542, 5th August. Paid by John Hamilton of Camskeith, Receiver of Kilmar-
nock, to the Friars of Observance of Ayr as the alms of the King, two
bolls barley.

1543, loth August. Paid by John Hamilton of Camskeith, Receiver of Kil-
marnock, to the Friars of Observance of Ayr as the alms of the King
four bolls barley.

II. Treasurer's Accounts

1497. Item, the sevint day of March, in Air giffin to Schir Andro to gif the

Gray Freris, be the Kingis command, 15s.
1 50 1. Item, the 26th day of August, to the Gray Freris of Air be the Kingis

command, 40s.
1503. Item, the i8th dayof Aprile, payit to Schir Andro Makbrek that he

laid doun to the Gray Freris of Air, the 9th day of April bipast, 20s.

1503. Item, the 17th day of Maij, be the Kingis command to the Gray Freris
of Air, 1 8s.

1504. Item, the 14th day of Aprile, be the Kingis command, gififin to the
Gray Freris of Air for 6 bollis of here, left in legasy be Schir Robert Bell
in Mauchlin, to the said Freris, quhilk Schir Robert deit bastard and the
King gat his eschet, ;^3, 12s.

1504. Item, the secund day of Junij payit to Schir Johne Ramsay, he laid doun
be the Kingis command to the Gray Freris of Air, 28s.

1504. Item, the 23rd day of Junij, to the Gray Freris in Air, 40s.

1505. Item, the 28th day of Julij to the Gray Freris of Air, 28s.

1506. Item, the i8th day of Julij to the Gray Freris of Air, 42s.

1506. Item, the ferd day of Julij for ane cheseble of rede chamlot to the
Gray Freris of Air, with cors of slicht gold, ;^4, los.

Item, for 6i elne Bertane claith to be ane alb to the samyn ; ilk elne
22d., summa 9s. iid.
Item, for making of the samyn, 2s. 6d.

Item, for 18 unce silvir to be ane chalice to thaim, ilk unce iis.,
summa ^9, i8s.
Item, for making of the samyn, ilk unce 2s., summa 36s.
Item, for gilting of it. . . .
1506. Item, the 7th day of August, to the Gray Freris of Ayr, 42s.
1506. Item, the 7th day of Januar^ for gilting of ane chalice to the Gray

Freris of Air, ^^3, 4s.
1 512. Item, the first day of Maij, to the Gray Freris of Air, 40s.
1530. Item, the 19th day of August, to the Gray Freris of Are, ^10.
1532. Item, the 15th day of Junii, to David Purves, Masur, to pas with lettres
fra the Lordis to the Wardane of the Gray Freris of Air, anent ane instru-
ment pertenyng to the sisteris and airis of Carleton, 20s.

36o OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

MUNICIPAL CHARITIES

Excerpts from MS. The Buik of the Commoun CoDiptis of the Conimoun
Gude of the Burgh of Air, beginnand in the yeir of our Lord 1535.

1535, Michaelmas, to the Frenchemen for ane . . . of vyne to the Gray Freris,

£z^ I OS.

1536, Michaelmas, for ane hogheid of vyne to the Gray Freris, ;^3, 17s. 6d.
Item, to the Frencheman that brought in the wyn, 31s.

1537, Michaelmas, to James Johnestoun for vyne to the Gray Freris at com-
mand of the provest, bailleis and communitie, 48s.

i539> 27th June, for ane hogheid of vyne to the Gray Freris, ^^3, 14s.

1539, 27th June, for ane hogheid of vyne to the Gray Freris, ;£%.

1540, Martinmas, for a hogheid of vyne to the Gray Freris, 55s.

1540, for a hogheid of vyne to the Gray Freris the fifth day of August, 50s.

1542 (in the Dean of Guild's Account), Item, for vyne gevin to the tounis
freindis that come aganis the Maister of Montgomery quhen he gatherit
for the Gray Freir that wes put in thetolbuith, 24s. "To the pursuivant
that brought the letters to use the Scripture in English, 2s."

1547, Michaelmas, to the Gray Freris at the tounis command, 53s. 4d.

1548, Michaelmas, for a hogheid of vyne to the Gray Freris, ^4.

1549, Michaelmas, to the Gray Freris for a hogheid of wine and ane half, ;^7,

lOS.

1550, Michaelmas, a hogheid of wine to the Gray Freris, ;^4, 15s. ; also "for
wine to the Gray Freris, ;^4."

155 1, Michaelmas, for wine to the Gray Freris, 44s. ; also for ane hogheid of
wine to the Gray Freris, ;^4 ; also, to tak afeild the freiris discharge to
the chakker, iis.

1552, Michaelmas, for three hogheids of wine, two to the provost for his labors
in getting in the byrun maills of Lee and Cartland, and one other to the
Gray Freris, ;^i3, 6s. For a hogheid of wine to the Gray Freris, ;Q\, 6s.
A boll of salt to the Gray Freris, i8s. Another boll of salt to the
freirs, i8s.

1553, Michaelmas, to the freirs for a boll of salt, 20s.

1554, Michaelmas, for ane hogheid of vyne to the Gray Freris, ^^4, 5s. Ane
hogheid of vyne to the Gray Freris, ^^, 3s. 6d.

1556, Michaelmas, for salt to the Gray Freris, 39s.

1558, Michaelmas, for a boll of salt to the Gray Freris, 23s. 6d.

1576, In the town rental for this year appears the feu of the Grey Freiris yards,
53s. 4d. ; while Edward Wallace pays for the feu of his two roods of the
Gray Freris, 13s. 4d. ; and Alexander Power for his rood, 6s. 8d.

CHAPTER IX— {continued)

OBSERVATINE FRIARIES

Elgin

During the orofanlsation of the Conventual Province in
the thirteenth century, there is distinct evidence that some of
the friars settled for a short time at Elgin in a hospitium
or rest-house near the Cathedral. Archibald, the reigning
Bishop of Moray, was then willing, if not also anxious, to
provide for the permanent settlement of the Franciscans in
his diocese ; and he selected as a suitable endowment for
the friary the peace-offering that he had demanded from
William, Earl of Ross, in expiation of the wanton pillage of
the churches of Petyn and Brachuli. The Earl's charter^
accordingly conveyed " in pure and perpetual alms two
davochs of land in Ross, called Kattepoll, and one quarter of
land called Petkenny, by their rightful marches with all their
pertinents, for the provision and sustenance of the Friars
Minor, who, for the time or in the future, may be in occupation
of their house in Elgin beside the Cathedral, in such manner
as the reigning bishop shall appoint ; and he shall delegate
some discreet man who, as faithful distributor, shall uplift the
entire rents of the said lands at the terms of each year, and
profitably apply the same for the benefit and necessary uses
of the said friars, as shall seem most expedient. But if the
said friars be not there, or are unwilling to remain, the rents
of the said lands, by the advice of the said Bishop and his
successors, and the Chaplain of Moray, shall be applied in
maintaining two chaplains in the Cathedral Church of
Elgin . . . the right of appointing and revoking the said
chaplains being vested in the said Bishop and his successors."

' Reg. Episc. Moravie/isis, No. 220, p. 2S1.
361

362 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

The Dominicans had, however, already established a priory
in Elgin/ and the Franciscans therefore followed their in-
variable rule at this period in avoiding the burghs colonised
by their rivals. The alternative clause of Earl William's
charter was then put into operation, and two centuries later
the successors of the two chaplains gave their consent to
a Feu Charter of the identical lands of Cadboll, granted by
Bishop Tulloch on 29th November 1478 to John M'Culloch
at an annual duty of fourteen silver merks.^ In the fol-
lowing year the first, and only, Franciscan friary in Elgin ^
was founded as an offshoot from the Observatine settle-
ment in Aberdeen. " In the year 1479," says Father Hay,
*' lord John, Vice-Comes of Innes, of highest rank among the
nobility of the northern parts of the Kingdom, moved to
penitence and fervour by the preaching of the friars resident
in Aberdeen, erected a magnificent convent in the town of
Elgin, wherein there tarried twenty-four priests,^ most diligent
in preaching the word of God and in hearing the confessions
of the people and the many clergy there." ^ In this founder
and his unheraldic designation we may doubtless recognise
James of the Beard, sixteenth laird of Innes, who was then a
wealthy landholder, and, as cousin of the Earl of Huntly, may
be considered "of highest rank among the nobility of the
northern parts of the Kingdom." The architectural features
of the friary can be appreciated from Professor Cooper's
description of the ruins of the church before their restoration
by the late Marquis of Bute : " The beauty of proportion is
everywhere present ; the curves and lines are unusually
graceful for a Scottish church of so late a date ; but everything
is as plain as it could be, and there is not an inch of orna-

^ 1230-34. - f^^ff- Episc. JMoravicnsis, p. 232.

^ The historians of Elgin have erroneously accepted the first of the alternative
clauses of the original deed as positive evidence that a Franciscan friary was erected
in the thirteenth century ; whereas the charter of 1478 proves beyond doubt that the
rents were applied to the maintenance of the two chaplains in accordance with
the second clause. Moreover, the Bull of 1346 states that the Franciscans were
then settled in "three dioceses and no more" — Glasgow, St. Andrews and Brechin
— and there is no mention of a Conventual friary at Elgin in the Exchequer Records,
the Provinciale^ or the Annales Minoriaii.

* This number must be accepted with the customary reserve.

= Ob. Chron.

CHAP. IX.] ELGIN 363

mental carvino." ^ The church was a lono; narrow buildino- of
simple rubble work, — distinct from the polished ashlar of
the Aberdeen Friary church, — and measured 1 17 feet in length
by 29 feet 2 inches in breadth. Its windows were in part the
handiwork of Friar Strang, the glass-worker of Aberdeen ;
and the distinctive feature was the large east and west
windows of four lights and basket tracery, while in the south
wall was a laro-e Gothic window that shed a side lio;ht over the
high altar. There were two other altars in the church, to
which the public had access by a door at the west end of the
north wall, and a second door in the south wall led out to
the conventual buildings and the cloister on the south side.

The victual allowance from the Crown amounted to ten
bolls of wheat and a like measure of barley, paid by the
Chamberlain of Moray,^ and this was supplemented by
occasional gifts of 40s., 28s., and ^20 from the privy purse.
From 1550 until 1559 the Burgh Treasurer entered in his
accounts sums varying from 12s. 6d. to 28s. for the " Graye
Freris almis salt," occasionally described as the "graith salt."^
As in Edinburgh and Ayr, this payment was made from the
Common Good and not from the burgh fermes, which had been
in possession of the Earls of Moray since the grant of the
Earldom to the natural son of James IV. and Janet Kennedy
on 1 2th June 1501."* This childless Earl was a generous
benefactor to the religious houses in his domains, one clause
of his will, dated 8th June 1540, reading — " I leif i'' lib.
(^100) to be given to the . . . Gray and Blak freris and
in almos to puyr folkis at the discretioun of my executoris
and oversman and mair at thair discretionis efter the payment
of my dettis."^ Rector Burnet of INIethlick and Adam
Gordon of Kinkell also provided for the support of the
friary, the former by a legacy of 10 merks and the latter
by an annual grant of alms.^ Otherwise, its history
from the date of foundation until the Reiormation is

' T7'a7tsactioits of the Aberdeen Ecclesiological Society, 1891, p. 52.
- Summary infra, p. 364.

^ T7-easure}-'s Accounts, Ilutton MSS., Ad\-. Lib. Pldinbuigh ; summary,
infra, p. 365.

♦ Reg. Mag. Sig. (I'rim), II. No. 2586 ; Rxch. Rolls, X\'. 8o-8r.

'•> Hist. MSS. Com., \'\. Report, p. 671. '• Abeni. Ol>. Cat.

364 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

wholly unknown, and the scenes amid which the friars
terminated their activity in the episcopal city cannot now be
reconstructed. Reformation was mild in Elgin, and the
absence of vindictive appropriation may be surmised from
the fact that the Treasurer paid to the two conforming
Observatines ^ ^11, 12s. as the price " promeist to yaim
for thair knok and bell."^ The lands, like those of the
Black Friary,^ reverted to the family of Innes under payment
of a feu-duty of 40s. in terms of a Crown Charter dated
20th April 1573.^ The buildings passed into the possession
of the town; and in 1563 they were converted into a local
Court of Justice, John Baxter receiving 20s. "for bigging
ye seittis to ye Lordis in ye Gray Freiris."^ They were
so used until the middle of the seventeenth century,*'
after which date they passed through various hands until
1 89 1, when the ruins once more came into the possession of
the Roman Church through their purchase by the Sisters of
the Convent of Sainte Marie of Mercy. The church has
since then been carefully restored through the liberality of
the late Marquis of Bute.

ROYAL BOUNTIES TO THE FRIARS OF ELGIN
I. Exchequer Rolls

Payment of the victual stipend of 10 bolls of wheat and 10 bolls of barley
is recorded in the Rolls of 13th July 1501, 29th July 1502, 9th July 1504,
5th July 1505, loth July 1506, 2nd August 1507, July 150S, 19th July
1509, 2nd August 1510, 2nd August 1512, 29th July 1513, 17th July
15 14, 3rd August 1515, 1523, 28th September 1558.

Partial payments of the same and acquittance of arrears are recorded in the
Rolls of 9th November 1497, 28th June 1499, 13th July and 4th August
1501.

^ Huiton ATSS., infra, p. 365 ; MS. Account, 1562, Collector-General; cf. note,
p. 154.

2 Burgh Treasurer''s Accounts, Hiitton MSS., infra, p. 365.

3 Crown Precept, 17th June 1574 ; the Regent Moray remitted the payment of
the feu-duty of £^, 3s. 4d. stipulated for in the charter {Exch. Rolls, XX. 203).
A summary of the priory revenues will be found on p. 140.

* Reg. Mag. Sig. (Print), I\^ No. 2131 ; Precept printed itfra, II. p. 256.

^ Treasure}^ s Accounts, ut sup7-a.

^ In 1586 the Compter entered 20s. " for ye tymmer furnisit be him at ye lownis
command to ye Justice Hous at ye last Justice court haldin in ye Gray Freiris" ;
Ibid.

{!HAP. IX.] ELGIN 365

17th August 1495. James Douglas of Pendreich, Chamberlain of Moray, to
the Friars of Observance of Elgin as alms by precept of the Comptroller,
20s.

II. Treasurer's Accounts

1503. Item, the 8th day of October, to the Gray Freris in Elgin, 40s.

1504. Item, the 29th day of October, in Elgin, to Schir Andro Macbrek to

gif to the Gray Freris thare, 28s.
1552. September 12th, be His Grace precept and special command to the
Gray Freris of Elgin, ^20.

1556. August ... be the Quene precept to the Gray Freris of Elgin . . . (torn).

CITY TREASURER'S ACCOUNTS 1

1550. Item, gevin for the Graye Freris salt, i8s.

1552. Item, gevin to ye Graye Freris for thair almis salt, 12s. 6d.

1552-53. Item, allowit 12s. 6d. gevin to the Graye Freris.

1554. Item, gevin to the Greye Freris for ane bowe graith salt, iSs.

1555. Item, gevin to ye Graye Freiris for ane bowe salt, i6s.

1557. Item, gevin to ye Graye Freiris for yair almes salt, i6s.

1558. Item, gevin to ye Gray Freris for ane boll of salt, 20s.

1559. Item, to ye Gray Freris for ane boll of salt, 28s,

The Comptar dischairgis him of ;^6, 14s. 4d. giffin to the laird of Innes

for . . . of his cummeris of ye knok vas coft fra ye Gray Freris.
Item, to ye Gray Freris in complet payment of ^11, 12s. promeist to
yaim for thair knok and bell extending to jQio.
1563. Item, for mending of ye trestis, i2d.

Item, for careing of them to ye freris, 2od.
1569. Item, 5s. money giffen for certain garrowin vaillis to big the seittis of
the Gray Freiris conforme to the townis precept.
Item, 14s. giffin to Teophilus Jhonstoun for certand timmir giffin to

big the seittis into the Gray Freiris.
Item, 20s. giffin to Jhone Baxter anent . . . and George Gaderar for
bigging ye seittis to ye Lordis in ye Gray Freiris.

COMMON GOOD ACCOUNTS 2

1583. Item, mair giffin to Jhone Williamson for the bigging of ye Gray Freir
Wynd and the Schoill Wynd, 6s.

1586. The Comptar dischairgis him of 20s. promesit to him be ye townschip
for ye tymmer furnisit be him at ye townis command to ye Justice
hous at ye last Justice court haldin in ye Gray Freiris.

^ Hutton MSS., Adv. Lib. The original record has been lost since General
Hutton compiled his Collection, and an extensive but unsuccessful searcli for it
was made by the late Dr. Cramond,

2 Ibid.

CHAPTER IX— {continued)

OBSERVATINE FRIARIES

Stirling

This friary is inseparably associated with the pious
and genuine remorse of James IV. for the unconscious
share he had taken in the rebelHon that terminated in his
father's death at the cottage in Mihtown, near Bannock-
burn, after the battle of Sauchie Burn in 1488. On his
accession to the throne, the young king turned for spiritual
consolation to the Observatines, as to a body of men whose
religious profession suited his own morbid feelings of contrition,
and ere long he decided upon the erection of their eighth
friary within the precincts of his court at Stirling. After the
custom of the time, it was to be the visible sign of his personal
sorrow, in token of which he had already donned an iron
belt as the rude penance imposed upon him by his confessor.
Father Patrick Ranny, the first Warden of Stirling, and thrice
Observatine Provincial Minister. To the exercise of religion
James brought the same romantic enthusiasm that character-
ised his actings in other paths of life. The palliation of his
penance suggested by Father Ranny and Pope Julius II. was
rejected with spirited eloquence : " To the end of my life
I shall gird myself with this chain, since my presence, though
under compulsion, may have been the cause whereby my
father lost his life " ; ^ and all external assistance towards the
erection of his future chapel and retreat was refused with
equal decision. In picturesque language. Father Hay tells
us that the master of works was threatened with the severest
penalties if he accepted even a nail, and the surviving portions
of contemporary record indicate that Stirling was essentially
a royal friary built at the expense of the privy purse. The

^ Ob. Chroft.

366

CHAP. IX. J STIRLING 367

site selected was a prominent position on the brow of the
hill leading up to the castle ; and it is to-day covered by the
square of ground on which the High School, the United Free
South Church and the Trades' Hall stand/ Nothing is now
known of its original dimensions or of the manner in which it
was acquired ; but we learn from the burgh records that, on
1 8th April 1524, the magistrates facilitated the extension
of the friary yards by the gratuitous cession of " ane pece
of thair commond land lyand at the south part of thair yaird'
equali gangand doune the bred of thair yaird to the Rud
croft." ^ In the subsequent grant of a tenement and garden
by James V. to Robert Spittal, the well-known tailor of
Stirling, the subjects of gift are described as lying between
the lands already in possession of Spittal, the friary, and the
King's Street.^ During the erection (1852) and subsequent
extension of the High School in 1889, parts of the friary
foundations were uncovered, and several relics of its church-
yard were disclosed in the shape of bones and skulls.^
In 1549, the enclosing walls of this graveyard embroiled
the brethren in litigation with one of their neighbours,
who had unwarrantably opened windows in, and built
upon, "thai dyke of thair kirkyarde." The Chapter
entered a protest in the burgh court against the offender
through their procurator, Robert Lermonth, officially designed
as actinor " in name and behalf of the Ouenis orace ^ and
Wardane and convent of the Freiris Minouris of Strivelinof."
Thereafter a "breve of lyning was purchest be the bredir"
against this John Wallace ; but a compromise was effected,
and the record then proceeds on the narrative that the friars,

^ Landmarks of Old Stirling^ p. 121 (James Ronald).

2 Extracts fro7n the Records of the Royal Burgh of Stirling, p. 19 (R. Renwick).

2 Reg. Mag. Sig. (Print), III. No. 2509.

* The High School of Stirling, p. 81 (Hutchison).

" An interesting illustration of the manner in which the Observatines observed
the theory of Franciscan poverty. Under the canon law they were not owners
but users of the friary and its pertinents ; the absolute ownership being vested in
the Holy See. Consecjucntly, in civil law, a compromise with their scruples was
effected by an indefinite recognition of the continuing interest of the founder and
his heirs in the subjects {Quo elotigati). In contradistinction, the Conventual friars
invariably appear as absolute owners in all judicial proceedings instituted by them.
e.g. Haddington, infra, II. pp. 72-73.

368 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

" movit of cheritee and nychtbour luiff," had agreed to
tolerate their neighbour's building, and to " breuke tua
nedmest windois," provided that they were well stanchioned
with iron and " clois glassinit." On the other hand, Wallace
undertook to build up his two upper windows and to prevent
the "gavill" of his back stair from being seen from the
churchyard/

In selecting the year 1494 as the date of this foundation,
the exiled chronicler doubtless refers to the first arrival of
the friars in the burgh, where they received the same kindly
welcome from the local clergy that had attended their earlier
settlements. Several of them appear in the accounts as the
spiritual friends of the less practical friars, and, after the
manner of the German burghers who carried out the neces-
sary arrangements for the settlement of the early Franciscan
missionaries in their midst, an unknown burgess of Stirling
assumed the role of "Gray Freris prouisour." On 9th May
1498 he is recorded as the recipient of ^66, 13s. 4d. towards
the "bigging" of the place.^ The Bull of Erection^ had
been granted by Pope Alexander VI. on 9th January
preceding in reply to the petition of James, and — after
approving of the exemplary lives led by the Observatines,
their unremitting and devout celebration of divine service,
their preaching and discreet hearing of confession — it
granted the customary license to proceed with the erection
of the friary and its belfry, bell, burial-ground, cloister,
refectory, dormitory, garden, plots and necessary offices.
Building operations had been in progress for some time under
the supervision of the " provisioner," and the month of April
1502 may be regarded as the probable date of their comple-
tion, when a weathercock was placed on the belfry at a
cost of five pounds.* Between these dates the progress of
construction may be followed in considerable detail. Three
stones of tin from John, the locksmith of Stirling, several
parcels of iron work, locks and chains supplied by a brother

^ Extracts fi'oiii the Records of Stirling, P- 55-
2 Treasurer's Accounts, eod. die.
2 Dum inter cetera, supra, p. 63.
* Treasurer's Accozmts, 14th April,

CHAP. IX.] STIRLING 369

craftsman in Edinburgh, and a pipe provided by a Portuguese
merchant appear in the Treasurer's Accounts. Three crates
of glass worth nine pounds were sent from Edinburgh for the
windows of the church during the summer of 1501/ and there
are evident signs of its internal completion about the spring
of 1503 in the payment of forty shillings as his wages to the
" wricht that makes the altair," in the purchase of ten ells of
blue and green camlet to drape the fronts of the several
altars, and in the settino- down of three candelabra weio^hinor
forty-nine and a half pounds each. Meanwhile the process
of furnishing had proceeded apace. During 1501 there were
numerous and extensive purchases of grey cloth for habits,
white cloth for blankets, white linen cloth from one Lion a
tailor in Stirling, "braid dornyk," Breton linen for the "kirk
graith," and thirty-four ells of the same material for surplices
for the brethren. Two " pattenbreddis " of ivory bone cost
four shillings, and, on loth April 1502, Patrick Redheuch,
who provided many of the church furnishings, received thirty-
five pounds for " certane ymagis brocht hame be him to the
Freris in Strivelin." Further payments of sixty-three shillings
for forty-eight skins of Flanders parchment, and of eight
shillings and sixpence for twelve native skins, indicate the
studious disposition of the brethren in 1502, while they were
in course of acquiring a conventual library. The task of
providing this valued adjunct was almost entirely entrusted
by their patron to the monks of Culross and Cambuskenneth,
the leading caligraphists of their time in this country. In the
course of the year, these schools of writing received fifty
pounds from the Treasurer for books which they had sent to
the Franciscans of Stirling, and during the following year they
received payments amounting to ^27, 6s. 8d. for other books,
in addition to £4, 12s. for four " mes bukis," thirty shillings
for " ane buk callit the Sennones,'' and nine shillings for one
entitled the Mamitretis. Thus early in their history these
ascetic devotees were in possession of a library virtually
equivalent in value to the whole possessions pledged by their
brethren in Dundee during the famine of 1481 ; and the
statement of their chronicler, that the friary was a royal foun-

^ Exch. Rolls, 1 6th August 1501.
24

370 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

dation, receives final confirmation in the Privy Seal warrants,
constituting a commission of churchmen to audit the accounts
of Andrew Ayton, the master of works/ He had assumed
direction of the building on 20th December 1498, and we
further learn from these writs that the erection of the friary
coincided with the alterations and enlargement of the castle
carried out at this date.

In the matter of material sustenance, King James was
a no less generous patron to the friary, although the poet
Dunbar is unsparing in his scoffs at the meagre fare that
graced the refectory table, and the thin ale of which James
sent forty-two gallons to the brethren on the occasion of his
marriage with the Princess Margaret. Eight bolls of wheat,
and a similar measure of malt for beer, constituted the per-
manent victual stipend, and whole or partial payments by
the Chamberlain of Stirlingshire appear at intervals in the
Excheqzier Rolls until 1558. This allowance was delivered
to the " Factors " of the friars, and it was supplemented by an
annual payment of thirteen pounds, paid at one time to Mrs.
Alison Melville or Crichton in weekly instalments of five shil-
lings for providing the friars with provisions.^ Mrs. Crichton
was probably a "general" merchant in the burgh, and the
practice, indicated by this entry so late as the sixteenth cen-
tury, is of extreme importance in relation to formal observance
of the strict rule, through the employment of spiritual friends,
in the thirteenth century acceptance of the term.^ Other
tradesmen habitually received payments for such necessaries
as barrels of oil and Hamburgh beer, which they had laid
down for the friars ; while one Leonard Logy is frequently
recorded as the recipient of small sums to purchase *' met and
drink " for the friars. Among the clergy of the district the
friars also possessed numerous spiritual friends, six of them
appearing in the accounts of the Treasurer as intermediaries
between the Franciscan conscience and the ordinary customs

'^ MS. Reg. Privy Seal, ist February and 3rd August 1507, III. fif. 93, 119,
infra, II. p. 258.

2 Exch. Rolls, 2 1 St July 151 1.

^ Vide similar practice at Glasgow, where he was also styled " prouisour," and
at Perth, where payment was made to a layman in name of the friars. Cf.
infra, p. 470.

ciiAP. IX.] STIRLING 371

of commerce. On occasion, the record bears that the money
from the privy purse was given to those churchmen "to give
to the friars," but for the most part the payments were made
to them in return for money which they "had laid down" on
behalf of the friars for such articles of food as twenty salmon,
forty fresh kelyn and quantities of beer. The payment of
;!^5i, 19s. lod. to John Ay ton in 1502, on behalf of the friars,
indicates a particular interest in the comfort of the brethren
on the part of that ecclesiastic. '^ As befitted a Franciscan
community, the lay brothers provided a part of the friary fare
by the cultivation of vegetables, and in 1546 the Regent
Arran compensated the Chapter to the extent of forty-four
shillings " for their kaill destroyit and dountred be mennis
feete " ;"" but the payment of six French crowns to John Red-
heuch on 3rd March 1504, "for their clothes wesching " and
other services, indicates less attention to the exigencies of
domestic economy on the part of the Stirling friars than
was customary among the early Conventuals.^ The
numerous gifts of food and ale from James IV. were
doubtless due in part to the strain put upon the hospitality
of the convent by the frequent residence of the court at
Stirling, and by the obligatory visits of distinguished
foreigners to the friary before they were received in
audience.* Many other donations of trifling sums received
from their patron illustrate his anxious care for their well-
being ; while that of fourteen shillings, described as the
" Kinois ofierand on the bred," at the dirio-e and mass cele-
brated in the friary on 29th January 1504 for the soul of his
favourite, the unhappy Margaret Drummond,'' is a pathetic
illustration of the strange inconsistency between notorious
immorality and deep religious feeling so prevalent at this
period.

^ Treasurer's Accounts, 1498- 1506. - Jbid. 12th June 1546.

^ Even the great Bonaventura did not disdain to perform his share in the menial
work of the community. There is the oft-told talc that, when the papal envoys
sent to present him with the Cardinal's hat arrived at the little friary of Mi;4el, near
Florence, they found him actively engaged in the humble duty of washing the
dishes. Instead of interrupting his occupation, he calmly bade them hang the hat
on a tree in the garden, which he pointed out, until he was able to receive them.

* 0/>. Chron.

" Other Recjuiem masses were celebrated at Edinburgh.

372 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

After their patron's death, these doles of salmon, ale,
coals and cravats, disappear from the accounts, and the
fragmentary condition of the Exchequer Rolls denies us any
information concerning the regularity in payment of the royal
alms by the Chamberlain of Stirlingshire. They were paid
by him in 1514; but in 1528 payment was made by the
Comptroller, only by the consideration of the Auditors for this
year.^ The year 1531 was marked by a special donation of
fifty pounds ;^ in 1542 the full stipend was again paid by the
Chamberlain ; and during the minority of Mary Stuart, the
revenues were increased by an allowance of ten pounds,
described as the Regent's alms. The first mention of it
occurs during the regency of the Earl of Arran, and in 1555
it was paid, in addition to the old alms, by the Queen
Dowager, with whom Stirling was also a favourite residence.
The last act of royal charity towards the friary is recorded
in the roll audited on 21st March 1560-61,^ in the form of
two barrels of West Sea herring from the young king and
queen, some time after the Earl of Argyll and his associates
had " purified " the religious houses of Stirling. Testamentary
charities were neither numerous nor of great value. The earliest
of which any record now survives was a legacy of twenty
shillings in 1542 from one Thomas Stevenson of Callander;*
and it is probable that the Chapter received a share of the
residue of the estate of Robert Wemes, Vicar of Stirling,
which was placed at the disposal of his executors for pious
purposes. This churchman elected to be buried within the
friary in preference to his own church,'' and a practical
illustration of his regard for the Observatines is afforded by
his appointment of their Warden, Alexander Paterson, as
Overseer of his executors. The friar naturally did not
figure as an executor donee ^ along with the testator's ille-
gitimate son and the other executors, who received gifts of
five merks or rose nobles for their services. Two other

^ Exch. Rolls, 20th August 1528. - Trrasiirer's Accounts, yc^. April 1531.

3 It embraced payments between ist November 1559 and ist November 1560.
* MS. Confirmed Testaments (Dunblane), G. R. H., ist August 1542.
^"Corpus meum tumulandum in loco Fratrum Minorum Struielingensium " ;
ibid. 1 8th April 1544.

*"' Cxtm intellexerimits, 5th April 1502.

CHAP, ix.] STIRLING 373

instances of fiduciary trust being reposed in the Chapter
occurred some years earHer, On i8th January 1533, Sir John
Stirling of Keir set aside the purchase price of an annual rent,
previously constituted in his favour, for the endowment of
a daily service at the high altar in the Cathedral Church of
Dunblane after his death. The fund was placed in the safe
keeping of the Stirling friars during his lifetime by the
chaplain donee, John Newton, an Archdeacon of the
Cathedral/ In the preceding year, Sir Robert Batho endowed
a chaplainry at the altar of St. Marie in the parish church
of Falkirk, and bestowed the patronage of it on the Lyon
King and two of his heralds. He, however, directed that the
rents accruing during his life were to be placed in a box and
entrusted to the custody of the Stirling friars.'- During 1546,
William Month, a burgess of Stirling, bequeathed five merks
to the friars to pray for him.^ In the following year, William
Menteith of Kers left a legacy of eight bolls of wheat.^ A
legacy of ten merks appears in the testament of Gavin
Dunbar, Archbishop of Glasgow,'^ and a boll of meal in that
of Sir David Don of Kincardine;*' while Rector Burnet
sent his gift of ten merks shortly before his death in 1552.^
The internal history of the friary is briefly represented by
a series of meetinos and audiences within its walls. While
in residence at Stirling, James IV^ in the company of his
suite attended the daily mass in the church, and thus pro-
voked that rooted dislike of his courtiers for Stirling which
found expression in Dunbar's humorous, but unpunished,
sally against this " hideous hell." ^ During Holy Week, the
friary was James' retreat from the world ; and Father Hay
has furnished us with an authentic account of the manner in
which state business was cast aside while the King entered
into the simple routine of friary life. On the Day of
Preparation, we are told, he desired to partake of the bread

1 Reg. Mag. Sig. (Print), i8th January 1532-33.

2 Ibid. 3rd February 1531-32.

2 MS. Conf. Testaments (Dunblane), 1 ith . . . 1546.

* Ibid. Stli April 1547.

<* Ibid. (Glasgow), 30th May 1548.

« Ibid. (Dunblane), II. f. 35, ist February 1553-54-

^ Aberd. Ob. Cal. * Supra, p. 66.

374 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

and water seated on the ground among the brethren ; but
the completeness of this unconventional scene is somewhat
marred by their patron's submission to the remonstrance of
the Warden, who induced him to assume the office of reader
at the table until this ancient ceremony had been performed
by the friars. Nevertheless, ambassador Dr. West could
only report delays in his mission of 1 5 1 3, because the Scottish
King was still with the Observatines of Stirling;^ and,
despite his courtiers' lack of sympathy with this extravagant
display of religious sentiment, James persisted in his regard
for the churchmen of his choice until Flodden once more
plunged the country into the miseries of a long minority.
In all that concerned their interests or welfare the friars had
found him a sympathetic Protector of the Observance, and
to his pen they owed the most eloquent eulogy of their Order
that has been preserved in Scottish record." No doubt
his death was regretted on sentimental as well as practical
grounds ; and we may suppose that the celebration of his
obit was marked by a greater display of personal feeling on
the part of the Stirling friars than was to be met with in the
other Observatine houses, where the Protector's Mass was
enrolled in the list of obligatory services.^

During the minority and reign of James V., the antipathy
of the Regency towards the Observatines, their restoration to
favour at his majority, and the reappointment of Friar Ranny
as King's confessor,"^ are the only events of interest in the
history of Stirling. The minority of Mary Stuart witnessed
the return of the court to Stirling and the consequent increase
of the friary stipend by the Regent's alms. Within the
walls of its church, on 8th September 1543, the Regent
Arran was impressively absolved by Cardinal Beaton from
his share in the sacrilegious destruction of the friaries at
Dundee ; and, while his loyalty to France was still sus-
pected by the Queen Dowager, he executed yet another
instrument of resignation in the cemetery of the friary on

» Henry VIII. Cal. S. /'., I. No. 3838.

^ Ruddiman, Epis. Reg. Scot., I. 26-28 ; supra, p. 91.

^ Aberd. Ob. Cal. ; Ob. Chron.

* Treasuret^s A ccoimts, 1531.

OHAP. IX.] STIRLING 37 D

26th June 1545.^ In the previous year, his imperious rival
in the direction of Scottish poHtics had summoned him to
appear in the friary church on 3rd June to shew cause why
he should not demit his charge in her favour. A week later,
surrounded by her court of malcontents, we may believe,
Mary of Guise awaited his answer to her presumptuous
summons in the friary from ten to twelve o'clock forenoon.
Seven years later, on 5th April, the future historian of the
Scottish Observatines received the habit of his Order in this
friary in the presence of "her most Serene Highness Mary
of Guise, widow of James V., and the chief nobles of the
kingdom."^ However, considering that the Queen Dowager
did not return to Scodand from France until the end of
November of that year, it is evident that the chronicler, with
the inherent Franciscan disregard for chronology, has either
mis-stated the date of his admission to the Order, or has sur-
rounded the ceremony with a setting of wholly fictitious detail.
Another inmate of the friary who achieved a certain celebrity in
his day was the venerable Friar Ludovic Williamson, Provincial
of the Observatines. At the age of eighty-eight years,
conscious of his approaching end, he quitted Stirling for Edin-
burgh, where he resigrned his seal of office and foretold the
imminent changes in Church and State before entering upon
his long rest. His premonitions were quickly fulfilled. On
New Year's day 1559, the friars discovered the "Beggar's
Summonds " affixed to their gates, and the last week of the
month of June following witnessed the sudden ruin and
destruction of their home in the manner already described.^
The laconic entry of i6th April 1561 in the burgh records
illustrates the completeness of the devastation and the dis-
appearance of a prominent landmark on the face of the
castle rock — "The counsall, present for the tyme, grantit
that the thesaurair suld big and repayr ane payr of bottis
(butts) in the yarde sumtyme callit the Grayfreir yarde apon
the townes expens."*

None of the friars remained in Scotland in receipt of

1 MS. Notarial Protocol Books, G. \\. II. (James Colville), Vol. II. eod. die.

2 Ob. Chron. ^ Si/pra, p. 146.
* Extracts fron the Records fo Stirling, p. 78.

376 OBSERVATINE FRIARIES [chap. ix.

the customary pension of ^i6 after the departure of the
Observatines in the summer of 1560. Endowed with no
permanent sources of revenue, their friary does not appear
in the Hst of contributories to the King's Patrimony or the
funds of the new Church ; ^ but a general conveyance of its site
and pertinents was included in the Crown charter of the
ecclesiastical properties within the burgh granted by Queen
Mary on 15th April 1567 in favour of the magistrates, for
the support of the ministry and maintenance of a hospital for
the poor and infirm.^ Meanwhile the Earl of Argyll had
seized the ruined buildings; and so, in 1573, when the
magistrates were called upon to give up an account of their
intromissions to the Lords Commissioners, the burgh
representatives could only report that "my lord of Ergile
has the yaird and roume of the place, and sua we ressave na
proffeit as yit."^ They acknowledged no returns from any
Observatine endowments ; and, while admitting the receipt of
;^io from those of the Black Priory,* they excused their pre-
viously meagre returns on the ground of the " gryte expense in
setting furthward of the trew religion of Jesus Chryst at all
tymes sen the beginning thairof within this realme."^ This
indefinite manner of accounting failed to satisfy the Com-
missioners, who ordered "ane perfyte and particulare rentale
of the haill freiris agane the nixt Assemblie " ; but in the
absence of that modified rental the immediate fate of the
friary lands and their value are now unascertainable.

Lucas Wadding tells us that the friary seal bore the " effigy
of St. Bernardine with the name Jesus on his right hand, in
the left hand a book, and at his feet three pontifical mitres

" 6

^ MS. Accounts of the Collector-General and Sub-Collector, 1561-89.

^ MS. original in Burgh Charter Room : printed in Charter's and Documents
of the Royal Burgh of Stirling, pp. 92-99. Precept, cod. die. MS. Reg. Privy
Seal, XXXVI. f. 72.

^ MS. Rental of Chaplainries, 12th August 1573 ; infra, II. p. 261.

* This daill silver or obits was returned at fifty-seven shillings in 1561. The
last Dominican Prior received a pension of £1^, 6s. 8d., and his predecessor in
office, Friar William Henderson, one of ^26. MS. Accounts, Collector-General,
1561.

^ MS. Rental of Chaplainries.

« A. M., XV. 349.

CHAP. IX.]

STIRLING

377

ROYAL BOUNTIES TO THE GREY FRIARS OF STIRLING

I. Exchequer Rolls ^

Whole or partial payments of the annual allowance of ;£i^, one chalder
of wheat, and one of malt are recorded as follows : In the rolls of
2nd August 1507, four bolls of malt; loth July 1508, ^6, one chalder
of wheat, one chalder of malt; 19th June 1509, eight bolls of malt;
13th August 1510, four bolls of wheat and four bolls of malt; 21st July
1511, ^10, 5s. ; July 1512, ^r, i8s., eight bolls of wheat, eight bolls of
malt; 30th July 1513, and 6th July 1514, ^13, eight bolls of wheat,
eight bolls of malt; 20th August 1528, /^6, 13s. 4d. ; 8th August 1542,
23rd September 155 1, and annually in each roll thereafter until that of
5th September 1558, ^^13, one chalder of wheat, one chalder of malt.

Payments of the sum of ;^io, designed as the Governor's alms and the
Queen's alms, are recorded in the rolls of 1550 and 1555.

1 The numerous entries contained in the Treasurer's Accounts and legacies
bequeathed to this friary are fully analysed, supra, pp. 368-73.

• I- .- .r-i;;v..-.~Jr-«-.'-

?^'-^

'^^^^F"T:^M:":^^^''| ■'■^ t..^:^:: '^'::^r-r^y^-'mni.

'^^y'-'^^:^^^y;^^i^7:^:^5iTf7r^7i7n^-^

The Cordeliere and the crowned F. Balustrade at CJiiiteau dc Blois.

CHAPTER IX— {continued)

OBSERVATINE FRIARIES

Jedburgh

The papal sanction to the erection of the ninth and last
Observatine friary, in Jedburgh, and the allegations of Sir
Thomas Craig concerning the provenance of the funds for its
purchase and construction, have been considered in an earlier
chapter. The subsequent history is little more than an arid
catalogue of pillage and destruction, punctuated by notices
of gifts from the privy purse towards the "edificatioun and
reparatioun " of the friary — grim testimony to the presence of
a ruthless foe. Its first destroyer was Lord Surrey, who
raided the district in 1523 and sacked Jedburgh on 24th
September in obedience to his sovereign's orders.^ Three
years later, James V. contributed ^10 and £i/\ for its
restoration,^ and in July 1526, when he visited Jedburgh for
the purpose of quelling some flagrant disorders on the Marches,
the friars were able to present the young king with a plate
of cherries grown in their orchard, receiving in return a gift
of forty shillings from the royal purse. ^ In 1541, another
contribution of £20, to "help the reparation " of the place,
points to a second disaster unrecorded in general history ;
and, in 1544, the friary shared in the destruction effected
by Lord Eure and his son. Lastly, although it could only
then have been in a state of partial repair, the friary
appears in the list of places destroyed by Hertford, who
laid waste the Merse and Teviotdale in September 1545, to

^ Henry VIII. Cal. S. P., III. ii. Nos. 3240, 3360,

^ Treasurer'' s Accounts, V. 306.

^ Ibid. p. 277. " To the Cordyler freris that brocht the kingis grace cheryis at

his grace's command, xls."

378

CHAP. IX.] JEDBURGH 379

avenee the death and defeat of Lord Eure at Ancrum Moor
on the 27th of February preceding.^

The friary stood in the Friars Gate behind the High
Street and occupied an area of about two acres, which the
historian of Roxburghshire (1864) beheved could be identified
with a house then known as the Friars, and the building
belonging to the British Linen Company's Bank." At the
Reformation the site and buildings passed into the possession
of the magistrates, and the persistence of the place-name is
proved from the Charter granted by Charles IL in 1671, con-
firminof the Town Council in inter alia, "All and haill the
yards called the Friars' Yards presently possessed by George
Moscrip, formerly bailie of our said burgh." " No trace can now
be discovered of the annual allowance, if any, paid to this friary
from the Exchequer ; and, of its inmates, only the " Father of
the Observant Frears of Jedworth," who preached at Norham
in 1524 and undertook to convey a letter from Henry VHI. to
James V.,"^ and Adam Abel are known to history. The former
has been identified as " one of the Homes — a brother, it would
seem, of the two who had been executed — and therefore not
likely to bear much good will to Albany and the French cause"; ^
but this statement is not supported by the English records from
which the incident was taken. *^ The latter is the reputed author
of the WheelofTiine,2.Q\\xQ)\\\Q\^ of small historical value written
about 1533. A manuscript copy of this work appeared in the
sale of Lord Cromarty's books (1746); and, from Dr. Laing's
analysis of the evidence concerning it, we may accept Friar
Abel as the only Scottish Franciscan, other than Father Hay,
whose literary activity is now vouched for by credible evidence."

1 Henry VIII. Cal. S. P., V. p. 523.

' Alexander Jeffries, The History and Antiquities of Roxburghshire, II. 106-107.
In a charter, dated 12th August 1566, by Andrew (Hume), Commendator of
Jedburgh, to Mr. John Rutherfurd, burgess of Jedburgh, of the lands of Castlewod,
etc., exception is made of " illis sex acris terrarum apud Fratres Minores de
Jedburcht adjacentibus." — MS. Charters by Abbots and Comnicndators of Jed-
burgh, 1479-1596, Cj. R. H.

3 Ibid. II. 146. " Supra, p. 76.

■"' Hill Burton, History, III. 120. •'• Henry VHI. Cal. S. P., IV. iv. 76.

"^ Proc. Soc. of Ajitiq. of Scotland, XII. 72. Nor is there any mention in
Father Servais Dirks' exhaustive J/isioire Litteraii'e ct Bibliographiquc des Ftires
Af incurs de P Obsernance en Belgiqtce et dans les Pays-Bas of a single liteiary \\ orU
by a Scottish friar from the time of Cornelius down to the I7tli century.

CHAPTER X

THE BROTHERHOOD OF PENITENTS
THIRD ORDER OF ST. FRANCIS

Distinct from the propaganda of poverty and humility that
reached its apogee in the Hfe and teaching of St. Francis,
the religious associations or confraternities of devout laymen
in the beginning of the thirteenth century were a definite
protest against the decadence and absolutism of the Church.
It was in the nature of things that Franciscanism should
swell the number of penitent laymen far beyond the dreams
of the already formally constituted Humiliati, and that these
starved souls should look to the first Friar for guidance, ere
they entered upon the phase of disintegration in accordance
with the varying religious sympathies that inevitably
permeate the most restricted community of laymen.^
Their ideal, as formulated in the "Memorial of the
Brothers and Sisters of Penitents,"^ prepared by St.

^ e.g. the preference for the ministrations of a Friar Minor, a Dominican Friar,
a Regular, or a Secular.

^ Regula Antigua Fratrwn et Sororum sen Tertii Ordinis Sancti Francisci,

ed. M. Paul Sabatier, " Op. de Critique Historique," Fasc. I. 1901 {infra, II. p. 115);

Critical study, Les Regies et le Goiiveriievient de POrdo de Pcenitentia au XIII' Steele,

by R. P. Pierre Mandonnet, O.P., idid. Fasc. IV. 1902. The attribution of this

Rule to St. Francis, in collaboration with Cardinal Ugolini, is definitely established

by these erudite scholars of Franciscan origins. Only a specialist in this field of

investigation can hope to lay down principles which will withstand minute criticism,

and students of Franciscan history therefore wait with impatience an authoritative

work upon the disintegration of the fraternity into the lay associations of

Penitents, who embraced in greater or less detail the Regula Antiqua. Cap. X.

§ 12, '•'■ De hac fraternitate et de iis qui hic continentur nemo exi7-e

380

St. Francis, assisted by Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience,

presenting the Rule of the Third Order to its Patrons,

St. Louis, King of France, and St. Elizabeth of

Hungary.

VOLTERRA, Delia Rohhia.

CHAP. X.] THE BROTHERHOOD OF PENITENTS 381

Francis,^ in collaboration with Cardinal Ui^olini, was two-
fold. As practical Christians linked together by the sacred
ties of brotherhood and charity, they longed for immunity
from the degrading influences of contemporary civili-
sation, and for freedom from the absolutism of the
hierarchy in the exercise of religion. The Penitent
avoided profligate revels, spectacles or dances,^ and accorded
no support to actors or mountebanks. Simplicity and the
absence of ornament were the dominant note in his dress.
At table he was temperate both in meat and in drink. He
carried no death-dealing weapon,'^ and was slow to take an
oath.* The sick of his community during life and after death
were his first care, and the litigious spirit was deemed incon-
sistent with true penitence.^ For the idealist, this practical
form of Christianity was not inconsistent with the existing
social order. The world was the cloister of the Penitent. The
ties of matrimony and family were no impediment to brother-
hood, save that the wife required her husband's consent.
The entrant need but purge his erstwhile sins of worldliness
by restoring the objects of his cupidity, obtained by the fraud
or guile that finds shelter beneath the cloak of legal morality.
Thereafter, he was freed from the temptations that surround
the acquisition of wealth, in that he reserved for his needs,
according to his rank or station in life, no more than a

7'aleat tiisi religionem ingrediatur^^ clearly indicates that St. Francis was legislating
for a special class of Penitents who were in sympathy with his propaganda, as well
as for the general body of Penitents. The passage from the Tliree Companions —
" Similiter et viri uxorati et mtilieres maritatae a lege matrimonii non valentes de
FRATRUM SALUBRI CONSILIO sc 171 doiiiibiis propriis arctiori p<X7titcntiae com-
mittcbatit'''' — illustrates the influence of the Friars Minor upon the movement.

' Cap. XIII. § 5, Addition of 1228, '■'■ ista fratcr)iitas quae a beato Francisco
habuitfuftdamentum"; Supra Montem, 17th August 1289, ''^ (luia vero presens
vi7'e7idi fornm i7tstitutione7ti a beato Fra7tcisco praelibato suscepit." Vide Father
Mandonnet, op. cit.

- Ut CU7/1 7iiajori, 21st November 1234 — '"'' C11771 igitur dilccti filii Fratres de
Poe7iite7itia mu7idi delicias asper7ientur."

''' Modified in the second Penitent Rule dating from the year 1234 (Father
Mandonnet), which was formally confirmed in the Sup/-a Monto/i of 1289 : " hnpug-
7iationis ar/na secu77t no7i defera7tt., nisip7'o defe7isio7te Ro/iia7tae Ecclesiae, christiafuie
fidei vel etiam ter7-ae ipsoru77i aut de suoru7/i licentia i/ii7tistro7-ui/i.^^

* Cf. functions of the Procurator on behalf of the Friar Minor in this respect ;
infra, p. 467.

•''' Cap. X. § 2, universal application ; modified in 1228, cap. XIII. § 13, within the
fraternity.

382 THE BROTHERHOOD OE PENITENTS [ciiAr. x.

strictly necessary portion of his own personal fortune. The
yearly sztrplus he was bound to yield to the claims of charity ;
and so he longed for the realisation of the ideals that every
Christian civilisation in Europe has striven after in vain.

In religious profession, the dogma of the Penitent was
that of the Holy See, and the privileges of confraternity were
denied to the heretic. He must pay the tithes demanded by
the Church, perform its offices according to his intellectual
capacity,^ and make confession thrice in the year.^ But
by reason of the grave danger threatened by his protest
against decadence he became a privileged member of the
Church. In the performance of his civic duties, he found
shelter behind the weight of its authority during the infancy
of the fraternity.^ In the domain of religious discipline
he had the unusual privilege of accepting dispensation at
the hand of the Visitor from attendance at the Mass, if such
were approved of by the Minister or Master of the local
association, in actual practice a layman. The fraternity met
once a month in a church designated by the Minister to listen
to the exhortations of an instructed religiosiis, who was not
of necessity an ordained priest, and was occasionally the lay
Master, under the title of Doctor or Provincial, from whom
the Penitents received doctrinal teachino-.^ The control of

^ Cap. IV. In later years, many churchmen became members of one of the
recognised Third Orders ; but mention of them as Penitents, and the definition of
their duties, as such, in the Rule of 122 1 illustrates how universal the movement was.

- Altered in 1228 to twelve monthly confessions, and again in 1234 (Cap. VII.)
to three confessions.

" Military service, supplemented by the Order of Gregory IX. to the Bishops
in the Detestanda, 30th March 1228, "«/ vos {/nitres) serTuiretit imiinaies ajura-
jnentis quae civitatum et locortan reclores super eorum sequela extoi'qtcere a vobis
illicite co7itendebant, defendeiites vos ne officia publica recipcre vel nova exactiomim
vel alterius gi'avaiiiinis 07icra contiiigeret vos compelliP

* This anomalous state of matters was defined by St. Bonaventura in his
reply to the critic, who reproached the Friars Minor with neglect of the religious
life of the Penitents. The churchmen, he wrote, " iiifamarent etiani nos qtiaitdo
haberemus cum eis aliquaiufo secreia capiti/hi, quasi ce/ebrareinus conveniicula
Jiaereticorum in latebris, cu/n ipsi potius Ecclesiac rectores deberent eos secundum
inorem Ecclesiae corrigere, si quando offcnderent^ et punire" {Liber Apologeticus,
Bonaveniurae Op., VIII.). An evident meaning of this paragraph is, that the
Friars Minor declined to take the risk of incurring the charge of heresy by presiding
at the monthly meeting oi i\\Q Penitents in the role of the religiosus instructtis pro-
vided for in the Memorial of 122 1 ; and, if there were abuses among the Penitents,
it was the duty of the clergy rather than the Friars Minor to correct them, because

CHAP. X.] THIRD ORDER OF ST. FRANCIS 383

the Curia over these IndividuaHsts was therefore relatively
indefinite, and the delicacy of the problem may be inferred
from the refusal of the First Order to visit and correct the
Penitents. To the Curia, the Friar Minor appeared the
natural pastor, inasmuch as the Memorial proceeded from
St. Francis ; ^ but the sturdy independence of the fraternity
in defence of their freedom of choice, and the individual
preference for the ministrations of the other Orders, tended
to the constitution of Penitent communities attached to
the Order of their choice.^ The Siipi-a Montein accord-

the Penitents were not explicitly thirled to the Friars Minor either for religious
instruction or correction during the Generalship of Bonaventura (Rule of 1234).
This construction is wholly in agreement with the strained relations then subsist-
ing between the Friars Minor and the churchmen, who resorted to the charge of
heresy in every conceivable form to discredit the friars {infra^ Chap. XL). Father
Mandonnet {op. cit. pp. 186-191, 220-221), however, contends that this passage
proves that the Penitents were habitually visited or corrected by laymen, although
their second Rule of 1234 provided only for an ordained priest. When analysed,
his argument depends upon the identification of the Magistri Poeiiiteiitiiini with
the Visitator. Bonaventura's reply does not appear to warrant this assumption.
The Magister is cjuite distinct from the Visitator in the first and second Rule, and
the subsidiary justification of Father Mandonnet's contention (p. 188) from the
proviso of the Supra Moiitcni — nolinniis tauten co7igregationeiii htijusnwdi a laico
visitari — is vitiated by the context of the proviso. The laicus here referred to was
a lay brother of the Friars Minor, to whom Nicolas IV. endeavoured to submit
the Penitents by suggesting that they should choose their Visitator and Informator
from the ranks of the Minors. On p. 220, in contradiction to p. 188, Father
Mandonnet agrees that the laicits struck at by the proviso of the Stipra Mo7itevi
was a lay Franciscan ; and, in absence of convincing evidence on this obscure
point, it is incredible that the Holy See should have tolerated not only doctrinal
teaching but also correction of the Penitents by laymen for more than half a
century. It would even be dangerous to admit the principle of regular doctrinal
teaching by laymen, because the Minister General is a controversialist in the above
passage ; and it is far from the only case in which he selected the particular as an
illustration of the average. The sting in the phrase commencing cum ipsi potiiis
is obvious. It is repeated in the inverse sense in his justification of the friar as a
confessor {infra, pp. 422-23); and, when the Friars Minor did assume the duties of
pastors and correctors in accordance with the Supra Moiiteiu, the (German) clergy,
despite the Super cathedrain, retaliated with their old weapon, sentence of excom-
munication ; Etsi apostolicae, 23rd February 1 3 19.

^ Unigenitus Deif/ius, Sth August 1290: '■'' Et cuui naturalis persuadcat ratio et
rationi aequitas acquiescat, ut praedicti ordinis professores . . . de Ordiiie supra-
dicto Fratruin Minorutn visitatores et informatores assuinere prociirentP

- e.g. Dominican Tertiaries under the Rule of Munio de Zamora, 1285. For its
relation with the second Penitent Rule of 1234 see Father Mandonnet, op.
cit. 210-21 1. The preceding control of the Friars Minor over the Penitents is
happily summarised at p. 222 {op. cit.), according to the periods during which the
primitive spirit was in the ascendancy among the Franciscans. The same pheno-

384 THE BROTHERHOOD OF PENITENTS [chap. x.

ingly led to the formal constitution of those Penitents who
sympathised with the Franciscans, under the designation
or canonic title of Tertiarles or members of the Third Order
of St. Francis,

In this country, the data requisite for any solid generalisa-
tion are almost entirely wanting, and our review is of necessity
limited to a few isolated cases. The Ragusan manuscript
written by Friar Peter of Trau ^ about 1384 records the
existence of three Tertiary Congregations at that date, and a
little more than a century later our native records^ indicate
that another had been formed in Brechin under the influence
of the Observatines of Aberdeen. In this case, John Leis,
Chaplain of Brechin Cathedral, was described as "chaplain
to our confraternity," and that is a designation which it would
be unnatural to explain in any other context than the provision
of the Memorial.^ The visitation of the members would be
carried out by the Observatines who periodically visited
Brechin from Aberdeen and were entertained In the house of
the Tertiary chaplain John Leis. Chancellor William Ogilvy
of Brechin was also a member of the Third Order, and acted
as host of the friars during their visits to his town. There Is
nothing to indicate that he assumed the office of chaplain to
the Tertiarles ; and. If an Observatlne of Aberdeen did not
visit Brechin for the monthly reunion, we may surmise that,
as Chancellor, he delegated one of his subordinates to fill the
post of monitor.* In Aberdeen, also, the names of Rector
Burnet of Methlick, Elizabeth Vindegatis and Mariota
Chalmer are met with as Tertiarles who took a warm interest
in the Observance, the last-mentioned being burled in the
Franciscan habit before the friary altar of the Blessed Virgin.
During his brief residence in Scotland between 1535 and
I539> George Buchanan ridiculed the privileges with which

mena will be observed in the reversion of the control to the primitive Observatines
at the end of the fifteenth century.

^ Bodleian Library MSS., Canonic. MtscelL, 525 : described by Mr. A. G.
Little, Op. de Crit. Historique., L 251-297.

2 Aberd. Ob. CaL

3 Cap. VH.

* Cap. VII., " Qui cos moiieai et co7'iforiei ad pO[:niieniia7n.i perseveraniiam et
opera misericordiae faciendaP

CHAP. X.] THIRD ORDER OF ST. FRANCIS 385

the people believed that the Tertiary habit was endowed.
They were, however, material^ as well as spiritual,^ and
the suffrages of the Franciscan, or of any other Order, were
a privilege not lightly esteemed by laymen in whom the leaven
of religion was present. When brought to task before the
Portuguese Inquisition,^ the Humanist naively replied he was
unaware that these indulgences had been granted by the
Pope, and he therefore doubted the promise of St. Francis
because no mention of it was made in his biography. In-
terested only in securing a recognition of papal indulgence,
and indifferent to the vindication of Franciscan privileges,
the Inquisition did not focus attention upon the evasive
nature of this reply. In the absence of any reference to the
Rule of the First Order, or to the Testament of St. Francis,
there is little doubt that Buchanan's raillery was directed
against the Tertiaries who lived in the world ; and the
resentment of the friars may be appreciated from the fact
that the privileges of brotherhood were then granted by
the First Order as a definite expression of its gratitude to
laymen in return for their generous support — "because we
cannot employ the temporalities of the Vicar in rewarding
worthily and rightly your affection, yet are we bound, so
much as in us lies and as your love and good deeds deserve,
to repay the debt of gratitude in spiritual things,"* Of itself
this implies a radical innovation upon the constitutions of the
thirteenth century, and illustrates the completeness of the
control acquired over the Tertiaries by the Friars Minor. In
1 22 1, the admissibility of the candidate at the close of his
noviciate was decided upon by the Minister and the brethren.^
At the end of the fifteenth century, the Letter of Confraternity
was granted by the Chapter General of the First Order, and,

^ Provision during sickness for poor sisters and brothers, and cost of their
funeral services ; caps. VII., IX.

^ e.g. Exponi nobis, 6th January 15 14-15, conferred upon the Tertiaries all the
privileges of ecclesiastical persons.

^ Inquisition Records., pp. 5, 26.

■* Letter of Confraternity to Sir Thomas Maule of Panmure, itifra, II. p. 265.
These letters must not be confused with the indulgences sold by the Par-
doners.

* Cap. X. This system no doubt continued to govern the admission of
ordinary members.

386 THE BROTHERHOOD OF PENITENTS [chap. x.

at some date prior to 1542, the power of admitting "persons
devoted to our Religion " ^ had been delegated to the
Provincials by the Observatine Minister General.^ Of these
grants to Scotsmen four at least are now extant, and from
them we learn that Robert Arbuthnot of Arbuthnot, John
Drummond of Drummond, Sir Thomas Maule of Panmure,
and Sir Patrick Hepburn of Wauchton, all special benefactors
of the Scottish Observatines, were admitted to the privileges
of confraternity.^ "Whereas, in things temporal we can
make no acknowledgment of your charity," says the Letter
granted to Robert Arbuthnot, "the fervour of your devotion
to our Order, nevertheless, demands of us in things spiritual
fitting recompense for your kindly benefits, in so far as in us
lies with the help of God, and as we present your desires
before God, and as your charity deserves. Wherefore, in
life and in death, I receive you into our confraternity and
to general and special participation in all charitable and
meritorious deeds, namely, masses, prayers, divine of^ces,
devotions, suffrages, fasts, vigils, discipline, and other spiritual
advantages, graciously granting to you by the tenor of these
presents (the benefit of) everything which the Son of God,
the author of all good, appointed to be done by the friars
subject to me, the sisters of St. Clare, and the brothers and
sisters of Penitence ; so that by the aid of manifold suffrages
you may merit increase of grace in this life and the reward of
eternal life hereafter. Desiring that when your death — and
for long may God deign to defer it so that with profit you
may practise good works — shall be announced in our Chapters,
there may be offered on your behalf the prayers that it
has hitherto been the laudable custom in our Order to offer
for distinguished benefactors." The Conventual friars also
admitted generous patrons to the confraternity in accord-
ance with the decision of their Provincial Chapters ; but in
the case of the Duke of Montrose and Lady Margaret,
his wife, who were admitted in the Provincial Chapter held at
Inverkeithing on 2nd August 1489, the formal letter of the

^ i.e. Order.

2 Letter of Confraternity to Sir Patrick Hepburn of Wauchton, infra^ II. p. 266.

2 Infra., II. pp. 263-66.

Principal Entrance to the Casa del Cordon at Burgos,
with the Franciscan Cordeli^re and the Observatine

Monogram of Christ.

CHAP. X.]

THIRD ORDER OF ST. FRANCIS

387

Chapter General homologating this grant has not been
preserved/

The Penitents who lived in the world early abandoned
the distinctive dress provided for in the Memorial ; and in
its place they wore under their secular clothes a small serge
tunic uirt about with a white cord. On occasion, dis-
tinofuished members wore a a-old chain round the neck
fashioned after the form of the Cordeliere. It also entered
extensively into architecture, being proudly sculptured by the

The crowned F of Francis I., encircled with the Franciscan
Cordeliere. Chateau de Blots.

Tertiary over a door or window of his house intertwined with
his own coat of arms," while his furniture, hangings and
books were often ornamented with it. Duchess Isabella of
Brittany, daughter of James I., it will be remembered,^ was a
member of the Third Order, and in her portrait of 1464 the

1 Infra, II. p. 128. William, first Earl of Seton, who died in March 1409 and
was buried in the church of the " Cordelere Freris in Haddington," was also,
it is alleged, a member of the Brotherhood of Penitents ; supra, p. 177.

2 Vide pp. 167, 247, 351, 377, 488.

3 Supra, p. 52. The coat of arms, monogram and device of Anne of Brittany
who married Charles VIII. of France and united the duchy in the French crown,
still appear on the walls of the Chateaux of Blois, Loches, and others, with the
Cordeliere placed round them.

388 THE BROTHERHOOD OF PENITENTS [chap. x.

Cordeliere falls prominently over her gown, on which the arms
of Scotland and Brittany are impaled.

In this phase of the Penitent movement we recognise
the type of humanity which does not possess the religious
vocation, but which would fain live in intimate association
with the Church, in the hope of realising its precepts in their
lives. At an early date, however, the fraternity entered upon
another phase of evolution distinctly foreshadowed in the
Memorial of 1221 — "No one may leave this fraternity, and
those comprised herein, unless he enter a religious order." ^
A century later in his comment upon the Supra Montem,
John XXII. expressed the ecclesiastical view of this injunction :
" We approve of your intention to live in obedience, poverty
and chastity in as much as that life is praiseworthy, very
useful and in accordance with the intention of St. Francis ; and
we declare that it is not contrary to the Rule of Nicolas IV.
which you profess. That Rule, according to the spirit of
its founder, intended that this Order should be for persons
of both sexes living in the world, but it never forbade its
members to lead a more perfect life."" In a word, contact
with religion amid discouraging and often barbarous con-
ditions of life' subdued the individualism of the Penitent,
because he was a victim to fear of his surroundings. The
family tie yielded to a longing for the perfect life that could
only then be realised by the average personality within the
precincts of the cloister. Development on these lines was
temporarily arrested by the Sane t a Romana of John XXII.,
which vetoed the formation of unauthorised congregations,
with the intention of suppressing the Fraticelli and the extreme
Spiritual Franciscans. The Observatine revival on orthodox
lines was, however, at hand, and under its influence the
Tertiaries inaugurated the regime of regular houses for each

1 Cap. X. § 12. The life of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary at once suggests itself
as an illustration of the transition from the secular Third Order to the regular
Third Order, that is from the Penitence of Bona Uonna to that of Angelina de
Marsciano.

2 This deviation from the intention of St. Francis, distinct from that of Cardinal
Ugolini who collaborated with him in the preparation of the Memorial, cannot be
more exactly expressed than in the words of M. Sabatier : " St. Francis no more
condemned the family or property than Jesus did ; he simply saw in them ties
from which the apostle, and the apostle alone, needs to be free."

CHAP. X.] THIRD ORDER OF ST. FRANCIS 3^9

sex.^ The picturesque personality wliich effected this com-
promise between the Rule of the Claresses"-^ and the Rule of
the Penitents was Angelina de Marsciano (or de Foligno),
who was permitted^ to retire from the world for stricter
observance of the Third Rule.^ Subsequent to 1289, the
Friars Minor had transformed the " persuasion " of Nicolas IV.
into a definite right of control over the instruction and
visitation of the Tertiaries affiliated to their Order. The
resfular Sisters of Anoelina were now freed from this juris-
diction, by reason, it is said in the Bull, of the scandalous
lives of certain Conventual friars of Perugia whose control
had made the Tertiaries objects of ridicule to the townsmen.^
Instead, the Memorial of 1221 was revived, and the com-
munities were empowered to select their priest and visitor
from any approved Order, or from among secular priests of
good repute. The continuing influence of the Memorial is to
be observed in the proviso against the initiation of lawsuits
by the Sisters, the care and visitation of their own sick, the
revival of a distinctive dress, in which the veil played an
important part, and the increase in the number of confessions
from three to twelve ; while the Rule of the Claresses
modified the hitherto uncontrolled freedom of resort to the
world, by a definite injunction that the Sisters were not to
frequent the world, and never at night, without the sanction
of their Superior, and that they must avoid the society of
women ornatae mundano cultii. After the model of the First
and Second Orders, the Superior of the Italian Tertiary com-

^ So far as can now be ascertained, there were no regular houses of male
Tertiaries in Scotland, and no account is taken of that subdivision in the remainder
of this chapter.

- Perpetual cloister and, as modified by Urban IV., common ownership.
Infra, p. 455-

•" Constitution unknown, homologated by Eugenius IV. in Apostolicae Sedis,
2nd May 1440. The statement in this Bull that Angelina received this permission
from Urban V., 1362-70, docs not agree with her liiographer's dates.

■* i.e. Second Rule of the Penitents, now defined as the Rule of the Tliird Order
of St. Francis. The Claresses were the Second Order of St. Francis, and were
distinguished from the Regular Female Tertiaries by the designation Clarissac
Priiiiae AVi,^//A?t'— that is, of the First Rule given to St. Clare by St. Francis, and
modified by Urban IV. after her death.

^ There was a College of male Tertiaries in Pcru-i.i before Angelina inaugur-
ated the regular sisterhood.

390 THE BROTHERHOOD OF PENITENTS [chap. x.

munities was a Ministra Generalis, elected annually by the
Ministrae, and for some time she enjoyed the right of visita-
tion and correction.^ To her discretion were referred the
examination and admission of novices for a probationary
period ; but their admission to the Order depended upon the
decision of the simple Ministrae^ and the majority of the
discreet Sisters.^ In enjoyment of the right of association,^
the propaganda of Angelina was attended with immediate
success, and soon spread beyond the boundaries of Italy, as
if to supplement the Observatine revival in which it had its
origin. The question of autonomy at once became one of
the first importance in ecclesiastical politics. Five months
after the Ministra Generalis had been empowered to visit
and correct (1428) the Sisters who voluntarily came under
her jurisdiction, the Conventual Franciscans, under Antonio
de Massa,^ successfully demanded the restitution of their juris-
diction, on account of the scandals, errors and heresies result-
ing from indiscriminate liberty.*^ Thirteen years later, the
Observatines secured a share of this control ;^ and Sixtus IV.,
in reply to an Observatine petition, granted jurisdiction
over the whole Third Order, the Franciscans being bound to
appoint a Conventual or Observatine Visitor in accordance
with the request of the Tertiary Provincial Chapters.*^ There-
after, in spite of a certain intermittent and local resistance to
this jurisdiction,^ the Observatines appear as the vigilant
correctors of the Grey Sisters ; and, in the Bulls of Erection
granted to their houses, Observatine control was all but
uniformly provided for. Their idea of conventual discipline

1 Sacrae reltgionis, 19th August 1428.

^ Also called Abbatissae and Priorissae.

" Statutes^ A. M., XI. 382-89, incorporated in Scdis Apostolicae^ 15th January
1439-

■* Facere congregafwjiem, reaffirmed by Eugenius IV. in Apostolicae Sedis, 2nd
May 1440.

^ Vide his attitude towards the Observatines, at pp. 48-49.

^' Licet inter cetei-a^ 9th December 1428.

" Sedis Apostolicae.^ 2nd May 1443.

8 Romaiii Po7itificis, 15th December 147 1. The Provincial Chapter referred to
was doubtless that of the regular Tertiaries.

» e.g. Nitper pe7', 12th March 1516 ; Cum alias, nth April 1524 ; E.iponi fiobis,
ist October 1537.

1" Cf. pp. 262-63.

CHAP. X.] THIRD ORDER OF ST. FRANCIS 391

in this respect was finally expressed in the decision of their
Chapter General to confine to their settlements, after the
custom of the Claresses, the Sisters who lived in common
under solemn vows.^

The regular sisterhood appeared in Scotland about the
year i486, and the first settlement was established at
Aberdour in Fife. By his own consent, and that of his
Superior, the Augustinian Abbot of Inchcolm, the Sisters
superseded the Vicar of the parish in the management of a
hospital previously founded for the support, maintenance
and entertainment of poor pilgrims and wayfarers who visited
a holy well situated south of the village of Easter Aberdour.^
This foundation was the gift of James, first Earl of Morton,
who had mortified to God and St. Martha by the hand of
Vicar John Scott an acre of ground at the east of the town,
on the north side of the road leading to Kinghorn, for the
erection of the Hospital of St. Martha and of a free manse
for the Vicar, to whom its administration was entrusted.^ Five
years later, the Earl mortified for the support of the Hospital
three other acres of his lands then in the occupation of
certain tenants,'^ and directed, as a condition of residence, that
the pilgrims should assemble daily in the chapel of the Hospital
and there repeat on bended knee after the stroke of noon five
Pater Nosters and five Ave Marias.^ This charitable institu-
tion had been founded at the request of Vicar Scott "for the
necessities and use of poor contemplatives " ; but for some

^ Homologated by Julius III., Cum siciit accepiiiius, nth October 1553, and by
the Council of Trent. Leo X. {Duditui fel., 27th May 1517, and Dilectae, 2,is\.
August 1 5 17) had accorded the Sisters all the privileges of the Claresses — ititer
alia exemption from Tenths — and recognised them as verae religiosae in right of all
the spiritual privileges of the Friars Minor.

- The well was drained into the little stream called the Dour nearly seventy
years ago, when the neighbouring ground was feued by the Earl of Morton to form
the short street known as Home Park. Its site is now covered by a few steps
leading from the garden behind the house, No. i.

^Charter of Foundation, 22nd July 1474: Reg. Honoris de Morton, II.
235-38 (Bann. Club).

■* His right of Courts, civil and criminal, over the inhabitants and occupiers of
these acres was expressly reserved.

* Second Charter of Foundation, ist September 1479 ; Reg. Honoris de Morton,
II. 238-40. The startling provision concerning observance of the moral code by
the inmates was doubtless motived Ijy the prevailing standard of morality.

392 THE BROTHERHOOD OF PENITENTS [chap. x.

unknown reason the donation "did not chance to take effect
. and be prosecuted as it was granted and ordained." Accord-
ingly, the Earl re-possessed himself of the lands ; and, with
a further endowment of four adjacent acres of his lands of
Inchmartyne, he placed the Hospital under the charge of
Isabella and Johanna Wight, Frances Henryson and Jean
Dross or Dirsse, Sisters of the regular Third Order of St.
Francis, by a third charter dated i6th October 1486.^ The
nunnery with its church and buildings stood on a piece of
ground lying on the north side of the main street of Easter
Aberdour, and its site is now occupied by a building known
as the Old Manse. The Sisterlands — still known under that
name — extended northwards, while in the present orarden
wall many of the stones of the nunnery buildings can be
identified. In accordance with the constitution orovernino-
the acceptance of friaries by the First and Second Orders,
these Grey Sisters, through the Bishop of Dunkeld,^ petitioned
Innocent VIII. to grant the customary Bull of Erection.
This was readily granted on 23rd June of the following
year, but under conditions which implied a radical modification
of the Earl's charitable intentions : —

" Innocent, Bishop, etc. to our venerable brother, the Bishop of
Dunkeld, and to our beloved sons, the Abbot of the Monastery of
St. Columba, in the diocese of Dunkeld, and the Archdeacon of
the Church of Dunkeld, greeting. Of all the works most agreeable
to the Divine Will we esteem not the least the founding of a convent
in which circumspect virgins with kindled lamps go forth to meet their
bridegroom, Christ, and present to Him their dutiful and thankful
service, wherein, moreover, the Most High may be adored with heavenly
praises, and, by the merits of a sinless life, the glory of everlasting
felicity may be acquired. Wherefore, we do willingly yield to the pious
prayers of devout persons who desire to found such convents, and do
advance such designs with opportune favours ; and, moreover, when it
shall be declared that these purposes have been prudently accomplished,
and we are entreated thereto, we ordain that they shall be fortified by
our authority.

Whereas a petition has been presented to us on behalf of our

^ Reg. Honoris de Morton, II. 240-42. Printed infra, II. pp. 267-70. Special
provision was made that the road on the south side of the original acre should
never be removed, and that its width should not be less than sixteen ells.

2 The Bishop of the diocese.

(HAP. X.] THIRD ORDER OF ST. FRANCIS 393

beloved daughters in Christ, Isabella and Jean Wucht (Wight), Frances
Innes and Jean Dirsse, Sisters of the Third Order of the blessed Francis,
called of Penitence, showing that our beloved son John Scot, Canon of
the Monastery of Inchcolm, of the Order of Saint Augustine in the
diocese of Dunkeld, Rector or Master and founder of the Hospital of
the Poor of the Blessed Virgin Martha near the town of Aberdour in the
y said diocese, and — wisely considering that, if sisters of the said Third Order

were introduced into the kingdom of Scotland, where hitherto they have
not been, then the women of the said kingdom would be able, under the
regulations and institutions of the said Third Order, to devote themselves
to works well-pleasing to Heaven, and would find opportunity and con-
venience for consulting the salvation of their souls — has- — with consent
of a noble man, James, Earl of Morton, by whom the said Hospital was
endowed with a garden and lands which were mortified by the then
King of Scots ^ — given and granted the foresaid Hospital, with its
chapel, gardens, fields, rights, goods and all its pertinents to the before-
mentioned sisters for themselves and other sisters of the said Third Order
who may wish for the time to dwell there, for their perpetual use and
habitation, as is said to be more fully contained in certain public instru-
ments and authentic documents. Wherefore, on behalf of the aforesaid
sisters, humble supplication has been made to us that of our Apostolic
grace we would deign to add the strength of our confirmation to this
grant, donation and mortification for their more sure possession thereof,
and otherwise make suitable provision herein.

We, therefore, who joyfully behold such laudable deeds and interpose
our earnest care that they may have their desired effect, not having
sure information as to the premises, yet well disposed towards such
supplications — and absolving the said Isabella (and Johanna) Wucht and
Jean Dirsse and Frances, and each of them, from all and every sentence
of excommunication, suspension and interdict, and other ecclesiastical
sentences, censures and penalties, inflicted either at public or private
instance, on whatsoever occasion or for whatsoever cause, if so be that
they are entangled or ensnared therewith, to the effect that at least these
shall not prevent giving eft'ect to these presents, deeming them to be
absolved therefrom, and holding as expressed in these presents the tenor
of these instruments and documents — by our Apostolic writings ordain
your wisdoms that you, or two or one of you, having cited the said
Canon and Earl, the Syndic of the poor in these parts and any others
who ought to be cited, do lawfully convene upon the premises, and,
without prejudice to any one, by our authority approve and confirm the
aforesaid grant, donation and mortification, and so far as these are
concerned all and sundry things contained in the said instruments and
documents and whatsoever may have followed thereupon, and that you
supply all and sundry defects therein if any shall happen to have inter-
vened; and that jv;//, by our aiiiIioriiy\ altogether and utterly suppress a/ul

' Not iccordcd in AV^*". Mag. Si'g.

394 THE BROTHERHOOD OF PENITENTS [chap. x.

extinguish in the said hospital the name and title of hospital and all the
rights of a hospital; and this extinction and suppression having been
effected by you, that you bestow, grant, and give in perpetuity to the
sisters aforementioned and to their foresaid Order, for themselves and
other sisters of the said Order who may wish to dwell therein for the
time, the structures and buildings of the said hospital with its chapel,
gardens, fields and other goods aforesaid, as also the power of altering
the foresaid structures and buildings and of enlarging the same with
dormitory, refectory and cloister, after the pattern of other houses of the
sisters of the said Third Order in the countries of Fratice and Flanders \
and that by the said authority you appoint the said Isabella, while
she lives, to be Mistress of the said house and of the foresaid and
other sisters of the house for the time ; also that by our authority you
ordain the said house and its mistress and sisters for the time to be under
the care, direction, co7iti-ol and discipline of the Vicar of the Friars of
the province of Scotland, called the Order of Friars Minor of Observance,
who shall be in office for the time ; and that you by the same authority
require the said Vicar to provide a competent confessor to the said
mistress and sisters who shall direct and instruct them how they ought to
employ themselves in works acceptable to God; as also that the said
Vicar do truly exercise his authority and office towards the foresaid house
and its mistress for the time and the sisters, and do all those things which
ought to be done in the same way as similar Vicars discharge their
functions to the like houses and their mistresses and sisters com-
mitted to their care; and the said Isabella, or the mistress of the
said house for the time, dying or surrendering her position in the said
house into the hands of the sisters thereof, that one of the sisters of the
said house, whom the other sisters who shall belong to it at the time,
or the major and sounder part of them, shall choose to be elected
according to the rules of the said Third Order, shall become mistress of
the said house for her lifetime ; and, when she shall have obtained
confirmation of her election by the aforesaid Vicar, she shall have liberty
to discharge her office with that free administration, pre-eminence,
authority and superiority, and with power also of correcting the sisters
in the said house, which the mistresses of similar houses in the
kingdom of France and province of Flanders exercise; and that the
said Isabella, and the mistress for the time therein, with the sisters of
the said house, shall constitute a convent with a common treasury or
purse, and with a seal and other conventual insignia, and they shall
Jiot be prohibited from having their own property both i?i common and
in particular. Moreover, it shall be lawful to the said Isabella, and to
the Mistress of the said house for the time, to receive among the sisters
maidens and other women, who, fleeing from the world, desire under the
appointed rules of the said Third Order to serve the Most High, and to
present to them the regular dress according to the custom of the
said Third Order, and to allow them to make the regular profession
usually made by the sisters thereof, if they are freely willing to

CHAP. X.] THIRD ORDER OF ST. FRANCIS 395

make the same in presence of the said Isabella and the mistress of the
said house for the time being ; and it shall be lawful both to the said
mistress, and, by her permission, to the sisters living for the time in
the said house, to retat?i and instruct therein young maidens of honour-
able parentage and willing to be instructed i?i literature and good arts.
/ Further, if the said Vicar refuse to visit them and to confirm the election

of the Mistress, then the Ordinary of the place ought by apostolic
authority to confirm this election, if it be canonical. These things by
our authority do ye statute and ordain, and place the said house, its
mistress and sisters, in peaceful possession and enjoyment of this grant,
statute and ordinance, and of the privileges and favours thus conferred
upon them. Contradictors, etc. Given at Saint Peter's at Rome on
23rd June 1487, in the third year of our pontificate."^

Notwithstanding this arbitrary injunction to extinguisli the
name of Hospital, these Tertiary Sisters at once became known
as the Sisters of St. Martha of Aberdour ; and it is highly im-
probable that they varied the express conditions of the charter
without their patron's consent. The Sisters of Campvere,
we know, won the recognition of James IV. by their kindly
services to invalid Scotsmen in their town, and it may
be doubted whether the maidens of noble lineage ever
acquired any knowledge of literature and the fine arts from
teachers who were unable to sign their own names. At least,
on i8th August 1560, the four sisters,^ who granted two Feu
Charters of their nunnery and acres to the descendant of
their founder, required the assistance of a notary to guide their
hands at the pen. With his accustomed generosity towards
the Franciscans, James IV. made an annual allowance of
^10 from the customs of Inverkeithing to the chaplain of the
nunnery ; ^ and the sisters themselves shared in the royal
bounty to the extent of four bolls of wheat and four bolls of
barley, supplemented by occasional donations from the royal
purse varying in value from 14s. to ^5.*

The second and last nunnery of Grey Sisters of Penitence
in this country was founded at Dundee by James Fothcring-

^ Theiner, Mon. Vet. Hib. et Scot., p. 500.

2 Mother Agnes Wrycht, and Sisters Elizabeth Trumball, Margaret Crummy
and Cristina Cornawell.

^ Mother Isabella (\ViL;hl) granted the receipts for tliis allowance. Exch. Rolls,
1489.

* Originally two bolls of each grain. Summaries, infra, pp. y)7-'-)^-

396 THE BROTHERHOOD OF PENITENTS [chap. x.

ham in 1502/ The charter of this burgess transferred to the
rehgious sisters, Janet Blare and Mariota Oliphant, his chapel
founded in honour of St. James the Apostle and his adjacent
croft beside the Argylgate, long after known as the " Grey
Sisters' Acre." The boundaries of this area were the arable
land of William Blare on the west, the highways on the north
and south, and the burgh common on the east ; while the
purpose of the charter was simply defined as the intention to
provide a "perpetual place" for the said religious sisters and
their successors, who shall dwell therein and celebrate divine
services. In return, they were directed to pray for
their patron's parents after the daily mass and again after
vespers, and to repeat the psalm De pi'ofttndis, with the three
collects Pietate tua Dezts, Qid patrem et matre7n, and Fidelium
Deus omnium ; while the placebo and dirige were to be re-
cited twice in the year after his death and that of his wife,
Isabella Spalding. At this date the Tertiary rights of burial
were undefined,^ and Fotheringham stipulated that, if he
were buried within the nunnery, these services should be
performed by the chaplain over his tomb, with sprinkling of
holy water after the mass on Christmas and on the anniversary
of his death. The Conventual Franciscans of Dundee would
naturally delegate one of their number to act as chaplain, and
it is of further interest to observe that the magistrates gave
their consent to the charter, which empowered them to
supersede any sisters who "fell away from the perfection and
rule of their profession or lapsed into a wicked and suspected
manner of livino-."^

From this date until the Reformation, the personality of
the sisters in both nunneries, their inner life and the extent
of their work among the poor, is shrouded in an impenetrable

^ Charier of Donation, 8th March 1 501-2 ; Original, preserved in the Chartu-
lary of Fingask, incorporated in Charter of Confirmation by James IV., 31st March
1502 ; MS. Reif. Mag. Sig., XIII. No. 500 ; infra, II. p. 273.

- The fifth Lateran Council reaffirmed the right of Tertiaries living in the
world to select burial where they pleased ; and, as already stated, the regular
Sisters were accorded all the privileges of the Friars Minor and Claresses in 1517-

^ Vide analogous, but no doubt equally illusory, control over the Friars Minor,
supra, p. 231. These sisters did not receive an allowance from the Exchequer ;
but they may have been intended as the recipients of the gifts entered in the
Treasurcr''s Accounts, to the " Gray Sisteris."

CHAP. X.] THIRD ORDER OF ST. FRANCIS 397

cloud of anonymity. When their mission was brought to
a close in the month of August 1560, those of Dundee
were immediately dispossessed of their house by the
magistrates, who sold its stone and lime to one John
Brown for 16 merks and los., and leased the croft at an
annual rent of 283} At the same period, under two
charters granted by the Mother and Sisters of Aberdour, the
Earl of Morton secured possession of the eight acres mortified
to them by his ancestor. This Sisterland was to be held by
him in feu from the nunnery Chapter at a duty of 6s. 8d. per
acre, with 6s. 8d. for the house and yards ; and, keeping in
view the liferent provision granted to recanting friars and
sisters, there is every probability that this payment remained
in abeyance until the death of the last sister, when the then
Earl necessarily entered with the Crown. ^ With his consent
the sisters enjoyed the liferent of their glebe ; and, from a
lease of the lands, at a rent of eleven bolls of bear and the
same quantity of meal, which was recorded for execution on
29th January 1584,^ we may presume that the last sister was
Margaret Talliefer, who, as " liferenter of the Sisteris land of
Aberdour," had entered into the bonds of wedlock with
Master Robert Young, the local notary.

ROYAL BOUNTIES TO THE GREY SISTERS OF ABERDOUR

I. Exchequer Rolls

1489. By payment made to the Chaplain celebrating in the House of St. Martha
of Aberdour, receiving annually ten pounds from the Great Customs
of the said Burgh (Inverkeithing) in alms, Isabella, the Mother of the
said sisters, by her letters granting receipt. It is to be remembered that
Thomas Forest, Keeper of the Accounts, received from John Story, as the
custom duty of a sack of twelve stones of wool, one hundred skins with
the wool on them, and two hundred skins of the said shearlings, the sum
of five merks for the past year, which the said Thomas accounts for by
having paid over that sum to the Sisters of the Order of Saint Martha
of Aberdour, and so accounts balance as to these five merks.

^ MS. Accotmls, Collector-General, 1561, et seq.

^ Original in the Morton Chartulary. Abbreviate recorded f. 194, MS. Abbrei>.
Cariar Fetidifirmc Terrar. Ecclesiasticar. Ififra, II. p. 270.

^ MS. Books 0/ Council ami Session, G. R. H. ; infra, II. p. 271.

398 THE BROTHERHOOD OF PENITENTS [chap. x.

1493. Of the fine of ^10, in which Alexander Wittimwr was adjudicated, as
appears in said extract, granted by the King to the Sisters of St. Martha
in alms. . . .

1494. Certain payments of which there are of barley for fragments to the
fowls, and to the Grey Sisters two chalders, eleven bolls, one firlot,
two pecks of barley, the residue of the malt. . . .

Payments of a victual allowance of wheat and barley from the
Customs of Fife, increased in 1499 from two to four bolls of each grain,
appear in the Rolls of 1494, and in those of each year between 1497-99,
1501-10, 1512-14, 1516-21, 1523-32, 1534, 1536, 1539-43-

II. Treasurer's Accounts

1488, 1 8th July. To the Gray Sisters of Abirdour at the Kingis command,

1489, 3rd May. To the Gray Sisters at the Kingis command, j[^2, los.

1 501, 28th March. To the Gray Sisteris be the Kingis command, 3 Franch
crounis, summa jQ2, 2s.

1502, 26th April. To the Gray Sisteris in almous be the Kingis command,

1503, 3rd February. In Edinburgh to the Gray Sisteris, be the Kingis
command, ;^2, 2s.

1503, 8th September. To the Gray Sisteris that day be the Kingis com-
mand, 14s.

1504, 26th November. To the Gray Sisters be the Kingis command, 14s.
15 13, 15th May. To the Gray Sisteris be the Kingis command, j[^^.

RECORDS OF THE HAMMERMEN OF EDINBURGH 1

The expensis maid on ane corpalain —
1512. For ane qr. of Bruges Satin, 3s. 6d.
,, Reid silk, i6d.
,, ane hank of gold, 3s.
„ ye burdis of it, 2s.
„ ane qr. and half qr. fustam, i2d.

„ ane ely of lynin clait to lyn it and to be ane pok to it, i2d.
„ given to ye Gray Sisteris in pairt of payment for yair labours orn
the making yrof, 2od.

Extending to i3cr. 6d.

^ John Smith, The Hammernien of Edinburgh^ p. 52.

CHAPTER XI

THE PASTORAL DUTIES OF THE FRIARS
Preaching, Confession, and Burial

The decadence of the Church in the opening years
of the thirteenth century has received frequent and
vivid illustration in the unmeasured condemnation of the
secular clergy and of their regular or monkish brethren.
The note of contrast in these lurid pictures is the general
expression of admiration for the ameliorative influence intro-
duced by the Mendicant Orders. Sincerity of profession and
a desire to restore the original spirit of religion, coupled with
extreme simplicity and austerity of life, were the earnest of a
return to the golden age of Christianity, in so far as the
character of its ministers was concerned.

In the initial stages of its development the Franciscan
movement was unhampered by formalism or the traditional
discipline of the Church ; and it was, therefore, something so
strangely new that few of its contemporaries, beyond the
immediate entourage of the Holy See, could understand its
meaninor, or assimilate it to the existino^ order of thinofs. Its
Rule was the first in the history of the Church which recog-
nised preaching as the principal duty of those who owed
obedience to it ; and the appointment of its preachers was
sui generis, if not anomalous. The approval of Innocent III.
was verbal, but provisional ; while the exposition of the gospel
by laymen, and, at a later date, the hearing of confession by
their ordained associates, produced an immediate collision
between the voluntary and the professional clergy. Thus
introduced into the arena of Church politics in a manner
entirely at variance with ecclesiastical tradition and discipline,
the friars were not recognised by their contemporaries in the

399

400 THE PASTORAL DUTIES OF THE FRIARS [niAr. xi.

second decade of the century as members of an Order within
the Church ; and so distrust, pride of caste, and jealousy born
of privilege, were combined in the refusal of the Seculars and
Regulars to accept co-operation in their work, at a time when
the more clear sighted among them recognised that the evils
resulting from insufficiency of workers were not unfrequently
aggravated by inefficiency. Nevertheless, the verbal approval
of Innocent III. constituted the mandate of the Franciscans —
qua religiosi — to preach penitence to all ; and their leader
directed them to execute it with humility. He forbade them
to preach without the consent of the clergy ; ^ and, as if to
accentuate this humility and passive spirit on the part of his
" Minors," he further insisted that license to preach should
be given voluntarily, and not in obedience to any command
by the Pope. Hence, so long as he maintained his naive
attitude of independent submission towards the Holy See, the
" Divine Mendicant" persistently refused to have the tentative
confirmation defined by the issue of a privilege that would
empower the friar preacher to disregard the veto of the
bishop within his diocese.^ Obedience to the letter, or to
the spirit of this command, made the expansion and develop-
ment of the Order dependent upon the goodwill of the
churchmen ; ^ but St. Francis confidently predicted that the
prelates would eventually invite the friars to share in the work
of the parish and diocese.^ As the realisation of this millennium

1 Solet anniiere, cap. IX. : Spec. Pe7'f., caps. 54 and 87. The Rule of 1221 pre-
pared by St. Francis contained this injunction: '"'' Nullus fratrum predicet
C07ttra fo7-nian et insiitiiiioneni Sanctae Ecclesiae nisi concession fiierit sibi a
siio mifiistroy Cap. 17, Die Kegel von 1221, p. 197, Die Anfiinge des Minori-
tenordens, von Dr. Karl Miiller, 1885. Cf. La Vie de St. Frangois, p. loi, for the
authority of this reconstituted text.

2 The true feelings of St. Francis in regard to this dual sanction were illus-
trated in the case of the friar who received license to preach in Lombardy —
auctoritate apostolica. He called for a knife, cut the instrument to pieces, and
threw it into the fire. Spec. Per/., p. 87, note 25-35.

^ Friar Bonaventura's disapproval of this idealism is thus succinctly expressed :
" Si eniin nunqnam deberetnus morari nisi de vohmtate clericoriiin vix unqiiam ift
ecclesia possevius diu 7norari du7n aut per se aut i7icitati per alios ejicere7it nos de
parochiis suis potins quani Jiereiicos vel Judaeos." Bo7iave7ttiirae Op., VIII.
365, Opusc. XIII. ; Ed. ad Claras Aquas, 10 Vols., 1892-1900.

* Spec. Per/., cap. 50. Vide incident in which St. Francis illustrated the
ideal attitude of a Franciscan towards the prelates of the Church. La, Vie de
St. F7-angois, p. 196.

CHAP. XT.] PREACHING, CONFESSION, AND BURIAL 401

depended upon the conversion of the prelates through the
humihty and obedience of the friars, his friends and sympath-
isers not unnaturally looked upon it as the dream of an
idealist. The Cardinal of Ostia pointed out that no effort
would be spared to prejudice the progress of his Order in
the Papal Curia ; and his associates appealed to the actual
facts, maintaining that the persistent refusal of the churchmen
to permit them to preach afforded a sufficient reason for
obtaining a definite privilege. Indeed, the reception which
the friars met with, when the movement spread beyond the
country of its birth, could have left but little doubt in the
minds of practical men that a serious struggle was imminent.
Local authority and influence enabled the churchmen to
expel their unwelcome auxiliaries from the diocese, and to
discredit them as heretics or "doubtful Catholics," Mike the
earlier propagandists who had attracted attention by the pro-
fession of poverty as a rule of life. It must not, however, be
supposed that the friars received so unkind a welcome from
every Bishop or Rector ; but among a body of men, the
majority of whom had long since ceased to be animated by
a similar devout spirit in the discharge of their duties, it is
almost natural to find that there were many who misunder-
stood the motives of the friars or deliberately discredited
them. In short, the ideals of the Mendicants and the
Seculars were so diametrically opposed, that these two
classes could not develop harmoniously within the same
organisation ; and the rulers of the Church in the thirteenth
century were thus confronted with a problem for which there
were three possible solutions — repression, substitution or
unification. Repression meant a further increase of heresy at
a time when the current heresies were a serious menace to
the unity of the Church ; whereas the new movement pre-
sented itself as a providential means wherewith to combat
them. Substitution of the new for the old over the whole
of Europe was beyond the power of any single authority,

^ The report of the transalpine friars to the Chapter General of 1219 was, '^ Se
diirius ift multis locis receptos qttod aiithetiticas nullas^ quibiis suain vitavi in-
stitutiimque ab Ecclesiafuisse ratum probarent^ literas 7i07i habcrcnt : 7iec propterea
ah ecclesiartim rectoribus ad verbi diviiit inittisleriuin ad)iiitlcba7iiier.^' Gennany,
1217-18. n. F., I. 5 ; Zrt Vt'e de St. FraTtqois, p. 253.
26

402 THE PASTORAL DUTIES OF THE FRIARS [chap. xi.

but it did not pass unconsidered/ Unification, through a
compromise that did not mutilate the main ideas and char-
acteristics of the new principles, at least promised a composite
basis for future development ; while assimilation avoided an
abrupt rupture with tradition.

Thus, the idealism of St. Francis, like all great revolution-
ary projects, whether constructive or destructive, yielded to
compromise. But as the leader of a great movement, if not
as an idealist, he had one great advantage — the ruling hier-
archy of the Church was in full sympathy with his ideas. It
desired nothing better than to harmonise them with those
which rested upon tradition, to graft his Order upon the
body of the Church, as it then existed, and to foster its
development as an immense ameliorative influence. Critics
are not wanting who have regretted the deviation from
the original simplicity of the Franciscan fraternity, the
influence exercised over its development by the Holy See,
and the conditions attached to the incorporation of the Order
within the Church. Nevertheless, the primary duty of the
Holy See was to consider the future of the institution which
embodied the new ideas, and the means by which they might
be preserved, rather than the exquisite susceptibilities of a
striking but bewildering personality. If it had consented
to assume the role of a mere spectator in the progress of
the development of the Order into an independent religious
institution, under conditions identical in doctrine but difler-
ential in discipline, the danger of schism would have been
increased, and the bitterness of the controversy following
upon the rise of the Mendicants still further accentuated.
The Franciscan Order could not, then as now, be admitted
into the Church hegemony in the full beauty of its spon-
taneity, marred by a relative disorder. Yet, the condition
attached by the Papacy to its recognition was far from being
a repressive one. It was not demanded of the friars in 12 19,
that they should abandon the beautiful ideas of their founder.
It was sufficient to put order in their midst, and conform in a
reasonable decree to the ecclesiastical customs of their time.
The manner in which this should be effected constituted the

^ Spec. Perf.., cap. 43.

CHAP. XT.] PREACHING, CONFESSION, AND BURIAL 403

point of difference between St. Francis and the rulers of the
Church. The decision of Honorius III. and his advisers was
that of men experienced in administration ; while the griefs
of the Saint, and the consequent reproaches levelled against
the Holy See, were due to the fact that he was so wrapped
up in the excellence of his profession as to be wholly unable
to appreciate the most certain and practical means of effect-
ing the co-ordination that he so earnestly desired. In brief,
the Papacy desired to direct orderly development ; while
St. Francis, in the belief that all men would view religion
from his standpoint, pleaded for natural and untrammelled
expansion.

From this date, the general policy of the Holy See was
to secure harmonious co-operation by the Secular and Mendi-
cant clergy in the work of the Church. The services of the
Franciscans were voluntary and disinterested ; so that it was
easy to respect the vested interests of the Seculars, and to
insist, with complete reason, that they should respect the
right of the friars to take part in the purely pastoral work of
the parish. Under the compromise which was ultimately
effected, the parochial clergy were denied all monopoly in so
far as efficient ministration was concerned ; while the semi-
civil functions were strictly reserved to them. The friars
thus became privileged to preach, to hear confession, and to
bury laymen in the friary cemetery ; but they were precluded
from dispensing the sacrament of marriage or that of baptism,
except in the extreme case of imminent death. There were,
indeed, many steps between the issue of the " explicit appro-
bation " of the Franciscans and the re-issue of the Super
cathedram, under which, after a century of keen and often
bitter controversy, a reluctant respect for the legitimate
development of the Mendicants was wrung from the parochial
clergy and their superiors.

The consideration of this controversy falls naturally under
three heads — the right of the friars to preach and to hear
confession, the privilege of burying members of the Order
and laymen within the friary cemetery, and their disabilities
in relation to the sacraments of marriage and baptism. The
mandate of St. Francis to his followers received Apostolic con-

404 THE PASTORAL DUTIES OF THE FRIARS [chap. xi.

firmation in 1210;^ and five years later the fourth Lateran
Council, recognising that there was a dearth of preachers in
the Church, provided for the appointment of suitable men in
the cathedrals and convent churches" under license from the
bishop of the diocese. In 12 19, after St. Francis had aban-
doned his attitude of qualified submission towards the Holy-
See, Honorius III. issued letters in which he commended
the friars to the prelates as preachers, and stated that they
had chosen a form of life approved by the Roman Church.^
The unmerited reproach of heresy or doubtful doctrine could,
therefore, no longer be directed against them, and the requisite
degree of conformity with the other Orders was established
by the issue of the Rule for the Friars Minor in 1223,*
following upon an earlier provision for a noviciate of one
year.^ This Rule differed from the prior Rule only in the
formality*^ with which it surrounded the appointment of a
friar to the office of preacher, who was now to be appointed by
the Minister General in open Chapter after due examination.^
Following upon the rapid expansion of the Order, this
centralisation was quickly found to be inconvenient, and
Gregory IX., after refusing to sanction the remedy suggested
by the Order in 1230,^ delegated the examination and ap-
pointment of preachers to the Provincial Ministers and their
Chapters in 1240.^ At the same time the canon of the
General Council, and the attitude desiderated by St. Francis,
were also complied with, by a restatement of the declaration
that no friar should preach in any diocese where the bishop
withheld his consent.^*^ The bishop thus occupied a position

' La Vic de St. Frati^ois, p. loo, note.

2 Lab re, Collectio S. C, XXII. 998, cap. 10 ; 11 25, cap. 50.

^ Cum dilecti filii^ nth June 1219. Called by M. Paul Sabatier " the explicit
approbation of the Franciscans."

^ Solet a7i7tuerc, 29th November 1223.

^ Cum secundum., 22nd September 1220.

" Cap. 17 of prior Rule. "£/ nuHus minister 7'cl predicator appropriet sibi
ministeritun vel officium pracdicationis.^^ Die Anf tinge, ut supra.

'' Solet annuere., cap. 9.

® Qico elongati, 28th September 1230 ; infra, II. p. 399.

'^ Prohibente regtila vestra, 12th December 1240. Re-issued by Innocent IV.,
30th October 1243 and 23rd July 1244 ; Alexander IV., 20th January 1257 ; Nicolas
III., Exiit qui seminat, cap. 17 ; Martin IV., Adfructus uberes, loth January 1282.
Solet annuere, cap. 9. The Dominican Statutes of 1228, however, provided

CHAP. XI.] PREACHING, CONFESSION, AND BURIAL 405

of responsibility midway between the broad views of the
central authority and parochial prejudice or jealousy. It lay
within his power to neutralise the privilege, or to surround
it with conditions ; but, if he did grant a license to the friar
preacher, the parish clergy had no right to interfere. This
secondary control was amply justified by the unfriendly
attitude of the parish rectors, and by the arbitrary
manner in which they made use of the sentence of ex-
communication to enforce obedience to their "frivolous or
sinister interpretation " of the episcopal license.^ Honorius
III. condemned this attitude in no measured terms. His
successor re-issued the privilege of celebrating mass and
other divine offices in Franciscan oratories,- directed the
bishops to permit the friars to expound the Word of God
freely in their parishes, and to show them favour when they
had oratories within the diocese.^ In 1234, a second letter of
recommendation was addressed to the prelates, urging them
to extend a kind and charitable welcome to the friar preacher ; ■*
and three years later, this command was re-issued in a more
distinct form, supplemented by the first explicit recognition of
the right of the Franciscans to hear the confessions of lay-
men.^ In this constitution, the prelates were directed to
assist the friars in procuring license to preach, to exhort their
parishioners to provide for the needs of the friars, and to place
no impediment in the way of their listening to the sermons of
the Franciscans, seeing that they could also confess to the
priests of that Order. The correlative duty imposed upon
the Mendicants, in the interests of amicable co-operation,
was to respect the emoluments of the clergy, to use their
influence to secure prompt payment to them, and to avoid the

'''' predicare non audeat aliquis iii diocesi aliciiitis episcopi, qui ci ne predicet
interdixit, nisi liter as et generate mandatiDii habeat suinmi pontiJicisP Archiv
fiir Litteratiir, I. 224.

"^ In his quae, 28th August 1225, Honorius III. so described their contention
that the Ucense to preach witliin the diocese did not confer the right to preach in
any particular churcli.

^ Quia popiclares, 3rd December 1224; re-issued 4th May 1227 and 22nil
April 1235.

" 6V Ordinis, isl February 1230.

■* Cu7n qui recipit, 12th June 1234.

'' Quoniam abundavil^ 6th •A.pril 1237.

4o6 THE PASTORAL DUTIES OF THE FRIARS [chap. xi.

use of such arguments in their sermons as would induce their
listeners to withhold tithes or other payments customarily
made to the Church/ From and after the issue of the
Quoniam abundavit, preaching and confession formed a dis-
tinct element in the controversy, being considered as two
complementary and inseparable duties, linked together as
cause and effect."

In early practice, the hearing of confession had been
distinct from preaching, or at least entirely subordinated to it,
in the sense that it was a deviation from the intentions of
St. Francis. In 1237, however, his followers had ceased to
occupy an anomalous position in the Church. The number
of ordained priests within the Order had greatly increased,
and the Papacy had amply recognised its members as church-
men in relation to the celebration of the divine offices.^
Laymen had also given convincing proof of appreciation for
their work, and of a desire to resort to them for spiritual
guidance ; while the partisan spirit had insensibly influenced
the Order in its expansion. On the other hand, the hearing
of confession was a more serious attack upon the monopoly
of the parish priests, and therefore met with more stubborn
resistance. The secular and regular priest maintained that
confession to a friar was of no avail, and supported his con-
tention by an appeal to the canon of the General Council,
which provided that every parishioner must confess to his
own priest once in each year, and that he could receive
neither penance nor valid absolution from another priest
without the consent of his own priest.^ This interpretation
of the section, that had been passed during the infancy of
the Mendicant movement, led the Seculars into varying

1 Gregory IX,, Discretioni vestrae, n.d. They were directed to exert a similar
influence in the confessional and at the sick-bed. Siommis Orbis opifex, 6th
December 1249.

2 " Predicare est seminare, sed confessiones audire est friectuni metere. Stultiis
est ergo qui libenter seniinat et fructum colligere 7ion curat "j Regula Fratrum
Minonan,"^. 162, R. P. Hilarius, 1876. '''' Inanis est separations Bonaventurae
Op., VIII. 429 ; Expositio, cap. IX. §6.

^ Quia populares, 3rd December 1224.

* Lateran Council, 1215, cap. 21 ; Labre, Collectio S. C, XXII. 1007. In the
Council of Toulouse, 1229, the minimum number of confessions, sacerdoti proprio,
was increased to three. Ibid. XXIII. 198.

CHAP. XL] PREACHING, CONFESSION, AND BURIAL 407

degrees of Inconsistency. The "strict minimum" was held
to mean the general practice, and, therefore, to preclude all
freedom of choice. This contention in turn contradicted one
of the principles of confession in the Roman Church, that an
ordained priest who is in a state of grace — which the Seculars
denied in regard to the friar priests— may always hear con-
fession and grant absolution in accordance with the discipline
of the Church. It further brought them into an unequal
conflict with the general policy of the Holy See in relation to
the Mendicants, and also with the principles of infallibility
upon which that policy was founded. This last phase was
summarily dealt with by John XXII. so late as 1321, when
he condemned the false and erroneous propositions of John
de Polliaco, ¥/ho maintained that confession to a Franciscan
did not remove the necessity of confession to the parish
priest, thereby implying that the Holy See could not vary a
canon of the General Council.^

In the early history of confession among the Franciscans,
there was a marked distinction between the confession of
members of the Order and the confession of lavmen. The
first Rule required the friars, whether clerics or laymen,
to confess their sins "to the priests of our Religion."^ If
unable to do so, they were to confess to other discreet and
catholic priests, and, in the last resort, to one another.^ The
Rule of 1223 was textually less definite than the reconstituted
text of the prior Rule ; but there can be no doubt that chapter
seven presupposed the custom of confession by the friars to
priests of the Order, and merely provided for a special case.
It was to the effect that the Provincial Ministers, who were
not themselves priests and therefore unable to grant absolu-
tion in accordance with the statutes, should direct the priests

^ Vas electionis, 24th July 1321.

^ .'\lthough he was not an ordained priest, St. Francis absolved a friar from
making complete disclosure in the confessional — " but by my leave say thou
seven Pater Nosters so often as thou slialt be in tribulation." Spec. Pir/.,
cap. 106.

^ Cap. 20, Die Kegel von 1221, p. 199, Anfiinge des Minor itenordens. At this
date there were few ordained priests in the Order. There was an insufficient
number in the German mission, and a novice heard the confession of his brethren
until Caesarius remedied the insufficiency by promoting three of their number
to the priesthood in 1223. {^Chronica Fratris Jordani ; A. F., 1. 11.)

408 THE PASTORAL DUTIES OF THE FRIARS [chap. xi.

of the Order to impose penance for certain mortal sins/
Gregory IX. provided for the appointment of friar priests
in every convent for the purposes of ordinary confession,^ and
Innocent IV, granted the Provincials power to delegate to
the " Custodes " and other discreet friar priests the power to
hear confessions governed by chapter seven of the Rule.^
In 1 241, the Superiors of the Order received authority to
absolve their subordinates from church censures, "after the
form in which the Holy See had authorised Archbishops and
Bishops";"^ and the system of confession within the Order
was completed by a statute passed in the Chapter General,
and approved of by the Holy See,^ strictly forbidding con-
fession to anyone who was not a superior or priest of the
Order, except in cases of urgent necessity. St. Bonaventura
warned the friars against extraneous confession and the
revelation of anything that might discredit the fraternity,
on the ground that a priest of the Order was better acquainted
with the Rule and the suitable correction,^ The Secular
clergy, not unnaturally, declined to accept this innovation
upon their privileges,^ and replied that the friars, as ordinary
laymen, must confess to them. They were ordered to
renounce this pretension by Gregory IX. in 1231,^ and
complete immunity was at length secured to the friars
by the re-issue of this constitution in 1245, when the
confession of laymen to Mendicant priests had become a

^ Solet amiuere, cap. 7.

^ Quo elongati. On at least two subsequent occasions, the Chapter General
(Assisi 1304 and Padua 13 10) found it necessary to provide for the appointment of
confessors for the friars. Archiv fiir Litteratiir, III. 121 ; VI. 69.

^ Ordinem vestruni, 14th November 1245.

■* Licet ad hoc, 6th June 1241. Re-issued by Innocent IV., 26th September
1243, et frequenter.

^ Alexander IV., Virtu te conspicuos, 2nd August 1258 ; infra, II. p. no.

^ Regtcla Fratrum Mitiorufn (Hilarius), p. 125. The friar priest was also the
confessor of the Claresses. He administered the sacraments to the moribund
sisters, and performed their funeral services. In course of time, the sisters came
to demand these ministrations as a right, with the result that, in reply to a petition
of the Friars Minor (1263), Urban IV. declared that the Order was in no way
bound to the sisters, and absolved the friars from performing their funeral services.
In 1276 they were asked to resume these ministrations "not as a duty, but out of
love"; Bonaventurae Op., Epistolae officiates, VIII. 470; and Chronica Glass-
berger, A. F., II. Tj, 90.

'' The Penitent was allowed to confess ''^ alicui sacerdoti" ; infra, II. p. 457.

^ Niniis ifiiqua, 21st August 1231. Re-issued by Innocent IV., 21st July 1245.

CHAi'. XI.] TRE ACHING, CONFESSION, AND BURIAL 409

matter of much greater Importance than that of members of
the Order.

St. Francis had not forbidden the priests of his Order
to hear the confessions of those who resorted to them ; but
he had directed them to consider that as a secondary duty.
Their real duties were to be those of the missionary and
not of the confessor, since their converts would have no
difficulty in finding confessors.^ The practice following
upon this vague injunction, until its explicit recognition by
Gregory IX. in 1237, is somewhat obscure. In the chronicles,
various notices occur of Bishops who received the friars
kindly, and granted them license to preach and hear confession
within their dioceses.^ Eccleston describes Friar Salamon
as the "Warden of London and general confessor of the
whole town,"^ and an indefinite number of friars are referred
to as confessors of Churchmen and Seculars. The Qtiia
pop2dares of Honorius III. sanctioned this practice by a
recoo:nition of the friar's rioht to hear confession on death-bed
and carry the Viaticum to the sufferer ; and the question was
considered by the Chapter General during the generalship
of John Parens, who forbade novices to hear the confessions
of laymen or churchmen.* It was presumably one of minor
Importance in the controversy at this date, as no reference
was made to \l\wx}ci^ Nimisiniqtiaoi \2'^\ ; whereas. In 1239,
the Synod of Cologne, presided over by the Legate Conrad,
discussed the " invasion of the parishes " by the Mendicants.
One Secular priest complained that the friars heard the con-
fessions of their parishioners, ingratiated themselves with
them, and thus " put the sickle into the harvest of another."
The Legate elicited the reluctant admission that there were
no fewer than nine thousand souls In the diocese ; and he
thereupon deprived the presumptuous priest of his pastoral
office.'' In 1244, Innocent IV. granted the Franciscan

' . . . '"'' ipsi {prelati) rogahunt vos ut aiidiatis co7ifessiones populi sui, licet dc ]ioc
non debeatis curare nam si conversi fiierint bene inveiiioit confessorcs " ; Spec. J'fr/.,
p. 86. Vide supra, p. 61.

- 1223, Bishop of Hildesheim and olliers. A. F., I. 12, 10.

'•^ M. F., I. 12.

■* Archiv fiir Littcratur, VI. 16 (1228 or 1230).

^ A. /»/., III. 25, § 13.

410 THE PASTORAL DUTIES OF THE FRIARS [chap, xl

missionaries among the infidels a special power to
preach, baptize and grant absolution/ Two years later,
he forbade any friar who had been expelled from the
Order, or who had voluntarily left it, to continue to
preach, hear confession, or teach ;^ and, in 1250, the friar
preacher was privileged to take part in divine service along
with the other clergy, when discharging that duty in the
churches of the Seculars or Regulars.^ Innocent IV. also
re-issued the Niinis iniqua, and appointed Conservators to
protect the friars from the oppression of churchmen who per-
sistently disregarded the privileges of the Order. The Arch-
bishop of Canterbury and the Bishops of London and Norwich
were accordingly appointed Conservators to protect the friars
of England and Scotland* against all or any of the following
abuses by the free use of church censures : — The pretension of
the churchmen that the friars must confess to and receive
penance from them ; their refusal to permit the Corpus Christi
to be kept in the oratory of the friary ; the seizure of the alms
offered to the friars ; the exaction of tenths from the produce
of the friary gardens on the pretext that, if the land had not
been occupied by the friars, it would have been occupied by
others who would have paid the tenths ; the claim for the
oblations given at the funeral service of a friar, and for
those received at the daily mass in the friary ; the refusal
to allow the friars to have a consecrated cemetery, or to
permit the friar priest to celebrate the first mass after his
ordination anywhere except in the parish church ; the petty
tyrannies exercised over the friars in compelling them to
attend their processions, and in restricting the hours at which
they might perform divine service ; and, lastly, the too
frequent practice of excommunicating the benefactors of the
friars, and of threatening the friars themselves, with the result

1 Pro selo, 4th October 1244. "^ Justis petentium desideriis, 9th Sept. 1246.

3 Ut absque, 3rd December 1250.

* B. F., I. 373-375) Nos. 9, 10. A separate Conservator was appointed for the
Irish Franciscans. In England, Archbishop Peckham (1291), in the discharge of
this office, directed that the friars should be allowed to hear confessions without
asking the permission of the parish priest, and in his letters referred to the
privileges of the Minorites "which we have to maintain." M. F., II. xvi. ; The
Grey Friars in Oxford, p. 75-

CHAP, xr.] PREACHING, CONFESSION, AND BURIAL 411

that the laity were afraid to resort to them/ The closing
years of the reign of Innocent IV. were, however, marked
by a temporary reaction against this liberalism towards the
Mendicants. The freedom of choice in the matter of pastors
and of the place of worship, which had been indirectly con-
ferred upon the laity, and perhaps too freely exercised by
them, was curtailed by the Etsi animarum, which forbade
the friars to receive parishioners in their oratories and
churches on Sundays and Feast-days, or to preach to them
on these days before and during the celebration of mass."
The friars were further forbidden to receive confessions or
to impose penance without the permission of the parish priest ;
to preach, especially in the cathedral church, on the day on
which the diocesan bishop was accustomed to preach ; or to
visit other parishes for the purpose of preaching there, unless
they had been invited or had obtained permission to do so.^
The clergy quickly utilised this reactionary constitution,*
as an authority for the promulgation of diocesan statutes
forbidding confession to any other than the parish priest ; ^ and
polemical writings also began to appear, professing to show
that the ministrations of the Mendicants were prejudicial to
the parish priest,*^ that the friars were bound to manual labour,
and were not " in a state of perfection."^ The Franciscans
replied to this campaign of slander by treatises disproving
these defamatory allegations, and they also procured papal
condemnation of their opponents' propositions.^ Notwith-
standing, it was no easy matter to remedy the prejudicial
effects of the Innocentiana in regard to the recognition which

^ It need not be said that this indictment is to be understood in a general sense,
and not in reference to any particular parish or diocese.

-' A. M., anno 1254, No. 2 ; wanting in B. F. ; Summary in constitution, Alex-
ander IV., Nee insolituvi est, 22nd December 1254.

^ Provisions 7-c burial, infra, p. 419.

■* Subsequently known as the Innocctitiana.

^ Vehejiictitc}' vtirari cogi/nur, 6th May 1258.

'' Non sine mulia, 19th October 1256.

'' Chronica Glasslicrgcr, A. F., II. 72, 75. This last '''' libcllian infaniiae" was
publicly burned, and its authors deprived of their office and benefices.

* Friar Bertrand of Bayonne refuted the contention that the friars were bound
to manual labour. Vide infra, pp. 420-23, 473, and the controversial writings of
Bonaventura.

412 THE PASTORAL DUTIES OF THE FRIARS [chai-. xi.

it had given to parochial, as distinct from episcopal, control ;
and for forty years it remained the basis of the obstructive
interpretations of the general statutes put forward by the
churchmen. During the reign of Alexander IV/ continuity
was restored to the policy of the Holy See by the issue of a
series of constitutions favourable to the Franciscans. The
first was a revocation of the Innocentiana^ and it was followed
by a condemnation of the prelates, with the addition of a
valuable concession to the conscientious scruples of the friars
- — that all sentences of excommunication delivered agfainst them
or their benefactors by the prelates were void.^ A general
confirmation of the Mendicant privileges formerly granted by
Gregory IX., a declaration forbidding the prelates to exact
" manual obedience " from the friars, and a second revocation
of the Innocentiaiia — in which the rio^ht of the friars to hear
confession was reiterated- — completed the papal legislation
in favour of the Franciscans during the year 1255.* The
following year was marked by a condemnation of the
"errors and nefarious propositions" put forward by their
detractors, and His Holiness, in reply to the alleged prejudice
which they caused to the parish priest, concluded this brilliant
encomium of the Mendicants by a categorical declaration
that they might preach, hear confessions, and enjoin salutary
penances in virtue of papal license.'' Once more the
churchmen accepted this declaration in a contentious spirit ;
and, in dioceses far removed from Rome," they interpreted it
in conjunction with the In7iocentiana and the control which it
placed in the hands of the parochial clergy. Two years later,
Alexander IV. issued a detailed confirmation of the whole
privileges enjoyed by the Order at this date, specifying among
them that no friar could be forced to confess to a Secular

^ Formerly Cardinal Protector of the Order.

2 Nee ijisolitum est, 22nd December 1254.

" Pcrlata niipcr, 24th April 1255. This privilege was put upon a logical basis
by a supplementary constitution in 1260, providing that only a Legate a Latere, or
Sublegate, might pass sentence of censure on the friars. B. K, II. 409, No. 583,
and III. 12, No. 16.

•* Qicia 07'dhieni, 30th April 1255 ; Inducimur piae cotiversaiionis, 21st May
1255 ; Quaedam, 12th September 1255.

^ Non sine viulta, 19th October 1256.

'^ Clergy of Paris, B. F., III. 12, No. 16 : German Prelates, III. 14, No. 19.

CHAP. XT.] PREACHING, CONFESSION, AND BURIAE 413

priest against his will, and that the fraternity was exempt
from compulsory attendance at the synods of any diocese,
as also from obedience to statutes passed there.^ Finally,
in 1259, in so far as a constitution issuing from the papal
chancery could do so, all doubt as to the pretended control
of the parish clergy was removed by an explicit declaration
that the friars might, without the assent of the parish priests,
preach freely to the people, hear their confessions, and impose
salutary penances, provided that they had received apostolic or
episcopal license.^ However, the complete autonomy which
the Order thus enjoyed in the discharge of its pastoral duties
roused the scruples of those who favoured the strict Observ-
ance, because it conflicted with the example of St. Francis
and with the text of the Rule ; and the question of preach-
ing, without the sanction of the diocesan authority, was there-
fore one of the doubts which v/ere laid before Nicolas III.
during the preparation of the Exiit. But it was beyond
the power of language to establish a convincing concord-
ance between the later practice and the simple prohibition
contained in the Rule of 1223. During the process of
revision, not a single phrase had been inserted which
could be construed as indicating any probability of the
episcopal license to preach being superseded by that of the
Holy See, although such a case was almost contemporary
with the issue of the Rule. The difficulties of Nicolas III.,
and his failure to achieve the purpose of the Exiit, through
this improvident delicacy of feeling on the part of his pre-
decessors,^ cannot be better illustrated than by his own words :

' Alexander W ., Virtttte conspicuos, 2nd August 1258 ; Urban 1\\, Cum a nobis,
29th May 1264; Clement IV., Virtute conspicuos,i\%i]n\\ 1265 ; Gregory X., O/w
a nobis, 23rd August 1274 ; Honorius I\'., Virficfe conspicuos, 20th November
1285 ; Ijoniface VIII., Viriute conspicitos, nth November 1295.

- Oim olim qiiidam, 13th May 1259. The phrase used in this constitution was
'■'■ parochialiiim assensic minimc requisite.'''' Clement IV. substituted " /«///a/^////j
requisiio" in his Quidain tcnterc scntientes, 20th June 1265. Even this constitution
did not escape petty interpretation, and was construed to mean that the license
was not a continuing one, and therefore lapsed with the death of the Ordinary who
had granted it. Clement IV. declared that the mandate did not so lapse ; B. F.,
III. 13, No. 17.

^ The Statutes of the Dominican Order passed in 1228 provided that no
preacher of the Order should disregard the interdict of a Bishop, unless he liad
letters or a general mandate from the Holy See. Archiv fiir Liiteratur, I. 233-34.

414 THE PASTORAL DUTIES OF THE FRIARS [chap. xt.

" It is indeed expressly provided in the Rule, that the Friars
may not preach in the diocese of any bishop when they shall
have been forbidden (to do so) by him. We, deferring
to this point of the Rule, but none the less maintaining
Apostolic authority unimpaired, say that the foresaid phrase
should be literally observed according to the text of the
Rule, unless the Holy See may have granted or provided
otherwise in this respect for the benefit of the faithful, or
may in the future grant or provide."^ Martin IV. restated
the privilege in a categorical rather than an argumentative
form, and expressed a desire that those who habitually con-
fessed to the Franciscans should also confess at least once a
year to the priest of their parish.^ Like the Innocentiana, this
clause, which had been intended to conciliate the Seculars,
without in any way invalidating the absolution granted by a
friar, merely served to resuscitate the controversy as to the
real effect of confession to a friar priest. Several Parisian
Masters endeavoured to prove that the absolution so granted
was not absolute until it had been homologated by the parish
priest ; ^ and the question was thereupon referred to the Bishop
of Paris, and a jury composed of Masters of Theology in the
University, who returned a negative answer to the question
put before them — "whether anyone, truly penitent, who had
made confession to and duly received absolution from one
empowered thereto, was bound to confess the same sins
again." The Chapter General anticipated, or corrected, any
abuse of this authority by forbidding friar priests to grant
absolution in cases reserved to the Bishop by the written
law, and also recorded the fact that the powers of the Fran-
ciscan priest in confession were co-extensive with those
of his rivals.'^ The other papal constitutions of leading
importance in the controversy during the last four decades
of the century were a command by Clement IV. that the
prelates should not interpret the privileges conferred upon the
Franciscans by the Holy See, and a decree by Boniface VHL

^ Cap. 17, § I. 2 Adfructus iiberes, loth January 1282.

•" Chronica Glassberger, A. F., II. 96.

"^ Ibid. II. 96, 97-98; and Archiv fiir Litteratur, VI. 50-51. The Chapter
also ordered the friar priests to exhort the people secretly to confess to their
own priest.

CHAP, xr.] PREACHING, CONFESSION, AND BURIAL 415

exempting the Friars Minor from the jurisdiction of the
prelates.-^

As the privilege of burying laymen in the friary cemetery
formed the second element of this controversy, dealt
with in the Siipei'' cathedram of 1300, it will be of ad-
vantage to trace the development of that privilege, before
considering the legislation which placed the relations be-
tween the friars and the clergy upon a final basis. The
simplicity of the early Franciscans, and their gradual acquisi-
tion of ecclesiastical rights, may, perhaps, be nowhere more
clearly appreciated than in a typical example of the Bull of
Erection in which the Curia authorised the erection or
acceptance of a new friary. Each privilege in that enumera-
tion marked a step in their development from the time when
they were little more than an aggregate of laymen and clerics,
the symbol of whose corporate existence was love and
reverence for one idea, and whose simple code of discipline
was obedience to the personality which had given it birth.
One significant step in the progress towards a formal consti-
tution was the privilege of having a cemetery attached to
the friary. At the time when the fraternity began to spread
over Europe, laymen were thirled to the church of their
parish — niatrici ecclesiae — in the matter of burial with the
rites of the Church. That is to say, they might choose to be
buried elsewhere, provided the Rector or his ecclesiastical
patron granted permission.^ Religiosi were not, however,
at liberty to choose a burying-place other than in the cemetery
of their monastery, unless they happened to die at a consider-
able distance from it.'* Distinct from the Penitent, the Friar
Minor instinctively considered himself as a religiosiis, although
the clergy held other views ; and, while St. Francis and his
first associates occupied the Rivo Torto, this desire to care
for their own dead was so far developed, that one of the

^Clement IV, Ordinis ves/ri, 7th July 1268; Boniface \'III., Inter ceferos
ordines, nth November 1295.

2 Sext. Deer., I. 18, cap. I. ; III. 12, cap. I., restatement of these principles. Any
priest who performed a funeral service in violation of this provision of the canon
law, ipso facto, incurred church censure, and was bound to hand over everything
received in respect of the interment.

^ Ibid. III. 12, cap. 1.

41 6 THE TASTORAL DUTIES OF THE FRIARS [chap. xi.

reasons adduced for acquiring the Portiuncula in 121 1 was,
that "if any brother should die it would not be decent to
bury him here (Rivo Torto) 07' in a cJm7'ch of the secular
clergy r'^ During the heroic age, burial within the friary
church was not unknown ^ and, when death began to thin
their ranks, it was but a natural concession to sentiment
that the friars should be permitted to enjoy this privilege,
instead of being considered as laymen when they were called
upon to leave nothing behind them except an example to
their fellow-workers. Accordingly, their former Protector
regularised the custom, and ensured its continuance inde-
pendently of any consent, by granting them the right to bury
members of the Order within the church or cemetery of the
friary.^ Three years later the churchmen, who resented this
privilege as an invasion of their monopoly, were assured that
the right did not extend to the burial of laymen, but was
strictly confined to members of the Order.* Indeed, there is
good reason to suppose that the Franciscans did not desire
any extension of the privilege at this early date ; ^ but, looking
to the general terms in which the privilege was couched, the
Seculars determined to minimise its value so far as possible,
and to safeguard their own rights against any possible
infringement. Thus, the friars of Roxburo-h were forced to
vindicate their rights in the court of the diocese;*^ and it is

^ spec. Perf., cap. 55. In considering the evolution of this privilege, from the
moral point of view, Friar Leo's quotation of his master's own words in this
passage sets out in clearest relief the dilemma in which the friars were placed by
the stubborn refusal of the clergy to recognise them as religiosi. St. Francis did
not consider the parish church a suitable burying-place for the friar ; but be
commanded the Order to yield implicit obedience to the clergy, and thus prepared
the way either for a radical deviation from the Rule or for the abandonment of
their ecclesiastical character.

2 Chro7i. Fr. Joi'dani and Ch7'on. Anojiyma {A. F., II. 14-15, 286-287). The
Bishop of Hildesheim permitted Friar James, Custos of Saxony, to be buried within
the friary church, and performed his funeral service there.

^ Gregory IX., Ita vobis^ 26th July 1227. Re-issue, 9th March 1233.

* Si Ordmis, ist February 1230.

^ Chronica Parinensimn^ III. 125 : Mojiumenta Historica ad provincias Par-
inenseni et Placetitiani. Referring to the burial of St. Elizabeth, Friar Salimbene
says that they were unwilling to bury her in their church, because at that time
they refused to accord sepulture within the friary precincts, " so that they might
avoid the trouble as well as discord with the clergy." As late as 1248 they refused
to admit the Comte de Provence to burial within the friary, although he had
expressed a definite desire to be buried there. Ibid. ^ Stipra, pp. 6-7.

CHAP. XT.] PREACHING, CONFESSION, AND BURIAL 417

a matter for regret that neither the claims nor pleadings in
the process have been preserved to illustrate the spirit in
which the Scottish Franciscans interpreted this privilege. The
mere fact that their opponents, the monks of Kelso, recorded
the judgment in their chartulary, cannot be considered as a
proof that they had refuted the claims of the friars to extend
this privilege beyond the declaration of 1230. The cemetery
was thereafter consecrated by the Bishop of Glasgow, although
it frequently happened that the privileges of the friars were
nullified by the refusal of the diocesan bishop to perform this
and other kindred ceremonies of consecration. Petty obstruc-
tion of this nature was subsequently rendered impossible by
a provision, that this ceremony might be performed by any
bishop after the lapse of four months from the date on which
the request of the friary Chapter had been laid before the
bishop of the diocese.^ But the most vexatious contention
which the friars had to resist arose from a literal inter-
pretation of the Ita vobis. The Seculars recognised the friary
cemetery as the appropriate burial-ground for the brethren ;
but they perversely maintained that the body must, as
before, be carried to the parish church, where they would
perform the funeral service, and thereafter receive the
funeral offerings.^ In other cases, they contended that the
ordinary customs of burial must be followed, unless the
deceased friar had definitely elected to be buried in the
cemetery of his friary ; and in this, or in the rarer case of
the privilege being entirely ignored, the friar was buried in
the parish cemetery, after the funeral service had been
performed by the Secular instead of by one of his fellow
friars, as had undoubtedly been the intention of Gregory IX.^
In 1 23 1, His Holiness ordered the churchmen to desist from
this unreasonable attitude ; and two years later he re-issued
the Ita vobis, without, however, securing to the friars a
peaceful enjoyment of their privilege. In short, the clergy met
this innovation with the same intermittent, but determined,
resistance that they had already offered to the curtailment
of their monopoly over the confessional ; and the analogy

^ Ex parte veslra, i8th January 1286. See also Niiiiis iniqtia.
- Nina's iniqtia, 21st August 1231. ' Idid.

2-]

41 8 THE PASTORAL DUTIES OF THE FRIARS [chap. xi.

between the two privileges was completed, when the
Franciscans were permitted to admit any member of the laity
to burial in their cemeteries. In 1250, Innocent IV. granted
them full indulofence to administer the last sacraments to
those who desired their ministrations on death-bed, and there-
after to bury them in the friary cemetery.^ This power
received further definition and authority in a general declara-
tion that the right of sepulchre in Franciscan churches and
cemeteries was free to all, except usurers and excommunicated
persons.^ " Henceforth nothing shall stand In the way of the
last wishes of the devout who have expressed their desire to
be buried there, saving always the rights of those churches
in which the deceased would otherwise have been buried." ^
The civil and the canon law were thus brouo-ht into a^ree-
ment in so far as choice of burial-ground was concerned,
and laymen were free to indulge In any preference which
they might have on grounds of sentiment or otherwise —
a concession of no small value to members of the Third
Order, for many of whom interment In their habit before the
high altar of the friary church was an Ideal termination
to this life.^

The result of this general privilege should have been to
place the Franciscan, In cases of definite election, upon an
equal footing with the parish priest In that all-important func-
tion of performing the offices of the dead; but the general
reservation of the rights of the parish priest quickly produced an

^ Qui Deum, 22nd February 1250. The Humiliati already enjoyed this privi-
lege, now extended to the Friars Minor, under confirmation granted by Innocent IV.,
30th October 1246: '"'' Sepiilturam qicoqite locorum vestrorum liberani esse de-
cernimus" ; Hiimiliatoriim Monumenta, II. 201, Tiraboschi.

2 Sext. Deer., V. 2, cap. II. Any priest who buried a heretic incurred ex-
communication from which he could not be absolved until he had publicly, and
with his own hands, exhumed the body and cast it forth.

3 Cum a nobis, 25th February 1250 ; infra, II. p. 440.

* A layman who took a " vow of burial with the friars," instead of making a
simple choice, could not elect to be buried elsewhere without a papal indulgence
{Devotio7iis tuae, 15th May 1313) ; and it would even appear that the family of the^
deceased preferred to assert their civil rights through a papal indulgence granting
them permission to exhume and re-inter the body in accordance with their wishes,
rather than to directly violate the choice of sepulchre {B. F., V. 496, No. 907).
In this manner the body of the Earl of Kent, nth April 1331, was removed from
the cemetery of the friary at Winchester to that of the Benedictine monastery in
London.

(HAP. XI.] PREACHING, CONFESSIOxV, AND BURIAL 419

anomalous state of matters. Compelled to respect the choice
of sepulchre, the latter insisted upon performing the funeral
service within the friary, and, as was his right, appro-
priating the mortuary dues. Further, where a fund had been
bequeathed for the saying of masses for the deceased, it was
also frequently appropriated, and the masses were performed
within the friary church by the parish priest ; while in
cases of more generous interpretation it was contended that
the body should be carried to the parish church in the
first instance. The reactionary Iiinocentiana did not impair
this privilege,^ which was confirmed in 1256. Two years
later, Alexander IV. provided an absolute remedy against
these frequent evasions of the obvious intentions of the Ila
vobisy by forbidding all churchmen to enter Franciscan churches
or cemeteries for the purpose of conducting funeral services,
or celebrating masses, without the goodwill and consent of
the friary Chapter.^ The less enlightened of the churchmen,
however, continued to strive with all the tenacity of a privileged
body to resist these encroachments upon their monopoly.
In the first instance, they endeavoured to persuade the
parishioner on death-bed to retract the choice of burial with
the friars ; ^ and, as a last resort, they refused the sacraments
to the moribund. So gross an abuse of their office, although
of rare occurrence, could not escape correction, and ere long
the friars were authorised to impose church censures on any
Rector or priest who refused to administer the sacraments.*
In the same spirit, the exemption which the friars enjoyed
from payment of the portio canonica '' was frequently neutral-
ised by the Bishop, who interdicted executors from handing
over any bequest to the friars until the episcopal tax had

* Supra, p. 411. It merely provided that, even if they were not asked to do
so, the friars should hand over the portio canonica of all that had been received
in respect of the burial.

2 Virtu te conspicuos, 2nd August 1258.
■"• Inter quoslibet, 30th December 1266.

* Di/ccti fi/ii,2?>\.\-\ April 1260. In other cases the Rectors maintained that
their consent was indispensable to any choice of burial-grouml culu r than the parish
cemetery. Di/ecti filii, 22nd June 1288.

'"• Innocent IV., 1253, granted exemption re legacies in the form of church
ornaments ; extended, 1255, to any mortis causa bequest. B. J\, I. 669, No. 492 ;
II. 88, No. 123, and 318, No. 463.

420 THE PASTORAL DUTIES OF THE FRIARS [chap. xi.

been paid ; and, as the executor was not the benefactor of
the friars, excommunication was used as a threat to enforce
obedience/

On the other hand, the generalship of St. Bonaventura
is a convenient period during which to form a general
appreciation of the attitude of the Franciscans in this
controversy. The general purpose of this great adminis-
trator, as a churchman of broad views, was to exercise a
controlling influence upon the relations between the voluntary
and official clergy, so that the desired co-operation should not
be imperilled by the untactful disregard or abuse of privilege.
The shortcomings of his opponents he criticised in forcible
language, on occasion by free use of the argument ad hominevi ;
while the strictures which he passed on those of his subordi-
nates were no less severe. Thus his controversial treatises,
official letters and codification of the statutes of the Order,
reveal many merits and demerits that would otherwise pass
unnoticed ; but even in the heat of controversy, his well-
balanced, scholarly mind repeated in a more practical form
the advice of St. Francis — to disarm their opponents by
the excellence of their actions.

In his replies^ to the attacks of the Secular theologians,
the "supreme authority" of the Holy See was the basis of
all argument. The pastoral charge, he maintained, was not a
donimium, but a dispensation and office of the ecclesiastical
power.^ Confession to his own priest, at least once in each
year, was a duty imposed upon the parishioner by the canons
of the Church. Why, therefore, did the Franciscans preach
and hear confession independently of the parish clergy, to
whom the " cure of souls " had been committed ? * Devolution
of the supreme authority, was the answer. His Holiness the
Pope, the priest and father of all, the Bishop, the Rector and
the simple priest, represented a system of devolution which
no one presumed to contradict. But the Friar Minor was as
much the delegate of the Bishop, or of the Pope, as the parish

^ Inter quoslibet, 30th December 1266.

2 Epistola de tribiis Quaestionibiis ; Determinationes Qiiaestionum; Qtiare
fratres predice7it et coitfessiones audiant ; Apologia fiaupericjti. Bonaventurae Op..,

VIII.

3 Ibid. VIII. 428, §4. * Ibid. VIII. 375, 376, §6.

St. Bonaventura, by Raphael.

After Etching by Le Rat.

CHAP. XI.] PREACHING, CONFESSION, AND BURIAL 421

priest, and therefore possessed the same power or faculty in
the fulfihiient of his restricted pastoral and missionary duties.
His ministrations were no less efficacious, nor was the absolu-
tion which he granted to the penitent less absolute,^ The
reason for the institution of the Order was furnished by the
scriptural Parable of the Fishers, who found that their net was
too full, and that they were unable to bring their catch to land
without assistance. If, in that parable, the world were sub-
stituted for the sea, the Church for the boat of Peter, the divine
doctrine for the net, and the laity for the multitude of fishes,
it was clear that the friars stood in the same relation to the
prelates of the Church as the Apostles James and John did
to Peter. Unaided, the prelates could not "bring so vast
a multitude of souls to the shore of eternal life."" After a
sweeping indictment of the inefficiency of the Seculars, the
controversialist passed from the basis to the details of the
controversy.^ The Franciscans, he replied, accepted Places
in the parish without the consent of its clergy — it might even
be without the consent of the Bishop — because they were
empowered to do so by Apostolic authority, and because
the citizens desired to have a friary in their midst. They
were in no sense inferior to other Christians or churchmen.'*
After their settlement in the parish, they preached in virtue
of the same authority as the Seculars, and so lightened their
labours without impairing their jurisdiction or prejudicing
them in any way.^ They preached in their churches only
with their consent, and at a time when they themselves did
not preach.*^ The friary church or the market-place afforded
room enough for their preaching ; nor did they seek to
attract the people, or to impede any secular priest in the
conscientious discharge of his duties.^ Still less did they cause
him any pecuniary prejudice, as they sought neither rents nor
offerings, accepted nothing at the friary mass,^ and handed

1 Bonaventurae Op., \'1II. 376, §8, 383.
- Ibid. VIII. 377-78, § II ; and Quaeslio II. pp. 338-39.
' Inte7- alia, ibid. VIII. 358, 357 and 380.

^ Ibid. VIII. 365, Quaestio X. ^ Ibid. V 1 1 1 . 377, § 9.

'■• Ibid. VIII. 378, § 1 2. -' Ibid. V 1 1 1. 365, 377, § 9-

^ Ibid. VIII. 377, § 9. Vide Statutes of the Order against this custom,
infra, pp. 425-26.

422 THE PASTORAL DUTIES OF THE FRIARS [chap. xi.

over all the perquisites or dues to which the parish church had
right in respect of a burial within the friary/ He, however,
admitted the truth of the reproach, that the friars gave no
more than formal obedience to the papal constitution which
ordered them to exhort their listeners to make payment of
tithes to the parish clergy." But the people already suffered
more than enough from these exactions, and the Franciscans
refused to be a party to the increase of their terror in this
respect.^ On the same grounds, the private lives of the clergy
were frequently attacked in the sermons of the friars, because,
when they touched upon the lives of laymen in their sermons,
they were frequently met with the reply that the faults of the
clergy were at least as notorious, and that it was unjust to pass
over them in silence. They were thus bound to criticise lest
their silence should be attributed to fear, and they themselves
incur the reproach of being parties to a conspiracy of silence for
reasons of private favour. However, on grounds of general
policy, such references were temperate in character.* Simi-
larly, friar confessors caused no prejudice to the parish priest
who was worthy of his office ; because a sick man might seek
the advice of other doctors without prejudicing his regular
adviser, unless perchance that adviser "was a prey to envy
or greed or was confused by shame." ^ If the parish priest
were a "fit and suitable " confessor, the absolution granted to
the penitent by the friar confessor was suspensive, and granted
"in the hope of rehabilitation by his own pastor," to whom
he was directed "to reveal himself again at his own time in
accordance with the mandate of the church."^ No penitent
was, however, bound to make confession to a man whom he
feared, who was known to reveal the secrets of the con-
fessional, or whose life was no less scandalous than his own.'^
In these cases, which were frequently brought to the notice of
the friars,^ the penitent was not directed to resort to his own

^ Bonaventurae Op., VIII. 365.

2 Innocent IV., Suiiwius 07'bis opifex, 6th December 1249.
^ Bo7tave7itiirae Op.., VIII. 372, Quaestio 22.

* Ibid. VIII. 356-57 ; itifra, pp. 424-25, the real views of Bonaventura on this
practice.

5 Ibid. VIII. 378, §§ 12-13. *' /<^/^. VIII. 380, § 18, 383. "' Ibid.NlW. 381, §20.
** Ibid. " Coram quibus tinient iota die co/ifiuidi, siciit saepe praecipiiniis.^''

CHAP. XI.] PREACHING, COiNFESSION, AND BURIAL 423

priest, and received complete absolution in accordance with
the authority delegated to the friar confessor by the Pope or
Bishop. The Minister General, therefore, maintained that the
Apostolic privileges accorded to the Order were equivalent
to the canons of the General Council ; and by his frank
recognition of the opinion of the individual as the deciding
factor in questions of obedience or disobedience to the
discipline of the Church, he approved the deliberate choice of
the parishioner who sought absolution from a friar priest,
because he considered his own priest unworthy of his office.^
The advantages of confession to a friar were also accentuated.
It was a voluntary action. The friar was readily accessible,
often unknown," and always impersonal, in the sense that no
one need dread pecuniary penance, or that his secret shame
would reach the ears of his fellow-townsmen.^

In his writingfs* concerningr the administration of the
Order, Bonaventura attacked the problem from the point
of view of Franciscan discipline ; and the connecting link
between his controversial and administrative writings was
the desire that the friars should neither belie his vindication
of the Order, nor prejudice the possibility of peaceful co-
operation. He was opposed alike to the excessive idealism
of the Spirituals, and to all undue relaxation of the Rule. In
his view, it was unnecessary to abandon expropriation^ ox their
purely pastoral duties. There is thus a consistent distinction
maintained between preaching and the hearing of confession,
on the one hand, and the burial of laymen in their cemeteries,
with its too frequent concomitant interest in testamentary
writings, on the other hand. The last mentioned was not a

1 Bonaventiirac Op., VIII. 380, § 18. In relation to ecclesiastical discipline, it
would be difficult to select a more striking illustration of the democratic tendency
of Franciscan teaching than this proposition in the thirteenth century. Supra,
pp. 46, 100, the doctrinal orthodoxy of the Franciscans.

2 Cf. Matthew Paris (/?. .V.), III. 332.

^ Bonavcnturac Op., VIII. 381, § 20. He enumerated seventeen reasons for
confession to a friar, ten of which related to the shortcomings of the Seculars.

* Expositio super Regidavi Fratruni Minorum ; Epistolae Officiates ; Con-
stitutiones Narboncnscs, " in quo constitutionibus ordiiiis fonnain ct ordincvi Botui-
venlura dedit" Classberger Chronica, A. F., II. 75.

° Bonaventurae Op., VIII. 450, Narbonne Constitutions, cap. i, " Statuiinus in
principio quod nullus ad Ordineui recipiatur nisi cxpropriatus oninino."

424 THE PASTORAL DUTIES OF THE FRIARS [chap. xi.

pastoral duty, although a natural result of their ministrations
in the parish ; and it was not only strongly resented by the
clergy on the grounds of pecuniary prejudice, but it also
provoked discord within the fraternity itself.

Accordingly, when dealing with the "discord, scandal, and
mutual hate," which arose from the attacks made upon the
private lives of the Seculars in the sermons of the friar
preachers, Bonaventura followed the injunction of St. Francis,^
in a vigorous condemnation of this "shameless audacity." It
was untactful and also an offence against the divine law, which
forbade any one "to curse the deaf or to place a stumbling-
block before the blind." " Great care was, therefore, necessary
in the choice of preachers, these attacks were to cease, and " in-
solent " preachers to be expelled from the Order.^ Neverthe-
less, this use of invective against the lives of their listeners — a
practice also adopted by our early Presbyterian preachers^ —
never wholly disappeared. Clement V. laid his veto upon
the delivery of sermons calculated to induce parishioners to
desert the parish church. Martin V. prohibited the practice of
naming anyone present in opprobrious language ; and the fifth
Lateran Council threatened excommunication and forfeiture
of office as the punishment to be inflicted upon friar preachers
who offended in this respect.^ In another direction Bona-
ventura was less faithful to the precepts of St. Francis. He
reminded the friars that their duty was to preach the divine
word and not mere fables. Study was the best preparation
for that duty,^ and the preachers of the Order were, therefore,

^ " Tegite eorum lapsus vniltipUces, eotnan supplete defecfus, et cum Jiaec feceritis
humiliores estate" Cf. Spec. Per/., cap. 105. "... the blessed Francis was never
silent concerning the evil deeds of the people when he preached, but did rebuke all
publicly and manfully."

2 Bonaventurae Op.., VIII. 470, Epistolae Officiales, No. 2.

2 Ibid. VIII. 469. Cf. Statutes of the Dominican Order, 1228, which forbade the
preaching of any scandal against the clergy. Archiv fiir Litteratur, I. 223-24.

* The resemblance extended even to the actual language used. One might
easily believe that the scathing invective of John Knox, known to us in the rugged
but expressive Scots vernacular of the sixteenth century, was no more than a
translation of the same phrases expressed by Friar Bonaventura in more ornate
Latin in the thirteenth century, e.g. Op., VIII. 357-58, 380.

^ Regula Fratrwn Mmo7-ujn, p. 153 (Hilarius). Cleuientinac, lib. V. tit. VII. ;
Bull. Capuc, VI. 133.

^ Bonaventurae (9/., VI 1 1. 470, 433 ; Expositio supej- Rcgulani, cap. III.; Epistolae

CHAP. XI.] PREACHING, CONFESSION, AND BURIAL 425

permitted to have a Bible or Testament out of the ahns ; ^
while other friars were to be deprived of any books found
in their possession, and to suffer punishment proda^ ion is capiitio
for this sin against the vow of expropriation'} This ample
recognition of the merit of study tended to alienate the
Franciscan sermon still further from its original simplicity and
spontaneity,^ and Friar Ubertino bitterly complained, fifty
years later, that their founder never intended so many preachers
to be withdrawn from active work, and devoted to study and
the preparation of composite sermons, to be delivered to their
listeners "after the manner of a magpie."* Further, their
Superiors did not "correct" the friar preachers for delivering
these ambitious and solemn sermons,^ and the silence of their
churches and oratories was disturbed by the "hum" of con-
gregations. This perfervid Spiritual also regretted the
changed custom of preaching without the consent and good-
will of the prelates, and maintained that their papal privileges
could not excuse the practice, inasmuch as they made
no express mention of the Rule.*^ Bonaventura, how-
ever, held other views. He boldly stated that it was
inexcusable folly to depend upon the goodwill of the
prelates,' and that it was preferable to depend upon previous
study rather than the inspiration of the moment in the
delivery of their sermons. At the same time, he strongly
disapproved of the practice of taking collections and of
placing offertory boxes in the churches. The custom violated
the Rule as well as the Quo elongati of Gregory IX. ; and,
of equal importance in the eyes of the Minister General,
it afforded a just ground for reproach by the Seculars, who

Officiales; De tribtis Qiiaestionibtis. St. Francis vehemently inveighed against
the pursuit of knowledge, and predicted that it would be the ruin of the Order. Spec.
Per/., cap. 69.

^ Bonaventin-ac Op.., VIII. -^^n \ Narbonnc Constitutions., cap. II. p. 456.

2 Narbonnc Constitutions, cap. VII. p. 457. Cf. B. K, VII. No. 1766. If the
discovery were not made until after death, the fiiar was dcpri\cd of Christian
burial. Infra., p. 482.

■' Cf. La Vie de St. Francois, pp. 147-48, where the author illustrates tiie
difterencc between the sermons of .St. Francis and St. Anthony of I'adua.

* Ajx/iiv fiir Litteratur, III. 75, 178. '''Ibid. III. 122.

•^ Ibid. III. 122, 16S. 7 Qp_^ VIII. 365, Quacslio .\.

426 THE PASTORAL DUTIES OF THE FRIARS [chap. xi.

complained that the friars absorbed a quantity of alms
that would otherwise have come to them/ This "pest"
was again attacked with partial success by the Chapters of
1274, 1276 and 1282, and remained to furnish an apt simile
for one Franciscan writer, Cyprianus Grousers, who main-
tained that Syndics and offertory boxes were identical — " qttod
cippi sunt inaniini Syndici ; Syndici vej'o animati cippi."^ In
dealing with the question as to how the friars should act
in relation to permission to preach, Bonaventura counselled
moderation, so long as they were not impeded in the discharge
of their pastoral duties. In the first instance, the friar was
directed to obtain the sanction of the Bishop,^ and it was also
his duty to win the goodwill and consent of his fellow-workers
in the parish, smoothing away a rude refusal by increased
humility. Only when every means at his disposal failed to
procure their consent, was he at liberty to preach by his own
right, and with the certain knowledge that the unreasonable
attitude of the churchmen would prejudice them in the eyes
of every one.* Moreover, if the Bishop frustrated his desire
to conform to the Rule, a friar who preached in face of his
veto did not transgress the Rule, because he was in rebellion
against a "wolf," and not against a Bishop or a Pastor.^
Similar advice was given to the friar confessors,^ and general
rules for their appointment and conduct were inserted in the
Narbonne codification,^ without prejudice to the Apostolic
ordination. They were to be chosen by the Provincial
Minister and thereafter to receive the license of the diocesan
Bishop^ or the permission of the parishioner's own priest.

^ Bonaventurae Op., VIII. 356, Quaestio I.; Narbonne Constitutions, pp. 452,
465 ; and Pastoral letter at p. 467.

^ Regula Fratrinn Mitioriim, p. 238 (Albertus a Bulsano).

^ Alexander IV., Ciini olini quidam, 13th May 1259, provided the alternative
authority of a papal Legate.

* Botiaventiirae Op., VIII. 428 ; Expositio super Regtdam, cap. IX. § 4.
•''' Regula Fratruni Minoru)n, p. 156 (Hilarius). »

" Bonaventurae Op., VIII. 429, cap. IX. § 6.
"/(^/^. VIII. 456, cap. VI.

* Cf. The Grey Friars in Oxford, pp. 63-4, 159. The Provincial, Hugh of
Hertepol, presented twenty-two Oxford Minorites for license to hear confessions
at Oxford. The Bishop of Lincoln restricted his license to eight of the candidates,
on the ground that twenty-two was an excessive number. This was an instance of
the practice which induced Boniface VI 11. to direct the Superiors of the Order to

CHAP. XI.] PREACHING, CONFESSION, AND BURIAL 427

With the purpose of removing all grounds of another reproach
frequently levelled against the Order by the clergy, confessors
were forbidden to impose pecuniary penances, or, if the
circumstances warranted such a penance, to receive any
benefit thereunder for themselves or their friary ; ^ and a
stringent veto was laid upon the practice of granting absolution
to usurers who had not made due restitution in accordance
with the "canonic sanction."^

In his solution of the problem arising out of the burial
of laymen within the friary, Bonaventura grappled with a
pecuniary spirit that was rapidly permeating the fraternity —
"a certain litigious and greedy invasion of burials and testa-
ments to the exclusion of those to whom the cure of souls
was known to belong " — and expressed his disapproval of it
in the most absolute terms. The "known hatred" of the
clergy against the friars, he wrote, was largely due to this
spirit, and their father, the Pope, had desired him to warn
them against it." He, therefore, commanded the Provincials
to devote their attention to maintaining peace with the parish
clergy in this direction, and to afford them no just ground for
complaint. It would, indeed, be well if convincing proof
were given to the world that their aim was "the salvation
of souls and not material gain " ; ^ and, to that end, the indi-
vidual communities were forbidden to influence anyone,
directly or indirectly, in their choice of sepulchre, to vindi-
cate their right to a corpse in a court of law without the
consent of the Minister General, or to show any irreverence
to the parish clergy by their actings in this matter.^ The
general privilege accorded to the Order in 1250^ had per-
mitted the friars to admit laymen to burial within the friary,
in accordance with their deliberate choice, but it had not
conferred upon laymen the corresponding right to demand

maintain a just proportion between the number of confessors and the work to be
performed by them. Infra, p. 430.

' lionavenlitrac Op., VIII. 452, Narbonnc Consfi/itf/ons, cap. III.

- Ibid. VIII. 467. Friar Ubertino gave a well-authenticated case of llie
absolution of usurers "for the purpose of acquiring money," and asserted that the
abuse continued in his day. Aniiiv fiir Litteratur, 111. 106-107.

^ Ibid. VIII. 470, Epistolac Officiales, No. 2. ■• Ibid.

^ Ibid. VIII. 467, Narb. Con. Addiiaiiicnia ; Archiv fiir Littcratur^ VI. 96.

'^ Cum a nobis.

428 THE PASTORAL DUTIES OF THE FRIARS [chap. xi.

burial there. The Superiors were accordingly directed to
maintain the privilege against all contradicters, and were
advised to avail themselves of it only in cases where a refusal
to carry out the wishes of the deceased would cause a scandal.^
Finally, the friars were directed to abandon districts where
there was a parish cemetery or baptistery, if, as a result of their
presence there, they were called upon to bury the dead or to
baptize children.^ Nevertheless, the alleged "cupidity for
burials and burial offerings " ^ remained, and in 1276 it was
found necessary to place a distinctive mark over the graves of
laymen in their churches or cemeteries.* Pope Adrian V. was
interred in the friary at Viterbo,^ and Martin IV., " because he
was the intimate friend of the Order," ^ elected to be buried in
its habit in the church at Assisi.^ Cardinals of the Church also,
on occasion, expressed a similar preference,^ and the desire
of the King and Queen of Hungary, that the friary should
be their last resting-place, gave rise to one of the frequent
scandals that arose out of this privilege.^ In following
out this practice, the claims for restitution of the body which
had been wrongfully buried in another cemetery, and the
general acceptance of the funeral offerings, with a view to
sale and application to the needs of the friary, provoked the
active opposition of the Spirituals, who maintained that it

^ Bonaventiirac Op., VIII. 453, Narbonne Constitutions, cap. III.

^ Ibid. Definitioiies, VIII. 466. The advice of John of Parma, Minister General,
to the Chapter held at Metz, might be aptly applied to this privilege : " Let us not
add to the number of our constitutions, but observe those well which we have."
Archiv fiir Litterattir, VI. 31.

^ Archiv fiir Litteratu)', II. 391, Friar Ubertino.

* Chapter General, Padua ; Chronica Glassberger, A. F., II. 89.
''Ibid. II. 89.

^ Salimbene, C/ironica, p. 332, Ed. supra.

"^ Glassberger Chronica, A. F., II. 100. He was not buried there owing to the
death of his successor before his will had been fully executed. This incident is
also narrated in A. M., V. 139.

* Cardinalis Episcopus Praesentittus ; Glassberger Ch}-ojiica, A. F., II. 90.

^ Anno 1270, ibid. II. 90. The Archbishop of Strigonia caused their bodies to
be exhumed and interred in his Cathedral Church. The friars appealed direct to
Rome, with success, and re-interred their bodies before the friary altar of the Virgin.
In 1 318, a similar dispute arose between the Franciscans and Dominicans in
Ireland (B. F, V. 298) ; and the case narrated by Mr. Howlett (M. F, II. xiv.)
is an apt illustration of the manner in which Franciscan privileges were ignored.
The editor's injustice towards the English Franciscans in this instance will be
readily apreciated by the reader.

CHAP. XT.] PREACHING. CONFESSION, AND BURIAL 429

was inconsistent with the "highest poverty." Their dis-
approval of the custom found expression in the specific charges
of Friar Ubertino against the Order — that the friars neglected
other duties for the purpose of " procuring funeral offerings";^
that the burial of rich men had destroyed the former
confidence in alms as a means of sustenance ; ^ that on the
Day of the Dead absolutions were granted over the graves
in their cemeteries, and money received therefor ; and that
usurers were unlawfully buried by the friars with the rites of
the Church on account of the greedy desire to receive the
ample offerings made on such occasions.^ This practice
Ubertino quaintly defined as apostasy against the vow of
expropriation, and foresaw the clanger of simony in funerals as
well as in the celebration of masses for money ; while he
reminded his contemporaries that their predecessors had
strenuously refused to allow laymen to be buried within the
precincts of the friary. Now there were countless funerals of
the noble and the rich there.*

The experience of principles and detail gained by all
parties during this controversy was embodied in the Sttper
cathedrain, issued by Boniface VIII. in the last year of the
century. It was, in effect, the Charter of Liberties of the
Mendicant Orders ; and, in conjunction with its explanatory
constitutions, it placed the future relations between the two
parties upon a definite basis, and established a well-ordered
modus Vivendi by a clear and unequivocal definition of rights
and functions.'' It was suspended by the successor of
Boniface VI 1 1., on the ground that "it had produced turmoil
in place of the quiet which it had been intended to efTect,"
and that, " by the removal of one head, it had raised up a
seven-headed hydra "; ° or, in more simple language, because
the churchmen raised a storm of protest against the serious

' Archiv fiir Litteratiir, II. 402.

'^ Ibid. III. 69.

•"' Ibid. II. 402, III. 107.

" Ibid. III. 114, 182.

° Super cathedrain, i8th February 1300, i/i/ra, II. \). 447. Nupe?- ut discordiae
materia^ 27th May 1300; Inter dilecios filios^ 9th August 1303.

" Benedict XL, hiter cimctas soUicitudines, 17th February 1304 ; which did not
differ in essentials on the question of preaching and confession from the Super
cathedratn.

430 THE PASTORAL DUTIES OF THE FRIARS [chap. xi.

curtailment of their emoluments resulting from it. The
controversy was finally referred to the Council of Vienne, and
the Super cathedrani was thereafter restored by Clement V.
for the purpose of establishing that degree of friendly co-
operation so long desiderated by the ruling hierarchy.^

The friars were now permitted to preach freely to the
clergy and the people in their own churches and in the streets,^
except at the hour when the prelates desired to preach or
to have sermons preached before them. They might also
preach in the general schools under the same exception, and
in the parish church with the consent of its clergy. Under
this constitution, the friars also received full permission to
hear confession, impose penance and grant absolution to all
who desired to confess to them, the ministers being directed
to present those who had been chosen for the office to the
prelates of the Church for their formal sanction. If the
candidate were refused, another might be presented in his
place ; but, if sanction were persistently refused to every
candidate, those who had been chosen by the Provincial
were empowered to hear confession in virtue of Apostolic
authority.^ Confession to a friar priest, Benedict XI. once
more explained, was of the same effect as confession to
a secular priest ; * and, in common with his predecessor, he
categorically declared that the right of the friar to hear
confession proceeded not from the sanction of the prelates,
but " from the plenitude of the Apostolic power."

Finally, the general privilege of admitting laymen to
burial within the friary cemetery was re-confirmed, under the
condition that the friars should hand over to the parish priest
or Rector the fourth or portio canonica of all that had been
received in respect of the burial, whether as oblations

1 Dudum a Bonifatio, 6th May 13 12.

2 To the general right to preach, Benedict XI. added the words, absque dioces-
anortim et aliorum prelatorum petita licentia, as a preferable form of definition to
that adopted by his predecessor.

2 The Order was directed to exercise great care in the choice of friars for this
ofifice, and to abstain from selecting a greater number than was necessary for the
work ; while the friar confessor was urged to exhort those who confessed to him to
confess at least once a year to the priest of their parish.

■* He forbade the Mendicants to grant absolution in cases reserved to Bishops,
Superiors, or the Holy See.

CHAP. XI.] PREACHING, CONFESSION, AND BURIAL 431

or otherwise. The amount of this " fourth," which had
varied in preceding practice from a quarter to a half in
different parts of Europe, was now fixed at one quarter for
all countries ; ^ but even the payment of this restricted tax
was a severe strain upon the friary exchequer, if any re-
liance may be placed on the thrice-repeated appeal which
Clement V. made to the generosity of the prelates in the
third session of the Council of Vienne, urofinsf them to show
orreater leniencv towards the friars than was demanded of
them in the constitution." During the summer of 1303 the
details of the ceremony to be observed at a funeral in the
friary were debated in the Curia by procurators representing
both parties, and were embodied in the Inter dilectos Jilios?
These details established the complete independence of the
friars on such occasions, by the provision that it was unneces-
sary to carry the body to the parish church, or to perform any
part of the funeral service there. The funeral procession,
headed by the cross of the friary, was to proceed directly
to the conventual cemetery, the friars reading the office of the
dead or chanting the psalms, and carrying the thurible and
blessed water. The parish clergy, if they desired to take
part, were permitted to join in the procession, carrying the
cross of their church ; while the funeral service within the
church and cemetery was placed entirely in the hands of the
friars.

The Super cathedram did not deal with the sacraments
of baptism and marriage, which were foreign to the contro-
versy, in the sense that neither the Holy See nor the Superiors
of the Order desired to interfere with the recognised duties of
the parish clergy in this direction. The instances in which
friars did assume, or claimed the right to assume, this quasi-
civil function are to be regarded as isolated breaches of

^ Nuper ut discordiae materia, 27th May 1300. For a brief period, during the
pontificate of Benedict XL, this division was modified, in reply to the protests of
the churchmen, to the extent that the bishop should receive his " fourth " out of
all bequests, and the parish priest one half of the funeral offerings and dues, by
which were meant omnia quae cumfunere deferuntiir, except the wax and candles.

^ Nam non possunt alias vivere. Boniface IX. declared that he did not approve
of the payment of the "fourth," and directed the friars of .A.ssisi to hand over one
half of the "wax" instead of paying the "fourth-" B, F.., VII. No. 120.

■" 9th August 1303.

432 THE PASTORAL DUTIES OF TF^E FRIARS [chap. xi.

discipline, which were repressed by the central authority for
the same reasons, and in the same manner, as the more
frequent and stubborn disregard for the privileges of the
Franciscans. When alleo-ations of interference with these
sacraments were made, the practice was at once forbidden ; ^
just as had been done in the case of the friars of Pisa, who
introduced polemics into their sermons and maintained that
tithes and kindred payments were not due to the Church
under any system of natural law.^ The intention of the
Holy See was to direct the voluntary services of the friars
towards supplementing the ministrations of the parochial
clergy, consistently with their respective Rules ; and a healthy
rivalry was thus established between the two classes by
the freedom of choice accorded to laymen in the matter of
spiritual guidance. Indeed, the advent of the Mendicants,
in addition to developing the art of preaching, removed
a serious evil from the Church in the Middle Aees —
the estrangement between the sentiment of the parishioner
and the celebration of divine worship, proceeding from the
personality of the pastor.

^ John XXII., Petitio venerabilis, 17th November 1316.
2 Gregory IX., Discretioni vestrae ; n.d. Cf. p. 293.

A Grey Friar preaching-.
From 14th Century MS. in Brit. Mies. Lib.

Statue of St. Francis at Assisi, by Dupre. Erected on the
occasion of the Six Hundredth Anniversary of his Birth.

CHAPTER XII

THEORY OF FRANCISCAN POVERTY

The outstanding feature In the Rule of life which St.
Francis imposed upon his followers was the vow of poverty.

" I firmly command all the friars not to accept coin or money in any
manner of way, either by their own hands or through an interposed
person ; nevertheless, let the Ministers and " Custodes," with the assist-
ance of spiritual friends, provide for the needs of the sick and for the
clothing of the other friars,^ as they consider necessary according to
the district, season and cold countries ; provided always, as has been
said, that they accept neither money nor coin.

Let the friars, to whom God has given the grace of work, labour
faithfully and devoutly so that they shun sloth without extinguishing the
spirit of holy prayer and devotion, to which everything temporal should
be subservient. Let them accept the necessaries of life, other than coin
or money, for themselves and their brethren as the wages of their work,
and that with humility as becomes the servants of God and disciples
of most holy poverty.

Let the friars appropriate nothing to themselves, neither house nor
place nor anything ; as pilgrims and strangers in the world let them seek
alms with confidence ; and they need feel no shame in doing so because
the Lord made Himself poor in this world for us. Herein lies the
excellence of absolute poverty which has instituted you heirs and kings
in the kingdom of heaven, has made you poor in possessions and rich
in virtues. Let this, which leads to the land of the living, be your
portion, dearest brethren ; devote yourselves entirely to it, and never
desire aught else under heaven for the name of Lord Jesus Christ." ^

^ In the view of St. Francis, recourse to " spiritual friends " for these two
purposes was an obligation and not a license. The friar who had divested himself
of all property and worldly ties before admission to the fraternity, had the right to
regard his Superior as his father {Expositio Regulae Fratrum Miiwrum, p. 201,
Albertus k Bulsano). This idea was developed in the Observatine Statutes of
145 1, which provided that a Warden might not provide for his own clothing or
food, until provision had been made for all the friars in the community. M. 7'"., II.

93-

- Solet anfiuere, caps. 4, 5, 6.
28

434 THEORY OF FRANCISCAN POVERTY [chap. xii.

To the romantic feelings of his contemporaries, who could
perceive its reality in the lives of the Saint and his im-
mediate associates, the severity and subjective idealism of
this Rule appealed with intense force. Yet it was not given
to every friar to share with his leader in that intimate joy
which he experienced in those high mysterious espousals with
his dear Lady Poverty. In the obedience of many, intellect
exercised a disturbing influence over the heart ; and critical
definition became an imperfect substitute for spontaneous
obedience. Hence, when the purely spiritual character of
the Rule became somewhat obscured in controversy and
debate — resultinor from its contact with the exigencies of life
and practical administration — complete and perfect observ-
ance was found to be an impossibility. St. Francis, in his
"clear and simple manner," had endeavoured to dissociate
the religious profession of his disciples from the privileges of
citizenship, and thereby provided an interminable series of
doubts as to the legitimate observance of the vow of poverty.
Each friar, as a member of the Order, had an ecclesiastical
personality, defined by his ordination vows and by the canons
of the Church, distinct from his civil personality, in virtue of
which he benefited under the respective systems of positive
law. One system, interpreted in its strictest sense, forbade
him to have any share in the rights and privileges which
the other extended to him as a citizen of the state. The
concrete question which the Holy See^ had thus to settle
was : Could these two conflicting systems be brought into
practical agreement, so that the Franciscans, while obeying
the spirit rather than the letter of their statutes and ordinances,
might prove useful members of the Church, which was not itself
bound down by a vow of absolute poverty ? It was inevitable
that a wider and more generous interpretation of their vow
should come to be accepted. So vast an organisation could
not rest upon a mere theory ; and what more simple basis
could have been selected than the identification of the friars

1 More than one of the Supreme Pontiffs claimed a special qualification for this
task — Gregory IX. as a.familiarls of St. Francis ; Nicolas III. as having grown to
manhood among the friars ; Alexander IV. as having filled the office of Minister
General ; and Sixtus IV. as having been nurtured in the Order and in its doctrine
and discipline from his earliest years.

CHAP. XII.] LAND AND BUILDINGS 435

with the locahty in which they ministered ? To that end.
acquisition of land on which to build a friary, and provision
for the expense of maintenance, as well as for the sustenance
of its inmates, were considered the most practical means.
For this reason, and under the influence of the theory of
common ownership which supplanted the law of the family
in every monastic community during the Middle Ages, the
rugged asperity of the Rule was softened ; but it cannot
really be alleged that the individual was interfered with as an
exponent of Franciscanism, the real meaning of which was
practical Christianity rather than theoretical respect for a
Rule.

The friars were permitted to have no relation with
property, other than that of " use " in its most restricted sense ;
and, in his own life, St. Francis interpreted this relation with
property as a loan, considering that it was theft if he used
an article while another had greater need of it.^ Definition
and criticism were quickly brought to bear upon this
simple command, which had been formally confirmed by
Honorius IIL in 1223." One section of the fraternity main-
tained that the property belonged to the whole Order in
common ; while the purists denied collective as well as
individual ownership. This controversy was dealt with by
Gregory IX. in the first interpretative declaration of the
Rule,^ in which His Holiness explained that the friars
possessed no property, either in common or special, and
that merely the use of the churches, furnishings and books,
was granted to them, without any right to alienate or exchange
the same unless the Cardinal Protector gave his consent.
The radical right of ownership therefore remained vested in
the donors, the friar-occupants being considered as mere users.
This idea of common ownership, so categorically rejected
in the Quo elongati, must not, however, be lost sight ot.'

^ spec. Per/., cap. 30. " Ego nolo esse fur, nam pro fiirto nobis imputarettir si
non darenius ipsiun {inanielluin) iiiagis egenti.^''

- Solet annucre.

•■' Quo elongati, 17th October 1230 ; infra, II. p. 397.

^ It was definitely recognised by St. Francis himself in regard to books—
'■'■ paucos habcri voluit et in communi eosque ad f rat rum nccessitatem esse para fos'
—but it was vigorously attacked by him as a principle. Spec. Perf, caps. V. XIII.

436 THEORY OF FRANCISCAN POVERTY [chap. xit.

In relation to the civil law, it remained the basis of every
subsequent interpretation of the Rule ; whereas cases of
individual ownership among the friars were rigorously re-
pressed. The brethren were allowed to exercise all the
privileges of common owners in the direction of transactions
affecting the interests of their convent ; and, in proportion as
the idea of their being mere pilgrims and strangers receded,
and as the property which they used came more and more to
be identified with a particular Friary, Custody or Province,
common ownership exercised a more definite influence upon
the successive modifications of the Rule sanctioned by the
Curia. No better instance of this identification could, per-
haps, be found than the Ex parte vestra of Alexander IV. —
one of many instances in which external influences increased
the difficulties of a perfect observance of the Rule. Their
founder had forbidden "appropriation" without defining
legitimate "use"; and, when the friars were in course of
changing the site of a friary, the churchmen frequently seized
upon the buildings, books and ornaments, claiming them as
their property. Alexander IV. therefore granted the friars
power, through their Minister, to sell everything except the
churches, and to transfer the bo'oks and ornaments to their
new home.^ The transition was completed when Leo X.
and Clement VII. permitted the Conventuals to sell the
friary lands, whenever it was to their interest to do so, and to
compound with heirs in respect of legacies.^ This theory
entered upon the second phase of its evolution with the issue
of the Ordinem vestrum^ by Innocent IV., who declared that
all places, houses and furnishings, that had in any way been
devoted to the use of the friars, belonged in rig-ht and in
property to the Roman Church, except in the case of
donors who had made an express reservation in their own
favour ; and that, as the Franciscan Order possessed no
rights of property, it could neither alienate nor exchange the
same without papal sanction obtained through the Cardinal

^ Ex parte vestra, 21st October 1255.

^ Leo X., Cum saepe nuinero, 27th November 1519 ; Clement VII., Nuper pro
parte vestra, 23rd November 1526.
^ 14th November 1245.

CHAP, xii.] LAxND AND BUILDINGS 437

Protector. The inconsistency of the Qito clongati, which
allowed the Cardinal Protector to sanction the alienation of
property of which he was not declared to be the owner, or
even the delegate of the owner, was thus removed, and the
title of the friars defined as one of simple possession. This
theory, it must be remembered, had received the approval
of St. Francis as early as 1220, when the Cardinal of Ostia
calmed his indignation ao^ainst the renegade friars of Bologna
by an appeal to the public instruments containing an express
declaration that the house which they had accepted belonged
to himself in property.^ St. Francis also had no scruples in
regard to the use of the humble Portiuncula — in theory con-
sidered as the property of the Benedictines of Assisi, who had
placed it at his disposal ^ — and he is recorded by Friar Leo to
have said : " The Place of St. Mary of the Little Portion I am
minded to devise and leave to the brethren by will, so that it
may be held by the brethren in the greatest devotion and
reverence."^ In 1228, the tentative compromise brought
into prominence at Bologna was still farther developed in
the Recolentes qtmliier,'^ which incorporated into the patrimony
of St. Peter the orround and buildings of the church about
to be built at Assisi, and selected an annual payment of
one pound of wax as the symbol of ownership. In 1279,
it was justified in the Exiit of Nicolas III. by the analogy of
the Roman Law theory of the Familia : " Inasmuch as the
donor is presumed out of his love for God to intend to
transfer the property to another, in place of God there is no
one more fitted to receive it than the Roman Pontiff, the
Vicar of Christ. The Pope is father of all, especially of the
Friars Minor. It is for his father that the son acquires
property that is granted or given to him, just as the servant
acquires for his master, and the monk for his monastery."
Therefore, to avoid indefinite ownership, the property was
assumed by the Holy See, which, in turn, granted the use of
the same to the friars, who, by so renouncing, were not

' L(i Vie de St. Francois, p. 273. Spec. J 'erf., cap. \'l.
" Spec. Per/., cap. 55.

' Ibid. In the same context, he laid the foundation of tlie schism between the
clerks and lay brothers of the Order. Supra, p. 40.

■* 22nd October 1228. The forerunner of the Ordinem veslnnii.

438 THEORY OF FRANCISCAN POVERTY [chap. xii.

homicides putting their own life in danger, since there were
expressly reserved to them three modes of sustaining life :
the proceeds of generous offerings, humble mendicancy and
work/ In this simple form,^ the theory was applied to the
ownership of immovable property and its accessories devoted
to the use of the Franciscans, and served to justify each
extension of their rights as users. It, however, inevitably
assumed an artificial aspect in relation to the various systems
of civil law, if we endeavour to justify these modifications by
the strict principles of modern jurisprudence. The most
evident inconsistency lies in the powers of an owner, which
the friars were ultimately permitted to exercise, because a
person, whose title at civil law was merely that of an occupier,
could not feu, let on long lease, or sell land ; ^ and the point
of absolute contradiction between theory and practice was
reached, when the Conventuals received permission to alienate
friary property independently of the triennial limitation,^ and
without the sanction of the Holy See.^ This artificial aspect
was due to the fact that the civil and the canon law were
two independent systems. In relation to the civil law,
the papal constitutions affecting the friars were permissive,
and condoned their recognised interests under it, without
being able to compel a recognition of the radical right
alleged to be vested in the Holy See. Hence, writers, who
endeavoured to establish a logical relation between civil
ownership and the text of the Rule, uniformly failed in their
task — except in those cases where the admission of civil
ownership was qualified by the statement that the friars
renounced the status of owners by handing over the property

1 Exiit qui seininaf^ cap. II.; infra, II. p. 405.

2 e.g. Boniface VIII., J7iter ceteros o7'diiies, nth November 1295 ; John XXII.,
Imminente nobis, 13th September 1319, and Ad conditorem, 8th December 1322 ;
Paul IV., Ex dementi, ist July 1555. The series of constitutions dealing with the
appointment of procurators in accordance with this theory will be found in
Chapter XIII.

2 Martin V., Sincerae devotionis, 19th February 1430, which granted this power
to the friars in regard to lands at a distance from the friary.

* Paul II., Avibitiosae atpiditati, ist March 1467, which forbade alienation of
ecclesiastical property by feu, lease, or otherwise beyond a period of three
years.

^ Leo X., Cum saepe numero, 27th November 15 19.

CHAP. XII.] LAND AND BUILDINGS 439

to the Pope, receiving in return a dispensation to the effect
that " their civil acts were of no avail and had no effect in
conscience."^ Donors did not hand over convents or land
merely for "use." It is even improbable that at the date of
their donation they thought of anyone other than the friars
with whom they were personally acquainted, and a perusal of
the Scottish writs, other than the papal licenses to their
foundations, gives no hint of this latent radical right. In
these deeds the friars appear as ordinary citizens, receiving
and alienating heritable property according to the forms
prescribed by the law of the land, and acting independently
of any papal constitution which permitted them to deal freely
with their property. In the alienation of church lands at the
Reformation, they acted according to their rights under Scots
law, rather than as a corporation putting into practice the
theories of the Roman Church ; and it was expressly stated
in the Feu Charters granted by the Friars of Dumfries that
they acted in virtue of the Scots statute.^ These con-
tradictions appealed with varying degrees of force to the
Franciscans themselves, either on sentimental or intellectual
grounds. In some cases doubts were calmed by an appeal to
the supreme authority of the Holy See, in others by argu-
ments remarkable for their finesse and subtlety ; but the
definition of " natural use " laid down by St. Bonaventura
remains the clearest utterance of a tranquil Franciscan
conscience that paid little heed to theoretical distinctions.
" Nothing belongs to me, whoever may be the owner of the
thing which is granted to me for use. The ownership of it
may belong to this or that state or church, or even to God
alone ; I, indeed, like the beast of the field, have nothing but
the simple use, which can be separated from ownership — ^just
as we see the use of things granted to many by nature, but
the dominion to few." On the other hand, when both parties
to the transaction belonged to the Church, the theory was
fully observed in the dispositive clause of the deed : " I
freely give and assign the said place, in leni^th and breadth
as it lies with its commodities and easements, from me and

^ Regula Fratrum Minoruvi, § 832 (Hilarius).

2 e.g. MS. Feu Charier, lolli June 1558 ; i/tfr,i, II. p. 110.

440 THEORY OF FRANCISCAN POVERTY [chap. xii.

my church to God and our blessed father the Pope of Rome,
for behoof of the said friars." -^

Books, church ornaments and vestments, were dealt with
on the same footing as land or buildings, and similar conditions
were applied to their alienation or exchange. They were
definitely removed from the category of movable property,
and were reserved within the patrimony of the Holy See by
John XXII. when he exempted them from the provisions of
the Ad conditorem. In theory, they were never considered
as the property of the friars, although specially identified with
them for their necessary purposes, but the anxious provision
made for the retention of books, firstly in the friaries,
secondly in the "Custody," and thirdly in the Province to
which they were gifted,^ affords another example of owner-
ship in common which was refuted in principle and re-
cognised in practice : " With regard to books, of which
the Order and the friars have the use, and which are
no longer the property of anyone else, they are henceforth
the special possession of the Roman Church " ; while the
friars were granted a power of sale to be exercised through
a procurator, and a power of exchange to be exercised by the
authority and within the jurisdiction of the Minister General
or the Provincial Ministers.^

The possession of annual rents was dealt with in a more
definite manner, owing to the fact that the acceptance of any
permanent source of revenue was foreign to the intentions of
St. Francis. Clement V. accentuated the rigidity of the
Rule in this respect : " It is affirmed that they received
annual rents, sometimes in such numbers that this source is
a complete mode of sustenance. Annual rents are, by law, of

^ Disposition by Master William Forbes, Vicar of St. Giles, Edinburgh, of the
Church of St. John the Baptist, outwith the Burgh, to the Friars Minor ; i8th
November 1464. Infra, II. p. 200.

2 Benedict XII., Redemptor nosier, 28th November 1336. Alexander IV., Ex
parte vestra, 5th December 1255, ordered the friars, when promoted to a bishopric,
to renounce the use of the books which, as a friar, they had been permitted to use,
— licet non ad eos, cum propriutn eis habere non liceat, sed ad Ordinent pertmeant,
meinoratiim — and Clement IV. still further accentuated the principle of identifica-
tion, or common ownership, by forbidding the consecration of the friar-bishop,
until the books had been returned to the proper authorities. Provideiitia lauda-
bilis, 9th June 1268. ^ Exiit, cap. XII.

cHAi'. XII.] ANNUAL RENTS 441

the nature of immovable property, and the acquisition of such
revenues is repugnant to poverty and mendicancy : there is
no doubt that it is unlawful for the said friars to have or
receive any revenues whatever, or even their use which is
denied to them."^ In regard to this form of revenue,
almost the sole point of agreement among the Franciscans
was, that it removed "the uncertainty of seraphic poverty."
Bonaventura approved of the acceptance of those that were
purely eleemosynary ; while others maintained that it was
lawful to accept the annual payments for a "moderate length
of time." ^ When annual rents were offered to provide for
the performance of masses after death, the upkeep of the
tombs of laymen who had been buried in the friary cemetery,^
or for other reasonable purposes, acceptance was, however, fre-
quently sanctioned by papal privilege,* and in course of time the
prohibition contained in the Exivi was neutralised by this
custom of procuring an indulgence to accept. It was finally
abrogated in the Bull of Concordance in favour of the Con-
ventual friars ;^ and seven years later Clement VII.° permitted
them to realise or anticipate legacies of money and rights
bearing a tract of future time, provided that the duties
imposed by the donors were duly performed and the price
employed for the repair and general needs of the friary. The
marked distinction in the practice followed by the Conventual
and Observatine divisions of the Order in regard to these
privileges has already been referred to.' After the middle of
the fifteenth century, the Observatines refused to accept these

^ Exivi de Paradiso, 1312, caps. 8, 10. The possession of garden ground for
the cultivation of vegetables or other produce for sale was also forbidden by this
constitution, on the ground that it was equivalent to the possession of property
in the form of revenues. Garden ground might only be used for the purposes of
meditation and repose. Ibid. cap. 13 ; itifra, II. pp. 428-30.

- Regula Frafniin Minorum, §§ S74, 877. Ten years was the period fixed.

^ Martin V., Sincerae devotionis, nth July 1425.

* There are many recorded instances in which the friars voluntarily refused
to accept the rents, or were ordered to divest themselves of them (Clement VI.,
Sacrosaftcta, 21st November 1342). In other cases, indulgence was granted to
sell the rents : and, on occasion, the Pope sanctioned their acceptance but varied
the conditions attached to the grant (Nicolas IV., ExJiibita nobis, iSth August
1290).

■'' Leo X., 0)nnipfltcns Dcits^ 12th June 15 17.

" Dudiiin per, 7th March 1524.

^ Supra, pp. 128-37.

442 THEORY OF FRANCISCAN POVERTY [chap. xii.

rents when they took possession of a Conventual friary. In
earlier cases they laid their difficulties before the Pope, who
received the rents and possessions into the patrimony of St.
Peter, and appointed agents to administer the funds for their
sustenance and for the giving of charity to the poor.^ This
provision did not wholly satisfy certain of the extremists, who
contended that the interposition of these lay agents infringed
the purity of their Rule. In reply, His Holiness granted a
general power of sale of the friary endowments, and directed
the application of the price towards the repair of their buildings.^
Ten years later, a more stringent reading of the Exivi was
adopted, when the Observatine Chapter decided that rents of
this nature were inconsistent with the truth and purity of their
statutes and Rule, seeing that not only rents, but also their
use — even if the simple iisus facti and not the uszts jtiris
were understood — was forbidden by this constitution. The
Pope acquiesced in their decision, and sanctioned the transfer
of the rents to the nuns of the Order of St. Clare,^ whose
Rule then permitted of their acceptance. In this case, the
initiative obviously lay with the friars, the Pope merely giving
his sanction to the decision of the Chapter on the question put
before it by the cismontane Vicar General — ought they, as
they had done for some years past, to continue to accept
these rents, to be expended by the procurators on their behalf
and in the name of the Church ? The Bullaria disclose
no instance of special direction from Rome to the Scots
Observatines on this question ; and the complete silence of our
burghal and central records is conclusive proof that the Exivi
remained the standard of their discipline.*

The theory of simple use, denuded of every legal right,
was also applied to movable property, although a latent right
in land differed entirely from a latent right in fungible property.
The question was one of little importance to conscience in
regard to offerings in kind, as acceptance was expressly

^ Eugenius IV., Exigit devotw?iis, 13th January 1444 ; Ad Orditieui Minorum,
13th January 1444.

2 A. M., XI. 522. ^ Calixtus III., /« Domo Domini, 20th June 1457.

* An excellent basis of comparison between the Observatines and Dominicans
in Edinburgh is offered by the seventeen MS. vols, of Protocols, 1500-63 ; sitpra,
pp. 275-76.

cHAi^ XII.] MOVABLE PROrERTY 443

recoQfnised In the Rule ; and the sole doubt which did arise
in this respect was, whether a Chapter might accumulate
stores for future use. Clement V. explained that the
practice was permissible, though contrary to the will of their
founder, if there were serious grounds for believing that
the necessaries of life could not be otherwise procured.^ In
the matter of pecuniary alms and other movable property,
however, its application gave rise to serious doubts as to the
reality of the vow of poverty. Gregory IX. admitted the
use and consumption of money for necessary purposes, pro-
vided that the friars avoided actual contact with the money,
and that it was expended on their behalf by the actual donor,
by a deputy of his own choice, or even by one suggested to
him by the friars themselves. It was explained that so long
as this fund remained in the hands of the deputy or " inter^
posed person," it was the property of the donor, and the friars
could in no sense be considered owners of it. Innocent IV.
admitted expenditure in this manner for iLseful as well as for
necessary purposes \ Nicolas III. extended the purposes so
as to include provision for past and fuhtre necessities ; and
Gregory X. permitted the sale or exchange of movable
property "for things more necessary to them," provided the
consent of the Minister General was obtained.^ The actual
result of these constitutions was to create a distinct relation-
ship between the Order and property that was inconsistent
with the vow of poverty, if that vow was to be considered as
having any relation to the accepted meaning of the words
ownership and tise. It was difficult for men, who considered
the question seriously, to believe that the precepts of their
founder really permitted use, which was distinct from owner-
ship only in name. Nicolas III. accordingly endeavoured to
restore reality to the vow in its intellectual aspect, and to
establish a logical and convincing concordance between the
text of the Rule and the modifications which past experience
had proved to be really necessary. He adopted the com-

^ Exivi, cap. XIV. The Order was also advised by John XXII. to benefit from
past experience. Quorundam exigif, 7th Octoljcr 1317.

2 Quo elongati.

•■'Gregory IX., Oko elongati; Innocent IV., Ordincin vcstniDi ; Nicolas III.,
Exiit ; Gregory X., Voluntariae paupertati, Sth November 1274.

444 THEORY OF FRANCISCAN POVERTY [chap. xii.

promise put forward by Gregory IX. for the management
of pecuniary alms, and the declaration of Innocent IV.
that everything devoted to the use of the Franciscan
Order belonged in property to the Holy See. His
Holiness thereafter explained that no profession could be
followed without the use of things ; and that the actions of
St. Francis himself, and the words used by him in the Rule,
proved that the necessary use of things was permissible.
They were allowed to ask for alms, to accept the neces-
saries of life as the price of their work, and were commanded
to preach, which was impossible without knowledge. Know-
ledge implied study ; study was impossible without the use
of books. There could, therefore, be no doubt that necessary
use was conceded for their sustenance and clothing, for divine
worship, and for the study of wisdom. It was a more diffi-
cult task to harmonise this special form of use with legal
principles. The renunciation of ownership, it was explained,
did not imply the renunciation of the simple use of things,
seeing that use was not a title of right but merely the name
of a fact, which conferred no right to the actual use of the
thing. Saving money, the friars might therefore have the
moderate use of other things, so long as the permission of
the owner was unrevoked. According to the civil law,
usufruct and use were inseparable from the ownership of
things. However, this was due to the fear that the permanent
separation of the ownership from the right to use, would
render the thing useless to its owner. In the case of the
Friars Minor, the continued separation of ownership from use,
which was granted to the poor, was not unfruitful to the
owner, as it availed him " in eternity." ^ This argument was
the most serious attempt to efface the distinction between the
civil and ecclesiastical personality of the friars. At the same
time, many clauses in the Exiit were purely disciplinary,
in the sense that they were explanatory of the mode in which
the Order should act in reference to privileges and obligations
under the civil law. Thus, chapter eight conflicted with the
rules of succession, inasmuch as no papal constitution could
empower an agent, with purely administrative functions, to

1 Cap. III.

CHAP. XII.] MOVABLE PROPERTY 445

exclude heirs from the possession of property which had been
in bonis of the deceased donor. Again, the prohibition
against contracting debt concerned discipline alone ; while
■ the suggested manner of repayment could only be observed
if the particular creditor acquiesced in the suggestion that
no definite guarantee of repayment should be given. ^
Nicolas III. approached this problem as a churchman who
relied upon the moral effect of a papal constitution to support
any doubtful proposition. John XXII., however, approached
it as a lawyer, and placed the ownership of fungible
property upon a logical basis. He considered poverty a
lesser virtue than integrity and complete obedience," and
replied to the reasoning of the Exiit — which he declared to
be founded upon a simulation — by a simple statement of the
principles of the civil law. " Who can be called a mere user,
if he be allowed to exchange, sell or gift '^. " The acts of
the friars are known to be repugnant to nature, and beyond
the rights of a "user." It was contrary to law and reason
that a right of use, or mere use, should be constituted in such
things distinct from the ownership of them. Use meant the
consumptio7i of the thing itself ^^ His Holiness, accordingly,
denied that the Roman Church had any right of ownership
in thino-s "consumable in use" which were Qriven to the
Order,"* This decision did not respect the vow of poverty
in its literal sense. Yet, if a friar sincerely desired to select
poverty as his portion, the theoretical distinction between use

1 Cap. VI.

^ Quortifidam exigit, supra, p. 88.

^ Ad co/idifore»i.

■* Ibid. In considering the attitude of John XXII. towards the Franciscans,
Dr. Lea {The Inquisition, vol. III.) recognises the insuperable difficulties raised
by the ideal of poverty ; and, at the same time, he satirises the theory of Franciscan
poverty as an "elusory gloss upon the Rule sanctioning the transparent device of
agents." The ethical aspect of this controversy is best illustrated in the immediate
acceptance of the theory, as defined in the Exivi, by the primitive Observatines ;
and the reader will observe that Dr. Lea has failed to appreciate the distinction —
logical from the legal point of view — drawn between heritable and movable
property in the Ad conditorciii. John X.XII. expressly homologated the theory
quoad the former category, and, in regard to the latter, he calmed the storm of
indignation by restoring the Exiit in 1331. Thus, instead of bringing "the Order
down from its seraphic heights to everyday necessities," he rallied the Franciscans
in defence of their theory, because, in the words of Thomas .A.cjuinas, poverty need
not be absolute, but should be proportioned to the object it is fitted to attain.

446 THEORY OF FRANCISCAN POVERTY [c hap. xii.

and ownership was of small importance ; and this constitution,
while removing the artificial aspect of his vow, enabled him
to follow the example of Friar Bonaventura and to conform
to the words of Clement V. : "In order that life be conform
to truth, outward action must represent the inner disposition
and the state of the mind." At the same time, John XXII.
did not intend to obliterate the distinctive characteristic of the
Friars Minor. Accordingly, in a public consistory in 1331,
he dispelled any doubts that might have arisen from the
interpretation of the Ad conditorem, by ordering the Pro-
vincial Ministers to obey the Rule and the chapters of the
Exiit and the Exivi which dealt with the use of money ; ^ and
his successors revoked the Ad conditorem, without refuting
the cogency of its arguments from the purely legal point of
view. They maintained the theory of his predecessors, and
permitted practice in accordance with his constitution ; while
the Franciscans themselves denied that any civil law right
was conferred upon them by the Ad conditorem, maintaining
that they had no more than a " natural ownership, in virtue
of which every living thing is able and bound to make use
of things necessary for the preservation of its being." ^ In
the case of the friary Chapter and of the individual, the
criterion by which the action was judged was the " mode " in
which it was performed. It was considered no sin to have
recourse to a benefactor in one of the permissible modes ;
but it became an illicit act if they provided for the expenditure
of the gift, or demanded an account of its expenditure from
the deputy.^

Rights of succession and testamentary bequests also
provided many difficulties in observance, which varied in
degree according to the spirit of the period. A right of
succession implied a radical right of property in the inheritance;
so that the acceptance of a succession by any friar proved his
vow to have been made under a material reservation, of itself
a contravention of the Rule and statutes of the Order.^ Never-

1 1st August 1331 ; B. F., V. No. 921.

2 Regula Fratriim Minortim, 824 (Hilarius). ^ Exivi, cap. VII.

* Quod melius ad Ordinem recipiatur ftisi expropriatics omnino^'' Bonaveiiturae
Op., VIII. 450, Narbonne Constitutions, cap. I.

CHAP. XII.] SUCCESSION 447

theless, long before the golden age of Franciscanism had
faded from memory, the friar is frequently met with in the
character of heir, and we are forced to the conclusion that he
did retain a civil personality for the benefit of the Chapter of
which he was a member. That is, in the absence of any civil
contract, which anticipated or otherwise dealt with the friar's
legal or conventional share in his family goods at the close of his
noviciate,^ the disability under which he laboured had reference
only to the Rule and the papal constitutions explicative of it.
As in the case of annual rents, these modifications were
preceded by privileged exceptions, and within forty years of
the death of St. Francis, Clement IV. had come to consider
the ungenerous attitude of the Seculars ^ sufficient reason for
permitting the friars to succeed to property, in exactly the
same manner as if they had remained in the world. ^ This
privilege was a perfectly general one, making no exception of
feu rights or other permanent sources of revenue, and during
the brief pontificate of Celestine V. it was supplemented by
another reactionary constitution which ordered every friar,
who had the right to do so, to make his will within three
months after he had entered the Order. In the natural
course of events these modifications were vigorously attacked
by the Zelanti during the reaction in favour of the strict
observance ; and the justice of their allegation — that the
friars had not only allowed, but also had caused themselves to
be instituted as heirs — was fully recognised by Clement V.,
who declared that " they could acquire nothing, either for
themselves in particular or for their Order in common," and
they were, therefore, incapable of accepting any succession,
or the value of any heritage if left to them in the form of a
legacy, or so large a part of it as might give the appearance
of fraud."* This endeavour to promote pure discipline was
attended with little success, and the indulgences permitting
practice at variance with the prohibition were homologated

^ e.g. Friar Hugo, supra., p. 184.

2 Infra, p. 456.

" Odtettfu divini noniiiiis, 12th February 1266. The same ]irivilcj,fe had
already been granted to the Claresses in reply to the petition of individual con-
vents, e.g. Innocent IV., Dcvotioms ves/rae, 21st April 1248.

* Exivi, cap. IX. The question of succession was not considered in the Exiif.

448 THEORY OF FRANCISCAN POVERTY [chap. xii.

in the constitution of Sixtus IV., which permitted the Con-
ventual friars to succeed to parents and relations as heirs ab
intestato} This privilege was confirmed in the Bull of Con-
cordance, to be expanded in 1540 so as to permit a friar
to be instituted the heir of a stranger ; ^ and Observatine friars,
who desired to avail themselves of this privilege, in spite of
the fact that they had been expressly excluded from its
provisions by Sixtus IV., joined the Conventual branch
of the Order. As a matter of discipline, the device was
declared inept, and their disability to accept a succession
reaffirmed.^ The institution of a friary, or the Warden on
its behalf, as heir or residuary legatee under the will of a
stranger was an exceptional case. In 1374, a Franciscan
Warden and a Dominican Prior were jointly instituted heirs,
failing certain substitutes ; and, when the succession eventually
opened to them, they were permitted to enter into possession
on account of the hardness of the times, the paucity of alms,
and the oppression of debt.^

Legacies were considered on the same footing as other
eleemosynary grants ; and, for that reason, they were
treated in a more liberal spirit of interpretation than other
proprietary rights. Acceptance was justified on the ground
that the fraternity might have shared in the generosity of the
testator during his lifetime, and that, while he had been at
liberty to vary or revoke the grant in its favour, the mortis
causa donation represented his final intention in regard to
the particular friary.'^ The substance of the bequest and the
manner of its bestowal alone determined acceptance or refusal.
In early history, gifts which resolved themselves into
permanent sources of revenue, or tended towards excess in
service ornaments and decoration of buildings, were considered
inconsistent with moderate use.^ A house or a field mieht be

1 Licet nos diedum, 7th August 1475. In regard to property acquired by a
friar, as heir or legatee, His Holiness declared that the Roman Church was his
heir, for behoof of the Friars Minor — "let it fill the place of sons, as do monasteries
having property in common." Sixtus IV., Dum fructus uteres^ 28th February 1471.

2 Paul III., Exhibita nobis, 27th October 1540.

^ Alexander VI., Cum intellexerimiis, 5th April 1502.
* Gregory XL, Siftcerae devotionis, 28th February 1374.
^ Regula Fratnan Minoru?n, 872 (Hilarius).
^ Narbonne Constitutions.

CHAP, xil] legacies 449

handed over to the executor for sale, and application of the
price to the needs of the friary ; whereas the same gift could
not be accepted if the house or the field were bequeathed
directly to the friars for the purposes of lease or cultiva-
tion with a view to sale of the produce.^ The executor,
therefore, represented the "interposed person," with a con-
tinuing mandate that he was not at liberty to ignore ; and
the syndic was appointed with the dual purpose of administer-
ing the gift and ensuring due fulfilment of the testator's
intentions." The presence of these intermediaries resulted in
a gradual extension of the modes in which the bequest might
be made, until Leo X. sanctioned the acceptance of annual
rents by the Conventuals, and explained, in regard to the
whole Order, that the adornment of divine service was con-
sistent with Franciscan poverty and simplicity, inasmuch as
the ornaments did not increase the bodily comfort of the
friars, who were merely custodiers on behalf of the Holy
See.^ Like his predecessors, Sixtus IV. recognised the
underlying principle of common ownership in the declaration
that all gifts and donations to the friars or their friaries, inter
vivos or mortis causa, absolute or conditional, were made to
the Roman Church with reference to the Franciscan Order,
although the legatee was not a member of the Order at the
date of the bequest."*

While the corporate conscience became thus blunted,
that of the individual remained keenly sensitive in its
obedience to the Rule. It was the actual life of the
friar that invested the vow of poverty with an aspect of
reality ; and he never was encouraged to modify its main
characteristics. From the day when he was received into
the fraternity in the provincial or friary Chapter, he ceased
to have any personal interest in the world's goods, and never
could thereafter say "that thing is mine."^ The cardinal con-

^ Exiii, cap. XIII. This distinction early fell into desuetude, and during the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries both the Conventuals and Observatines acquired
adjoining lands either for cultivation or extension of the friary buildings.

-' Chapter XIII.

^ Merentur vestrae, 3rd January 15 14.

* Diim fructus uberes. The last clause doubtless refers to novices.

'' A convincing proof of honest doubt is offered by the controversy which
29

450 THEORY OF FRANCISCAN POVERTY [chap. xii.

dition imposed upon the entrant was an absolute abdication
of property ; and anxious provision was made to ensure
freedom of choice to the novice when he took the tripartite
vow required of him. The Chapter was also directed in
unequivocal language to abstain from all interest in his
property, and to place no impediment in his way if he
desired to return to the world, or to enter another Order
at the close of his probation. Again, it was forbidden
to give the novice any assistance in devising a scheme of
disposal, beyond suggesting the name of some God-fearing
man with whom he might consult ; but as the friars could
receive alms like other poor, a share of his property might
be accepted, if it were of small value, and insufficient to
raise any suspicion as to the motives of acceptance or of
his admission into the fraternity. The cases of Friar Hugo
and John Fleming, the pauper of Haddington, indicate that
the Scottish Conventuals transformed this permission into a
recognised condition of admission into the Order ; but the
custom followed by the Observatines can be spoken of with
less certainty, as the only case appearing in our records is
that of James Baxter, who was the rentaller of the Arch-
bishop of Glasgow in the lands of Haghill before he took the
habit/ In this case, it is certain that the Chapter acquired no
proprietary interest in the lands from the entrant, and the
abandonment of his brother's succession in 1560 illustrates
the manner in which the Observatines complied with the veto
contained in the C^im intellexerwms of Alexander VI.^

After his noviciate and final choice of the Franciscan habit,
the friar shared equally in the slender or relatively abundant
resources of the convent ; but he could have no private hoard
outside its walls wherewith to supplement an insufficient diet
or to clothe himself in greater comfort. The penalties inflicted
upon t\\Q fj^ater proprietarms ^Qve severe — expulsion from the
Order, imprisonment, ^\ims\\xne,uX. probationis captcho, or burial

agitated the fraternity in relation to the ownership of a book written by a friar.
The final decision given by Clement VIII. provided that this purely personal
possession might be gifted by its author, if no conditions of the nature of sale or
exchange were attached to the gift.

^ Supra, p. 348.

- Supra, p. 448.

CHAP. XII.] INDIVIDUAL OWNERSHIP 451

in profane ground, even if he had devoted his pecuniary
interests or share in the family succession to furnishino- the
convent with candelabra, vestments, and other ornaments.^
Absolution from this sin of "proprietary detention of things"
could only be granted by a Provincial Vicar, or one holdino-
higher office ; and the delinquent was invariably deprived of
all his books and of his office, if he had been chosen as a con-
fessor or preacher." To carry money, retain it in his cell,
place books beyond the reach of his brother friars, or secure
the preservation of any kind of property in the hands of lay-
men," sufficed to inculpate the friar ; and if, as a citizen, he
became possessed of property in any form, the only means of
avoiding the sin of ownership was to acquaint his Warden of
the windfall. Thereafter, the slender interest that mieht
persist between the friar donee and his gift depended on
the decision of the Warden, who had authority to apply it
in the purchase of books, or to provide otherwise for the
furtherance of his studies, if he considered him a man of
ability.^ At the same time, so long as he remained a member
of the Order, none of the things placed at his disposal for the
purposes of study, work, clothing, or the celebration of the
divine offices, were ever considered to belong to him ; and, if
promoted to the rank of bishop, the quondam friar was bound
to return to the Province, Custody, or Friary, everything which
he had received from it. After the close of the thirteenth
century, a friar is, therefore, never to be met with as a
testator, until he was automatically absolved from the vow of
poverty on his promotion to high office in the Church. In
the episcopal palace or parish manse he could acquire property
as the fruits of his own industry, and receive authority from
the Pope to execute a will like other laymen, a privilege
readily granted to him, and frequently accompanied by an

'^ Justis et honesiis, 25th March 1427 ; Chapter General, Assisi, 1430; A. xU.,
sub anno, X. 153-155 ; Pervigilis more pas toris, § 9, 27th July 1430 ; J/. F., II. 102.

^ Narbonne Constittilions, cap. VII. ; Bonaventitrac Op., YWl. 457.

^ M.F., 11.90.

^ Redemptor noster. Schemes of division of legacies to friars required the
homologation of the Chapter to which they belonged, and were frequently sanc-
tioned by papal rescript, e.}^. Ttia nobis de^'ofio, 2nd December 1295, ''^"^
division of the books which had been given to Friar Raymond Gaufrcd by his
friends and relations.

452

THEORY OF FRANCISCAN POVERTY [chap. xn.

exhortation to act in a generous spirit towards his Church
in the disposal of his goods. Thus, in the case of
John Weld, an English friar, who had been appointed
a papal chaplain, faculty was granted to the Collector
in England to make a composition with the executors
under his will, to exact and give acquittance for the sum
agreed upon, and to sell his books and send the moneys to
the Camera.^ In these cases no objection was offered to the
nomination of a simple friar as executor, although it was an
appointment which he was strictly forbidden to accept," on
the ground that it involved active participation in business
affairs. They were, however, permitted to act as executors
under the wills of distinguished testators, and, occasionally, of
those of a father or other near relation.^ The Observatine
friars of St. Andrews were appointed executors of the will of
the Bishop of Orkney by Gavin Dunbar, then Bishop of
Aberdeen ;^ and Alexander Patterson, Warden of the Stirling
Friary, was appointed to the somewhat unique position of
" overseer of the executors " of a testator who had bequeathed
the surplus of his estate for pious purposes, to be applied in
accordance with the directions of his executors and the

overseer:

1 Cal. Pap. Reg. Letters, IV. 263.

- Exivi, cap. XII.

3 A. M., V. 233, VI. 526 ; B. F., VI. No. 1786.

•* Laing, Charters, No. 368.

^ MS. Covnnissariot Records of Dunblane, G. R. H., supra, p. 372.

" The Dead Poverello," by Zurbaran.

CHAPTER XIII
PROCURATORS AND SYNDICS

The institution of this office was a necessary corollary
to the theory of Franciscan poverty. It might even be
said to be the natural evolution of the tacit admission by
St. Francis, that it was impossible to dissociate the actual
administration of the Order from the ordinary business
affairs of life.

The fourth chapter of the Rule of 1223 admitted recourse
to "spiritual friends," in so far as was necessary for the
care of the sick and for the clothing of the friars. That is
to say, while the Superiors of the Order could not receive or
employ money for these purposes, they might avail them-
selves of the assistance of laymen who were in sympathy with
their work. This concession to practical exigencies was
unconsidered in the first Rule, or in the proposed Rule of
122 1, and is to be ascribed to the influence of the Cardinal
of Ostia, who reduced the lengthy and inspired compilation of
St. Francis to the proportions of the orderly constitutions
that were customarily issued by the papal chancery. In
course of time the idea assumed a more definite shape. The
office came to be regarded as self-imposed, and to be associ-
ated with certain individuals in certain localities, who provided
for the needs of the friars out of their personal fortune, or
harmonised the generous intentions of other benefactors with
the provisions of the Rule dealing with money and pro-
perty.^ In this aspect, they appeared as "interposed per-
sons " in the Quo elo-n<^ati and succeeding interpretations of
the Rule, thus tersely justified by St. Bonaventura : " The ricli
man can provide for their needs by his own hand, or by that

* Infra^ p. 470. Spiritual friends as hubis of the friars.

453

454 PROCURATORS AND SYNDICS [chap. xiii.

of his servant. If his servant cannot provide for the friars,
there is no reason why the master cannot avail himself of a
third hand, or even of a tenth hand. If, perchance, the rich
man has no suitable food or clothing for them, may he not
purchase the necessaries himself? Why, therefore, can he
not hand the money to another for the same purpose ? Quis
sanae mentis hoc dtibitat f " ^

The generosity of laymen towards the fraternity in the
form of pecuniary alms, raised doubts as to the suitable
manner of accepting the same ; if, indeed, acceptance were
permissible. The prohibitions in the Rule appeared absolute.
Subtlety of interpretation, influenced by the recent canon
ordering private ownership to be merged into common owner-
ship among the Orders in the Church," fomented discussion
within the Order ; and the question was finally submitted to
Gregory IX. In solution of the difficulty, His Holiness
explained that the friars might put forward someone to
expend the alms for their necessary purposes ; that, without
in any way transgressing the Rule, they might specify their
needs to that person ; but that they might not supervise
his management, because he was the agent of the benefactor
and derived no authority from them, although appointed in
accordance with their suggestion. On the contrary, if the
donor desired to revoke the gift, his substitute would cease
to expend it on their behalf, as the gift remained the
property of the donor until it was expended or consumed.^
If a gift happened to be so revoked, the friars were directed
to give thanks for the bestowal of it, but not to resent its
withdrawal. In a word, they were bound to preserve a
passive attitude in relation to the generosity of laymen, and
to refrain from the vindication of any civil law rights arising
out of the gift. Fifteen years later, a more liberal interpreta-
tion of the Rule transferred to the friar donees the right to
control the actings of the "interposed person." Thereafter,
those who followed a laxer observance acquiesced in the

^ Opei'a, VIII. 332.

^ Conciliujii Trevireiise, 1227, cap. XIII. ; Labre, Colleciio, XXI II. 35.
^ Quo elongati and Ordinem vestrtan, re " necessary " and " useful " purposes.
Restated in greater detail, E.xiit qui semtnat, cap. 6.

CHAP. XIII.] PROCURATORS AND SYNDICS 455

syllogism which established a definite relationship between
the Order and civil law rights, abandoned the indefinite com-
promise effected by resort to the "interposed person," and
came to regard the Procurator as the legitimate defender of
their interests in accordance with their discretion.^

The office was not indigenous to the Order of Minors,
It had already been attended with satisfactory results in the
case of the Claresses, on whose behalf the guild of merchants
and consuls of a town had been entrusted with the duty of
accepting the goods offered to them, collecting the rents, and
utilising them for the needs of the nuns.^ At this date, 1233,
the Claresses lived under the Rule which St. Francis had
drawn up for St. Clare, and, like the Friars Minor, could not
own any property ; but, under the less stringent declaration
of their Rule, iSth October 1263, they were permitted to
become owners of rents and possessions in common,^ and the
purpose in sanctioning the continued use of Procurators was,
that their affairs might be managed by efficient men of
business, subject to their approval and to an accounting with
the Visitor. In the case of the Friars Minor, however, the
continuance of the office was due to the persistent conflict
between theory and practice in the management of property.
Moreover, as the submissive spirit of St. Francis became a
shadowy reality, the fraternity was gradually permeated by a
desire to vindicate the few rights that it possessed ; and,
in face of ungenerous provocation by executors and the
churchmen, its members frequently yielded to that most
human of desires. They could not appear in the law courts
in support of any claim, however just, with the result that
the last wishes of testators were commonly ignored by the

^ Innocent IV., Qiianto siudiosus, 19th August 1247. Infra, p. 457, n. 3.

2 Gregory IX., Significante dilecto filio, 21st September 1233. The theory had
also been put into practice in the case of the English friars, as early as 1226, by
testators who assigned their lands to the communities of the towns for behoof of
the friars who were unwilling to appropriate anything to themselves. AT. F., II.
17, 18.

3 Urban IV., Beaia Clara, i8th October 1263, cap 21. In 1457 certam Observa-
tines refused to receive some annual rents on the ground that their acceptance
was contrary to the Rule ; and it was decided that these rents should be handed over
to the nuns of St. Clare, who could lawfully accept such things '' in jus proprietatis
ac iisuvi perpe/uuin." A. AT., XIII. 487.

456 PROCURATORS AND SYNDICS [chap. xiii.

executors, who pleaded in excuse of non-payment that the
friars were incapaces legatoruni^ or by the churchmen, who
frequently claimed the legacy for themselves on the ground
that it was a gift to the Church, and that the friars could
accept nothing as they were "dead to the world." ^ Thus,
in 1238, the good offices of an archbishop were solicited by
Gregory IX., to enable the friars to enter into possession
of what was known to belong to them in respect of pious
donations and last wishes ; ^ and heirs and executors were
frequently enjoined by papal rescript to carry out the testator's
intentions in this respect.* To anticipate, a more drastic
remedy was adopted by Gregory XI. in 1375. On the
narrative that, owing to the impediments raised by heirs in
the payment and delivery of legacies, the Custodes were often
forced to relinquish the grant or resort to tedious litigation,
he ordered all judges ordinary to give judgment in the suit
of a Gustos, or his Procurator, within two months from the
date on which it was brought to their knowledore, throuofh
public instruments or by competent witnesses, that such
legacies or grants had been left to a friary.^ Again, the
preamble of the Exidtantes, and relative constitutions authoris-
ing the appointment of Procurators, explicitly states that the
enforcement of payment of legacies was the principal purpose
for which the office was instituted \^ and lastly, Glement VII.
granted permission to Provincial Ministers or Wardens, along
with certain discreet friars of the convent to which the legacy
had been left, to compound with heirs and executors.'^

In addition to obtaining assistance towards securing pay-
ment of legacies, during the years which followed the death
of St. Francis, constant recourse to the papal chancery was also
necessary for sanction to everything of the nature of a business

'^ St. Bonaventura, when Minister General, explained that the friars of themselves
might denounce any such failure to the Ordinary, as " the injury of the deceased,"
but that they were not allowed to make any judicial demand for payment.

* Clement IV., Obtentu divini nominis, 12th February 1266.
^ Siciit nostris est.

^ B. F., II. 26, No. 34. Nicolas III., Exiif, cap. XI. §3, addressed a general
admonition to laymen and the prelates to act generously in the execution of wills.

* Gregory XL, Sedes Apostolica pia ; loth January 1375.
^ Exultantes of Martin IV., Boniface IX., and Martin V.
^ Niiper pro parte, 23rd November 1526.

CHAP. XIII.] PROCURATORS AND SYNDICS 457

transaction, as provided in the Ouo elon^ati. Exchanees
or sales, however trifling, could not proceed unless by the
sanction of the Cardinal Protector ; ^ and, with the rapid
expansion of the Order throughout Europe, this excessive
centralisation was quickly found to be a severe tax. It was
recognised that some form of delegation had become necessary.
The Franciscan movement had emerged from its stasfe of
adolescence, and demanded the privileges of lusty manhood
in the management of its affairs. To effect this purpose, and
to provide for the '' serenitas conscientiae'' of the friars, the
institution of Procurators was decided upon in 1240, when
Gregory IX. authorised the Provincial Minister and Custos
of Assisi to appoint a Procurator to act on behalf of that
friary, without, however, in any way defining the authority
under which he was to act.^ Five years later, Innocent IV.
adopted the privilege as a natural corollary to h.\s Ordinem
vestruDi, and authorised the Minister General and Provincial
Ministers to select for the offfce certain fit and God-fearing
men, who, "for the needs of each of the places, may freely
sue for, sell, commute, alienate, contract, expend or exchange,
in virtue of our authority, the things thus granted, or that
may be granted, and to apply them to the use, necessities or
commodities of the friars, according to your direction and as
you shall think fit, having regard to the place and time."^
The Procurator was thus identified with the particular Chapter
to which he was attached, being recognised as the guardian
of its rights in the law courts, and the general administrator
of its temporal affairs ; but, distinct from the interposed
person, his administrative powers were derived from the Holy
See, and his administration subordinated to the discretion of
the Ministers who had selected him. This radical change in
the official attitude of the P>anciscans towards mundane
affairs * not unnaturally provoked the most strenuous opposi-

^ Quo elongati. - Ciipicnles nobis, 131I1 December 1240.

^ Innocent IV., Qiiatito sttidiostis. This constitution is variously datcil by
Wadding and Sbaralca, August 1245 and 1247, with the addition by Wadding that
it was re-issued in Scptcmljcr 1247, although in ihc Ri\i;es/inii J\)n/ijiiii>n\\c places
it under the year 1247. A. AI., III. 141, 165.

"• Earlier instances of the use of the word Procurator in relation to the
affairs of the friars are to be found ; but, in such cases, it is ap|)lied in a liillercnl

458 PROCURATORS AND SYNDICS [chap. xiii.

tion on the part of those who favoured the strict observance,
while the coincidence between the formal institution of the
office and the extension of the Gregorian interpretation to
useful as well as necessary purposes ^ still further increased
their fears for the future of Franciscan discipline. Friar
William, Provincial of Nottingham, was, therefore, enabled to
induce the Chapter General at Metz or Genoa (1249 and
1254) to suspend the relaxations introduced by Innocent IV.
in his leading constitution, and "to destroy" the privilege
permitting them to receive money through Procurators.^ In
spite of this decision, which was reversed at some date prior
to 1260,^ the employment of Procurators under the style
of "apostolic syndics," nevertheless, became general, and
influenced a laxer observance of the Rule, through the
vindication of claims in the law courts, the placing of offertory
boxes in their churches, and the acceptance of the money so
received. All doubts as to their rights in the details of ad-
ministration were set at rest by Innocent IV. and Alexander IV.,
who issued general confirmations approving of the past and
future acts of those appointed by the Cardinal Protector
at Rome "on their behalf, for their affairs and with their
consent,"* and enjoined the citizens not only to assist them
in their office but also to prevent them from being unduly
molested in the discharge of their duties. Twenty years
later, Nicolas III. issued the Exiit, which was, in effect,
inconsistent with the privilege granted by Innocent IV.
This constitution^ restated in detail the provisions relating

sense. Eccleston speaks of Friar Salamon as the Procurator of his convent during
his noviciate, in the sense that he was specially deputed to beg and procure alms
{M. F., I. 10, n). In 1225, one, Henry, was given as Procurator to the friars by
the burghers of Erdfordia, to supervise and arrange their establishment in the
burgh {A. K, I. 13) ; while a more perplexing notice occurs in the Chronica
Glassberger, to the effect that, on 20th February 1244, at Nuremberg, Conrad, son
of the Emperor Frederick, and King of the Romans, in reply to the desire of the
friars, appointed a Procurator for them {Ibid. II. 66).

^ Quo eloiigati ; Ordt7ieiii 7'esiriiJii.

2 Eccleston, De advetitn Miiiorum ; M. F., I. 32. Cf. Archiv fiir Litteratur,
VI. 29-33.

^ Nar-bonne Constitutions, cap. III., provided for the rendering of proper
accounts by the Procurators. Bonavc)itu7-ae Op., VIII. 425.

* Innocent IV., Cidu a nobis, 3rd April 1254 ; Alexander IV., Cutn dilecfos filios,
29th September 1259.

^ Caps. 6, 7, 8. :

CHAP. XIII.] PROCURATORS AND SYNDICS 459

to the use and disposal of eleemosynary grants by means
of the "interposed person"; and it also provided that, as
regards the books and furniture of which the Order had the
use, the Minister General and the Provincial Ministers mig^ht
sanction their interchange within the limits of their juris-
diction. But, if the question of price were involved, the
conduct of the transaction was transferred to a Procurator
appointed on their behalf by the Holy See, or by the Cardinal
Protector in its name.^ The early Observatines " and the
Capuchins regarded this "limited resort" as the ideal com-
promise between the spirit of the Rule and the exigencies of
administration, and consequently declined to avail themselves
of the right to have permanent Procurators attached to their
friaries in accordance with the Exultantes of Martin IV.
and Martin V,, which replaced the Quanta stiidiosus of
Innocent IV.^ Love of poverty and the submissive attitude
of the founder were inconsistent with the militant spirit
prompted and developed by these constitutions. Yet, in
considerinfT the evolution of so vast an ororanisation, it is
well to remember the reflection of one Franciscan writer :
" The Roman Pontiffs have on that account permitted
different kinds of syndics, like different ways of observing
the Rule, which Marchantius calls suitable or fitting to the
circumstances, and which, therefore, vary in accordance with
the period and the condition of each of the Minorite congre-
gations, whether lax or strict ; just as the rigour of fasting
increases or diminishes accordino- to the season or the
country."'^ A mandate, in accordance with the twelfth
section of the Exiit, was issued by Matthew, Cardinal Pro-
tector of the Order, on 26th February 1280, to Bishop Ever-
hard of Miinster, authorising him to appoint " Procurators as

' Exilt., cap. 12. The Ouanto stiidiostis was not expressly revoked by the Exiit \
but it must be remembered that the latter was issued in the interests of discipline
and of a purer oliservance. The intention of chapter 12 seems to have been to
limit the use of Procurators to the cases provided for under that section, leaving
the eleemosynary grants to be dealt with under the Gregorian interpretation.

- htfra, p. 470. Subsequent Observatine practice.

" An exceedingly interesting summary of the views expressed by the diltcrenl
Franciscan writers on this "degree of relaxation " has been made by Friar lldarius
in his work, Regula Fratruiii Minortiin, 1870.

* Regula Fratnivt Minoniiii (llilarius), p. 630.

46o PROCURATORS AND SYNDICS [chap. xiii.

often and as many as you deem fit for receiving the
proceeds of the sale of books or other movable property
used by the friars."^ This instrument, it will at once
be observed, indicated a return to the stricter practice
authorised by the Gregorian constitutions. It was addressed
to the diocesan Bishop, and entrusted to him the appointment
and subsequent control over the Procurator ; but it omitted
all mention of nomination by the Provincial Minister or
friary Chapter. This unexpected interpretation of the
section at once aroused the partisan spirit of the Order,^ and
letters were issued by Cardinal Matthew to the German
Bishops, explaining that the nomination or removal of the
Procurators could only be effected with the co-operation of
the Provincial Ministers, and that the actings of the
Procurators were subordinated to their direction and consent.
The Minister General also appealed to the Pope, and there-
after communicated to the Provincials the explanation given
by His Holiness, that a Procurator had not the right to carry
out a sale without the consent of the Gustos, or, in his
absence, of the Warden and the majority of the friary
Chapter. ^"^

As already stated, in so far as it related to the use of
Procurators, the text of the Exiit promised a return to the
stricter observance in vogue prior to the year 1245 ;* so that
the remedy provided by Nicolas III. was at once practical,
and, with the goodwill of all parties, in harmony with their
desire for a perfect observance of the Rule, in the sense that
the Procurator was intended to be the deputy of the Bishop,
and not the secular agent of the friary Chapter. He was a

^ Instrument quoted in cxtenso, Schlager, Beiiriige, pp. 81-82.

^ In 1448 the Observatines received a similar instrument, under which the
power of appointment was placed in the hands of the Bishop, " to be exercised with
the consent of the friars dwelling in the convent for the time." A. M., XII. 505.

^ Schlager, Beitriigc, p. 83. The Bishops evinced little goodwill in the dis-
charge of this duty, and paid scant attention to the petitions of the Franciscans.
Letter of Cardinal Matthew, text in Regula Fratriim Minoriim (Hilarius), p. 163.

^ It also served to counteract any lax practice which might have resulted from
the Voluiitariae paupcrtati, 5th November 1274, which sanctioned alienation and
exchange of movable property with the license of the Minister General — "for
things more necessary to them" — instead of by the sanction of the Cardinal
Protector in accordance with the Quo eloiigati.

CHAP. XIII.] PROCURATORS AND SYNDICS 461

definite person In administration interposed between laymen
and the fraternity ; and, in relation to the scruples of the
friars, he could logically be regarded as the "interposed
person," whom every branch of the Order was prepared
to accept as a necessary intermediary. Jealousy of privilege,
however, defeated this intention, and section twelve did
little to assist the friars towards a more sincere conviction
that the ''expropriation'' which they professed was not
repellent to the ideal of their founder.^ On the contrary,
the manner in which it was interpreted by them gave rise
to the first authoritative and detailed definition of the
Procurator's rights and duties in the disposition of convent
accessories, and it was indeed far from disproving that idea
of ownership in common which harassed the conscience of
the intellectual Franciscan in those days.

Chaos quickly followed the promulgation of the Exiit,
The number of Franciscan petitions and appeals to the papal
chancery rapidly increased, reproducing the state of matters
which had necessitated the issue of the Quanto studiostis in
1245. Martin IV. thereupon offered a solution of the
problem from the utilitarian and practical point of view, by
the issue of the Exidtantcs in Domino^ in which crudity of
language dealt hardly with sensitive respect for the Rule.
Slightly extended and generalised by Nicolas IV. (1290) and
Martin V, (1419), this constitution remained the basis of all
subsequent legislation in this direction, as well as the central
point of one of the great controversies within the Order.^
Proceeding on the assumption that the whole property of
the Order belonged to the Holy See, and that it could not
be managed without delegation, Martin IV. authorised the
nomination of special persons — who were not members of
the Order* — to act on behalf of each friary, and declared these

^ Compare the relaxation introduced by Clement IV. in 12C6 in the matter of
intestate succession, and by Gregory X. in 1274.

^ 1 8th January 1283. .

^ Franciscan writers in dealing with this subject have estaljlished three degrees
of relaxation. A summary classification is : the syndic of Nicolas III. was nulla
relaxatio ; of Martin IV., nulla vet parva relaxation but, if he appeared in Court,
Diajusciila ; of Martin V., magna relaxatio, and became known ixs, pecuniiirius.

* Mr. A. G. Little gives one instance of an Oxford friar who acted as Procurator

462 PROCURATORS AND SYNDICS [chap. xiir.

persons, when so nominated, to be their actual and lawful
administrators, syndics and agents. The privilege was there-
after discussed by the Chapter General of 1286, and the
fraternity was warned against litigation, or any practice
arising out of this privilege that might impair its fair name.^
Despite this warning, which reflected the fears of those who
distrusted the innovation, the constitution was soon to play
an important part in the controversy between the Zelanti and
the Communitas. The former, in their desire to maintain a
rigid observance of the Rule, disapproved of the relaxations
which it introduced ; while the latter were not loath to enjoy
the autonomy which it conferred upon them. It virtually freed
them from direct supervision in their everyday affairs, with
the result that in some parts of Europe litigation became a
favourite occupation of the friars, until Ubertino issued his
Accusatio^ condemning this abuse. He deplored the fact that
"love of poverty" had receded from their midst, and that
"love of possession" had taken its place.^ As a Zelaior, it
was easy for him to draw a striking contrast between the
actions of the friars in 13 10 and the precepts of the Rule;
so that his picture of the secular and ecclesiastical courts,
crowded with friar litigants immodestly clamouring after the
manner of advocates against their adversaries, was doubtless
exaggerated.^ At the same time he was just, when he alleged
that, although the actions were maintained through Pro-
curators, it was the friars who were the real principals,
seeing that they prepared the briefs for their notaries and
advocates, collected money for their fees, and attended the
court in person. A series of disciplinary canons was the

for his convent. So far as can be ascertained, the only Scottish cases relate to the
Dominicans of Edinburgh : "Friar John Hew, Procurator of the Friars Preacher,
in name of Friar John Lethane, son and heir of William Lethane, protested that a
sasine granted to William Lethane, as son and heir of the said William Lethane,
was null and void." MS. Protocol Books (Edinburgh), John Foular, III. f. 123.

^ Chapter General, Milan : ArcJih) fiir Litteratur, VL 55 ; IIL 182.

2 Archiv fiir Liiterahir, 11. 391 ; IIL 54, 113.

^ " Amor paupertatis videtiir vere recessisse a fratribus : m nobis crevit amor
habendiP Ibid. IIL 70.

* The Superiors of the Order refuted these charges at great length. Admitting
that isolated cases had occurred, they pointed out that offenders were punished,
and that severe statutes had been passed by the Order (Narbonne) for the sup-
pression of these abuses. Ibid.

CHAP. XIII.] PROCURATORS AND SYNDICS 463

remedy provided for the abuses complained of in this
accusation ; ^ and, in his consideration of the prohibition
against the acceptance of money, and of the position of
the " interposed person " in relation to it," Clement V.
followed the form and spirit of the Exiit, concluding his
interpretation with a declaration to the effect that any control
exercised over the Procurator was a contravention of the
Rule,

Thus, although the Exivi did not expressly revoke the
right to appoint Procurators, it was textually as inconsistent
with the Ex2dtantes as the Exiit had been with the Qiianto
studiosus of 1245 ; and the analogy between these two pairs
of constitutions was strikingly completed by the fact that the
theories reiterated in the Exivi were entirely at variance with
the practice which followed upon it. It did not check litiga-
tion. Only eight years after it had been issued, John XXII.
stated ^ that he considered it derogatory to the dignity of the
Church to maintain incessant litigation, now in the secular,
and now in the ecclesiastical courts, as well as before petty
judges, for matters that were of trifling value. Furthermore,
the ordinance^ was founded upon a simulation, on account
of which the prelates and rectors of the Church were forced
to appear in opposition to their "head and mother," when
the friars sought to vindicate their rights. Therefore,
desirinof no longer to share in the administration of the
"fungible" property of the friars, and to provide for the
peace of the whole Church, the friary Procurators were
disowned by the Church and forbidden to act in its name in
the vindication or administration of the offerings made to the
Order. In this manner, John XXI I. swept away the compro-
mise effected by his predecessors in regard to pecuniary alms,

^ Exivi, cap. 9. ^ Ibid. cap. 8.

■^ Ibid. cap. 7, § 4 : " Qiiapropier, praccipere quod et qualiter peciinia expendaiiir,
coinputumqice exigere de expeitsa . . . hos actus et consimiles sibi fraires illiciios
esse sciattt." His veto against their having any interest in the fund at issue in a
lawsuit was less explicit, and might be held to refer only to their actual presence
in the law courts.

* Ad conditorem, 8th December 1322.

^ This does not refer to the Exultantes of Martin IV., but to the theory
developed by Nicolas III. in the Exiit, to the effect that a simple ususfacti co\i\d
be constituted in movable property, distinct from the right of ownership.

464 PROCURATORS AND SYNDICS [chap. xiii.

offerings and legacies given to the Order, and left the friars
in the position of uncontrolled owners, at liberty to act and
vindicate as they chose. He did not, however, refute the
theory which justified the use of Procurators, in so far as it
was consistent with legal principles, and therefore allowed
them to continue to act as agents of the friars, and of the
Holy See, in regard to the immovable property of the Order.
This class of property, in which books and church ornaments
were included as accessories, was expressly exempted
from the constitution ; and accordingly, in the Exhibita of
Clement VI., the friary Procurator appeared in the ceremony
of investiture in certain lands.^ In 1395, Boniface IX., in
reply to the petition of the Franciscans, re-issued the Exul-
tantes^ of Martin IV., but made no reference whatever to the
revocation by John XXII., or to the controversy, De patiper-
tate Christi, which led to it. Twenty-five years later, with
the object of compelling heirs to make payment of alms and
other grants left to the Order by will, Martin V. re-issued the
Exztltantes? Eight years later, in the Amabiles frztcttis he
expressly revoked the Ad conditorem without treating it
argumentatively ; ^ and in the Declaratio ^ he permitted the
Chapter General at Assisi, presided over by the Cardinal-
Legate Cervantes, to pass a series of constitutions known as
the Martiniaiiae,^ providing that each convent might have its
own Procurator to accept on its behalf all pecuniary alms
bequeathed by will or otherwise, and, in general, everything
that might be converted into money ; so that the same might
be applied to the repair of their buildings or to their other
needs.'^ At the same time, Martin V. made anxious provision

^ I2th August 1345.

2 15th February 1395 ; B. K, VII. No. 148. The rubric of the constitution is
" Uf possi7it cogere heredes ad sohitionem eleemosynarum in testamentis vel alias
relictarum." In the same year, he restored to the Province of Germany the right
to appoint Procurators, on the ground that they had been frequently deprived of
legacies and gifts. A. M., VII. 180.

^ i8th January 1419 ; infra, II. p. 433.

* A. M., X. 130; loth November, 1427.

^ Jbid. X. 162 ; Cocquelines, III. pt. ii. 466.

^ Confirmation in Pervigilis more pastoris, 27th July 1430.

'' A. M., X. 150 et seq. The text of the Martinianae is to be found in the
work of de Gubernatis, De Orbis Seraphicae, vol. III. This work is not iu the

CHAP. xiiT.] PROCURATORS AND SYNDICS 465

against the exaction or extortion of alms, and decreed that any
friar or Superior of the Order who offended in this respect
was ipso facto deprived of office/ The Exultmites, so re-
affirmed, replaced the earlier constitutions, and was frequently
re-issued in favour of the Conventuals by Martin's successors,
one of whom declared that he was moved to grant the petition
of the Minister General, because he knew, from the experience
that he had gained while discharging that office, that the
friars maintained themselves on the proceeds of uncertain
mendicancy and meagre alms, while their devotion to study
prevented them from attending to the maintenance of their
convent buildings, which constantly fell into a state of dis-
repair." To the Procurator, his wife and children, Clement
VII. extended "all and sundry indulgences, remissions of
sins, and privileges which the Minors of Observance have
and enjoy," and also exempted them from the jurisdiction
of civil judges, declaring void and of no avail all sentences
pronounced against them in violation of this inhibition.^

In theory, the Procurator was the delegate of the Holy See ;
but, as we have already seen, there were conflicting views and
constitutions until the re-issue of the Exidtantes by Martin V.,
when the Procurator was finally differentiated from the
interposed person or temporal father, and was regarded
as the substitute of the friars. In the initial constitution,*
he was to act as the Minister considered expedient, having
regard to the time and place ; and in the Exultantes it
was the Minister General, the Provincial Ministers, the
Custodes, or the friars themselves who were to give the
necessary assent to his actions. In course of time, as the
idea of property in common was more explicitly recognised in

possession of the Library of the British Museum, and only two out of the five
volumes now remain in the Biblioth^que Nationale in Paris,

^ Pervigilis inore past oris.

2 Sixtus IV., Ditm friictus tibercs, 28th February 1471 ; Eugenius W .^ Apos-
iolicae sedis, ist May 1432 ; Paul IV., Ex clcnienti, ist July 1555.

^ Duin considerainits, 17th April 1526. This constitution represents the
aggregate of the different privileges granted to the Procurators from time to time.
In the thirteenth century, when the office was regarded as a spiritual duty, they
were allowed to hear divine service in the friary church during times of general
interdict.

■* (2iianto stiidiosiis^ 1247.

466 PROCURATORS AND SYNDICS [chap. xiii.

the text of the papal constitutions, and as the property which
the Procurator was appointed to administer came to be
regarded as belonging to, or at least permanently identified
with, the individual friaries, the control of the Chapter became
more definite. Under the Apostolicae sedis of Eugenius IV.,^
he was bound to act in accordance with the advice and
assent of the friars ; in the constitution of Nicolas V., the
power of sale was to be exercised with the consent of the
friars dwelling in the convent for the time ; and Sixtus IV. and
Julius 11.^ provided similarly, but reverted to the general
control expressed in the Exultantes. In brief, the Procurator
was never allowed to act in accordance with his own judg-
ment, nor on behalf of any individual friar — a striking example
of the artificial conditions under which the Franciscans were
compelled to live with regard to property. In deference to
their Rule and to their conscientious scruples, the Papacy
did not extend to them the right to act in their own affairs ;
but, when the affairs of others were in question, they were
entrusted with the very duties which the Procurators
discharged on their behalf. Consistently recognised as
practical men, the Franciscans were entrusted with the duties
of carrying through sales of property belonging to other
Orders, the mandates generally providing that the sale
should only proceed if the friars so nominated considered it
was for the profit and benefit of the house in question.^ In
other cases, they were directed to examine and advise as to
proposed sales ; and, as inquisitors in cases of heresy, there
are innumerable instances in which they were deputed to
sell the goods of the heretic, and to retain the price as
depositaries of the Roman Church.*

The general duties and powers of the Franciscan Pro-
curator were to receive, in name of the Curia for the
benefit of the friars, the things themselves or their equivalent
values, to sue for, alienate, exact, transact and contract there-

^ Also definitions by Bonagrazia, Minister General, 1281, and Cardinal Matthew
{supra, p. 459), which were not expressed in a formal constitution, and were the
interpretations adopted by the friars in practice.

^ Expofii nobis, ist October 1509.

^ Ex parte, 5th May 1291.

* B. F., II. 408. Laing, Charters, No. 358.

CHAP. xTii.] PROCURATORS AND SYNDICS 467

anent ; to promise, remit, refute, act and defend, and to take the
oath of calumny and verity, when necessary, with and against
all such as might be in possession or occupation of movable
or immovable property. It was also his duty to defend,
within or without judgment, all the immunities, liberties,
rights, privileges and indulgences of his constituents ; ^ while
Nicolas IV.- added the right to appeal and to prosecute
appeals, and Martin V. extended his duties in relation
to the acceptance of eleemosynary grants. He is frequently
met with as intermediary in sales of ground, by or in
favour of the friars. In cases of purchase, he appeared
in the dual capacity of agent, acting on behalf of the friars
in what pertained to their occupation and acceptance of
the place, and as the specially constituted purchaser on
behalf of the Pope, subsequently delivering over the price,
and receiving the symbols of corporeal possession. Particular
instances of his actings are also to be found in relation
to the sale of books, making provision for the repair of the
friary buildings, ingathering of rents,^ furnishing reports
prior to a sale, and compounding with heirs, which is probably
the best example of their lack of initiative power. A trans-
action of this nature occurred in 131 1, when the controversy
as to a stricter interpretation of the Rule was at its height.
The decision was taken by the Custos and Wardens ; while
its execution was handed over to the Procurator who received
authority from the Pope, in reply to the petition of the lay
cessionary, to assign the rents and to receive in return the
sum agreed upon."*

The length of time during which a Procurator might hold
office depended entirely on the will of those who had
appointed him.^ His appointment might be revoked as
being prejudicial to their interests, on account of his own ill-

^ Exultantes^ Martin IV.

2 Religionis favor, 22nd November 1290.

2 The Observatines frequently renounced all interest in the rents which had
been "identified" with a convent before it was handed over to them, ami refused
to admit that administration of them by secular agents justified the transgression
of the Rule ; A. M., XI. 522, XII. 496, XIII. 487.

* B. F., V. 180.

s Quanto stiidiosus ; Exultantes ; Paul IV., Ex clevieuti.

468 PROCURATORS AND SYNDICS [chap. xiti.

health, or for no stated reason — a necessary provision against
the all too frequent cases of malversation. In 1260, it was
provided that he should give up an account of his intro-
missions every fifteen days to certain discreet friars chosen by
their brethren for that purpose ; ^ and, in cases of a special
appointment by the Pope, it was invariably stated that
an account of intromissions should be given up.^ At the
beginning of the sixteenth century, laxity in administration
had become so prevalent that Julius II. was compelled to
provide a remedy, explaining in the preamble of his constitu-
tion that the Procurators had come to be considered as the
actual owners of the properties which they had been elected
to administer, they possessed them as their own proprietary
goods, and disposed of them at their own pleasure and on
their own needs. Moreover, if they happened to provide
for those of the friars, they did so according to their own
discretion, and failed to give up satisfactory accounts.^ His
Holiness accordingly provided for the rendering of yearly
accounts, and extended the power of dismissal to the effect
that a simple friar might remove a Procurator from his
office, although appointed by a Superior, provided that the
Chapter and Notary of the friary were in agreement with him.
The duration of the appointment was limited to three years.*
Distinct from the Procurator pcc7miarms, the control
which might be exercised over the intromissions and actings
of the "interposed person" was moral rather than legal.
The friary Chapter was never permitted by the Canon Law
to demand an account;^ and the concession of Nicolas HI.,
allowing them to exhort the "person" to discharge his duties
faithfully, was the utmost limit of moral suasion. Various
methods, which in theory did not amount to technical
violations of the Rule, were devised to correct malversation
of the slender resources of the friary. There was a " domestic
and friendly " investigation of the quantity and destination of
the alms received. The benefactor might also be informed

^ Narbonnc Consiitiitiotis, cap. III. ; Bonavciititrae Op., VIII. 452.

^ e.g. Eugenius IV., Exioit devoiionis, 13th January 1444.

^ Exponi nobis, ist October 1509.

* Ibid. ^ Quo elongati ; Exiit, cap. VI. § 2.

CHAP. XIII.] PROCURATORS AND SYNDICS 469

of any breach of trust on the part of his substitute. If he
were unknown, the facts might be brought to the notice of
the Bishop or of the civil magistrate ; and, to remove any
appearance of appeal to a constituted authority, one Francis-
can writer advised that this should be accomplished through
the medium of a " prudent man," who, as Protector of the
friars, should lay the case before the Bishop or magistrate.
They were, however, bound to protest against any judicial
claim being made on their behalf; and, in every case, it
devolved upon the Warden of the friary to direct the relations
of the Chapter with the intermediary and to explain his
duties to him, seeing that laymen did not possess an intimate
knowledge of the Rule.^

The rise of the Observatines revived the same doubts
and misgivings that had weighed upon the devout Con-
ventual in the thirteenth century. The validity of the
appointment of Procurators was again contested, and doubts
were put forward whether the legacies really devolved to
them, to be administered in the name of the Church on
behalf of the friars. Pope Sixtus IV. declared that there
could be no doubt upon this point ; but the early
Observatines did not acquiesce in his views. To remove
the doubts of the Conventuals in relation to the "interposed
person," put forward to provide for their necessary and tiseftd
purposes, Gregory IX., Innocent IV. and Nicolas III. issued
categorical declarations that the friars did not transgress their
Rule in having recourse to such persons, especially if they had
been negligent in providing for their own needs.'^ Two
centuries after Procurators had replaced the "interposed
person," the same questions were debated, and the same
reproaches were levelled against the Order by churchmen and
laymen alike. Clement VII., therefore, declared in 1530
that the friars did not transgress their Rule in having recourse
to Procurators, because, in so doing, they appealed to spiritual
friends : and, as a last resort, he added the less convincing
argument of a threatened excommunication against all who
presumed to defame or calumniate the friars on account of this

^ Alberlus ^. Bulsano, E.xpositio Regtilae Fratrum Miiioniiii, jjp. 226-31.
^ Quo elongati ; Ordinetn -uestrujn ; Exiit.

4^0 iPROCDtlATOiElS AND SYNDICS [chap. xiii.

custom/ This assimilation of Procurators to spiritual friends
was, however, no more than a specious repetition of the phrase.
A spiritual friend, unlike the Procurator, never acted ex officio ;
and, in the sixteenth century, the laymen who actually corre-
sponded to the spiritual friends of the thirteenth century were
the " Hospes " and the " Pater spiritualis." Laymen or church-
men with whom the friars lodged, and who provided for their
ofeneral needs duringf their wandering's, became known as
" hosts of the friars," from the recognised custom in the
brotherhood of lodging in a particular house in any town
where they happened to be ; ^ and the spiritual or temporal
fathers were laymen who resided in the vicinity of the friary,
and evinced an active interest in its affairs by the bestowal of
alms in a suitable form, or by providing for building improve-
ments, repairs and friary plenishings. Ladies who took a
similar interest were known as " Matres Spirituales," or as
" Marthas " when they actually worked for the friars with their
own hands, weaving and fashioning habits, or otherwise.^
The Observatines reverted to the practice of the Conventuals
in the use of Procurators, and their privilege of deputing
persons, who were not members of the Order, to exact holy
legacies, transact other business, and defend their privileges,
was re-confirmed shortly before the Scottish Reformation,^
although it remained a dead letter so far as the Scottish
Observatines were concerned.

There were three grades of Procurators in the Order ; the
ordinary or special Procurator attached to each of the friaries,
the Provincial Procurator, and the Procurator General.

^ Vacantibus, 19th September 1530.

2 e.g. Master William Ogilvy, Chancellor of Brechin, and Sir John Leis,
" chaplain and one of our brotherhood," successively entertained the Aberdeen
friars when they halted at Brechin {stipra, p. 337). It was provided in the
Chapter General at Padua (1276) that, during the Octave of St. Francis, a private
mass should be said by every priest, fifty psalms by the clerics, and one hundred
Pater Nosters by the lay members, for the hosts who entertained the friars on their
journeys. A. F., II. 89.

^ Ob. Chron. An interesting instance is given by Father Schlager, Beifrdge,
p. 84. A house was handed over to the Mendicant friars in Essen, in which definite
rooms were assigned to the diffei'ent Orders. Rooms were provided near the
house for two " Marthas " who were to care for all equally.

* Paul IV., Ex dementi, ist July 1555.

CHAPTER XIV
MANUAL LABOUR

The injunction regarding manual labour is a characteristic
but imperfectly understood feature of the Franciscan Rule.

** Let those friars, to whom the Lord has given the grace
of working, labour faithfully and devoutly in such wise that,
while they abolish idleness, the enemy of the soul, they do
not extinguish the spirit of holy prayer and devotion, to
which all temporal matters should be subservient. Let them
receive the necessaries of life, but neither coin nor money, as
the reward of their labour, and that humbly as becomes the
servants of God and the followers of most holy poverty." ^

In the infancy of the Franciscan movement, the imperfec-
tions of the monastic system were amply recognised by those
concerned in the government of the Church, and consequently
St. Francis was a strenuous advocate of the active as opposed
to the contemplative life varied only by the performance of
the offices of the Church. A safeguard for the maintenance

of the ideal among a body of men suddenly removed from
their ordinary occupations had to be found. Mendicancy was
a natural corollary to the profession of poverty, and so the
native genius of its formulator, visionary though he was, chose
manual labour as the most certain antidote to apathy. He
elevated work to the rank of a Christian duty, and never
relinquished the desire to impress his own keen, active,
spiritual temperament upon those who elected to enter the
fraternity. Looking to the then accepted ideas of a religious
Order, this precept was scarcely less revolutionary than that
which enjoined a life of poverty, and was succinctly expressed
in his Testament : "I was wont to labour with my hands,
and I wish still to labour ; and I earnestly desire that every

^ Solet amtucre, cap. V.

471

472 MANUAL LABOUR [chap. xiv.

friar may work at some honest task. And, as for those
who know not how, let them learn to work, not from a
desire to receive the price of their labour, but to shew a good
example and to eschew idleness."^ The meaning of the fifth
section of the Rule, and of this clause in the Testament, now
forms one of the minor Franciscan controversies, just as it
did in the thirteenth century. Did St. Francis intend to
create a labouring or a mendicant Order.'* Or, were the
Franciscans at liberty to work or to beg as it pleased the
individual."* It seems clear that both of these precepts were
subordinate to their first duty, which was the service of religion
in the broadest sense of the word, whether as priest, preacher,
missionary or friend of the sick poor ; but the distinguished
biographer of St. Francis inclines strongly to the view,
that St. Francis intended to create a labourino- Order.
"The Portiuncula," he writes, "was a workshop where
each brother practised the trade which had been his before
entering the Order ; but, what is still more strange to our
ideas, the friars often went out as servants " ; and he thus inter-
prets the section : " The intentions of St. Francis have been
more misapprehended on this point than on any other, but it
may be said that nowhere is he more clear than when he
ordered his friars to gain their livelihood by the work of their
hands. He never dreamed of creating a 7nendicant Order, he
created a labouring Order. It is true, we shall often see him
begging and urging his disciples to do as much, but these
incidents ought not to mislead us ; they are meant to teach
that, when a friar arrived in any locality and there spent his
strength for long days in dispensing spiritual bread to
famished souls, he ought not to blush to receive material
bread in exchange. To work was the rule, to beg the
exception ; but this exception was in no wise dishonourable.
Did not Jesus, the Virgin, the disciples, live on bread bestowed.'*
Was it not rendering a great service to teach charity to those
to whom they turned for assistance ? " ^ On the other hand, it
seems scarcely logical to interpret the precept concerning
manual labour in such a manner as to override the other

^ Testament, Seraphicae Legislationis^ infra, II. p. 391.
2 La Vie de Si. Francois, p. 138.

CHAP. XIV.] MANUAL LABOUR 473

sections of the Rule. In the text, mendicancy, spontaneous
charity and work, rdink pari passu as a means of subsistence ;
and the Hmits of casual labour as a means of supporting a
whole race of friars must have been easily perceived. The
case was far different with members of the Third Order, who
might indeed be said to belong to a purely labouring Order ;
and it must be admitted that the intangible impression con-
veyed by the Rule of the Friars Minor, and the life of their
leader, conflicts with the theory that they were meant to be a
labouring Order.

Whatever may have been the intentions of St. Francis,
the friars uniformly interpreted the injunction as a direction
to avoid sloth, without in any way considering themselves
bound to manual labour. A gradual change in the composi-
tion of the Order followed his death, so that, with the rapid
increase of the clerical element and the inevitable recocrnition
of study as the primary duty of the preacher and confessor,
there were many forms of work which complied with the fifth
section of the Rule. The student, the writer, the attendant
on the sick, and the friar-procurator who begged alms, were
workers in the same sense as the friar who pursued a trade.
St. Bonaventura thus interpreted the Rule in the Narbonne
codification, adding that St. Francis never earned twelve
pence by the work of his hands — "Every friar is to be
compelled by his Superior to occupy himself in writing,
study, or other suitable form of work " ; and the views of this
great administrator must carry weight in the decision of this
question. He categorically asserted that manual labour was
not obligatory ; ^ and it must not be forgotten that VvvcW
Bertrand of Bayonne, with the approval of the Holy See,
vigorously refuted the contention of the secular theologians
that the friars were bound to manual labour."

In this country, the rare glimpses that we catch of the
friar in the role of labourer are insufficient data on which
to base any theory ; but, in outline, it is possible to form

^ Opera, VIII. 320, 334, 455. Cf. ExiU, cap. XV'I.; 7/1/rii, II. p. 415.

^ Supra, p. 41 1. This definition of manual labour was accepted by Nicolas III.
in the Exiit, and remained the authoritative interpretation of c ha])tcr five of tlie
Rule until the Reformation.

474 MANUAL LABOUR [chap. xiv.

some idea of the extent to which the community contributed
to its own support by the manual labour of its members.
The friar was essentially his own servant, and he was bound
to share in the domestic drudgery of his home, in an age
when material comforts were represented by the barest
necessities of life, and too often fell short of the standard of
decency accepted in our day. The friars of Aberdeen had,
at one time, their "Martha"; and, on occasion, the King
defrayed the cost of washing the clothes and surplices of his
favourites, the Observatines of Stirling. In other cases, the
domestic arrangements were entrusted to the friars in rota-
tion ; and the Summons of Spuilzie purchased by the Black
Friars of Perth doubtless offers a typical description of the
manner in which the brethren left their morning stew
simmering in the great kettle while they performed an early
mass. The vegetables for this and other dishes were naturally
furnished by the friary " kaill yard," which they cultivated in
accprdance with the injunction of St. Francis to sow vege-
tables and other useful plants.^ This plot is the most
consistent adjunct of the friary to be met with in our native
records. In Lanark, an acre in the burgh roods was
specially acquired for the cultivation of these necessaries, and
the Stirling friars received forty-four shillings by the Regent's
command in 1546, "for thair kaill distroyit and down tred by
mennis feete."^ The orchard is less frequently noticed, but it
was a distinctive feature of the friary glebe at Dumfries, and
from that of Jedburgh the friars gratified the request of their
young king by offering him a plate of cherries.^ The garden
also claimed the attention of such as appreciated their
founder's poetic injunction, to reserve one corner of good
ground "for our sisters the flowers of the field."* In
Dumfries, the friary garden gladdened the eye of the traveller
as he passed up the Vennel, after handing the vigilant friar his
toll for the passage of the bridge ; and at Aberdeen the general
ofarden on the north side was distinct from that of the

^ La Vie de St. Francois, p. i8o.

- Treasurer'' s Accounts, 12th June 1546. ^ Ibid. 21st July 1526.

* " Nature was to him instinct with life and with the joy of an ever-present
divinity. His poet mind saw no division between animate and inanimate in
nature." Homes of the First Franciscans in Umbria, B. D. de Selincourt.

CHAP. XIV. ] MANUAL LABOUR 475

Infirmary. A portion of this ground would also be devoted to
the cultivation of herbs to fill the medicine chest of Warden
Crannok and of the indefinite number of friars, who are
referred to by Father Hay as practising the healing art by
the laying on of hands.

"O, meikle is the powerful grace that lies
In herbs, plants, stones, and their true qualities,"^

wrote the great dramatist in his description of Friar Laurence
issuing from his cell in the early morning to fill his basket
with simples.

If the produce of the garden were devoted only to these

purposes, practice was not wholly at variance with the theories

of the Golden Age. But it is to be feared that abuses owed

their orio^in to the administration of Havmo of Faversham,'-^

who was guilty of yet another Franciscan heresy, in his

desire that the friars should have ample areas to cultivate so

that they might have the fruits of the earth at home rather

than be obliged to beg from others.^ It was contrary to the

spirit of the Rule to write a manuscript or to cultivate

produce for sale, and thus we find the Chapters General of

1304 and 1316^ ordering the destruction or sale of vines,

which supplied the friary with wine and augmented its

revenues from the sale of the surplus. Between these two

Chapters, Clement V. defined the permissible use of garden

ground, allowing it as reasonable that they should have

gardens for meditation and repose and for supplying their

own needs. But cultivation with a view to sale of the

produce was an illicit use, and land beqeathed as a legacy for

this purpose could on no account be accepted, because it

was equivalent to a gift of permanent endowments.^ The

fourteenth century, however, witnessed the final subordination

of this idealism to the practical exigencies of life ; and neither

the Conventuals nor the Observatines obeyed the letter of the

Rule in regfard to the cultivation of their olebcs. As we have

already seen, each of the Conventual friaries in Scotland

1 Romeo ajid Juliet, Act II. Sc. 3. - Provincial of England, 1238-39.

3 M. F., I. 34-35. * Assisi and Naples, A. ^/., VI. 39, 245.

* Exivi, cap. XIII.

476 MANUAL LABOUR [chap. xiv.

received gifts of arable or grazing land, and Edinburgh may
not have been the only Observatine friary which derived a
profit from agricultural pursuits. A typical instance of the
friar in the role of small farmer is preserved in the extant
records of the Dominican Priory at Perth. ^ These friars
cultivated their lands and crofts, owned their privilege of
mills, and sold their bear, beans, oats, wheat and the hides of
their flocks, like other producers ; and, out of the sales of
grain, they set aside a small part for a purpose designed as
"the charity."^ Considering the analogy between the two
Orders in this country, it is only natural to suppose that the
Franciscans farmed their less extensive lands for profit,
althouo-h we have but one recorded instance of sale of
produce by the Observatines.^ In Haddington and Dundee
the crops were in full cultivation at the Reformation. Con-
cerning Roxburgh and Lanark we have no definite informa-
tion, and the friars of Kirkcudbright and Dumfries had
abandoned cultivation by the year 1550, receiving a fixed
rent from their tenants in place of the crop that was
frequently harvested by the common enemy. Where
grazing ground was attached to the friary — Dundee and
Kirkcudbrioht — a similar course was followed, and it was in
ignorance of this practice that Wharton wrote of the friars in
Dumfries: "they make suit for help, not having wherewith
to live except the demesne of their house, which will find but
for three and there are seven of them."^ In the salmon
netted from the Nith, the Teviot and the Dee, during times of
peace, those friars and their brethren at Roxburgh and Kirk-
cudbright also procured a welcome addition to their fare, as
well as a small addition to their exchequer from the sale of
the surplus catch. At Roxburgh, the Grey Friar was
ferryman, angler and flockmaster, and many gifts flowed
into the coffers of the friary at Inverkeithing on account
of its proximity to the landing-stage of St. Margaret's

1 Dr. Robert Milne, Accounts of Prior David Cameron, and Appendix No. VII.

2 e.g. sale of wheat, 7 bolls, 3 firlots, 2J pecks, for ^10. Two and a half pecks
were allowed for the charity.

" Exch. Rolls, XV. 385. Six barrels of tallow sold to the King by the
Observatines of Edinburgh for £6, lis.
* Supra, p. 85.

CHAP. xTv.] MANUAL LABOUR 477

ferry, then a fruitful source of income to the Abbots of
Dunfermline.

When we turn to the skilled crafts, record evidence is less
abundant, but still sufficient to show that the friars were
workmen as well as evangelists, and that the lay brothers
formed a not inconsiderable part of the friary Chapter. There
was the soldier-friar who met his death when the Dundee
Friary was burned in 1335, and the last Warden was skilled
in the management of clocks. John the Carpenter earned
the gratitude of his sovereign for his services as a military
engineer during the Edwardian wars,^ and within the few-
pages of the Aberdeen Obituary alone there are three friar
carpenters, one glassworker, an itinerant scribe, and the unique
example of the old custom illustrates that some of the friars
continued to hire themselves out as servants. Among these,
Friar John Thomson, by trade a carpenter and mason,
claims special notice for his refusal to accept even food and
drink in return for his services: "but within the community
his food for the greater part was the leavings of the other
friars, and in the common repast no one was more abstemious
than he. In every good work he was specially vigilant, and
slept but little,"^ Lastly, in the role of artists we have no
certain knowledge of the Scottish Franciscans. The painter
of Robert II. was a Mendicant Friar, Thomas Lorimer by
name, the earliest "King's limner" in Scottish record.
Under the designation di f rater pidor, he received several
payments from the Exchequer, and journeyed to Flanders
in 1382 to make sundry purchases for the king.^

^ Supra, pp. 35-36. Another remarkable example of a friar developing military
engineering skill of a high order is that of Friar Andrew Lesuris or Lisouris, a
Dominican lay brother of Cupar, Fife. He was the King's carpenter for some
time after the year 1453, and numerous payments to him as carpe/itario reiki's
appear in the Exchequer Rolls. He took a large part in the making and transport
of military engines. In 1455-56 he received payments for transporting the " great
bombard" (supposed to be " Mons iMeg" in Edinburgh Castle) from Edinburgh
to the siege of Thrieve Castle, and for bringing it back to Linlithgow. Further
payments were made to him for supplying the stone bullets, etc., for this bombard,
and he was also engas,'cd in rcjiairing the Royal Chapels at Stirling, Falkland, etc.
" Mons " appears first under this name in 1489, when on its way to the siege of
Dumbarton or of Duchal and Crookston. E.xch. Rolls, V. 534, 535 ; VI. 200, 295,
etc. ; VII. 294, etc. Accou/i/s of L. //. Trcas., I. ccxxii.

2 Supra, p. 331. ^ Exchequer Rolls, 1377, 1379. 'S^^.

CHAPTER XV

CONVENTS AND THEIR USES

In addition to the vow of poverty, St. Francis demanded
yet another sacrifice of his followers — that they should cease
to be influenced by locality and the ties of kinship. " Let
the friars appropriate nothing to themselves, neither house
nor place nor anything ; but as pilgrims and strangers serve
the Lord in poverty and humility."^ This cognate precept
of the Rule completed the distinction between the Franciscans
and the Churchmen, and constituted a prudent safeguard to
the profession of poverty, so long as the individual obeyed
the injunction against fixity of residence. Physical comfort
found no place in this ascetic creed. A simple cabin, mud
hut, or other slight form of shelter, with a small chapel or
oratory for the purposes of prayer, was the ideal Franciscan
settlement. Even in these days, however, the desire for a
permanent habitation was not altogether effaced by the ideal.
It was one of the Saint's early griefs ; and the testamentary
prohibition against recourse to the Holy See, either by the
friars themselves or through an intermediary, for permission
to accept a church or place, clearly indicates that the arguments
put forward by the Cardinal of Ostia on behalf of the friars of
Bologna had not carried complete conviction to the mind of their
leader.2 Clearly he dreaded the influence which ecclesiastical
tradition subsequently exercised upon the development of the
Order ; and the sincere Spiritual suffered scarcely less as he
witnessed each successive relaxation of the Rule. Among
many others, the revivalist Ubertino strove to obliterate
" maenificence " from their buildings. It was not, he main-

^ Solet anmtere, cap. VI.

- La Vie de St. Frani^ois, pp. 273-74 ; Spec. Per/., cap. IV.

478

The Great Convent at Assisi — il Sagro Conve7ito — with
its Upper and Lower Churches, in the Crypt of which
St. Francis is buried.

CHAP. XV.] CONVENTS AND THEIR USES 479

tained their founder's desire to attract vast crowds to the friary,
oratory or church. Their " places " were to be situated outside
the walls of the towns ; so that the friars might come to the
parish church, and there preach to the people with the good-
will and consent of the Rector. The friary was to be solitary,
removed from the commotion of everyday life, and suited
to silent meditation.^ It was at once the source and the
nursery of spiritual enthusiasm. Many causes, however,
militated against the continuance of this primitive simplicity.
Beyond the walls of the town, the friary was often exposed
to unnecessary danger, and papal license to remove within
the town was frequently granted on account of the dangers
of war.^ The parish clergy, also, were often unwilling to
open their churches to the friar preacher. Then, the intro-
duction of learning, and the appointment of professors of
theology, necessitated the use of permanent buildings suitable
for study ; while the erection of the magnificent church and
convent at Assisi, and of many similar buildings in Italy
and other parts of Europe, were concrete manifestations of
the desire of the majority of the friars to assimilate their
surroundings to those of the churchmen, if not even to model
them upon that phase of Italian art with which their movement
coincided. The combined effect of these influences found
expression in 1250, when Innocent IV. replied, to the petition
of the Order, that "it is meet to recognise your habitacula
amono- the other cono-resfations of the faithful, and that all
your churches where convents exist be called conventual."^
One result of this innovation was to encourage fixity of resid-
ence and the multiplication of definite spheres of action and
influence. Entrants not unnaturally preferred to reside in a
friary situated in the district associated with their home
life ; and consequently Johannes Mino, Minister General

'^ Archh) fiir Littc7-atin\ III. 168; cf. the early Franciscan foundations in
England, M. /-"., I. xvii.; also Chronica Fratris Jordani^ A. /''., I. 10. The Bishop
and Canons of Wormatia gave the choir of one of their churches to the friars for
preaching.

^ e.g. Exhibit a nobis., 21st May 1346.

^ Citin iamqiiam veri, 5th April 1250. Under the Observatine statutes of 145 1,
houses capable of accommodating twelve friars were to be called ronvenls, and
their superiors Wardens ; other friaries were merely to have Vicars. M. /'., 1 1. 106.

48o CONVENTS AND THEIR USES [chap. xv.

1 296-1302, endeavoured to pass a statute to the effect that
not more than one-third of the available accommodation in
any friary should be occupied by friars of the locality — nativi
de terris} The measure was disapproved of by the Chapter
General, and the agitation for stricter discipline in this respect
formed yet another count in Friar Ubertino's indictment —
"they appropriated places, and, regarding them as their
monastery, were unwilling to. dwell elsewhere ; permanency,
therefore, became responsible for the inevitable provision for
maintenance and the resulting deviations from the Rule,"^
Clement V. confined himself to a declaration that the Order
must have humble and modest buildings, such as do not belie
the great poverty which it professed,^ without insisting upon
any reform in the matter of frequent transference to other
friaries, which was provided for according to the discretion
of the Superiors.

While the Spirituals thus deplored the decline of the
migratory habit on the part of the individual friar, the
central authorities of the Order and of the Church were
indirectly exercising their influence in another direction —
against the indiscriminate acceptance and abandonment of
"places." The Chapter General of 1286 checked the uncon-
trolled freedom, which had previously existed,* by a provision
that the consent of the Minister General was essential to the
acceptance of a new friary, and that no rebuilding might
be undertaken without previous reference to the Provincial
Chapter.^ Papal license to the acceptance of friaries had
occasionally been granted;^ but Boniface VIII., under the
Cum ex eo, expressly forbade the acceptance or disposal of
any "place," by way of sale or exchange, unless by special

^ Archiv fiir Litteraiiir, III. 122. ^ y^/^ pp_ 5^^ jq5^ ju^

^ Exivi, cap. XV.

* The Si Ordifiis, ist Feb. 1230, does not appear to warrant Sbaralea's conten-
tion that the consent of the Provincial Minister was required. This Bull was ad-
dressed to the Churchmen : " Qiiapropter Universitateni vestram vi07iemus . . .
quatetius si aliqiiis fideliuvi vel iidem ad opus ipsortim cojistruere voluerint
oratoria in vestris parocJiiis . . . favore77i eis super hoc beiievoluni prebeatis^ libere
permittentes, qiiibiis pcrinissmn est a Provinciali Ministro^ viros idoneos in
vesttis parocJiiis propoiie7'e vcrbu77i Dei.^^ Cf. i7tfra^ II. p. 451.

^ Archiv fiir Litteratur, II. 86.

" Atte7ide7ttes diiecii, 6th October 1234.

CHAP. XV.] CONVExNTS AND THEIR USES 481

license obtained from the Curia.^ Thus it is that the friaries
in Lanark and Inverkeithing were the first Scottish houses to
obtain a Bull of Erection ; while the successive Observatine
foundations were licensed at, or shortly after, their erection.

The style of architecture generally adopted in Franciscan
and Dominican churches differed from that of most of the
contemporary churches. The distinguishing features of their
simplicity consisted in the enlargement of the nave, flanked
by aisles and altars, to enable the friar preacher to be heard
in every part of the building. "They were meant," says
Ruskin, " for use, not for show, nor self-glorification, nor
town-glorification. They wanted places for preaching, prayer,
sacrifice, burial ; and had no intention of showing how high
they could build towers or how widely they could arch vaults.
Strong walls and the roof of a barn — these your Franciscan
asks of his Arnolfo."^ A beautiful example of this style is
the Franciscan Church of Santa Croce at Florence, with its
frescoes by Giotto, Taddeo and Agnolo Gaddi, and Giovanni
da Milano, and its sculptures of Delia Robbia and Benedetto
de Maiano — "schemes of practical divinity" as Ruskin terms
these creations of art. This form of construction also per-
mitted of their pictures — for they were great lovers of art —
being exhibited to the greatest advantage. Under the con-
stitutions of Narbonne, directed towards securing simplicity in
buildings, the pictures were restricted in subject-matter to the
Virgin, St. John, St. Francis, and St. Anthony of Padua ; and
the Visitors were directed to obliterate or remove any which
did not fall within that enumeration.^ With the same object,
the erection of spires and steeples was forbidden, so that only
permission to erect a dwarf belfry was granted in the papal
sanction to any foundation. Franciscan architecture in Scot-
land, as represented by its two surviving monuments m
Aberdeen-' and Eknn, fully conformed to these constitutions,
and the restatement of theni \n the Ji.vrri. 1 ncir cnarm
rested entirely upon the simplicity and purity of design.

1 Supra, p. 57. - Mornini^rs in J-lon-tur, p. 14 ; ctl. 1903-

^ Bonaventnrae Ofi., VIII. 452-53- ''"he use of ^ok\ service ornaments and

excessive adornment by pictures, sculpture, painted windows, pdlars, lofty or wide

aisles, was also forbidden.

* The church was recently pulled down.

482 CONVENTS AND THEIR USES [chap. xv.

enhanced by the great window of " cross basket work," as
it has been accurately described by Professor Cooper ; but
of their pictures or stained glass not a trace now remains.
The erroneous identification of the friary church with the
Lamp of Lothian, and John Major's ill-founded sneer based
upon it, have already been referred to ; ^ and it is clear that
neither statement merits more serious belief than the fictitious
magnificence with which Father Cornelius clothed the simple
buildings in Edinburgh, and which the chronicler was
loath to abandon in his history of the Province. Buildings
of stone did not accord with the idealism of the primitive
Franciscan, but they were a necessity in our rude climate ;
while the mental attitude of the Observatine of later days,
and the doubts which harassed his conscience in this respect,
are well defined in the appeal to Leo X. for direction as
to how they should act in regard to gifts of "magnificent"
convents, rich vestments and church ornaments, that appeared
inconsistent with the vow of holy poverty.^ His Holiness,
after renewing the declarations of his predecessors, that all
such gifts belonged in property to the Holy See, replied that
neither the dimensions of the houses nor the multiplicity of
the ornaments added to the bodily comforts of the friars, who
were merely the custodiers. Therefore, as it is fitting to honour
the Divine Majesty with fairer ornaments and to beautify
His worship, "you may use and enjoy the same freely and
lawfully in the manner in which Pope Julius H., our pre-
decessor of happy memory, is said to have granted to the
said Order and Family at the instance of our dearest daughter
in Christ, the present Queen of England."^ This was by no
means the first occasion on which the Holy See had exercised
a restraining influence upon literal observance, when carried
beyond the limits of discretion. Friar John of the friary at
Scases — in violation of the Rule — took possession of his share
in the family succession, and devoted the proceeds to the
purchase of vestments, candelabra and other precious orna-

^ Supra, p. 169.

2 Exivi, cap. XV. Stringent prohibition against superfluity or excessive value.
^ Merentiir vestrae, 3rd January 15 14-15. Catherine of Aragon, who was a
member of the Order of Penitents.

CHAP. XV.] CONVENTS AND THEIR USES 483

merits for his convent. Although the}- had accepted these
gifts during his Hfetime, his brother friars decided that he
enjoyed the reputation of proprietarius at his death, and
carried their resentment so far as to bury him "in a cattle
shed in an adjoining garden under the dung of the brute
animals, miserably, as an infidel and one cut off from the
Church of God and excluded from all participation in the
Christian religion," This unbrotherly treatment roused the
indignation of the inmates of a neighbouring friary ; and, in
reply to their appeal, Martin V. directed that the body should
be exhumed and receive Christian burial.^

The fragmentary evidence concerning the church orna-
ments and vestments of the Scottish friaries does not seem
to indicate extravagance. As previously mentioned, in 1480
those of the Dundee friary, including books, were accepted as
security for the loan of ^100 Scots ; and Elizabeth Vindegatis,
a "mother in religion," contributed 3000 merks Scots for
the use of all the Observatine convents, " in chalices,
ornaments, candlesticks, images, bells, and in divers other
necessary things." " The other donations noted in the
Obituary for the Aberdeen friary were three silver chalices,
a silver spoon for the holy oil, a chasuble and vestments for
each altar ; while the furnishings provided for the Stirling
friary by James IV. were neither valuable nor numerous.
The images brought from abroad cost ^35, and in the records
of the Haddington friary mention is made of the fertory or
movable shrine kept within the choir. At the Reformation,
these ornaments were either destroyed or stolen, or fell into
the hands of the burgh authorities, only to disappear in a short
time. The fate of those belon^incr to the Black Friars of
Inverness doubtless explains the disappearance of many others
— "The Freyeris Ornamentis and Chalisses " were deposited
for safety with the Provost, George Cuthbert, in the name of
the town. The Provost died in the following year, and a
demand for their return was made both on his widow and the
tutors for his son. Both parties denied possession,^ and the
articles were never recovered. But, although the friaries and

^ /itsfis et honesfis, 25th March 1427. ^ Aberd. Ob. CaL, supra, p. 341.

^ MS. Burgh Records, sub atmo 1561.

484 CONVENTS AND THEIR USES [chap. xv.

their churches were the humblest and least pretentious in style
of all the religious houses in the country, they were universally
regarded as the holiest, and, therefore, the places most fit for
the purposes of prayer and religious consolation. The rich
as well as the poor flocked thither, and were made welcome
by the friars. Dunbar tells us that —

" Among thir freiris, within ane cloister,
I enterit in ane oratorie,
And kneling down with ane Pater Noster,
Befoir the michti King of Glorye,
Having His passoun in memorye,
Syne to His Mother I did inclyne,
Hir halsing with ane gaude-flore ;
And sudanthe I slepit syne." ^

In a cognate aspect, there is nothing more remarkable in
the history of Franciscanism in this country than the influence
which the friars exercised upon the commercial life of the
community. Religion was brought into immediate contact
with business affairs ; so that symbolism, which finds so small
a place in our Presbyterian creed, became a powerful incentive
to commercial probity. To that end, the citizen was welcomed
to the friary, where the sanctity of environment inevitably
impressed itself on the minds of the parties, and surrounded
their contracts with an authority which few were then bold
enough to ignore. It was the general practice to hold busi-
ness meetings, and to arrange and execute contracts, deeds
of agreement, arbitrations, conveyances of land, and writs of
every description within the friary, in the church, — the holiest
of all places for this purpose, — the chapter house, the cloister,
the Warden's chamber, the cemetery, and even the street in
front of the " Place." The following are a few illustrative
examples, with the general details omitted, taken mainly from
the MS. Notarial Protocol Books preserved in the General
Regfister House : —

Instrument drawn up in the Church of the Friars Minor of the Order of
St. Francis in Glasgow, dated 21st November 15 16.2

^ Dunbar's Poems (Scott. Text Soc), II. p. 259.
2 Prot. Books of Gavin Ross of Ayr, vol. I.

CHAP. XV.] CONVENTS AND THEIR USES 485

Submission of parties to a Decreet Arbitral drawn up in the Place of the

Friars Minor of Ayr, dated nth December 1528.1
Arbiters appointed to meet in the Place of the Friars Minor of Aberdeen,

dated 3rd February 1527.2
Arbiters appointed by the Magistrates of Aberdeen, anent " strubbling "

the town and blood-drawing, are directed to meet in the Church of

the friary, dated 21st March 1546.^
Procuratory of Resignation made in the Chapter House of the Friars

Minor of Aberdeen, dated 20th February 1552.*
Instrument of Resignation done in \hQ. public street of Aberdeen at the

Place of the Friars Minor, dated 19th April 1551.^
Agreement made in the cloister of the Friars Minor of Aberdeen, dated

24th June 1552.'^
Instrument of Resignation in the hands of James, Earl of Arran, Governor

of Scotland, done in the Cemetery of the Friars Minor of Stirling,

dated 26th June 1545."
Instrument "done in the town of Dumfries in the Chamber of the

Warden of the Friars Minor," July 151 6. ^
Done in judgment in the Friars Church of Dumfries, 4th May 1459.^

The friars themselves often acted in the character of witnesses
to the execution of the deeds, and as such were occasionally-
cited to give evidence in a court of law : —

Bond of Manrent, dated ist April 1503, and witnessed, among others, by
"Frere John Yair," Provincial Minister of the Friars Minor of
Scotland (Conventuals).^'^

Action against James Kennedy of Row, in which Friar John M'Haig is
ordered to be summoned and produced as witness. For his pro-
tection, letters are to be directed to the Vicar of the Grey Friars to
send him to Stirling to give evidence in the case. Dated 7th March
1502.11

It was also the practice in disputed transactions to lodge
the conveyances, bonds or progresses of titles, as well as to
consign the sums of money, in the hands of the friars ; and,
if one of the parties refused to carry out the contract, the

1 Prot. Books of Gavin Ross of Ayr, vol. II.

2 Prot. Books of Sir fohit Christisone, vol. II. •'» Supra, p. 322.
* Prot. Books of Robert Lumisdane, vol. \I. ' Ibid. '• Ibid.

' Prot. Books of fames Colvill, vol. XI.

« Hist. MSS. Com., 15th Rep., App. pt. \III. 61 {Bucclfuch MSS.).
9 Ibid. p. 35.

1" yl/.V. Acta Dom. Concil.,i\. R. II., X\'I. f. 21 1.
" Ibid. XIII. f. 94.

486 CONVENTS AND THEIR USES [chap. xv.

deeds or money were simply placed on the high altar of a
friary church, and left there at his risk.

Instrument to the effect that Thomas Kennedy and Hew Campbell promise
faithfully to place certain letters of reversion belonging to the heirs of the
late Sibilla Cathcart and to Margaret Cathcart in the Place of the Friars
Minor of Ayr. Dated ist February 1527.1

Instrument narrating that Margaret Crawfurd or Hebburn and Janet Crawfurd,
widow of the late William Cathcart of Drumsmuddan, delivered the sum
of twenty merks in a closed purse to Friar Arthur Park, Warden of the
Friars Minor of Ayr, in sure custody for the use of the two children of
the said William Cathcart, accordi7ig to a Decreet of Court. This sum the
Warden received in keeping, and promised to deliver to the said parties
conjointly, and not otherwise, or to others having mandate, right and
interest, on requisition of the same conjointly, all in terms of a paper
schedule attached to the purse. Dated 26th June 1529.2

Action by Philip Nisbet of that Ilk against Alexander McClelane of Giles-
toune, son and heir of the deceased Donald McClelane, and others, for
failing or postponing to make renunciation of the lands of Carlestone,
lawfully redeemed at the high altar in the Freir Kirk of Kirkcudbright.
Dated 19th January 1498-99.^

In Letters of Quitclaim by Edward of Crawford, it is provided that, "if
Crawford or his heirs should do or suffer to be done anything contrary
to this Obligation," the penalty to be paid to Kirkpatrick was
";j^2oo Scots in the Friars of Dumfries on the high altar." Sealed at
Dumfries, 21st November 1433.^

"In presens of the Lordis of Counsale it is apunctit and accordit betuix
William Colvile, procurator and cessionar for Margaret Waus, lady of
Corswell, on the ta parte, and Robert Charteris of Amysfeld, on the
tother parte, in this forme : that is to say, that the said Williame and
Robert sal conveyne and met on the morne efter Sanct Androis day next
to cum efter the daite of this writt in the Frere Kirk of Druinfrese, to
mak compt, raknyng, and payment of ale sowmes of money, batht for the
tochire of James Campbell, and for the males of the lands of Dalrus-
kane, of all termes bygain pertenyng to the said Margaret by resone of
terse, and sa fere as sal be fund avand of the saide tochire sene the first
contract, and the third of the haile males forsaid sene the first tym." ^

Even in the matter of legal citations, the friars permitted
the utmost freedom, as witness a case where the procurator
for the laird of Richartoun, after warning the Lady Pumfras-

^ Prot. Books of Gavin Poss, vol. II. ^ /did.

2 MS. Acta Dom. CottczL, VIII. f. 150.

* Hist. MSS. Com., 15th Rep. (Buccleuch, 1897).

^ Acta Dom. Co7icil. (Print), 1478-95, p. 93. A widow's right of terce
is a third of the rents or maills of all heritable property in which her husband
was infeft at the date of his death.

CHAP. XV.] CONVENTS AND THEIR USES 487

toun and her son at their lodging, made intimation to the
said Lady "personally apprehendit " — i.e. served personally
on her — "in the Kirk of the Gray Freirs conform to the
letters " ; ^ and in the administration of justice it is interesting
to note that, when the Queen Dowager, Mary of Lorraine,
was engaged in judicial reforms, she requested that " certain
Minors and two men of the long robe " should be sent
from France to assist her.^ Reference has been made
to the right of sanctuary afforded by the Aberdeen friary
to the aggressors in the Forbes raid ; and the assiduous
efforts of the friars in allaying the vengeful vendetta
caused by these bloody quarrels is aptly illustrated by
a case which occurred in Aberdeen in 1553, and resulted
in the death of Gilbert Anderson at the hands of Alex-
ander Bissaitt. The nearest kinsmen of both parties —
Alexander Leslye of Warderis, uncle of the former, and
George Bissaitt, burgess of Aberdeen, as representing
the latter — held a conference within the friary on 7th
October, when, "for the whole assythement and satisfaction
of the slaughter," it was agreed that a marriage between
certain members of the two families should be arrano^ed.
Bissaitt was to select one of his sons, whom he was to appoint
his universal heir — " the quhilkis sone sail marye ane dochter
of Andro Menzes, Andro Leslye, or the lard Cowbardy, as
best sail pies the said George, at his vill, frelye without ony
tochir, the quhilkis sone the said George sail name and tak
his electioun of ane of the thre vemen." Alexander Bissaitt,
the guilty party, was also " in all haste " to remove himself
furth of Scotland, and to remain absent during;' the will of the
said Alexander Leslye ; and for his protection, the latter was
to obtain and deliver to him a sufficient "letter of slains."^

Clearly the friars grudged neither trouble nor labour in
their efforts to maintain the integrity of the people in their
dealings with one another, and one can only wonder that this
aspect of their work — a matter of daily occurrence — should

1 Prot. Books ofG. Grofe, vol. XV. G. R. H.

^ MS. Bakarres Papers, III. f. 26, Montmorency to tlic Queen Dowager,
October 1554. Adv. Lib., Edin.

^ MS. Prot. Books, Robert Ltiiiiisdauc, p. 32, (i. R. 11.

488

CONVExNTS AND THEIR USES

[chap. XV.

have dropped completely out of memory. They possessed
the full confidence of rich and poor alike ; but Father Hay
somewhat exaofoferates when he assures us that, " since
kings themselves, and princes, and prelates of the realm, love
the life of the friars, they all used to resort to them, as to
divine oracles, to take counsel with them. No public business
of the realm was dealt with except on the advice of the friars.
No death sentence, even upon the highest of the nobility,
though passed by the king in council, was delivered for
execution until it had first been approved of by the advice
and knowledge of these proven fathers. For this reason, if
there were anv lawsuits between the nobles to be settled, if
there was a marriage to be arranged, the nobles employed them
as mediators, with the result that but few quarrels, and no
divorces, were to be met with in the families of the nobility." ^

^ Ob. Cliron.

'^^"^d^M

^.r

0-^~

The Cordeliere upholding the Lily of France and Ermine
• of Brittany. Chateau de Blois.

INDEX OF BULLS

Bull.

Date.

Biillariuin
Franciscanuin.

Annates
Minortim.

Various.

Ad conditorem .

8 Dec. 1322.

V. No. 486.

Ad fructus uberes

10 Jan. 1282.

III. 480, No. 16.

Ad nostrum

22 June 1374.

VI. No. 1337a.

Ad Ordinem Minorum

13 Jan. 1444.

XI. 471.

Amabiles fructus .

I Nov. 1428.

VII. No. 1838.

Ambitiosae cupiditati

I March 1467.

...

Cocquelines,
III. iii. 125.

Apostolicae Sedis

I May 1432.

.. .

X. 511.

Apostolicae Sedis

2 May 1440.

XI. 393-

Attendentes dilecti

6 Oct. 1234.

I. 138, No. 144.

Beata Clara

18 Oct. 1263.

II. 509, No. iS.

Bonorum operum

13 Dec. 1350.

VI. No. 55S.

Cum alias .

II April 1524.

XVI. 567.

Cum a nobis

25 Feb. 1250.

I- 537, No. 316.

Infra, II. p. 4^

Cum a nobis

3 April 1254.

I. 719, No. 450.

Cum a nobis

23 August 1274.

III. 220, No. 52,

Cum dilecti filii .

II June 1219.

I. 2, No. 2.

Cum dilectos filios

29 Sept. 1259.

II. 366, No. 414.

Cum ex eo .

1296.

IV. 424, No. 105.

Cum intellexerimus

5 April 1502.

XV. 600.

Cum non deceat .

26 July 1227.

I. 31, No. 9.

Cum olim quidam

13 May 1259.
fi2 June 1234.

II. 347, No. 488.
I. 127, No. 131,

Cum qui recipit .

'124 June 1235.

I. 167, No. 173.

Cum saepe numero

27 Nov. 15 19.

XVI. 529.

Cum secundum .

22 Sept. 1220.

I. 6, No. 5.

Cum sicut accepimus

II Oct. 1553.

XVIII. 52

Cum tamquam veri

5 April 1250.

I. 538, No. 320.

Cum te

27 Nov. 1263.

II. 528, No. 109,

Cum te

3 June 1265.

III. 9, No. 12.

Cupientes nobis .

13 Dec. 1240.

I. 288, No. 327.

Detestanda .

30 March 1228.

...

Potthast,
No. 8159.

Devotionis tuae .

. 15 May 1313.

V. No. 211.

Devotionis vestrae

21 April 124S.

I. 512, No. 273.

Dilectae

. 31 August 15 17.

XVI. 487.

Dilecti filii .

28 April 1260.

II. 393, No. 555.

Dilecti filii .

22 June 128S.

IV. 25, No. 32.

Discretioni vestrae

N.D.

I. 289, No. 329.

Dudum a Bonifatio

6 May 1312.

V, No. i96-\

Dudum ad sacrum

. 28 July 1506.

...

••

Cocquelines,
III. iii. 136

489

490

INDEX OF BULLS

Bull.

Date.

BtiUarium
Franciscanum.

mIZ!".. VAa,ous.

Dudum fel .

27 May 1517.

XVI. 486.

Dudum per.

7 March 1524.

XVI. 566.

Dum consideramus

17 April 1526.

XVI. 589.

Dum fructus uberes

28 Feb. 1471-72.

XIV. 537.

Dum inter cetera

9 Jan. 149S.

...

... Infra, II.
P- 257.

Etsi apostolicae .

. 23 Feb. 1319-20.

V. No. 354.

Ex dementi

I July 1555.

XIX. 482.

Ex gravi

8 June 1332.

V. No. 983.

... Infra, II.
p. 149.

Exhibita

. 12 August 1345.

VI. No. 332.

Exhibita nobis

18 August 1290.

IV. 168, No. 298

Exhibita nobis .

21 May 1346.

VII. 588.

Exhibita nobis .

27 Oct. 1540.

• . •

XVI. 653.

Exigit devotionis

13 Jan. 1444.

XI. 469.

Exiit qui seminat

14 August 1279.

III. 404, No. 227.

... Infra, II.
p. 401.

Exivi de Paradiso

6 ]\Iay 1312.

V. No. 195.

... Ififra, II.
p. 420.

Ex parte

5 May 1291.

IV. 248, No. 465.

Ex parte vestra .

21 Oct. 1255.

II. 84, No. 119.

Ex parte vestra .

5 Dec. 1255.

...

Cocquelines,
III. i. 369.

Ex parte vestra .

18 Jan. 1286.

III. 555, No. 24.

Exponi nobis

I Oct. 1509.

...

XV. 651.

Exponi nobis

6 Jan. 1514-15.

...

XV. 665.

Exponi nobis

I Oct. 1537.

. • .

XVI. 636.

Exultantes in Domino

18 Jan. 1283.

III. 501, No. 40.

Exultantes in Domino

iS Jan. 1419.

...

X. 301. Infra, II.
P- 433-

Gloriosam ecclesiam

23 Jan. 1318.

V. No. 302.

Imminente nobis.

13 Sept. 1319.

...

Cocquelines,
III. ii. 177

In domo Domini.

20 June 1457.

...

XIII. 487.

Inducimur piae conver

■ 21 May 1255.

II. 48, No. 61.

sationis.

In his quae.

28 August 1225.

I. 21, No. 19.

Intelleximus te .

9 June 1463.

Infra, II.
P- 275-

Inter ceteros Ordines .

II Nov. 1295.

IV. 370, No. 36.

Inter cunctas solicitu

- 17 Feb. 1304.

V. No. 20.

dines.

Inter desiderabilia

28 July 1429.

VII. No. 1867.

Inter dilectos filios

9 August 1303.

IV. 578, No. 261.

Inter quoslibet .

30 Dec. 1266.

III. 105, No. 115.

Ita vobis

/'26 July 1227.
I 9 March 1233.

I. 31, No. 8.
I. 99, No. 92.

Justa pastoralis .

29 Oct. 1381.

VII. No. 625.

Justis et honestis.

25 March 1427.

VII. No. 1766.

Justis petentium de-

9 Sept. 1246.

I. 423, No. 142.

sideriis.

iMurjj'

ic yjr i5UJ^i^»

491

Bull.

Date.

Bullarium
Franciscanum.

Annalcs
Minonim.

Various.

Licet ad hoc

6 June

1241.

I. 29s, No. 341.

Licet alias .

6 Dec.

1517-

XVI.

490.

Licet inter cetera

9 Dec.

1428.

VII. No. 1843.

Licet nos dudum .

• 7 Aug

ast 1475.

...

XIV.

556.

Merentur vestrae .

• 3 Jan.

1514-15

...

XV.

663.

Nee insolitum est

. 22 Dec.

1254.

II. 3, No. 2.

"XT* • • •

f2i August 1231.

I. 74, No. 63.

JNimis imqua

■ \2i July

1245.

I. 368, No. 85.

Non sine multa .

. 19 Oct.

1256.

II. 165, No. 244.

Nuper per .

. 12 March 1516.

XVI.

482.

Nuper pro parte vestrs

I 23 Nov.

1526.

XVI.

592.

Nuper ut discordiae 27 May

1300.

IV. 504, No. 1S5.

materia.

Obtentu Divini nominis 12 Feb.

1266.

III. 71, No. 65.

Omnipotens Deus

, 12 June

1517.

...

XVI.

51-

Infra, II.
P- 435-

Ordinem vestrum

. 14 Nov.

1245.

I. 400, No. 114.

Ordinis vestri

■ 7 July

1268.

III. 162, No. 177.

Perlata nuper

. 24 April

1255-

II. 38, No. 46.

Pervigilis more pastoris 27 July

1430-

VII. No. 1892.

Petitio venerabilis

. 17 Nov.

1316.

V. No. 230.

Prohibente regula vestra 12 Dec.

1240.

I. 287, No. 325.

Promptum etbenevolum 17 Sept.

1418.

VII. No. 1394.

Providentia laudabilis

9 June

1268.

III. 158, No. 170.

Provisionis nostrae

7 Feb.

1246.

I. 410, No. 127.

Pro zelo

. 4 Oct.

1244.

I. 351, No. 69.

Quaedam .

. 12 Sept.

1255-

II. 74, No. 105.

Quia Ordinem

. 30 April

1255-

II. 42, No. 51.

Quia populares .

3 Dec.

1224.

I. 20, No. 17.

Quia Provinciarum

13 May

1288.

IV. 19, No. 23.

Quanto studiosus

(See note, p. 457)

I. 487, No. 235.

Quidam temere .

20 June

1265.

III. 14, No. 19.

Qui Deum .

22 Feb.

1250.

I. 536, No. 315.

Quo elongati

28 Sept.

1230.

I. 68, No. 56.

••

Infra, II.
p. 397.

Quoniam abundavit

6 April

1237-

I. 214, No. 224.

Quorundam exigit

7 Oct.

1317-

V. No. 289.

Recolentes qualiter

22 Oct.

1228.

I. 46, No. 29.

Redemptor noster

28 Nov.

1336-

VI. No. 51.

Religionis favor .

22 Nov.

1290.

IV. 190, No. 360.

Romani pontificis

29 April

1430.

VII. No. 1S84.

Romani pontificis

15 Dec.

1471-72.

XIII.

5(i7.

Sacrae religionis .

19 Augu

st 1428.

MI. No. 1S26.

Sacrosancta

21 Nov.

1342.

W. No. i6i.

Sancta Romana .

30 Dec.

1317-

V. No. 297.

Sedes Apostolica

18 Augu

St 1355-

\'I. No. 683.

Sedes Apostolica

10 Jan.

'375-

VI. x\o. 1366.

492

INDEX OF BULLS

Bull.

Sedis Apostolicae
Sedis Apostolicae
Sicut nostris est .
Significante dilecto filio
Sincerae devotionis
Sincerae devotionis
Sincerae devotionis
Si Ordinis .
Solet annuere

Summus orbis opifex
Super cathedram

Supra Montem .

Tua nobis devotio

Unigenitus Dei filius

Ut absque .
Ut cum majori

Vacantibus .
Vas electionis
Vehementur mirari co-

gimur.
Vestra semper

Date.

15 Jan. 1439.
2 May 1443.
1238.
21 Sept. 1233.

28 Feb. 1374.
19 Feb. 1430.
II July 1425.

I Feb. 1230.

29 Nov. 1223.

6 Dec. 1249.
18 Feb. 1300.

Bullarhini
Fraiiciscanum,

I. 246, No. 271.
I. 116, No. 117.

VI. No. 1325.

VII. No. 1653.
I. 58, No. 46.

I- 533> No. 308.
IV. 498, No. 179.

17 August 1289. IV. 94, No. 150.

2 Dec. 1295. IV. 374, No. 43.
8 August 1290.

3 Dec. 1250. I, 565, No. 357.
21 Nov. 1234.

19 Sept. 1530.

24 July 1321.

6 May 1258.

1 August 1253.

2 August 1258.

Virtute conspicuos sacri "I 21 July 1265.

20 Nov. 1285.

II Nov. 1295.
Voluntariae paupertati . 5 Nov. 1274.

V. No. 437-

II. 287, No. 420.

I. 670, No. 494.

II. 298, No. 436.

III. 19, No. 25,

III. 551, No. 20.

IV. 370, No. 37.
III. 222, No. 58.

Annates
Minorum.

XI. 382.
XI. 438.

X. 479.

Various.

Infra, II.
p. 380.

Infra, II.
p. 447.

Potthast,
No. 23,355.

Potthast,
No. 9768.

XVI. 606.

Infi-a, II.
p. 441.

The letter "Tau," which St. Francis, from its
resemblance to the Cross, loved to append
to his letters.

Printed by Morrison & Gibb Limited, Edinburgh

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