Читать книгу Scottish Cathedrals and Abbeys - Dugald Butler - Страница 13

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The connection between St. Andrews and the neighbouring Pictish Church at Abernethy was, during the early period, very close. Dr. Skene thinks that the first church at Abernethy was built during the visit of St. Ninian to the Southern Picts, or the people living between the Forth and the territory south of the Grampians; it was endowed with lands by King Nectan in 460 A.D., and dedicated to St. Bride;[25] and between 584 and 596, during St. Columba's visit, and as a result of his mission, a church was rebuilt by Gartnaidh, King of the Picts.[26] St. Columba is distinctly stated to have preached among the tribes on the banks of the Tay,[27] and to have been assisted in this work by St. Cainnech, who founded a church in the east end of the province of Fife, near where the Eden pours its waters into the German Ocean, at a place called Rig-Monadh, or the royal mount, which afterwards became famous as the site on which the church of St. Andrews was founded, and as giving to that place the name of Kilrimont.[28] The earliest Celtic church at St. Andrews was probably, like that of Iona, constructed with wattles and turf and roofed with thatch. It was customary to have caves or places of retirement for the hermits; they were used, too, as oratories or places of penance, and one such there is at St. Andrews, known as St. Rule's cave:—

Where good Saint Rule his holy lay,

From midnight to the dawn of day,

Sang to the billows' sound.[29]

The connection of the place with St. Andrew has no historical basis till between 736 and 761, when a cathedral was dedicated to St. Andrew, and a portion of his relics was brought by Acca, Bishop of Northumbria, who was banished from that country in 732, and founded a church among the Picts. Dr. Skene points to the similarity of the events which succeeded one another in Northumbria and Southern Pictland in the eighth century. In the former country the Columban clergy were expelled, secular clergy were introduced, dedications were made to St. Peter, and afterwards Hexham was dedicated to St. Andrew and received the relics of the Apostle, brought there by one of its bishops; in the latter country, sixty years later, the Picts expelled the Columban monks, introduced the secular clergy, placed the kingdom under the patronage of St. Peter, and then receiving from some unknown quarter the relics of St. Andrew, founded the church in honour of that Apostle, who became the national patron-saint.[30] This "cathedral," dedicated to St. Andrew, was probably of stone, and was the church intervening between the early Celtic Church and that of St. Regulus. Angus, King of the Picts, endowed it with lands.

On the destruction of Iona by the Danes, the bishopric was first transferred to Dunkeld (850–864); then to Abernethy (865–908), when the Round Tower was probably built;[31] and in 908 it was transferred to St. Andrews, which retained it until the Reformation. St. Adrian was probably one of the three bishops of Alban[32] at Abernethy, as chapels and crosses in the district are all connected with his name; and Cellach appears as the first Bishop at St. Andrews, and he was succeeded by eight Culdee bishops, the last of whom was Fothad, who officiated at the marriage of Malcolm Canmore and Queen Margaret. The next three bishops all died before consecration, and for about sixteen years after the death of Malcolm the bishopric would appear to have been vacant. Turgot, Queen Margaret's friend and confessor, was the thirteenth bishop, and ruled from 1107–1115—the first bishop not of native birth.

Prior to 1107 the Culdee community had split up into two sections, dividing the spiritualities and temporalities between them, and Bishop Robert (1121–1159), with the object of superseding the Culdees, founded in 1144 a priory for the regular monks of St. Augustine, granting to them the Hospital of St. Andrews, with portions of the altarage. In the same year King David granted a charter to the prior and canons of St. Andrews, in which he provided that they shall receive the Keledei of Kilrimont into the canonry, with all their possessions and revenues, if they were willing to become canons-regular; but, if they refused, those who are now alive are to retain the property during their lives, and, after their death, as many canons-regular are to be instituted in the church of St. Andrews as there are now Keledei, and all their possessions are to be appropriated to the use of the canons. There were thus two rival ecclesiastical bodies in St. Andrews—the old corporation of secular priests and the new order of Austin-canons; the former enjoyed the greater part of the old endowments, and the latter recovered a considerable portion of the secularised property that had passed into lay hands. Popes, bishops, and kings endeavoured to end this rivalry, but their efforts were not crowned with success; although influence was on the side of the canons-regular, the Keledei clung to their prescriptive right to take part in the election of a bishop down to 1273, when they were excluded by protest; in 1332 they were absolutely excluded, and the formula of their exclusion from taking part in the election was repeated;[33] we hear of them afterwards not as Keledei, but as "the provostry of the Church of St. Mary of the city of St. Andrews," of "the Church of the Blessed Mary of the Rock," and of "the provostry of Kirkheugh"—the society consisting of a provost and ten prebendaries.[34]

In the reign of Malcolm IV. the bishopric of St. Andrews included the counties of Fife, Kinross, Clackmannan, the three Lothians, Berwickshire, Roxburghshire, parts of Perthshire, Forfarshire, and Kincardineshire; and, although the see was lessened by the creation of new bishoprics, the importance of St. Andrews was always great, for at the Reformation the primate's ecclesiastical jurisdiction included 2 archdeaconries, 9 rural deaneries, the patronage of 131 benefices, the administration of 245 parishes. In 1471 or 1472 the see was erected into an archbishopric by a bull of Pope Sixtus IV. and at this time the Archbishop of York surrendered his claim to have the Bishop of St. Andrews as his suffragan—a claim repeatedly made since the time of Turgot and as frequently resented. The office of bishop or archbishop involved great spiritual and temporal power; the primates were lords of regality and ultimate heirs of all confiscated property within their domains; they levied customs and at times had the power of coining money; they presided at synods, controlled the appointment of abbots and priors, were included with the King in the oath of allegiance, and took precedence next to the royal family, and before all the Scottish nobility. There were in all thirty-one bishops and six archbishops, who held the see in succession from 908 to 1560, and among the more famous of them may be mentioned Turgot, the friend and biographer of Queen Margaret (1107–1115); Robert, prior of Scone, who founded the Priory of St. Andrews, received the gift of the Culdee Monastery of Lochleven, and built the church and tower of St. Rule (1124–1158); Arnold, Abbot of Kelso, who started the building of the great cathedral (1158–1159); William Wishart of Pitarrow, who was lord-chancellor and bishop (1273–1279), and rebuilt, between 1272 and 1279, the west front, which was blown down by a tempest of wind; William Lamberton (1298–1328), who consecrated the cathedral in 1318, in the presence of King Robert the Bruce; Henry Wardlaw (1404–1440), who founded in 1411 the University of St. Andrews; James Kennedy (1440–1466)—the greatest of all the bishops—who founded St. Salvador's College; James Stewart (1497–1503), second son of James III., Duke of Ross and Marquis of Ormond, who was made primate at twenty-one; Alexander Stewart (1506–1513), who was the natural son of James IV., and fell with his father at Flodden; James Beaton (1522–1539), who founded St. Mary's College and burnt Patrick Hamilton; David Beaton, nephew of James Beaton (1539–1546), who burnt Wishart and was murdered; John Hamilton (1549–1571), who was the author of the Catechism of 1552.[35]

As to the buildings, St. Regulus' or St. Rule's, standing in the ancient churchyard at a distance of about 120 feet south-east of the east end of the Cathedral of St. Andrews, was unquestionably the earlier Cathedral Church, and occupies probably the site of the earlier Celtic church.

Bishop Robert (1121–1159) introduced the canons-regular of St. Augustine in 1144, and these gradually absorbed many of the Culdees into their community. It was during this time also that St. Rule's was built. Dr. Joseph Robertson says of it:—"The little Romanesque church and square tower at St. Andrews, which bear the name of St. Rule, have, so far as we know, no prototype in the south. … No one acquainted with the progress of architecture will have much difficulty in identifying the building with the small 'basilica' reared by Bishop Robert, an English canon-regular of the order of St. Augustine, between the years 1127 and 1144."[36] The Pictish Chronicle states that Robert was elected Bishop in the reign of Alexander I., but was not consecrated till the reign of David I. in 1138; that, after his consecration by Thurstan, Archbishop of York, he expended on this work one-seventh of the altar dues which fell to him, reserving them for his own use. "But inasmuch as the outlay was small, the building made correspondingly small progress, until, by the Divine favour, and the influence of the King, offerings flowed in, and the work went on apace. The basilica was thus founded and in great part constructed."[37]

What now remains of this building consists of a square tower, 112 feet high, and an oblong chamber. Discussion has arisen as to whether there ever was a nave, and in favour of the positive view it is urged that marks of three successive roofs may be seen on the tower-wall, and that the seals of the church, dated 1204 and 1214, show a nave and chancel. Eminent authorities take this view. Sir Gilbert Scott thinks that the large size of the western arch, and the mark of the roof on the tower, suggest a nave;[38] while later authorities, recalling that this church was once a cathedral, as well as the church of a monastery, and served the purpose of a parish church, hold it as more than probable that it must have been a larger building than the simple oblong chamber to the east of the tower which now survives.[39]

The architecture corresponds with the period of Bishop Robert,[40] so that there is more than probability in averring that St. Rule's was the cathedral built by this bishop, and took the place of an earlier Celtic church, founded by Bishop Acca. The square tower of St. Regulus was probably designed to fulfil the same purposes as the Round Towers of Abernethy and Brechin: (1) to serve as a belfry; (2) to be a keep or place of strength in which the sacred utensils, books, relics, and other valuables were deposited, and into which the ecclesiastics could retire for security in case of sudden predatory attack; (3) when occasion required, to be a beacon or watch-tower.[41]

Besides the Church of St. Regulus, there are still to be seen the ruins of the great Cathedral of St. Andrews, which consisted of a short aisleless presbytery, and choir of five bays with side aisles, with an eastern chapel in each aisle; north and south transepts, each of three bays with eastern aisles; nave of twelve bays with north and south aisles, and a large central tower over the crossing. The interior dimensions were—total length, 355 feet; width of nave, 63 feet; length of transepts, 167 feet 6 inches; width, 43 feet 2 inches. The older parts of the Cathedral exhibit traces of the transition from the Norman architecture, but the principal parts of the structure have been carried out in the First Pointed style.[42]

The Cathedral Church was also the Conventual Church of the Austin-canons, and the Bishop was ex officio prior of the monastery. Of the conventual buildings erected by Bishop Robert nothing remains.

The Cathedral was erected from east to west in about 115 years.[43] The work was commenced by Bishop Arnold in 1161, was continued by eleven successive bishops, and was consecrated by Bishop Lamberton in 1318. During its progress in 1276, the eastern end was greatly injured by a violent tempest, and in 1378 the Cathedral suffered from fire, which according to Wyntoun destroyed the south half of the nave from the west end, and eastward to and including the ninth pillar. The restoration was begun at once by Bishop Landel (1341–1385), and completed in the time of Bishop Wardlaw (1404–1440), who in 1430 improved the interior by the introduction of fine pavements in the choir, transept, and nave, and by filling the nave with stained glass and building a large window in the eastern gable. The south wall of the nave extends considerably westwards beyond the present west end, and contains the remains of a vaulting shaft, leading to the inference that the Cathedral was originally of greater length than it now is by at least 34 feet. The north wall of nave also projects westwards about 7 feet. There is a difficulty in connection with the west front, and it is regarded by competent authorities that this wall was not part of a western porch, but "indicates that there has been a change in the design, and that the original intention of having a wide porch extending along the whole of the west end has been departed from after the first story was built up to the level of the above string course, all above that point being of later design and execution."[44]

The early chapter-house was 26 feet square, and was vaulted with four central pillars. It opened to the cloisters, and the doorway is pronounced to be in the purest style of early pointed architecture.[45] Bishop Lamberton (1298–1328) erected a new chapter-house, and the old one was made a vestibule to the new. South of the early chapter-house was probably the fratery; on the upper floor of this building and the chapter-house was the dormitory—a wheel-stair leading to it from the south transept. On the west side of the cloister was the sub-prior's house, known also as Senzie House; south-east of the fratery is the prior's house or Hospitium Vetus, which was sometimes the residence of the bishop. West of the cathedral are the remains of the entrance gateway, called the "Pends," and in continuation of the "Pends" was the enclosing wall of the priory grounds, containing sixteen towers. The Guest-House was within the precinct of St. Leonard's College, and was built about the middle of the thirteenth century.[46] Within the precincts of the Priory-grounds were the various offices connected with the great ecclesiastical establishment.

The conventual and other buildings attached to the Cathedral have been recently excavated at the expense of the late Marquis of Bute, and considerable remains of the foundations disclosed to view. The ruins of the castle stand on a rocky promontory, overhanging the sea, N.N.W. of the Cathedral; and between the Cathedral-wall on the N.E. and the sea are the foundations of a chapel dedicated to the Virgin.

In 1559 the Cathedral was attacked by the mob and greatly destroyed. Time and weather helped to complete the work of destruction; the Protestant Archbishop Spottiswoode in 1635 strove to make provision for its restoration, but nothing appears to have been done to arrest the work of destruction. The Barons of Exchequer in 1826 took possession of the ruins, had the rubbish cleared away, and what remained of the great building strengthened. The pier-bases have been made visible, and the outline of the building marked on the turf. St. Andrews has been associated with most of the stirring events in Scottish Church history, and will always possess its two great voices of the Cathedral and the Sea.