Post-Reformation Catholic Houses of North-East Scotland Lan B D Bryce* & Alasdair Robertsf
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Proc SocAntiq Scot, (1993)3 12 , 363-72 Post-Reformation Catholic houses of north-east Scotland lan B D Bryce* & Alasdair Robertsf ABSTRACT Roman Catholic imagery associated with secular buildings (as distinct from churches) in north-east Scotland Arme took formth e f th ao Christ armsr IHSe !o Jesusr f Christo th o d an monogram. The former symbol first became popular in the late medieval period and the latter used Jesuitswas by symbola as Counter-Reformation. of Architectural socialand historyare combined here, formerthe demonstrating that those images that have survived belongthe to post-Reformation period. INTRODUCTION This pape concernes i r d with Roman Catholic symbol post-Reformatioe th f so n period which were placed on the walls of castles and houses. Catholicism was a regional affair in the early modern period, stronger away from Edinburgh and the central Lowlands and strongest in the north-east. The Catholic heartland was at first in Buchan and Strathbogie, with Deeside and e Enzith e (clos o Speymoutht e ) becoming more importan e 17tth hn i centuryt . Party allegianc oftes wa en expresse religioun di s terms t seemeI . d natura castle-buildere th o t l d san restorers of the time to include symbols of belief either inside the building or, more assertively, on its outer walls. Although we are not concerned here with imagery in churches it is worth mentioning that religious emblems also decorated family vaults. Indee e themdth f thio e se papeth n o r imagery in Catholic houses can be introduced through Catholic tombs. Sir John Gordon had a gravestone carved for himself in 1597 at Cairnie Kirk in Strathbogie (NJ 489446): 'A mutilated coffin-slab bear e letter . GORth s . Anothe. s. D. r piec f rudo e e carving represents a human being in the act of tearing open his breast, and thereby exhibiting the heart' (Jervise 1875, 31). Devotio e Sacreth o t nd Hear f Jesu o s popularizet wa s e th y db Jesuits in the late 16th century. Tombs of this kind were liable to suffer damage when the Calvinist party took to arms, although at Cairnie the iconoclasts cannot have recognized a central part of the symbolism as Catholic (illus 1). Even the highest families in the land were not spared, witnes e Ear f sth Errol o l Constabld an l f Scotlando e t Slaina : s Kirk, Collieston (NK 040289) in 1642 'the superstitious Monuments in my lord Erroll's Yle are ordeanit to be demolishit' (Mair 1898, 152). * Northern College, Hilton Place, Aberdeen t VA Devanha Terrace, Aberdeen 364 SOCIET ANTIQUARIEF YO SCOTLANDF SO , 1993 ILLU 1 S Carved figure, Cairnie Kirk, Strathbogie Sometime e religiouth s s statement seems neutra s not i t Auchanachit A . bu l J (N e 498469) a smal, l late 16th-century fortified hous n Strathbogiei e e prayeth , r FROR MOV ENEMIES DEFENDE VS O CHRIST 1594 (Pirie 1906, 27) above the outer door has Catholic significance, sinc Gordoe eth than i f nt of yealair t resiso t rdse t Argyll's Highland e battlarmth f t Glenliveto ea y . Patrick Gordo f nearbo n y Auchindou J 349375(N n s wa ) brother to the priest who led his fellow Jesuits in support of the army, hearing confessions and saying mass there, so it is more than likely that the dressed stone which was taken from that castle 18tth hn ei centur y (Wordsworth 1990, 169 carved ha ) d imager e kine b th o dt f yo discussed. This rising of the 'popish lords' ended with the virtual destruction of one notable building. Erroll's Slaind castl 052301K Ol t e(N s a reduce s wa )y ruinso wa dt therd o n an ,s ei of telling whether Francis Hay e 10tth , h Earl, employed Catholic symbolism either thert a r eo New Slain 102362)K (N s . Nothing significan f artefacto y t remainwa se althougth n i s w hNe Slains was the headquarters of the Jesuit mission to Scotland during its most active phase in the 1620s (Forbes Leith 1909, 74). HUNTLY CASTLE, STRATHBOGIE Erroll's comrad armn i e t Glenlivea s s Georgwa t e Gordon, from whose seahave w t e both artefact documentard an s y evidence e damagTh . e inflicte n 159i d n Huntl4o y CastlJ (N e 532407) principae th , l Gordon stronghol Strathbogien di , amounte moro n o edt tha tokena n demolition, because 'struck wit beaute e palacehth th f e Kin yo s unwillin th , gwa visio gt t i t with the drastic fate of the ruder Erroll fortalice' (Simpson 1922, 158). The continuing BRYCE & ROBERTS: POST-REFORMATION CATHOLIC HOUSES 365 Roman Catholic allegiance of the head of the Gordons was later proclaimed in stone above his own arms and those of the monarch as part of 'probably the most splendid heraldic doorway in the British Isles' (Innes 1935, 388). The imagery has been described by Simpson (1960, 16): This next compartment contains the Five Wounds of Christ (the Pierced Heart, Pierced Hands and Pierced Feet), with the instruments of His Passion, and two supporting figures, probably St Mary and St John. Above is the text (Gal. 6: 14): ABSIT NOBIS GLORIARI NISI IN CRUCE DOMINI NOSTRI JESU CHRISTI, 'God forbid tha I shoult d glor r yLore Cros ou savth d f n o si eJesu s Christ. Ove . ' r circulathia s i s r panel (likewise defaced) displayin Risee gth n Chris gloryn i t , withi a circln f cloudso e , accompanie proclamatioe th y db n DIVINA VIRTUTE RESURGO, T rise again with divine power'. On one side of this panel is the Scottish lion, and on the other side twin-headee th d Hole eaglth yf e o Roma n Empire figure t Michael S th . Abov f . s i o e. l e eal th , warrior archangel, triumphing over Satan. In 1545 the fourth Earl of Huntly was created a knight of that illustrious French Order of Chivalry. Durin firse gth t four decade e 17tth hf o scentur y visitors were greete thiy db s expressiof no solidarity with continental Catholics e pane Th .s date i l d 1606 (Gile Simpso& s n 1936, 5) , establishing that the imagery was put in place as a Counter-Reformation statement. The signing of the National Covenant in 1638 signalled a campaign against Charles I's 'prelacy' and led to an armed rising which was even more hostile to 'popery'. When northern hostilities broke out, Huntly Castle was 'not in conditione to be made tenible' (Gordon 1841, o defencn 216 s d offerean )wa e o Munro't d s Covenanting arm n 1640i y . Thus Roman Catholic symbols 'by the industry of one captain James Wallace (one of Munroes foot captaines) wer hewd and brocke doune off the frontispiece of the house' (Gordon 1841, 211). e samTh e Presbyterian office s presumablwa r y responsibl r similafo e re hall' worth n so k ceremonial fireplace (Simpson 1960, 144, 162) parallee Th . l destructio n 164ni f 'ou0o r blissit Lord Jesus Chris armess hi t ' (Spalding 1851, t Machar'313S n )i s Cathedra relevans i l t here, with one erasure a precedent for the other. Both followed an act of the Kirk's General Assembly, meeting in Aberdeen that summer, for 'idolatrouse monuments to bee destroyed in l placesal , speciall northe th n yi , whe rmose ther saibe to y dwe t frequent , suc crucifixess ha , images of Chryste, Mary, and sainctes departed' (Gordon 1841, 217). There is documentary evidence of missing artefacts, almost certainly statues, since the General Assembly appointed 'some brethre visio nt Idolatroue th t s Monuments brought fro late mth e Marque f Huntlie'so s house,' and later charged 'the Ministers of Edinburgh to take course with the Monuments of Idolatrie brought fro Northe mth ' (Peterkin 1838, 146). ARMAE TH CHRISTI SCOTLANN I D heraldie Th c arm f Chrisso t wer maie eth n for f Catholimo c affirmatio e 16tth hn i ncentur s ya a traditional expression of faith. This took a variety of forms: 'The Arma Christi not only honoured Christ wit a blazoh f arm no t gav bu s e concrete fora cul o mt t which gren wi importance and popularity during the later Middle Ages. The imagery associated with the cult of the Passion instruments and five wounds is sometimes symbolical only, even abstract, as when the wounds are shewn rather than the members which bore them' (Carter 1957, 112). Carter drew attentio e firs th e 16tt o th t nhal hf o fcentur e perioe greatesth th s f a yo d t popularit Armae th f yo Christi Scotlann i t maddbu e regional point r botsfo h prepostd an - - Reformation periods e Five Masth Th ef . o sWound s prominenwa s e devotionth d n i tOl f o s Aberdeen's King's College Chape t Machar'S n wels i a l s a l s Cathedral (Carter 1957, 116d an ) 366 SOCIET ANTIQUARIEF YO SCOTLANDF SO , 1993 eight of Carter's examples come from secular buildings, five of them in north-east Scotland. There is a regional tendency in the imagery itself, with the instruments of the Passion (nails, spear, etc.) being equally in evidence throughout Scotland, but with the Five Wounds being more popula northe th n i r. Carter note dtendenca imagere th foune r r neab o e yfo o t yth t rda east coas linked an t d this with trade e Netherlandrouteth o t s nortd an s h Germany, 'where Passion symbolism was popular' (Carter 1957, 127).