Notices of the Quigrich Ok Crozier of St Fillan and Of
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122 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MALJCH 12, 1877. I. NOTICEE QUIGRICTH F O SK CROZIE O HT FILLA S F O RN ANF O D ITS HEREDITARY KEEPERS, IN A LETTER TO JOHN STUART, LL.D., SECRETARY DANIEY B . L WILSON, LL.D., HON. MEM. S.A. SCOT., TORONTO. MY DEAR DB STUABT,—It is with feelings of peculiar gratification that I am now able to report to you the successful negotiation for the transfer of the Quigrich or Crozier of St Fillan, to the permanent custody e Societoth f f Antiquarieo y f Scotlando s . This venerable relion f o c of the primitive missionary bishops of Scotland, to which fresh interest is s addeassociatioit y b d n with Eober achievemene e Bructh th td ean f o t nationae l th hands y I independencetransmi u m d yo n an ,i o t w t no s i , duly executed deed by which Alexander Dewar, the lineal representative of " Malic s eforbeari e tymhi Doir th f Kin d o en an ese sg Eobert the f before,Brayso d an , " surrenders unte Societth o f Antiquarieo y f o s Scotlan saie dth Quigrich ,trus n " o deposio t t Nationa e same th th t n ei l Museu f Antiquitiemo t Edinburgha s , ther o remail t timeal o t en i n como for the use, benefit, and enjoyment of the Scottish nation." For years, as you are well aware, it has been an object aimed at by me in various ways to affect the restoration of this most interesting national relic to Scotland. Wheu in 1858 my negotiations for its deposition with the Society of Antiquaries failed, I entertained the idea of communicating correspondentd ol wity m h r AugustuM , s W. Franks, wits hviea it o wt acquisition by the British Museum. But acceptable as such safe keeping would have been comparison i , n wit s inevitablhit e fat f i muce h longer abandoned to the contingencies of a Canadian clearing, I coul t overcomno d e feelinth e g tha a relit c thoroughly Scottisn i h all its associations would be robbed of much of its genuine interest if transferre e custodth o t df strangers yo s only it M r y fo . anxiets i w yno conveyance across the Atlantic. Once it is safe in your hands, I shall rejoic e custodo believt th e n i f thoso ey s y whoi b thae t s i tmit archceologica historicad an l l value canno estimatete b fai o t l t theida r true worth. In the brief notice of the Quigrich introduced by me into the " Prehistoric Annals of Scotland," I quoted a letter from the Eev. QU1GEICNOTICE TH F EO CKOZIEK HO SF TKO 3 F1LLAN12 . M'Donell Dawson, whose ancestors were for a. time its guardians; and to indebtewhos informatioe wa th m I r dfo n which enable recoveo t e dm r the lost traces of the relic. " The celebrated crook of St Fillan," he then wrot meo et , "is e keepinstil th e verCanadan i lth n i yf go d famil an , y to whose ancestor it was confided.1 This family, it appears, lost possession of the crozier for a time, having disposed of it for a sum of money to an ancesto mother'y m f ro s family adhereo e ancienwh ,th o dt t faith. Soon after this transaction, however, ceasing to prosper, and attributing their chang f circumstanceo e o theit s r indifferenc sacrea o t e d object thad ha t been solemnly entruste themo dt , they persuade e purchaserdth rather o , r the person who inherited the crozier from him, to part with it in their favour." The Dewars, however addy , ma discredi I , idee th ta that their ancestors ever parted money r witfo t t hbelievi bu , s onle thawa y t depositei t n di securit loaa r f moneyno yfo recovered an ,s repaymentit n do . But this is not inconsistent with the belief that the repayment of the money was hastene e convictioth y b d n that they cease o prospet d sooo s rs the a n y resigned their sacred trust. The idea, alike of the Dewars and of the Rev. .35. M. Dawson, it will be seen, is that the beautiful ancient relic, now restored to Scotland, 1 The letter in which the Eev. M. M. Dawson conveyed to me the above informa- tion was addressed to me from Dunfermline, at a time when I occupied the post of Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries, with no anticipation of wandering beyond my native shores. Curiously enough, the Eev. DawsoJE.M s nowi n , like myself, settle n Canadai d , being . e Parish Rrectot C Johnth .S f f o o r, , Osgoodef o . Co , Russell I hav. e accordingl morr yfo appliee m detailehi o dt d information aboue th t alleged transfe t Fillan'S f o r s crook fro direce mth s custodianst it lin f o e e thuH .s writes to me in reply :—"It was one of the Glengarries—I believe Lord M'Donell and Arrass, temp. Charles II., the same who also rescued the chalice of lona (vide "Prehist. Annal f Scotland, . o s482)—whp . vol . ed ii .. 2d " o acquire t Fillan'dS s crozier from the family to whom it was entrusted on the field of Baunockburn by King Robert Bruce, in consideration of a sum of money. From the family of Glen- garr e Doireyth s received agai croziere nth , when they believed that they coult no d prosper without the possession of what was indeed a sacred trust. There is now, I believe livine on whoo go t ,n m I coul rely dy ma appl u namer yo y fo datest d san Bu . on the fact that the Quigrich was for some time in the possession of the Glengarry family, and only surrendered by them iu consideration for the people who were con- stitute guardians dit greatese kings.r th ou y sb f o t " 124 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MARCH ]a, 18??. is the actual silver case, or fertory, referred to by Booce, which the Bruce had in his tent the night before the battle of Bannockburn, to which the arm-bon e sain s miraculouslth f wa to e y restored divine n tokei ,th f neo favoue royath lo t r cause, whe e faithlesth n r disloyao s l priest hads a , Bellenden expresse , "broughsit tume th t fielde th cai ,n si dredone d that the rellik sold be tint in the field, quhere sae greit jeopardeis apperit/ It is manifest, at any rate, from the royal letter of James III., that, so e yeaearlth rs ya 1487 e Quigricth , acknowledges hwa havo dt e been i the keepin Doiree th e tym f th gf o Kins o en "se g Eober e Bruys,th t " and the belief of Alexander Dewar, the last of. its hereditary custodians s thai s ancestohi t s selecte battle s keepewa e rclosth it th f s edet o a a r because of special military services rendered to his royal master on that eventful day. It is creditable to the race that they have so faithfully maintained their trust in poverty and exile; have more than once, since their arrival.in Canada, rejected pecuniary offers sufficiently large to strongly test their fidelity, and only now resign the custody of the sacred relic in orde securo t r s restoratioeit Scotlando nt . vague Th e drea f evido l befallin e faithlesgth s custodia sacreo s f no da trust has not been without its influence on the retention of the crook of St Fillan, through good and evil fortune, in the keeping of its hereditary guardians. This, along wit e genuinth h e spiri f veneratioo t lase th t f no e Scottisoth f h Dewar f Strathfillano s , afforded some guarantes it r fo e eighty-sevents hi n i w no s i hn year sucma d d an h: ol senti e th safety t - Bu . ments are not likely to form any portion of the inheritance of his Canadian heirs. His son smiled when I asked how far such feelings were recip- rocated by the younger generation-. It is vain, indeed, to imagine that their New World training could foster such ideas. The charm was broken when the Quigrich and its custodian were expatriated; and the only stimulus revivae th o f t suco l h obsolete sentiments depende thein do r influencn i e enhancin e marketablth g e valu f thio e s singular family inheritanceI . have accordingly looked forward with anxiety to the transfer of its custody to a younger generation as the mere transitional stage to its acquisition Barnumy b somr o , e other American curiosit ys las it hunter to s stag d ean ; of degradation would be as a showman's prize, before its final passing to the melting, pot. Once it is safely restored to Scotland, very different anticipatee b w Quigrice fortuneth no r y dI venturfo r hma s ;fo thino et k NOTICE OK THE QUIGlilCH OK CItOZLEB OF ST F1LLAN. 125 thau possesyo t s vernationaw fe y l relic f greateo s r antiquit r moro y e genuine interest. Its associations with the Scottish monarchy are older than the Kegalia, so sacredly guarded in the Castle of Edinburgh ; while more sacred memories carry bac primitive fance th th k o yt e missionaries of the Christian faith, when the son of St Kentigerna, of the royal race of Leinster, withdrew to the wilderness of Glendocharfc, and there initiated the good work which has ever since made Strathfillan, with its ruined cell, its miraculous pool, and its no less potent hell, famous in the legendary history of the early Scottish Church.