288 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, APRIL 9, 1923.

IV.

NOTES ON THE DUIRINISH COMMUNION CUPS. BY FRED . MACLEODT . , P.S.A.ScoT.

On the 16th of June 1886 an interesting and valuable paper, entitled " Notic f Communioeo n Cups from Duirinish, Skye (fig wit, .1) h Notef so other Set f Scottisso h Church Plat whicf eo h Specimens were Exhibited," was read befor e Societth e y Normab y n Macpherson, LL.D., Sherif f Dumfrieo f d an s Galloway, Professo f Scoto r s Law, University of Edinburgh, F.P.S.A.Scot. The following notes intendee amplification a ar e b o dt partiad nan l correction of Professor Macpherson's contri- bution, and are based on information which, although availabl e timeth f inquirt i ,a e d yha been addressed to the proper quarter, was not e possessioth n i f Professono r Macpherson ni 1886. The only part of Professor Macpherson's paper with which these Notes are concerned is that descriptiv e Communioth f eo n Cups from Duirinish, Skye, and the correction which re- quires to be made relates entirely to the question, not of present-day ownership, but who was the original dono f thesro whiceo t cupd han s parish was the presentation made ? In the first sentence e Proceedings,s papeth ohi f n i r . 398p vol. , xx . Professor Macpherson cups'ae referth o t ss e "th Communion Cup f Bracadale,o s foota n i - d "an note (p. 406) he states his reasons for concluding that the cups were gifted by Sir Roderick Fig. 1. Duirinish Communion MacLeo f Taliskedo parise th f Bracadalo t hro e Cup. as follows:— " Having first e cuphear th belongins sa f do g to Bracadale, I at once concluded that they were the gift of Sir Roderick of Talisker, which is situated in that parish. But anxious to test the accurac impressiony m f o y e LyoI wrot,th no t e Office, enclosina g rubbin shielde th f gavI go . informatio o en whero t s na t came i e from, nor did I say on what the arms were engraved; I merely said, ' You say Heraldr Historywhostels , ye i m be l t i e shielf i ;this. s dwa ' Lyon being NOTE THN O SE DUIHINISH COMMUNION9 28 CUPS. absent, my note fell into the hands of Mr Stodart. Next day I had this reply:—'The arms of which you send a sketch do not seem to be registered here, but Highlanders used to be a little irregular in their proceedings in armorial as well as other matters. I think it probable that this havcoay tma e been r RodericbornSi y eb k MacLeo Taliskerf do , who made a considerable figure in the reign of Charles II.'" Professor Macpherson's description of the cups, which he describes as oremarkabld f an grea e ag t e form s concisi , d accuratean e . Thee ar y recognised to be of English manufacture, with the hall-mark of 1612-13. Approachin questioe thesgth w ho e f ncupo s usee cam b r Churc dfo o et h purpose n Skyei s e dealh , s wit e evidencth h e furnishe e cupth sy b d themselves. He says:—"Engraved on each cup are the letters S.R.M. ove a shield—nor a matriculatet dMacLeoy shielan f o d d familyt bu , Lyoknow. e foun th Gentlemen'' MS nn s d i na e Office th n i , s Arms,d an ' these titled ' MacLeod of that Ilk.' The castle points not doubtfully to the family of MacLeod, to which the whole of the two parishes of Bracadal Duirinisd ean h belonge timee on s the a ,t da y grean i stil o d tl part; and the letters S.B.M. no doubt stand for Sir Roderick MacLeod; but there were two of that name arid family: (1) the well-known Rorie More leadina , ge day chie th f Jame o sn i f s VI., whose chequered career shows frequent periods of strained relations with the Government of s knowni e e dayH th ., however a freo o havt t t , e o go eg pas o t s England o havt , e bee n Londoi n r somfo n eo hav t time d e an bee, n knighte London i 1613thun e ds i H s.wa n abou vere th t y time that these cups were made e die H 1625.n di . poinn I " f fact o tr Ror r dieSi , ydMo n 1626i . Continuing, Professor Macpherson states:—"(2 youngeA ) n rso of Rorie More, to whom his father gave a long tack of the lands of Talisker, in the parish of Bracadale, he commanded a large detachment of Skye men at the battle of Worcester. He frequently appeared at the Court of Charles II. after the Restoration, and he too was knighted. The introductio Mackae th f no y stag's head int arme oth s engraven do the cups points to this Sir Roderick as the probable donor, as he married a daughter of Lord Reay, and is the only member of the Dunvegan family know havo nt e marrie dMackay.a " Fortunatel a satisfactor r yfo y solutio ne question oth f e to-daw , y are in possession of many facts which were unknown to Professor Macpherson, and these facts now fall to be stated. I take first the questio particulan i e cups e armth d th n an ,f o sne presenco th r e th f eo stag's head, which, accordin Professoo t g r Macpherson, pointer Si o t d Roderick MacLeo Taliskef do beins ra donore gth . Afte examination a r n of these arms, Stodart furthecoulo n o dg r than say:— "thinI kprobablt i e that this coat may have been borne by Sir Roderick MacLeod of Talisker." VOL. LVII. 19 1

290 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, APRIL 9, 1923. We to-day can go much further and say that these identical arms, includin e stag'th g s head, were r Rorr MacLeobornSi Mo yy b e f o d Dunvegan. The d gouryol r water-bottlappean o da n o r e whics ha h been in the possession of the MacLeods of Dunvegan from the time of r BorSi ys preservei Mor d an , d to-dae castlth n yei amon e relicgth f o s that chief. An illustration of these arms on the cups (fig. 2) and on the gourd (fig wil) 3 foun.e papeb la n di r e Societth rea o n 18tt do y e hbm y January 1913 (Proceedings, vol. xlvii. 120)d an . 9 ppeacn Abovo 11 . hd ean side of the shield on the gourd there appea e letterth r s . R.M."Sr o S " strikingly simila formatioe th s i r f no these letters on both cups and gourd that one is forced to the inference thae draughtsmath t same th s e nwa in each case. Professor Macpherson endeavours explaio t appearance nth stag'e th f seo head on the cups by the fact that Sir Roderick MacLeod of Talisker married a daughte f Loro r d Reaytrue Th e. explanation is that the MacLeods of Dunvegan r generationfo , s beforr eSi Roderic Taliskef ko r married inte oth Reay family, bor a estag' s hean i d their coat, MacLeo f MacLeoo d n i d fact being warde e royath f lno fores t of Harris. Buchanan in his Travels Fig . Arm.2 Communion so n Cup. in the Western Hebrides, published in 1793, refers specifically to the " King's Forest" in Harris, and the Privy Council Records show that James III. and James V. both hunted there. On 29th June 1542 Alexander XII., chie f MacLeodo f , appende a chartes sea hi do t l favoun i r f Joho r n MacLeod, illegitimate son of John MacLeod of Minginish, and in the seal the stag's head erased is distinctly shown. The original can be seen in the Lovat Charter Chest. I do not think it necessary, in view e abovoth f e direct evidence labouo t , e introductioe pointh th rf o t n of the' stag's head in the shield on the cups, but I am at least entitled thay t mossa ta stag'e o t th t s head only resemble arme parth e f sson o t carried by the first Lord Reay. Before leaving the question of the arms, NOTES ON THE DUIRINISH COMMUNION CUPS. 291 it is important to note that whereas the identical coat depicted on the cups appears on Sir Rory Mor's gourd and part of the coat appears upon his tombstone (fig. 4) in Fortrose Cathedral (Proceedings, vol. xlvii. p. 118), one cannot find in document, sculpture, or plate in the possession of the MacLeod e arm th f Taliske o sf s o e displayey th e cupsan rn th O n . do contrary provee e evidencb th n y examination db ca a f seal t ,i o ed an s n of Sir Roderick MacLeod of Talisker's tombstone in Eynort Churchyard,

Fig. 3. Arms on Gourd.

Skye (which I have made), -that he never displayed any arms other than the castle. e nexTh t poin f importanco t o considet e e letterinth s i r g S.R.M. above the shield on the cups. Here I am on equally firm ground. I can cite the authority of extant evidence. I have already referred to this lettering appearing on the gourd in Dunvegan Castle. The same lettering, subject again to the addition of the letter L—with a curious persistency in the character of the outline of the letters — appears abov belod ean shiele wth d engrave tombstone th n Rorr do r Si yf Mo e o in Fortrose. Still more important and direct is the documentary evidenc n Dunvegai e n Castle n describinI . e papee gourth th g n ri d read by me ten years ago, already referred to, I pointed out that subsequen receivino t t e honougth f knighthooro r RordSi y Mo*r always 292 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, APRIL 9, 1923. inserte e letteth d r " S" befor s signaturehi e . Ther e manear y signa- r Rorr preservetureSi f Mo yso d showing this change stylth f o en i e signing his name. These facts are in my opinion amply sufficient to displace the prob- abilities which were erroneously accepted by Professor Macpherson as facts. It is only fair to the memory of a learned and enthusiastic antiquary to inquire into the cause of the not unnatural mistake he made. In 1617 an Act was passed ordaining heritors to provide Communion Cups for the use of the parish, the minister of the parish and his executors under the Act being made responsible for their safe keeping. The cups from time immemorial had admittedly been in the custod ministee th e paris f yth o f f Duirinisho rho , in the parish church of which the MacLeods of Dunvegan regularly worshippe n whici d han d they took a deep interest. The late Mr John T. Mackenzie,' who was an elder of the parish church, Duirinish, for over forty years, was deputed by the Rev. Duncan M'Callu o mcarrt e Communioth y n Cups to Bracadale and carefully to bring them back to him after the celebration of the Communion. There are several people living in the parish who can support this statement from their own personal knowledge e RevTh . Roderick Morison, Kintail, informed Professor Macpherso e existencth f o n e e cupth of s whic e he hand th th wer f n o i se minister of Duirinish, the Rev. Duncan M'Callum, and the latter, at Professor Macpherson's request, Fig. 4. Arms on Rory Mor's Tombstone. sen e cupth t s to'Edinburg r examinatiohfo d nan exhibition. Professor Macpherson's own statement is:—" Having first e cuphear th s belongina sf do o Bracadale"—higt s informant bein e Revth g . Roderick Morison. From that momens hi t efforts were directed t towardno , s discoverin e accuracgth infor e th f -yo mation given to him, but towards finding evidence on the cups themselves supporo t Morison'r tM s mistaken viewpresence stag'e Th .th f seo hea d and the fact of the marriage into the Reay family quickly led the learned professo mako t r eserioua t versbu y simpl naturad ean l slip. The life history of Sir Rory Mor—ample details of which remain to us in the old documents in Dunvegan Castle—entitles one to say with some assurance that if one were left to the consideration of probabilities the weight of such evidence would be entirely one-side'd. Sir Rory Mor E DUIRINISNOTETH N O S H COMMUNION3 29 CUPS. occupie e positiodth f Chieno f from 159 1626o 6t tooe greatese H .kth t possible interes welfare e people th parish th th n ti f f en o Duirinishei o , regularld an y attende e Churc t dth MarS f ho y (Duirinish tood n an )ka interest in the ecclesiastical affairs of the parish. He received the honour of knighthood in London in the year 1613, the date of the hall-mar s highli e cups t th I yn . ko probabl s reture hi tha n o t no t Sky e brougheh e cup r presentatiotth fo wits m hhi e paris th f o o ht n Duirinish for the use of the church he worshipped in. Whether or not y connectiotheran s i e n betwee e giff thesth no t e cup o Duirinist s h and the agreement entered into by him and others in 1622 to build and repai parise th r h churchee Bishoe Isles sighe th th th f I f , o t o pt a s canno tconnectioa sayt bu , possibles ni . e Oothenth r hand have w , e practicall knowledgo yn interesy an f eo t Sir Roderick MacLeod of Talisker took in Church matters, and he did t receivno e honouth e f knighthooo r d until thirty-five years after Si r Rory Mor' e entitlesar death e o assumt dW . e tha letterine th t n o g Sir Rory Mor's tombstone in Fortrose was carved within a few years e als ar s burialo hi e e dat entitleof th W fo e . o assumt d e thae th t lettering on the gourd was put on for purposes of identification during Rorr Si y Mor' thereforse lifeW . e have this identical lettering intimately associated with Sir Rory Mor for the period of at least thirty-five years, durin whole gth f whico e r RoderichSi f Taliskeo righko n o t d t ha r prefix to his initials the letter " S." In the above circumstances, and for the reasons stated, I think it recorn e Proceedingso th t n righdi Societypu e th o t y belief tf m o s a , opposed to that of Professor Macpherson, that Sir Rory Mor MacLeod of Dunvega e e cupowne th th n question i sf s o r wa n ; tha e gifteh t d them to the parish of Duirinish for the use of the Church of St Mary between the years 1613 and 1626; that the cups have since remained e custode iincumbenth nth f yo f thao t t parish thad an , t they have neve rcustode beeincumbene th th n n i f e parisyo th f f Bracadaleo ho t , except when occasionally len occasionn to Communionf so .