Open Research Online The Open University’s repository of research publications and other research outputs A Comparative Study of the Responses of Three Highland Communities to the Disruption in the Church of Scotland in 1843 Thesis How to cite: Dineley, Margaret Anne (2005). A Comparative Study of the Responses of Three Highland Communities to the Disruption in the Church of Scotland in 1843. PhD thesis The Open University. For guidance on citations see FAQs. c 2005 The Author https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Version: Version of Record Link(s) to article on publisher’s website: http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21954/ou.ro.0000e8cc Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online’s data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. oro.open.ac.uk L).N(tc STR kc'1"c, r7 A Comparative Study of the Responses of Three Highland Communities to the Disruption in the Church of Scotland in 1843. Margaret Anne Dincley B. A., M. A. Thesis Submitted to the Open University in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Sponsoring Establishment - U11I Millennium Institute. 30thSeptember 2003 - Revisions May 2005. 10-16 2,4-5 ýL', -T- -r ý5 SýMCC(i QATS of, SkbrýýSýaý, '. 2aýý (2ff Ev ABSTRACT. This study, positioned within the historiography of the Disruption, is responding to a recognisedneed for pursuing local studies in the searchfor explanationsfor reactionsto the Disruption. Accepting the value of comparison and contextualisation and assuming a case study approach,it has selectedthree particular Highland communitiesin order to discoverhow they actually responded to the Disruption and why. Contrasting responsesto the event furnished the determinant for selection, the parish being the elected geographicaldimension In since the relationship to a specific church and minister can be readily determined. the in attempt to discover why reactions differed the exploration of the dynamics of life each level community, the multiplicity, complexity and interplay between factors operating at this broad to elicit specific responses,should likewise point to the varying applicability of generalisationsin local contexts. To contextualisethe thesis, the rationale for the study is precededby an exploration into the historiography of the Disruption. A description of the local scenario around the time of the event ensues, followed by chapters presenting evidence concerning the environment experienced by parishioners, acknowledging the comparative aspect. The socio-economic background covers such information as population distribution, occupational profiles and domestic milieu and the cultural milieu absorbs elements such as education, language, perceived behavioural characteristics,customs and beliefs. The religious scene incorporates The material on history, physical settings for worship and bodies or individuals of influence. noteworthy themesof spirituality, revivals and ministers and their kinship networks are then factors given specific consideration. The study concludes with a summary of the web of contributing to responsesto the Disruption in the three parishesand a systematiccomparison of the applicability therein of the various hypothesesoutlined in the introduction. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. I owe a debt of gratitude to a numberof individuals and bodies. Firstly, I want to mention the UHI Millennium Institute, without whose generoussponsorship I would not have beenable to pursuemy research.Secondly, I wish to expressmy grateful thanks to my Director of Studies, Dr. Robert Stradling, for his untiring support, advice and encouragement.Thirdly, I name in gratitude the other two membersof my supervisory team, Dr. Henry Sefton, whose valuable commentson the religious backgroundhave helped me to avoid any Presbyterianpitfalls, and ProfessorDonald Meek, my Gaelic adviser, who not only has furnished translations for this non-Gaelic speakerbut, through his intimate knowledge of `Highland culture,' has furnished me with invaluableadvice in this field. I have also received support and advice from staff, not all of whom I can name, in a number of libraries and other institutions, As regards libraries, the Scottish Room of Edinburgh City Library on George IV Bridge, Inverness City Library, Portree Library and the Library of Sabhal Mör Ostaig on Skye (Christine and Gordon) have been rich sources of information. Prominent among the helpful institutions have been the National Archive of Scotland in Edinburgh, The Clan Donald Centre at Armadale, Skye (Margaret Macdonald and staff), the Highland Region Archive in Inverness (Bob Steward and staff), The Highland Theological College, Dingwall (both teaching and library staff), the Highland Council Archive at Portree, Raasay Heritage Trust, Tain Museum and Archive and the Free Church College, Edinburgh. I am also grateful to the Reverend John Ferguson, Church of Scotland minister, Portree, the Reverend Ian Reid, Church of Scotland minister, Broadford, Peter Fulton and Catriona Maclean, elders in the Church of Scotland, Broadford and Neil MacKinnon, local historian from Elgol, Skye, for their time and supportive information. Last, but not least, I owe heartfelt thanks to my long-suffering husband,Brian, for his patience and support and for editing the final manuscript. CONTENTS. Page. Chapter 1. Contextualising The Study. 1. Chapter 2. The Rationale For The Study. 44. Chapter 3. Socio-economic Background. Setting, Population, Communication, Occupation and Domestic Milieu. 70. Chapter 4. Cultural Milieu. Education, Language, Customs and Beliefs. 122. Chapter 5. Religious Background. History, Other Denominations and Physical SettingsFor Worship. 161. Chapter6. Religious Background.The People. 180. Chapter 7. Spirituality. 220. Chapter 8. Revivals. 266. Chapter 9. Ministerial Networks and Kinship. 285. Chapter 10. Summary and Conclusions. 307. Bibliography. i. 1 CHAPTER 1. CONTEXTUALISING THE STUDY. 1. Background to the Disruption. On May 180' 1843 numerous ministers and elders of the Church of Scotland `left St. Andrew's Church in George Street in Edinburgh, which was the meeting place of the 1843 General Assembly........ and marched down to Tanfield Hall in Canonmills. There they constituted the " first Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland. Ansdell affirms that approximately 470 of the 1195 Church of Scotland ministers seceded and that shortly afterwards 800 congregations of this newly established denomination existed within Scotland, numbering between 750,000 and 2 800,000 people. Although these figures are admittedly approximations and other writers furnish slight variations, Lynch, for example, quoting a figure of 454 seceding ministers3 and 4 Burleigh asserting that 451 out of 1203 ministers left the Establishment, nevertheless they provide a good indication of the scale of this well-documented event. In recent years there has been a shift in the historiography of the Disruption away from a concern with competing causal hypotheses to a more holistic concern with reconstructing the mosaic of influences and factors contributing to the split within the church. Investigation of such factors has been undertaken on both a nationwide basis, as, for instance, in the work of Drummond and Bulloch, and also on a regional or more local level, as exemplified in the studies by Hillis and MacLaren. Spiritual, disputes over religious practices, religio-political, socio-political, socio-economic and cultural facets are among the elements which have been identified, specific examples including the spiritual headship of the Church, the legacy of the Covenants, the influence of the Enlightenment, theological disputes, changes in socio- i Ansdell, Douglas(1998a), p. 62- 2 Ibid., p.56. 3 Lynch, Michael (1992), p.397. I3urleigh,J. II. S. (1960), p352. 2 economic structures and the political climate, as well as the precipitating `triggers' sparking off the walk out led by Chalmers. Patronage was a particularly divisive issue. This system gave the recognised patron, often a major landowner or the Crown, the right of presenting a minister to the parish church without recourse to parishioners' wishes. William and Mary removed this right at the time of the `Glorious Revolution' of 1690, when the General Assembly finally replaced bishops as the apex of the church courts. However, an Act of Queen Anne (1712) restored patronage. The issue of patronage and the question of the state's role in religion are reflected in the secessions which occurred during the eighteenth century, although it can be broadly argued that Protestantism is `potentially more fissile than Catholicism because almost anyone can lay claim to legitimate authority. 'S According to Donaldson, the First or Original Secession Church, a development of 1733, parted from the Establishment on the basis of `conservative theology and a revival of the Covenants.'6 Hume Brown, however, considers the initial stimulus was controversy over a patronage anomaly concerning the `respective rights of patrons and congregations in the election of ministers. '7 Lynch concurs, noting that the Church of Scotland deposed the breakaway group under Ebenezer Erskine in 1740. Nonetheless he acknowledges their Covenanting links by observing that they celebrated in 1743 by renewing the `Solemn League and Covenant at its centenary.'8 By the close of the century, these significant dissenters had embraced differing and complex attitudes