Chronicles of Strathearn Part 4

Both as to size and shape the stone is similar to the quaint early 17th century "head-stones" in the older portion of the graveyard around Dunning Church.

Something must be written of the bells which have been connected, at one time or another, with the Church of Dunning. One bell, no longer in the Tower, came to sudden grief when discharging its duty on a certain happy occasion. The Master of Rollo of the time, who was living at Masterfield, having been blessed with four daughters, but no son and heir, was met one evening by a messenger bringing the welcome news that a son had just been born to him. "Go," he said, "and make the bell ring till it crack." The order was literally obeyed--a broken bell being the result. Its fragments having been taken to Duncrub, were, many years after, re-cast into a bell, now used in connection with the private chapel there. The inscription on the cracked bell, for a copy of which the writer is indebted to the present Lord Rollo, was of a very interesting and suggestive nature. Round the top were the words--"Soli Deo Gloria. Joannes Oaderogge me fecit. Roterodami, 1681"; and on the body of the bell, the following words placed thus:--

"HAEC AD EVANGELIUM HOC AD CHRISTUM HIC AD CAELUM VOCAT PBCCATORES."[16]

His Lords.h.i.+p adds--"The bell, I believe, was in a vessel that was captured in the American War, and it was brought here by my predecessor, Andrew, fifth Lord Rollo.... It was broken in April, 1773, and I had it re-cast by Mears in 1860, with the original inscription replaced."

Of much interest, also, are the two bells still in the Tower of Dunning Church. The older and smaller bears the Dutch inscription:--"IC BEN GHEGOTEN INE IAER ONS HEEREN MCCCCCXXVI."[17] But in addition to this, the bell shows a two-fold representation that seems to give it a value quite unique. What we have is--(1) a scallop-sh.e.l.l,[18] on which are three figures--a central-seated figure, and two smaller figures kneeling alongside. The central figure seems to hold something, which may be a book, in the left hand close to the breast. The right hand is extended, and seems to hold a staff and a garland. The figure has a _nimbus_, and a curious triangular head-dress. (2) On the side opposite the sh.e.l.l and figures is what appears to be a representation of the Virgin and Child, alongside of which is a figure of the Crucifixion.[19] This old bell is used to announce the half-hour as measured on the Steeple Clock,[20] as also to tell the living that the mortal remains of some brother or sister are about to be laid beneath the turf.

The large bell--used to announce the services of the church, and, through the kindness of Lady Rollo, to ring at "matins" and at "even-song"--is of very full tone. It was a gift to the church by a highly-respected heritor of the parish, and bears this inscription:--

"T. Mears of London fecit.

"This Bell was presented to the Parish Church of Dunning by Mark Howard Drummond, Esq. of Kelty, Major of the 72nd Regiment of Albany Highlanders, in token of his attachment to his native parish, and of his zeal to promote religious, industrious, and early habits among the paris.h.i.+oners.--August 3d, 1825."

Mention has already been made of the fact that the patron Saint of Dunning was S. SERF. The same Saint had churches dedicated to him at Monivaird (Monzievaird), at Creich, and at Dysart. But, inasmuch as he seems to have lived for some considerable time at Dunning, and also to have died there, perhaps this is the most fitting place for a page or two as to his history.

That he was a real historic personage does not admit of doubt; but the exact time at which he acted his part on the world's stage is involved in great obscurity. The legends of him are very conflicting, so much so, that it has been supposed by some that there were two S. Serfs. It is the legends, however, that are two-fold, and not the Saint. According to the Aberdeen Breviary, and writers who follow its guidance, S. Serva.n.u.s, or S. Serf, or S. Serb, or (in Aberdeens.h.i.+re) S. Sair, belonged to the 5th century, and was the disciple of S. Palladius; others putting him a little further on, and making him out to have been the instructor of S.

Kentigern at Culross. But most people who carefully read the pages of Skene[21] will be satisfied that S. Serva.n.u.s belongs to a later period still. It so happens that there is preserved in the Marsh M.S., Dublin, and printed in Skene's _Chronicles of the Picts and Scots_ (p. 412, ff.), a Life of the Saint, which, notwithstanding some excessively wild and incredible-looking stories mixed up with it, is the only life of his that is consistent with itself and with otherwise-ascertained contemporary facts. This life makes the Saint contemporary with Ad.a.m.nan, Abbot of Iona, who belonged to the 7th century, and with Brude, son of Dargart, King of the Picts. According to Skene,[22] this Brude, son of Dargart, may be identified with Brude, son of Derile, who reigned from 697 to 706, and preceded that Nectan, son of Derile, who expelled the Columban monks from his kingdom. And confirmatory proof of this identification being correct is furnished by Gray's _Scalacronica_, which has under this Brude that we have been referring to--"En quel temps veint Serva.n.u.s en Fine."[23] Moreover, in the Chartulary of S. Andrews there is reference to an early charter of the Celtic period, by which "Brude, son of Dergard, gives the Isle of Lochlevine to the Omnipotent G.o.d, and to Saint Serva.n.u.s, and to the Keledei hermits dwelling there, who are serving, and shall serve G.o.d in that island."

According, then, to the life in the Marsh Library M.S.--the life which, its many wild accounts notwithstanding, seems most free from anachronisms--the Saint is the son of Obeth, King of Canaan, and Alpia, daughter of the King of Arabia. His father dying, he gives up his right to the throne in favour of his twin brother Generatius, takes orders, and is appointed Bishop of the Cananeans. After twenty years as Bishop in that region, admonished by an angel, he comes to Jerusalem, where he is Patriarch for seven years. He then goes to Constantinople, and thence to Rome, where, for seven years, he reigns as Pope. Quitting Rome, and accompanied by a band of pilgrims, he makes his way into regions remote and crosses the Mare Icteum (Straits of Dover) dryshod, and, after travelling from place to place, arrives at the Forth. Ad.a.m.nan, who, at the time, was an abbot in Scotland, receives him with great honours on the island of Inchkeith, and afterwards gave him, as his field of labour, Fife, and from the Mons Britannicus to the Mons Okhel (from the mount of the Britons to the Ochils.) He is next found at Kinel, then at Culenros, where he met King Brude and founded a church; then at an island, in Loch Leven, where he meets Ad.a.m.nan and has the island presented to him. After constructing churches throughout the whole region of Fife, and labouring for years in the province a.s.signed to him, and at many other places, he died at Dunning, and was buried at Culross. The deeds ascribed to S.

Serf are certainly astounding, and the stories a.s.sociated with him extraordinarily "wild"; still, as the scenes of not a few of them are laid at places in the Ochils district, and, accordingly, "Near the Pictish Capital," it may not be inappropriate if a few of them are rehea.r.s.ed here.[24]

At Tuligbotuan (Tullybody) the Devil, having entered into a poor man, filled him with an insatiable appet.i.te. He ate and ate, and still the wolf within craved for more. Though he consumed a cow and a calf, a sheep and a lamb, all was of no avail. At length, when the family were eaten "out of house and hall," his relatives take him to S. Serf, who clapped his thumb[25] into the man's mouth, which immediately satisfied him--the Devil flying out of him with a howl.

At Alveth (Alvah) Serva.n.u.s and his company lodged, on one occasion, at the house of a very poor man, who had nothing to put before them but his one pig. It was forthwith cut up and eaten, the bones, however, being carefully preserved from being broken. Next morning, to the great delight and surprise of the poor man, the pig came grunting to the door, restored to flesh, and life by the Saint.

At Atheren (Airthrey) a robber, one night, broke into S. Serf's cell, and, finding a sheep roasted in his larder, comfortably sat down and entirely consumed it. Next day Serva.n.u.s met the fellow and charged him with the robbery. The man swore innocence, but it was of no use; he was instantly convicted, for the wether bleated in his bowels.

At Dunning, S. Serf is said to have healed three blind, three lame, and three deaf men. But his great feat here was killing the dragon. (Had no princes or knights come to Forteviot as yet, that such work was left to the priest?) The story, as given in the Marsh M.S., is as follows:--"At that time the Saint was in his cell at Dunning (_in cella Dunenensi_), and news was brought to him that a dragon, great and terrible, and very loathsome (_deterrimus_), was coming into his towns.h.i.+p (_civitatem suam_), whose aspect no mortal could suffer. Saint Serva.n.u.s, however, coming out to meet it, and taking his staff in his right hand, fought with the dragon in a certain valley, and killed it. From that day, moreover, that valley was called the Valley of the Dragon."[26]

The circ.u.mstances connected with the Saint's death and burial are touchingly described. The holy man, after many miracles, after divers works, after founding many churches in Christ, when his peace had been given to his brethren in his cell at Dunning, gave up and commended his spirit to the most High Creator on the first day of the Kalends of July.

After his death his disciples and the people of nearly the whole province carried his body to Culenross (Culross), and there, with psalms and hymns (ymnis) and chantings (canticis), honourably buried him, where flourish his merits, and the virtues of his merits unto this day--to the glory and honour of the Omnipotent G.o.d, who in the Perfect Trinity liveth and reigneth through endless ages of ages.

Only the limits of s.p.a.ce forbid allusion to additional features of considerable importance near the Pictish Capital, and connected with the parish of Dunning. Room, however, must be found for stating that, as is to be expected, Dunning, like other places in Strathearn, is not without interesting traces of the "Rising" of 1715. In the Session records, under date 18th September, 1715, there is the following entry:--"There was no sermon this day, and for several Sabbaths following, on account of the commotions that were in the county by reason of Mar's unnatural rebellion." When Mar quitted the field of Sheriffmuir, he, on the 12th November, 1715, withdrew his army into Angus, and in order to hinder the progress of the Royalist forces, he burned down all the villages on the line of march as far as Perth. The villagers of Dunning, actuated by the same feelings as led the citizens of London to erect the "Monument" after the great fire of 1666, planted a thorn tree to commemorate the destruction of their village. This ancient tree, standing in the square opposite the east approach to the manse, is well protected, and is likely to be spared to tell its memorable story to generations to come.

[1] _Hwonam et Nechtan et Phinguineghert_.--(See Skene's _Chronicles of the Picts and Scots_, p. 185).

[2] _Decimam partem de urbe Fortevieth_.--(See Skene's _Chronicles of the Picts and Scots_, p. 185).

[3] This word, originally, was the name applied by the Romans to their public halls, either of justice or of exchange. Inasmuch as the early Christian Churches generally followed the ground plan of these buildings, such churches long retained the same appellation.

[4] Other chronicles give the place as Scone.--(See Skene's _Chronicles of the Picts and Scots_, p. 174).

[5] Both palace and church would be within the King's Rath or circular fortification.

[6] "The custom of placing a cross over the doorway of a Christian building may be traced back to the sixth century in Palestine, where the Chi-Rho monogram occurs on the lintels of the doorways of the houses.

The meaning of the symbolism is explained by the blood of the lamb, which was struck upon the lintels of the doors of the houses of the Israelites in Egypt at the Pa.s.sover (Gen. xii., 21-23), and our Lord's words--'I am the door, by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved,' (John x., 9)."--(J. Romilly Allen's _Christian Symbolism_, p. 238).

A good example of such a cross is on the lintel of the doorway of a 7th century church at Fore, Co. West Meath; and another, equally good, is on the doorway of one of the oldest churches in Ireland, on High Island, off the coast of Connemara. In connection with the Round Towers at Antrim and at Brechin there are similar crosses.

[7] See _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_ (Vol.

xxvi., p. 438.) Dr Wilson, in his _Dunning: its Parochial History_, states that the large figure with the sword "is said to be a representation of Alexander the First, who died in the year 1124" (p. 3.)

[8] Sir Herbert Maxwell, in his _Scottish Land-Names: their Origin and Meaning_, gives as the derivation of Duncrub, the old Gaelic dun craeb=hill of the trees.

[9] Otherwise spelt _Mormaer_. Except that the const.i.tuent elements are inverted, it is the same word as _Maormor_ (Gael. _maer, maor_, a steward, and _mor_, great), and was the ancient name for a royal steward of high dignity, placed by a Scottish king over a province, and acting as a royal deputy.

[10] Robertson's _Early Kings_ (Vol. I., p. 77).

[11] Sir Herbert Maxwell states that dun in its original and restricted sense means "Enclosure or fortress, being closely related to A.S. tun, Eng. town.... The diminutive, or noun plural, yields innumerable names, like _Dinnans_ and _Dinnance_, in Ayrs.h.i.+re and Galloway; _Duning_ and _Dinnings_ in Dumfriess.h.i.+re; and _Downan_, near Ballantrae." Ought not Sir Herbert to have added _Dunnin_ or _Dunning_, in Perths.h.i.+re?

[12] See _Dunning: its Parochial History_, p. 4.

[13] The marks of a gable of a former nave with a very highly-pitched roof are still distinctly seen on the Tower.

[14] The word here used, occasionally spelt _ferm_, sometimes means not so much a piece of land turned to agricultural use and cultivated by owner or tenant, as _an account, a reckoning_: It is akin to _farm_ from the A.S. fearm or feorm=food, a meal. A trustworthy authority says that the meaning of farm "arose from the original practice of letting lands, on condition that the tenant should supply his lord's household with so many nights' entertainment." Hence "Reddet firmam trium noctium." (He will supply three nights' entertainment).--_Doomsday Book_.

[15] Here, out of darkness Light shone. Therefore the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost [shall be] my G.o.d, and the name of this place Light.

[16] This [bell] calls sinners to the Gospel, it to Christ, He to Heaven.

[17] I was born in the year of our Lord, 1526.

[18] In heraldry a scallop-sh.e.l.l is the badge of a pilgrim. It is the symbol of S. James the Greater, who is generally represented in pilgrim's garb. In this sense it is sometimes written _Escallop_.

[19] The writer is indebted to Dr Joseph Anderson for kindly examining two casts of these figures, carefully prepared by Mr James Henderson, F.S.A., Scot., Dunning.

[20] Erected by public subscription, and inaugurated 3rd November, 1890.

(For architectural correctness, its four dials are omitted in Mr Ross's drawing of the Tower).

[21] See his _Celtic Scotland_, p. 31, ff.

[22] See _Celtic Scotland_, p. 259.

[23] See _Chronicles of the Picts and Scots_, p. 201.

[24]In telling one or two of these stories, we have tried to combine with the Marsh M.S. version the somewhat fuller details of the Aberdeen Breviary.

[25] Baring Gould (_Lives of the Saints_. London, 1874), using probably a version of the legend reading _pulicem_, instead of _pollicem suum_, has _clapped a flea into the man's mouth_.

[26] The Dragon is the name still given to that part of the parish in which is situated the Village of Newtown of Pitcairns.