rethought
Maryculter
The Templar Kirkyard at Maryculter
The Order of the Knights Templars, whose function was to protect those on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, was introduced to Scotland in 1128 by David I. The Order was given extensive grants of land and the Knights in their white cloaks decorated with the scarlet cross of the Order soon became familiar figures throughout Scotland.
The Knights Templars first gained land on Deeside in the late 12th century when William the Lion, King of the Scots, granted them that portion of the lands of Culter which lay on the south side of the River Dee. Around 1225 Walter Bisset established a Preceptory of Templars on these lands and in 1287 the Templars built a chapel here dedicated to their patron, St. Mary, the Blessed Virgin. As there was already a chapel dedicated to St. Peter on the north side of the Dee, Culter was then divided into two parished, Peterculter to the north of the river and Maryculter to the south.
The Order became extremely wealthy and powerful and in 1312 was abolished by Philip IV of France in conjunction with Pope Clement V after being accused of plotting to overthrow various European thrones. All the Templars' possession in Scotland, including the lands of Maryculter, passed to the Order of the Knights Hospitallers, sometimes knowen as the Knights of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem. The Hospitallers, who wore black cloaks with a white cross, prosperred until the time of the Reformation when the Order was dissolved and thier lands passed to the Crown.
The Knights Hospitallers of Maryculter had, however, in q1535 taken advantage of an Act of Parliament which permitted them to feu their lands to "men of substance": Kingcausie was feued to the Irvines, Auchlonles to the Collisons and Blairs to the Menzies. In 1827 John Menzies gifted Blairfs to the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland to establish a college for boys wishing to become priests. The tower and spire of the college and its chapel may be glimpsed through the trees from the South Deeside Road. The college closed in 1986.
The Church of St. Mary, which the Templars built on the haught of the Dee in the late 13th century, remained in use until 1782 when a new parish church was erected about one kilometre to the south.
An air of tranquility prevails within the high sheltering walls of this ancient kirkyard. The plant known as Cuckoo Pint or Lords and Ladies (Arum maculatum), which was brought by the Hospitallers from the Holy Land and grown in their herb garden for medicinal use, still flourishes below the horse chestnut trees. The fragmentary ruins of the Chaple of St. Mary built by the Knights Templars lie in the centre of the kirkyard. There are no other visible remains of the Preceptory buildings but it is believed that the vaulted basement of the Preceptor's lodging may have been incorporated into the 17th Ha' House, now part of Maryculter House Hotel.
The chapel, comprising a single chamber approximately 23m long by 7m wide, was a simple and dignified Gothic structure typical of late 13th century churches in this area. Examination of the ruin and of the few remaining molded stones lying within it suggests that it was similar to the Chapel of St. Mary of the Storms at Cowie, near Stonehaven, which dates from 1276.
Built into the south wall of the chapel is an unusually fine piscina with a delicately fluted bowl carried by a small shaft. Effigies of a knight in armour and his lady, beutifully carved in freestone, once lay within the ruined chapel. the knight's head rested upon a helmet and the lady's upon an embroidered cushion. A little dog lay at the feet of each effigy. The effigies, believed to be of Gilbert Menzies, who feued the lands of Blairs from the Hospitallers in 1535, and his wife, Marjory, were removed to the West Kirk of St. Nicholas, Aberdeen, around 1890. Gilbert, one of a long line of the Menzies family promenent in Aberdeen civic life, was Provost of the city for 25 years.
Within the walls of the chapel are buried the Irvine-Boswells and the Irvine-Fortescues, descendants of the first laird of Kingscausie, Henry Irvine, who was granted the feu of the land by the Hospitallers in 1535. Among those who rest here is John Irvine-Boswell, who introduced modern methods of agriculture and did much to improve the fertility of the estate. His epitaph describes him as "a man who walked with God and loved his Saviour, who in a careless time was not ashamed of his religion, but bore a good Testimony". After his death in 1860 his widow erected the prominent Boswell Tower on the Hill of Auchlee (some 5 kilometres to the southeast) to his memory. Here also is the grave of Ann Johnston, "nurse and friend of the Fortescue family" for 45 years.
Below the mossy turf of the kirkyard are innumerable graves, many of which are unmarked. Several early stones, such as the one illustrated here, are beautifully decorated. Many inscriptions have been rendered illegible with the passage of time but a ?? of those still discernible yields much of interest. Clustered together are stones commemorating several generations of a family, such as those of the Shepherds and the Donalds, farmers in the district since the early 18th century. Below the yews to the west of the old kirk rest the Duguids, descendants of Isobel Barclay Irvine Fortescue; and Peter Duguid.
South of the ruined kirk will be found the graves of Alexander Gordon, his wife and family. A stone in memory of his third son, Richard Lewis Hobart, a midshipman, tells that he drowned at the wreck of HMS Challenger off the coast of Chile on 20th May 1835 "in the performance of a dangerous service remitted to the safety of his shipmates, for which he had volunteered". Nearby is a railed enclosure, the burial place of the Hectors: here Susanna Davidson was laid to rest in 1819, "leaving a husband and twelve affectionate children to lament her loss and emulate her virtues". A table shaped stone in memory of the Reverend John Glennie, minister at Dalmaik for 13 years and, at Maryculter for 39 years, bears a lengthy inscription in Latin exsulting his virtues, it tell that he died in peace "after a life spent in preaching the Gospel, instructing the young and bringing up his children to live well and happily". Closer to the south boundary wall is the headstone erected in memory of Uphemia Arthur, who died in 1835 aged 102 years.
Several stones display winged souls, skulls, crossed bones, crossed spades and turfcutters, and hourglasses. Of particular interest are two stone in memory of young people which show the hourglass in a horizontal position, symbolising that they died before the sands of time had run out naturally. Trade emblems are rare in this kirkyard but the headstone of Alexander Ethershank, "late smith in Cr?? who died the 19 day of August 1776 aged 71 years" has the ?? and hammer of the Hammermen. The back of a stone commemorating Alexander Grant, a farmer who died in 1798, bears the sack and ?? of the plough alongside some excellent and uncommon mortality symbols where the bones are crossed with the sextion's tools.
Maryculter
The Templar Kirkyard at Maryculter
The Order of the Knights Templars, whose function was to protect those on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, was introduced to Scotland in 1128 by David I. The Order was given extensive grants of land and the Knights in their white cloaks decorated with the scarlet cross of the Order soon became familiar figures throughout Scotland.
The Knights Templars first gained land on Deeside in the late 12th century when William the Lion, King of the Scots, granted them that portion of the lands of Culter which lay on the south side of the River Dee. Around 1225 Walter Bisset established a Preceptory of Templars on these lands and in 1287 the Templars built a chapel here dedicated to their patron, St. Mary, the Blessed Virgin. As there was already a chapel dedicated to St. Peter on the north side of the Dee, Culter was then divided into two parished, Peterculter to the north of the river and Maryculter to the south.
The Order became extremely wealthy and powerful and in 1312 was abolished by Philip IV of France in conjunction with Pope Clement V after being accused of plotting to overthrow various European thrones. All the Templars' possession in Scotland, including the lands of Maryculter, passed to the Order of the Knights Hospitallers, sometimes knowen as the Knights of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem. The Hospitallers, who wore black cloaks with a white cross, prosperred until the time of the Reformation when the Order was dissolved and thier lands passed to the Crown.
The Knights Hospitallers of Maryculter had, however, in q1535 taken advantage of an Act of Parliament which permitted them to feu their lands to "men of substance": Kingcausie was feued to the Irvines, Auchlonles to the Collisons and Blairs to the Menzies. In 1827 John Menzies gifted Blairfs to the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland to establish a college for boys wishing to become priests. The tower and spire of the college and its chapel may be glimpsed through the trees from the South Deeside Road. The college closed in 1986.
The Church of St. Mary, which the Templars built on the haught of the Dee in the late 13th century, remained in use until 1782 when a new parish church was erected about one kilometre to the south.
An air of tranquility prevails within the high sheltering walls of this ancient kirkyard. The plant known as Cuckoo Pint or Lords and Ladies (Arum maculatum), which was brought by the Hospitallers from the Holy Land and grown in their herb garden for medicinal use, still flourishes below the horse chestnut trees. The fragmentary ruins of the Chaple of St. Mary built by the Knights Templars lie in the centre of the kirkyard. There are no other visible remains of the Preceptory buildings but it is believed that the vaulted basement of the Preceptor's lodging may have been incorporated into the 17th Ha' House, now part of Maryculter House Hotel.
The chapel, comprising a single chamber approximately 23m long by 7m wide, was a simple and dignified Gothic structure typical of late 13th century churches in this area. Examination of the ruin and of the few remaining molded stones lying within it suggests that it was similar to the Chapel of St. Mary of the Storms at Cowie, near Stonehaven, which dates from 1276.
Built into the south wall of the chapel is an unusually fine piscina with a delicately fluted bowl carried by a small shaft. Effigies of a knight in armour and his lady, beutifully carved in freestone, once lay within the ruined chapel. the knight's head rested upon a helmet and the lady's upon an embroidered cushion. A little dog lay at the feet of each effigy. The effigies, believed to be of Gilbert Menzies, who feued the lands of Blairs from the Hospitallers in 1535, and his wife, Marjory, were removed to the West Kirk of St. Nicholas, Aberdeen, around 1890. Gilbert, one of a long line of the Menzies family promenent in Aberdeen civic life, was Provost of the city for 25 years.
Within the walls of the chapel are buried the Irvine-Boswells and the Irvine-Fortescues, descendants of the first laird of Kingscausie, Henry Irvine, who was granted the feu of the land by the Hospitallers in 1535. Among those who rest here is John Irvine-Boswell, who introduced modern methods of agriculture and did much to improve the fertility of the estate. His epitaph describes him as "a man who walked with God and loved his Saviour, who in a careless time was not ashamed of his religion, but bore a good Testimony". After his death in 1860 his widow erected the prominent Boswell Tower on the Hill of Auchlee (some 5 kilometres to the southeast) to his memory. Here also is the grave of Ann Johnston, "nurse and friend of the Fortescue family" for 45 years.
Below the mossy turf of the kirkyard are innumerable graves, many of which are unmarked. Several early stones, such as the one illustrated here, are beautifully decorated. Many inscriptions have been rendered illegible with the passage of time but a ?? of those still discernible yields much of interest. Clustered together are stones commemorating several generations of a family, such as those of the Shepherds and the Donalds, farmers in the district since the early 18th century. Below the yews to the west of the old kirk rest the Duguids, descendants of Isobel Barclay Irvine Fortescue; and Peter Duguid.
South of the ruined kirk will be found the graves of Alexander Gordon, his wife and family. A stone in memory of his third son, Richard Lewis Hobart, a midshipman, tells that he drowned at the wreck of HMS Challenger off the coast of Chile on 20th May 1835 "in the performance of a dangerous service remitted to the safety of his shipmates, for which he had volunteered". Nearby is a railed enclosure, the burial place of the Hectors: here Susanna Davidson was laid to rest in 1819, "leaving a husband and twelve affectionate children to lament her loss and emulate her virtues". A table shaped stone in memory of the Reverend John Glennie, minister at Dalmaik for 13 years and, at Maryculter for 39 years, bears a lengthy inscription in Latin exsulting his virtues, it tell that he died in peace "after a life spent in preaching the Gospel, instructing the young and bringing up his children to live well and happily". Closer to the south boundary wall is the headstone erected in memory of Uphemia Arthur, who died in 1835 aged 102 years.
Several stones display winged souls, skulls, crossed bones, crossed spades and turfcutters, and hourglasses. Of particular interest are two stone in memory of young people which show the hourglass in a horizontal position, symbolising that they died before the sands of time had run out naturally. Trade emblems are rare in this kirkyard but the headstone of Alexander Ethershank, "late smith in Cr?? who died the 19 day of August 1776 aged 71 years" has the ?? and hammer of the Hammermen. The back of a stone commemorating Alexander Grant, a farmer who died in 1798, bears the sack and ?? of the plough alongside some excellent and uncommon mortality symbols where the bones are crossed with the sextion's tools.