The Diocese of Dunkeld

“How many years can a mountain exist, before it is washed to the sea?” wrote Bob Dylan; and sometimes institutions can be like mountains: a permanent feature in the landscape. Yet, time is a grinder and eventually all things must change – and one such behemoth that seemed firmly anchored in the lives of the people of Perthshire, but would eventually vanish, was the Diocese of Dunkeld. For centuries, bishops in their grand palace and preaching from the alter of their impressive cathedral, ruled both as priests and secular lords – but, with the Reformation of 1560 they would be wiped off the map and today little remains to remind us of this once omnipotent institution.

Dunkeld may have been an early religious settlement but there is no hard evidence for this; it seems to have been the product of regime change. In 717 King Nechtan of the Picts expelled missionary monks from Iona Abbey from his lands as part of a move to align his emerging church with Rome. New bishoprics and abbeys emerged loyal both to the king and the papacy. However, a hundred years later King Caustantin revived many of the old practices and established a new monastery on the Tay at the gateway to the Highlands, and dedicated it to St Columba. The Viking raid on Iona itself in 806 probably played a part in this decision: the king may have looked to a less vulnerable location to site his church. That said, Dunkeld would also be raided, in 903: incredibly the Norsemen rowed up the Tay.

The abbey was given to the control of the Culdee monks, a sect of the old Columbian Church; but the abbot was more often than not a layman – indeed, by the 950s the Abbot of Dunkeld and the Earl of Atholl were usually one and the same. The earldom and the Bishopric would co-exist in an uneasy peace for the next 600 years – each sharing authority, wielding arbitrary power and often stepping on each others toes. The last lay abbot was Ethelred, son of Malcolm III, and on his death around 1097 the lands and wealth of the abbacy reverted to the crown directly. This gave his successors the provision to establish a formal bishopric.

Around 1127, David I formalised the transition of Dunkeld from abbey to Cathedral, with Cormac as its first Bishop; and ecclesiastical matters were transferred from the Culdees to Roman Catholic Canons. David had been brought up as a ‘hostage’ in the court of the Norman-English king, William II and had learned what these feudal masters had to teach, and learned well. On returning north, he revolutionised society and introduced the feudal system to Scotland. This meant a total shake-up of the old order; and across the Lowlands lordships were erected next to new Royal Burghs (towns with favoured trading rights), and the Church played a significant role in this new world.

In the Highlands things weren’t so black and white. Powerful Celtic warlords such as the Earl of Ross and the Lord of the Isles were laws unto themselves, and there were precious few royal burghs north of the Tay. However, in Perthshire, a kind of borderland, the two worlds collided. The Earl of Atholl was the feudal nobleman for the lands of Highland Perthshire; on the surface. He was also warlord and chief to the clansmen that followed him: the cross between a mafia don and samurai warrior. The Bishop of Dunkeld administered to the spiritual needs of his flock, but just as often they got dragged into the murky world of petty violence and clan vendetta. It was quite the party.

The Bishopric of Dunkeld was huge, covering a fair swathe of Central Scotland and its administration was just about as complex as the rest of the feudal set up. The Bishop was subordinate to the Archbishop of St Andrews, the king and of course the Pope; and below him was a whole myriad of offices clerical and secular. There were lands that belonged directly to the diocese – mainly in lower Strathtay, Dunkeld and east towards Blairgowrie; but, their authority was canonical, and at times I’m sure a little puritanical. Perhaps a little too puritanical, as the impetuous earls often unleashed their wild Cateran warriors against the very alter itself.

The diocese was divided into parishes and chapels, although this wasn’t that straightforward either. Some of the chapels actually existed in brick and mortar, while others existed only in the abstract – like Inver, where the chapel was ‘inside’ the cathedral, while the stipend was drawn from the lands. This provided the diocese and its mandarins with a steady income, and helped to promote their influence far and wide. The bishopric was of course far more than a religious outfit, it was a business: and a hugely wealthy one. Chapels and churches acted both as places of worship, and as branches of the firm – and a very visible expression of their authority and place in society. As lots of money was involved, both laird and bishop had their fingers in many pies, which meant a close association between the various strands when it came to the administration of the wider church.  

Many of the parishes, such as Killin, Kirkmichael and Logierait were ‘contracted’ out to various abbeys to provide the parochial administration and stipends to pay for the priest. Killin would be seconded to Inchaffray Abbey in Strathearn; Kirkmichael came under the auspices of Dunfermline; and Logierait, Scone. Some parishes had local lairds or baronies like Dull, to provide for them – Struan kirk for example was originally under the patronage of the Robertson chiefs, but due to debt issues the responsibility fell upon the Earl of Atholl to maintain the church. As the largest landowner, and principal feudal lord, the earl had a number of parishes and stipends under his remit. This, he felt gave him the right to dabble in church politics. Some parishes were annexed directly to the Cathedral itself (Kilmaveonaig is an example); which, the bishop felt gave him the right to dabble in local, secular, politics.

There were also a number of detached parishes, which meant working with lordships far from Dunkeld – hence, the diocese had town houses in both Edinburgh and Perth. Occasionally also, the Crown was involved – for example, the parish of Rannoch was apparently held directly by the king; and here they would have tread a little more carefully in their dealings. All these parishes however, and their administration came under the ultimate responsibility of the Bishop, watching that all was being properly provided for.

Dunkeld Cathedral

The parish of Dunkeld of St Columba (the city) was very small, and completely surrounded on all sides by the much larger parish of Little Dunkeld, whose church lay on the south side of the Tay. In 1500 as plague ravaged the countryside, Bishop George Brown split Little Dunkeld up – to the north of the river he raised two new parishes: Caputh and Dowally, building each a church. He was concerned that plague victims would have to be carried through Dunkeld to get the ferry over the river to the church. Little Dunkeld was also a thriving village itself, and reports show that on more than one occasion the men of Clan Donnachaidh descended and wreaked havoc; with the bishop complaining to the king about the attentions of the wild Highlanders.

Both the Earls of Atholl and the Bishops of Dunkeld were deeply involved in the real politick of the day, and were important men at court. Robert II, who himself had been the earl before becoming king, was patron of one of the most influential of bishops – Robert de Cardney. His sister, Mariota of Cardney, was the king’s favourite mistress, and throughout his career the royal assistance came in very handy. Unlike many other incumbents, Bishop Cardney would enjoy a long stay in office – nearly 40 years, living until 1437. During that time he elevated the position of the diocese and set about rebuilding much of the cathedral, including the new nave. In 1431 he received the obedience of the Abbot of Iona to Dunkeld – the final chapter in the move east of Columba’s old church.

Robert de Cardney is buried in his beloved cathedral, and his tomb is emblazoned with the coats of arms of four Stewart Earldoms – a lasting reminder of the close relationship between the two families; and the number of important children his sister would give the dynasty. Other notable bishops included: William Sinclair, Gavin Douglas and George Brown – who we saw reorganising the parishes. He was also the ‘building bishop’: extending the palace, erecting a castle (a sign of troubled times perhaps) and building a fancy tower house on Clunie Loch near Blairgowrie, which would be their country estate right up to the Reformation.

Without going into the how’s and why’s of the Reformation, Martin Luther’s Protest and Jean Calvin’s doctrine changed forever the face of Western Europe; and led by the firebrand fanatic, John Knox, Scotland went through a true revolution. In 1560 the Lords of Congregation enacted (against the will of the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots), the law that swept away the old regime replacing it with a new Church of Scotland. Initially, the new church was Episcopalian (as in England); but, it would emerge from the fires with a strong Calvinist voice and a Presbyterian constitution. Not only did this brand of Protestantism sweep away the institution of the old order, but destroyed its symbols in what is now called the ‘Iconoclasm’. Statues were torn down and smashed; art bundled onto bonfires and anything that hinted at the superstitious blasphemy of the Catholic faith as they saw it was obliterated. This went for the abbeys, churches and cathedrals as well; and Dunkeld would not escape the flames (the choir was re-roofed as now serves as the local parish church).

The Ruined Nave of the Cathedral

As well as the almost euphoric frenzy of the Iconoclasm, the many lands that the diocese once owned were taken and then parcelled out amongst the supporters of the new regime; and those willing to fight over the scraps of the alter table. In Highland Perthshire, the biggest winners were the Campbells of Glenorchy, the Menzieses, the Murrays of Atholl and the Stewarts of Grandtully – each adding a considerable number of acres to their burgeoning estates. And with the demise of the diocese it would be these estates that would come to dominate and govern the lives of the people of Atholl, Breadalbane and Rannoch. The Earl of Atholl, and his descendants would become the feudal superiors without equal: and the power and memory of the Bishops of Dunkeld soon faded into obscurity.