IN A HIGHLAND GLEN

New Zealand Tablet, 18 January 1912, Page 11

IN A HIGHLAND GLEN

GLENLIVET AND ITS CATHOLIC MEMORIES In connection with a Catholic bazaar held recently imTombae, Glenlivet, the following interesting history of the romantic Highland glen appeared in the Banff - '■ shire Journal'. - Driving along the road, from Ballindalloch to Tomintoul on a sunny day no .fairer scene meets the . eye than, when looking across the valley of the Lxvet, there are seen the sun’s rays sparkling with sheen as of gold on the windows and towers of the chapel of Tombae. This afternoon, in the schools of Tombac, the Duke of Richmond and Gordon is to open a grand fancy fair in aid of funds for the repair of what is one of the most beautiful Catholic country churches in the Nofth, and in the churchyard attached to which rest amid the silence of the eternal hills not a few who were in life attached to the ancient faith and were known in many . circles all over the North. ' I ' ■' The Catholic interests of Glenlivet are of present importance, and of great historic interest. For the

greater part of the eighteenth century, from' 1717 to 1799, ■ '. - v

/ The Little Seminary of Scalan, - secluded .amid the hills, was the centre of Catholic activity in Scotland. Over one hundred missionaries were educated wholly or partially , within its walls, and, as was written of it more than one hundred and thirty years ago, every Scots Catholic, who has any zeal'for the advancement of the true religion in his own country, and still more particularly" persons in our circumstances, must naturally have an affectionate regard for the little college, as I may call it, of Scalan.’ It was practically founded by John Gordon, of - the family of Cairnborrow, who was missionary in Glenlivet in 1715. For thirty years Bishop Gordon cherished - it with the greatest care, and in the end he made it his . e^r ' died in January, 1746, and in the succeeding May Scalan was laid in ashes by Hanoverian troops. It was rebuilt, and good work continued to be done at it until the college was removed to Aquhorties in 1799, But although many memories cling around Scalanj the Catholics of Glenlivet had often two other chapels, and almost always one. Prior to the rising of 1715* there was ;a. chapel situated near Minmore, at the ■junction of the Avon and the Livet. There was an old chapel at Nevie, in the angle of the Nevie Burn and the Livet where faint remains of it can still be seen. Much of the building, however, was swept away in the flood of 1829, when numerous coffins were exposed to vxew. In 1794 the remains were very distinct, and •it then bore the . name of Chapel Christ. -.Already, in 1/45, at the time of the second , Rising, there was a chapel near Tombae, which was spared from destruction ‘on account .of the neighboring houses, but all that ' was within it was taken out' and committed to the flames. At that time Father John Tyrie was priest having been appointed to Glenlivet in 1739. He had joined Prince Charlie, as chaplain to the Glenlivet and btrathaven contingent, under Gordon of Glenbucket.

He followed the Prince into England, and left him only after -. r-- - - ‘ / { t The Battle of Culloden, where he received two wounds, on the head - from a horseman’s sword, and got off - with great difficulty. By -lying concealed for I many > months he avoided being apprehended, though his house, books, etc., at the Bochle were burnt/ by a party of soldiers. Father Tyrie died at Shenval,- in Cabrach, in 1755. His successor at Tombae was another prominent figure in the Catholic history of the ’45. ' Father George Duncan, who had charge district from 1758 to 1761, was : imprisoned in 1746. He soon gained his liberty, however, and was sent by Bishop Smith to Carlisle to offer spiritual assistance to Macdonald of KinlochMoidart, Macdonell of Tiendrish, and others, who lay under sentence of death. At the Bishop’s desire Father Duncan went cheerfully upon this delicate and dangerous expedition of. charity. He got admittance to the prisoners as 1 a friend, of theirs, heard their confessions, as-well as those of some English gentlemen who were in the same situation, communicated them, and got safely out ;of the town and back to Scotland without any interruption ; but an information had been lodged against him by the magistrates, and a search was made for him a few hours after his departure. At his first arrival to take charge of the Glenlivet Mission, Father Duncan stayed at the Scalan, but in the autumn of 1759 he built a room for himself at Tomnavoulin, He was succeeded by Father Guthrie, who ‘ first took up his .habitation ■at Upper Auchenraw, where Miss Margaret Tyrie dwells,’ and had charge of Glenlivet, Morinsh, and Glenrinnes. Other priests followed, and the incumbent from 1793 to 1812 was Father, later Bishop, Paterson. /, Meantime the chapel of 1746 had been replaced towards the end of the century by another, for the Old Statistical Account (1794) states that ‘ from the entrance to Crombe eastward and up Livet more than

a quarter of a mile, is Caanakylc, where the popish priest resides, and where, on the bank of* the Livet, about 200 yards from the priest’s house, is lately built a new / Mass-house, with stone - and . lime and slated. This chapel met with a violent end, for in 1829 the stream on the bank on which it was built rose suddenly, and the greater part of the building was swept away the apse, however, still remains to show the former: site.. Father Paterson was succeeded by Father James Gordon, who built the .present most picturesque chapel. His efforts, as he himself writes, ‘at collecting in the sister kingdom were not unsuccessful, and the building, of which the foundation stone was laid in ; 1827, was so far advanced as to enable him to open the chapel for the celebration of divine service on Candlemas Day, 1829.’ The new chapel was built on very handsome lines for that period, as Father Gordon expected that the Catholics from the whole glen, numbering at that; time well over one thousand, would make this their parish church. When, however, Abbe Macpherson —himself a Glenlivet boy and with a career of exceptional interest— to . build another church. four miles further up the glen, and so save his countrymen . the long walk in that inclement /district, a third part of the Tombae chapel was used as; a school,, and continued to serve this purpose until new .and handsome schools were built by the present incumbent. ' ', Father . James Gordon, who had built the Tomljae chapel, died in 1842, and was buried ;within its walls. He was succeeded by Father Robert- Stuart, who continued in charge of the mission: for twenty years, : and, 1 dying in 1861, was also interred ; within its sacred precincts, in which tablets have been placed to'the memory of both these priests. After the death of . the Rev. : Robert Stuart the parish of Tombae was entrusted tothe care of the ' Very Rev. Provost ' Macdonald, who died in the spring of this year. He was succeeded by the Rev. William Smith brother of ‘ the Right Rev. ■ . • '• * /’* v -- •: : " : ; -—; ——

George Smith, the present Bishop of Argyll and the Isles. Father Smith died in 1898, having retired from active work some years previously: Rev. William Stuart; the .present incumbent, and himself > a native of Tomv bae, was appointed in 1892. ,He received his early } education at Blairs College, from which he passed to ; ’ ’ the; Scots College, Rome, where he completed his course of ecclesiastical studies.. Father Stuart was a dis- . tinguished alumnus of that venerable institution, which was founded in. 1600. •• Few of the Catholic clergy have returned to their native land with a more thorough knowledge of the Italian language. Of kindly and ‘ genial manners, Father Stuart's name is a synonym for hospitality amongst his brother clergymen. At Tombae " he has done a work of lasting benefit. His interest in the welfare of the schools is unending, and his devoted congregational work is most highly valued: