Defining a saint

In the early Church, there was no formal process of canonisation. People were declared to be saints by popular acclamation. By the time of St Magnus in the 12th century various conditions had to be met, mainly the wishes of the local people, the support of the local bishop, evidence of miracles taking place at the grave and some evidence of the incorruptibility of the person’s remains. Of course, politics also played a part as the site of saintly relics gave both prestige and tourism value to the area.

Linked to this process of canonisation was the organisation of the country into diocese with a bishop in charge of appointing local priests, organising church buildings, gathering tithes, setting up systems for the care of the traveller and the destitute and generally assisting the political leaders in maintaining order. This process occurred mainly in the 12th century, with Bishop Gilbert, founder of Dornoch Cathedral, being responsible for organising the diocese of Caithness.

The Synod of Whitby

An important event in the history of the early Church in Britain was the Synod of Whitby. This was called by the King of Northumbria in 664 in order to standardise various practices throughout the land. The king had a problem – his branch of Christianity (Celtic) celebrated Easter according to different calculations from those used by his wife’s (Roman) branch. The date of Easter also fixed the dates of the forty days of Lent and it was the custom then for couples to abstain from marital relations during Lent. The King was having to abstain for his own forty days and for those of his wife. As they did not exactly overlap, he felt that he was having to overdo his penance. There were several other practices where some areas did one thing and other areas did another – the shape of the monk’s tonsure being the best known. 

These differences have been used to support the idea that the Celtic and Roman communities represented two different Churches. In fact, they simply represent the effect of increasing distance from the administrative centre. The Council was not discussing the amalgamation of two previously independent bodies but the standardisation of some of their practices in order to facilitate co-operation both within Britain and between Britain and Europe. There were no theological issues at stake. Some representatives of the Celtic tradition supported changing to the Roman usages, others vehemently opposed any change – Adamnon, Abbot of Iona supported the changes but Colman, Abbot of Lindisfarne, resigned his position rather than accept them. The king himself eventually supported the Roman practices, as did a majority of the delegates.

Ancient routes

We have, of necessity, restricted out trails to existing roads fit for the modern car. However the saints whom we are interested in had no such limitations. They moved about by boat for longer journeys and on foot when this was not possible or when ‘at home’. They probably used coracles to navigate the larger rives, such as the Naver, Thurso and Helmsdale. Until the clearances, much of the population lived in the inland straths where it was easier to find shelter for both man and beast. So the standing stones, burial mounds, brochs, chapels and other signs of human activity that to us seem to be scattered at random in inaccessible corners actually mark sites where people lived, worked and died. 

There is a very plausible argument that the ancient pilgrimage routes, which would have followed everyday routes used for work and leisure, can be reconstructed by linking the ancient chapel sites. Specifically, chapels at the banks of rivers seem to consistently occur at fording points. The rivers were significant influences on travel routes. They were reliable navigational aids but they were also natural barriers and had limited crossing points. No main bridges existed North of Inverness until the beginning of the 19th century.

Rivers and burns were also popular sites for buildings designed to house groups of people larger than the average family. There were two reasons for this – they provided a convenient source of water for cooking and washing and they made it easier to dispose of waste in a hygienic manner.

From the Classical Sources

Donald Sage ‘Memorabilia Domestica or Parish Life in the North of Scotland’

‘Here the river receives an addition to its waters from the burn of Suisgill, which rises six miles to the NE, in a deep morass, on the SW shoulder of a hill situated on the borders of Sutherland and Caithness, called “Cnoc-an-Eireannaich” (or “the Irishman’s Hill”), from a tradition that an Irishman had there perished in the snow’.

‘Surrounding the wood … is a fairy-like plat called Achahemisgach, at the upper end of which is a rock with the form of a cross engraved upon it. This evidently must have been some place of sanctity in popish times, especially as the name of the adjoining wood is Coille Chil Mer or ‘the wood of the cell of Mary’. Learabail, on the opposite bank, was a township of considerable extent.’

Calder, James T. History of Caithness from the 10th century 2nd edition. Wick: William Rae. Thurso: John Malcolm and Miss Russell; 1887. Re-published 1973 by Stansfield Fortrose. Reproduced photolithographically by Aberdeen University Press.

This is mainly a secular history. The following notes are relevant to our topic.

p. 73 ‘Much about this time [1160], Earl Ronald was basely murdered at North Calder, in the parish of Halkirk, by a villain of the name of Thiorbiorn Klairke, whom he had banished for his misdeeds from Orkney. He and Harold, his colleague in the earldom, had come over, as was their usual practice, on a hunting excursion to Caithness. It was this Ronald who, in conjunction with his father Koll, founded the cathedral of Kirkwall. He was a nobleman of many excellent qualities; and on account of his eminent piety, and the share which he had in erecting that splendid edifice, was canonized by the Pope. Klairke, the assassin of Ronald, did not escape with impunity. After committing the murder, he fled to a place in the neighbourhood called Assary, where he was overtaken and put to death by some of the Earl’s retainers. The body of the Earl was conveyed from Thurso to Orkney, and buried in the church of the holy virgin in South Ronaldsay. His remains were afterwards transferred to the cathedral of Kirkwall, and were among the first that found a resting place in that celebrated northern minster.’ (A slightly different version of this tale is to be found in Crawford p. 220, where it is described as a battle between two groups, not an assassination attempt by one man. A saga was written of the event which describes Rognvald’s blood staining a boulder and the stain remaining fresh.)

p. 75 Chapter IV includes the story of Bishop John, who lived near Scrabster by Thurso, and had his tongue cut out and both eyes put out. Calder does not mention the bishop’s miraculous cure when he was taken to the resting place of St Triduana at Ballachly, Achavanich. He does give the story of Bishop Adam, Bishop John’s successor, who lived at his palace at Halkirk in 1222 and was burned alive by the people when he tried to increase the butter tax. (A more detailed description of the events surrounding this event can be found in Crawford p. 268.

p. 102-103 describes the link between the Sinclairs of Caithness and Roslyn Chapel.

p. 216 mentions the introduction of the penny tax raised from every household, first by Earl Harold in the 12th century and continued by the various bishops, which was sent to the pope. Could this be the source of the name ‘Pennyland’ for that part of Thurso so called? At the time, the bishops owned land at Scrabster, Lythmore, Stemster and Dorrery; also Durness.

p. 219 Calder gives an account of the drowning of Rev Merchiston after he destroyed the statue of St Fergus in Wick. In a footnote, he gives the following information on St Fergus ‘St Fergus … came to Caithness about the middle, it is supposed, of the eighth century, and did much to convert the natives… to Christianity. His residence would appear to have been in Wick, or its neighbourhood. After labouring for some time in that district he went to Buchan, in Aberdeenshire, and thence to Glammis, in Angus, where he died. His remains were deposited in the Abbey of Scone. “The great house of Cheyne,” says Cosmo Innes, “so much connected with Caithness, was proprietor of the parish in Buchan, which derives its name of St Fergus from the Caithness saint”.’

Some more modern sources

Houston, Anne. (ed) Lest We Forget: The Parish of Canisbay. The Congregational Board of Canisbay Parish Church; 1996

p. 62 ‘The oldest part of the village [of Canisbay] lay around the present pre-Reformation Church built on the site of an earlier church dedicated to Saint Drostan’

p. 63 ‘St Modan’s Chapel. Site of pre-Reformation chapel [Freswick], around which lingered popish rites. Sir William Sinclair built, on the old site, a modern building with vaults which was never used and has been in decay for over a hundred years.’

p. 101 ‘Another structure of interest is the chapel with fine round windows which was built about 350 years ago on the site of St Modan’s (10th century?) Roman Catholic Chapel. Old customs die hard and one can sympathise with parishioners for crossing themselves and going on their knees around the ruins, but this was very much frowned on by the ministers and elders of Canisbay Church.’

p. 223 some notes on place names: ‘Finally, greatly daring and just to show how easily it can be done, let me suggest the origin of Dunnet as a name. The local pronunciation is Din’ad, a short step from Din Head or Dun Head, a very suitable name for a brown haired group of people in a predominantly fair haired society. Quite a suitable name, too, for an imposing headland covered with an expanse of brown heather.’

p. 318 ‘The present church [Canisbay] stands on top of a prehistoric mound, the site of an earlier Celtic church dedicated to St Drostan. Drostan headed a mission to Pictland in the sixth century. There is mention of the church in an ecclesiastical document of 1222.’

p. 343 ‘St Drostan’s Chapel, Brabstermyre. The site of the chapel dedicated to St Drostan lies on the west side of the road and to the north west of Brabster House. It was excavated and showed a small building of the chancelled type. The nave was 19 feet by 11 feet and the chancel eight feet by eight feet and it was said that the baptismal font was taken to Brabster House. The ruins are now entirely covered over.’

p. 370 gives a detailed description of the location of St John’s chapel on St John’s Point and the results of the excavation of the chapel in 1919. A carved slab from the site is now kept in the Northlands Viking Centre.

Barbara E. Crawford, The Northern Earldoms: Orkney and Caithness from AD 870 to 1470 Edinburgh: John Donald, 2013.

p. 220 the murder of Rognvald by the exiled Thorbjorn.

Caithness Field Club archives

These archives are well worth investigating. They can be found at www.caithness.org. Of particular interest here is the work by George Watson on possible walking routes through Caithness. We quote a small sample here: 

‘Perhaps the most surprising and interesting result arises when the many chapel sites are plotted on the reconstructed road map. If we look in detail at the road from Rumsdale to Spittal, 'n' to 'o', then as the road crosses Rumsdale Water at St Ciaran's it divides into Thurso and Spittal branches. The next sizeable burn to be crossed is Allt a'Mhuilinn at Dalnawillan where there is a burial ground of uncertain age. The track follows the north bank of the river Thurso to Dalnaha (Dale or Meadow of the Ford) and within a short distance, on the south side of Loch More, is St. Bridget's at Achscoriclate. Continuing along the south side of the Loch and river, the next ford called Ath nan Leac (Ford of the Slabs) lies between Strathmore Lodge and the small cemetery at Acharynie. The line of the track runs on to Westerdale, where St. Trostans, near Balantsionnach, lies a short distance below the road-bridge. Some maps show a second un-named chapel near Dale House, immediately opposite St. Trostans. There are no further water hazards from Dale, over Achanarras Hill to Spittal. The pattern which emerges is that there is a known chapel site, or a graveyard which could be a secondary development of an earlier chapel, at or close to each of the larger fords.’

J.B. Craven, ven. D.D. ‘Journals of Bishop Forbes’ London: Skeffington & Son, Ltd., 1886.

p. 57 ‘The earliest notices of Christianity to be found of Ross and Caithness are connected with the name of Lugadius, or Moluog of Lismore, who founded a Columban monastery at Rosemarkie, on the north shore of the Moray Firth. Saint Maelrubha, who was of the race of the northern Hy Neill, in the year 673 founded the church of Aporcrossan, now Applecross, from which he evangelised all the region lying between Loch Carron and Loch Broom, as well as parts of the Isle of Skye, and from the numerous dedications of churches to his memory, his missionary labours must have been most laborious. The church of Dornoch, for many generations the Cathedral of the diocese of Caithness, had associated with it the name of S. Bar or Finbar. The Aberdeen Breviary appears to identify this saint with one of that name who was the disciple and an intimate friend of Columba. Thus the whole of the northern regions of Scotland, now comprehending the counties of Ross, Cromarty, Sutherland and Caithness, were brought under the sway of Christianity by the missionaries of Iona or their associates.’ (Note: modern scholarship identifies Finbar as born near the Caithness village of Berrydale and who did not have connections with Iona. There was another Finbar with Irish connections and it is this Finbarr who may have had connections with Iona.)