Title
The St Andrews Foundation Legends
Source
The St Andrews Foundation Legend A
Translated by Professor Dauvit Broun
Andrew, which according to Hebrew etymology is translated ‘beautiful’ or ‘responding’, is nonetheless translated ‘manly’, from ‘man’ in the Greek language. Brother of the blessed apostle Peter as far as the flesh is concerned, but his co-heir in grace; the first apostle chosen by Our Lord Jesus Christ according to John the Evangelist, but second according to Matthew and Mark; he received by lot as his mission the northern nations, that is the Scythians and Picts, finally the Achaians and the city called Patras where, furthermore, he was crucified on November 30th; and he was interred there. And there his bones were kept for a period of about 273 years until the time of Constantine the Great son of Helen and his sons, that is Constantius and Constantine with Constans. In their reign they were taken up and translated out of there in a marvellous and famous procession by the citizens of Constantinople, and re-interred there at Constantinople with great glory and the greatest honour; and they remained there throughout until the time of the Christian emperor Theodosiusthat is to say, for a period of 110 years. At that timenot by chance but by divine instigationa king of the Picts called Ungus son of Urguist, rising up with a great army, killing with the cruellest devastation the British nations living in the south part of this island, finally reached the plain of Mercia and wintered there. Then all the peoples of nearly the whole island, coming with a united force, surrounded him, intending to destroy him and his army completely. Next day, the aforementioned king went out for a walk with his seven most intimate companions, and a divine light shone around them, and they fell forward onto their faces, unable to bear it (the light). And lo, a voice was heard from heaven: ‘Ungus, Ungus, hear me, an apostle of Christ, Andrew by name, who am sent to defend and protect you. Get up, behold the image of the cross of Christ which stands in the sky and will go before you against your enemies: nevertheless, offer a tenth part of your inheritance in alms to God Almighty and in honour of St Andrew His apostle. Now on the third day, advised by the divine voice, he (Ungus) divided his army into thirteen troops, and the image of the cross went in front of each division, and a divine light shone from the top of each and every image. Thereupon they became victors. They gave thanks to God Almighty and St Andrew the apostle; and, arriving home unharmed, they willingly gave a tenth part of Ungus’ inheritance to God and to the venerable apostle St Andrew, fulfilling what is written: ‘give alms and, behold, all things are clean for you’. They were uncertain, however, in which place they might specially assign God’s tribute and the chief city of the apostle St Andrew. When they (the Picts) had taken counsel, fasted for periods of two, three and four days, and beseeched the mercy of Almighty God, one of the guardians of the body of St Andrew the apostle at Constantinople was admonished and instructed by a divine vision, saying: ‘go from your land and from your family and the house of your father, and make your way to the land I will have revealed to you’. Thereupon he came with an angel attending and guarding his way, [and] he arrived successfully at the top of the king’s hill, that is Rígmonaid. The same hour in which he had encamped there, tired, with his seven companions, a divine light shone around the king of the Picts who was coming with his army to a special place which is called Cartenan. And they fell on their faces, unable to bear the brightness. And the lame and blind were healed to the number of seven. And one of the blind, blind from birth, was able to see; and then he saw a place filled with a visitation of angels, and at once called out in a loud voice, saying: ‘behold, I see a place filled with a visitation of angels!’ Finally, according to God’s design, the king came with his army to the place which the Lord showed the blind man to whom He had given sight. Regulus, a monk from the city of Constantinople, indeed, met the king at the gate called Matha (that is Mordorus) with the relics of St Andrew the apostle which he had brought with him from there (i.e. Constantinople) to here. And citizens and foreigners exchanged greetings, and put up their tents there, where the king’s hall now is. King Ungus, indeed, gave this place and this city to Almighty God and to St Andrew the apostle in freedom for ever, that it might be the head and mother of all churches which are in the kingdom of the Scots. For pilgrims come together to this city, palmers from JerusalemRomans, Greeks, Armenians, Teutons, Germans, Saxons, Danes, Galicians, Gauls, English, Britons; men and women; rich and poor; the healthy and the sick; the lame and the blind; and the weak, brought here by horse and vehicle: and they are cured for all to see through the mercy of God, to the honour and glory of His own chief saint, Andrew the apostle. Through His own saint, Andrew the apostle, the Lord has performed, performs, and will for ever perform here miracles and signs and innumerable marvels which cannot be recorded here now. The monk Regulus, indeed, became abbot [and] lived the monastic life in this place, serving God by day and by night in holiness and justice all the days of his life with his own dear companions, whose bodies found rest here. They planted vegetable gardens where there is now the house of Master Samuel and his ancestors and successors. Moreover, working with their own hands they made a mill; and they built everything which belongs honourably and honestly to the monks. But Britain, the whole island, had been taught in Christianity before the Picts and Scots had entered it. But the greatest enlargement of faith was made for all faithful Christians of that island because the Lord deigned to send so distinguished and great a pastor to them, a preacher after the pattern of Andrew the apostle, first disciple of Our Lord Jesus Christ. And so the archepiscopacy of all Scotia ought to be [exercised] from this city, where the apostolic seat is. No bishop ought to be ordained in Scotia without the approval of the elders of this place. Indeed, in relation to the first Rome this is the second; this is a pre-eminent city of refuge; this is the city of cities of Scotia, to which Our Lord gave these columns as a support: that is, Archbishop Giric, Mac Bethad, and Gregoir, with other brothers of theirs. I beseech the Lord that I may always partake with them of the kingdom of heaven. Amen.
The St Andrews Foundation Legend B
Translated by Dr Simon Taylor
In the year of the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ 345 Constantius grandson of Constantine son of Helena gathered a great army to plunder the city of Patras in order to avenge the execution of the blessed Andrew the Apostle of Christ, and to remove from there his remains. But on the third night, before the emperor entered the city with his army, an angel of God descending from Heaven appeared to the holy men who were guarding the remains of St Andrew the Apostle, and ordered the holy bishop Regulus to go with his clerics to the sarcophagus, in which were deposited the bones of the blessed Andrew, and to take from there three fingers of his right hand, and the arm between the elbow and the shoulder, and the knee-cap from his knee, and one of his teeth. They took these parts of his remains, just as the angel had commanded them, and put them in a very secret place. The following day after these relics had been put away, Emperor Constantius came at dawn with his army and plundered both the city and the province; and took with him to Rome the casket in which he found the rest of the bones of the holy apostle had been placed. On his arrival there he ravaged the island of the Tiber, and the Colosseum, and took with him from there to Constantinople the bones of St Luke the Evangelist, and of Timothy the disciple of the blessed Paul the apostle, along with the remains of the blessed Andrew.
At that time Hungus son of Forso, the great king of the Picts, gathered his army against Athelstan the king of the Saxons, and pitched camp at the mouth of the river Tyne. That very night, before the two armies met, the blessed Andrew appeared to Hungus king of the Picts in his sleep, saying to him that the apostle himself would on the following day overcome the enemy army in such a way that Hungus would triumph fully over his enemies. To whom the king said; ‘Who are you? And where do you come from?’ The blessed Andrew replied saying, ‘I am Andrew, apostle of Christ, and now I have come from Heaven, sent by God, to reveal to you that tomorrow I will overcome your enemies, and subjugate them to you, and having obtained a happy victory you will return home unharmed with your army, and my remains will be brought into your kingdom, and the place to which they will be brought with all honour and veneration will be famous until the last day of time.’ With these words he vanished. So the king, on waking from his dream, told his men what the blessed Andrew had revealed to him while he slept. When they heard these things, the people of the Picts rejoiced and swore that they would with all diligence and for all time show veneration to the blessed Andrew, if those things which he had shown to their king were brought about. On the following day the Picts, made joyful by the Apostle's promise, prepared for battle; and having divided up the army they set seven ranks around their king. The Saxons divided up their army and took up a close formation around their king Athelstan in fourteen ranks. When battle was joined the Saxons, immediately deprived of all courage, by God’s will, and with the holy apostle Andrew intervening on the side of the Picts, turned in flight. The head of Athelstan, king of the Saxons, was cut off, and countless Saxons were slaughtered. And King Hungus, possessed of victory, returning with no small army to his own land, ordered Athelstan's head to be brought with him and he had it fixed on a wooden stake in the place which is called Ardchinnechena within the harbour now called Queen’s Ferry. After this victory obtained by heavenly means the Saxons never dared attack the Picts.
After a few days had passed after the happy victory of this war, the angel of God again came from Heaven to the blessed bishop Regulus, whom he addressed thus: ‘By command of God on high do not delay to go to northern parts, towards the rising sun, with the remains of Andrew the disciple of Christ which at our warning you recently kept back; and in whatever place the ship which will carry you and your company across the sea is wrecked, with no danger to you or your companions, there you will lay the foundations of a church in the name of the Lord and of his Apostle Andrew. For that place will be for you and your companions your resting place forever, and there will be your resurrection on the day of the last judgment.’ And Bishop Regulus, according to the precept of the angel, accompanied by holy men, with the remains of the holy apostle, sailed towards the north, and for the space of one and a half years, driven by many violent storm winds, founded an oratory in honour of St Andrew wherever throughout the islands of the sea of Greece he was brought to land. And so the holy men, having suffered innumerable toils along the sea coasts, with God as their guide, directed their sail towards the north, and landed on the night of St Michael in the land of the Picts, at a place which had been called Muckros, but is now called Kilrymonth. Muckros means ‘wood of pigs’. After the ship in which they were sailing had been wrecked on the rocks, they pitched tents for themselves there and fixed in the ground a cross which they had brought with them from Patras as a sign of the sacred things which they had brought, and as a protection against the snares of demons. And there they remained for 7 days and as many nights. And leaving the older men there, St. Damian and his brother Merinach, to guard the place, Regulus and the other men went to Forteviot with the relics of the most holy apostle Andrew, and there they found the three sons of King Hungus, Eoganán and Nechtan and Finguine Garb, and because their father was at that time on an expedition in Argyll, for whose life the sons were much concerned, they gave a tenth part of the city of Forteviot to God and St Andrew. Having erected a cross there the holy men blessed the place and those who dwelt there, the sons of the king.
Then they went to Monethatha, which is now called Mondynes, and there the queen Finchem gave birth to a daughter to King Hungus, who was called Mouren. The body of the virgin Mouren is buried at Kilrymonth, and no-one was buried there before her. Queen Finchem gave the house in which she had given birth to her daughter Mouren to God and St Andrew, and all the royal enclosure for ever. And having erected a cross there, they blessed the queen and that place. Then they crossed the mountains, i.e. the Mounth, and came to a place which was called Doldauha but now called Kindrochit-Alian. There the great king Hungus, on his way back from his expedition, met the holy men, and prostrated himself with all humility and reverence in front of the relics of St Andrew the Apostle when they were shown to him; and all the noble Picts who were with him prostrated themselves in front of the relics like their humble king. And the king gave to God and the holy apostle Andrew that place i.e. Doldauha, and built a church on the spot where the bare relics had been shown him. Then the king with the holy men crossed the mountains i.e. the Mounth and came to Mondynes. And there he built a church in honour of God and the blessed Apostle. And so the king with his holy men came to Forteviot, and there he built a basilica to God and the Apostle. Afterwards King Hungus, with the holy men, came to Kilrymonth, and, going round the big site of the place, offered it to God and to Saint Andrew the Apostle to build there basilicas and oratories.
Out of great devotion King Hungus and Bishop Regulus himself, and the other men went seven times round that very place, marked out by a clear sign. Having thus carried out the seven-fold circuit and perambulation, Bishop Regulus processed carrying above his head the relics of the holy apostle with all veneration, with his holy company following the bishop with songs and hymns. And the devout King Hungus followed them on foot, very devoutly pouring out profound prayers and thanks to God. And the most noble aristocrats of all the realm followed the king. Thus they commended that place to God, and fortified it with royal permission <on the 6 February>. As a sign of royal favour, the holy men erected 12 stone crosses at intervals around the circumference of the place; and they humbly begged God of heaven, that all who pray in that place with a devout mind and pure intention may obtain the fulfilment of their petition.
Afterwards King Hungus gave to the church of the holy apostle as a parochia whatever land is between the sea which is called the Firth of Forth, as far as the sea which is called Firth of Tay; and in the adjacent province along its bounds from Largo, as far as Ceres <of the Dogs or of the Cains?>; and from Ceres as far as Naughton MacIrb (Hyhatnachten Machehirb), which land is now called Naughton. And the king gave this place, that is Kilrymont, to God and St Andrew his apostle, with waters, with fields, with meadows, with pastures, with muirs, with woods in alms for ever; and he endowed that place with such liberty that its inhabitants will always be free and quit of hosting, and of castle- and bridge-work, and of the trouble of all secular exactions.
Bishop Regulus sang the prayer Alleluia so that God might forever protect that place given in alms, and guard it in honour of the apostle. As a reminder of the liberty granted King Hungus seized a divot and in front of his Pictish nobles bore it as far as the altar of St Andrew, and on it he placed that same divot as an offering. This was done in the presence of these witnesses: Talorc son of Iarnbodb, Nechtan son of Chelturan, Gartnait son of Dubnach, Drust son of Wythrossi, Nacthaleth son of Gigherti, Shinach son of Litheren, Oengus son of Foichele, Feradach son of Finlaech Phihacnanfin son of Bolg, Gilunineruh son of Taran, Demene son of Chinganena, Duptalarch son of Bargoit. Those witnesses are born of royal stock.
Afterwards in Kilrymont the holy men built seven churches. One in honour of St Regulus; the second in honour of St Aneglas {the deacon}; the third in honour of St Michael the Archangel; the fourth in honour of St Mary virgin; the fifth in honour of the honourable St Damian the elder; the sixth in honour of St Brigid virgin; the seventh in honour of a certain Mouren virgin, and in that church were 50 virgins born of royal stock, all dedicated to God, having taken the veil at eleven years of age, and all buried in the eastern part of that church.
These are the names of those men who brought the holy relics of St Andrew the apostle to Scotland: Bishop Regulus, Gelasius the deacon, Matheus the hermit, St Damian the priest and Merinachus his brother, Nermus and Chusemus from the island of Crete. Mirenus and Chubaculus the deacon, Natchabeus and Silicius his brother, seven hermits from the island of Tiber(is), Felix, Saranus, Mauritius, Madianus, Philipphus, Eugenius, Lucius; and three virgins from Collossia, viz Triduana, Potentia, Omeria. These virgins are buried in the church of St Anaglas.
Cano son of Dubabrach wrote this record for King Uurad son of Bargoit in the estate of Meigle.
The Augustinian’s Account
Translated by Dr Simon Taylor
These things, as we have said before, we have transcribed just as we found written in old books of the Picts. Most Scots affirm that the blessed Apostle Andrew was here alive in the flesh; taking as proof of their assertion the fact that he got as his lot the land of the Picts, that is Scythia, to preach in; and for this reason he held this place dear above all places; and what he did not fulfil while alive, he might fulfil after he had been released from the flesh. Because we have not found this written down, we are strongly inclined neither to deny or to affirm it. But since mention has been made of the miracles and wonders which God through His holy apostle has done and is doing, and since an occasion has offered itself to write some of these things, we have determined to write, by God's gift, the things that we have either found written down or have heard from trustworthy informers or have even observed for ourselves; and this the brothers have asked us to do. In the meantime, however, we have put this off until we may finish what has been begun.
So when the kingdom of the Picts had been completely destroyed, and had been seized by the Scots, the property and estates of the church [at St Andrews] waxed or waned in turn in proportion to the devotion kings and princes had for the holy apostle. About which things it must not be told individually, but only those things which relate to us are to be dealt with in abridged form. There was a royal city called Rymont, royal hill, which the above-mentioned King Hungus gave to God and the holy apostle. And when the saints whom we have mentioned above, who had arrived with the relics of the blessed apostle, had been removed from their present life, along with their disciples and imitators, religious worship died out there as it was a barbarous and uncouth people. But there continued in the church of St Andrew, such as it was then, by carnal succession thirteen whom they call Culdees, who were living more according to their own estimation and human tradition, than according to the statutes of the holy fathers. Indeed they still live like this; and they have certain things in common which are less in amount and value, while they have as their own the things which are greater in amount and value, as each of them is able to acquire gifts, either from friends who are united to them by some personal tie, such as kindred or connection, or from those whose anmcharait, that is soul-friends, they [the Culdees] are, or in whatever other ways. After they are made Culdees, they are not allowed to keep their wives in their houses, nor any other women from whom evil suspicion may arise.
Moreover, there were seven persons, who divided among themselves the offerings of the altar; of which seven portions the bishop used to enjoy only one, and the hospital another; the remaining five were apportioned to the other five, who performed no duty whatsoever to the altar or the church, except that they provided, according to their custom, hospitality for pilgrims and strangers, when more than six arrived, determining by lot whom or how many each of them was to receive. Indeed the hospital had continual accommodation for a number not exceeding six; but from the time that, by God's gift, it came into the possession of the canons, till the present it has received all who come to it. The canons have also determined that if anyone should arrive who is sick, or who falls ill there, his care is to be undertaken in all necessities according to the resources of the house, until he recovers his health or dies. But if he has any property, let him do what he wants with it and let him dispose of it as he will since in that house nothing will be demanded of him. Also a chaplain has been appointed by the canons to look after both the sick and the dying, and two brothers, who look after the house, receive strangers, and minister to the sick; but who do not eat or drink there, nor do they receive their clothing there. Moreover the canons have granted for this purpose the tenths of their own labours, and the remains of their food. If there is anything necessary in their cellar for either the healthy or the sick which cannot be had from the hospital, let it be given without objection. The above-mentioned persons also had their own revenues and possessions; which, when they died, their wives, whom they openly kept, and their sons and daughters, their relatives or their sons-in-law, divided amongst themselves, even the very offerings of the altar at which they did not serve; it would be shameful to speak of this were it not for the fact that they had been allowed to do it. Nor could so great an evil be removed until the time of King Alexander of happy memory, a special friend of the holy church of God; who magnified the church of the blessed apostle Andrew with estates and revenues, loaded it with many and valuable gifts, and endowed it with liberties and customs which were of his royal gift, to be held as royal possessions. Also the land which is called The Boar's Raik, which King Hungus, whom we mentioned above, had given to God and the holy apostle Andrew when the relics of the blessed apostle Andrew had been brought, and which had afterwards been taken away, he also established to its pristine condition [ or ‘anew’]; with the specific purpose and on condition that the religious life should be established in that church for the maintenance of divine worship. For there was no-one who served the altar of the blessed apostle, nor was mass celebrated there, except when the king or the bishop came there, which happened rarely. For the Culdees celebrated their office after their own fashion in a corner of the church, which [church] was very small. Of which royal donation there are many witnesses still living, and this donation his brother Earl David also confirmed, whom the king had constituted his heir and successor in the kingdom, as he is today. As a royal record of his gift the king ordered to be led to the altar an Arab steed, with its own bridle, saddle, shield and silver lance, and covered with a large, precious cloth; and he ordered the church to be invested with all the aforementioned royal gifts, liberties and customs; he also gave Turkish arms of a different kind, which are still kept in the church of St Andrew, along with its [the steed’s] shield and saddle as a memorial of royal munificence. They are shown to people coming from all the airts, so that what is so frequently brought to mind will not be forgotten in any way. It was of course in the days of this king Alexander, near the end of his earthly life, that sir Robert the first prior of the church of Scone, which the same king had also given to the canons and had enriched with many gifts and estates, was elected bishop of the Scots. Indeed from ancient times they have been called the bishops of St Andrew, and in both ancient and modern writings they are found called ‘High Archbishops’ or ‘High Bishops of the Scots’. Which is why Bishop Fothad, a man of the greatest authority, caused to be written on the cover of a gospel-book these lines:
Fothad, who is the High Bishop to the Scots,
made this cover for an ancestral gospel-book.
So now in ordinary and common speech they are called Escop Alban, that is ‘Bishops of Albany’. And they have been called, and are (still) called this on account of their pre-eminence by all the bishops of the Scots, who are called after the places over which they preside.
But before the consecration of that (bishop-)elect the said King Alexander, having died, left his brother King David, who was the only one of the brothers still alive, and who is still alive, heir not so much to the kingdom as to his devotion towards the church of God and towards the protection of the poor. For he is, and will remain, fully occupied in bringing to a conclusion with God's help what his brother the often mentioned king had begun. He founded very many churches and monasteries of both monks and canons as well as of nuns; and conferred upon them many benefices. Moreover he has done many works of mercy towards the servants and hand-maidens of Christ, which it is not within our ability to narrate. He brought it about that the head of the church of St Andrew the aforementioned sir Robert be consecrated by Thurstan archbishop of York of blessed memory, without profession, or any exaction whatsoever, saving only the dignity of both churches, and the authority of the holy and apostolic see. Therefore, once the bishop had been ordained and had returned to his own see, he applied himself zealously to accomplish what he cherished in his heart, namely the work of enlarging the church and dedicating it to divine worship. But both before and after his ordination Satan opposed him in many things; he sustained many injuries and insults, according to what the apostle said: ‘all who want to live piously in Christ suffer persecution’. He spent the seventh small portion of the altar, which was due to him, and which he took away from his own uses, on work on the church. But since the outlay was small, the building was also being constructed in a small way, until, with God's help and next after God with King David’s assent, offerings were recovered for the uses of the church, extracted from the hands of lay people, both men and women. Thereafter the more that he might have to hand to give, the faster the work went.
Therefore, having begun the foundations of the church, and now having completed the greater part, and having started some houses, and having finished some with a cloister so that now inhabitants might be able to be introduced who might not ask for too much, and who in the meantime might wait with patience, he [Bishop Robert] asked sir Athelwold bishop of Carlisle by letters and by messengers, as well as by the personal intervention of King David, to grant him from the church of St Oswald, of which the bishop himself was head by right of prior, a person with whom he might share his work, and whom he might set up as prior for the canons whom he was arranging to establish in the church of St Andrew. Since it seemed to him more intimate and sweeter to receive a person from that church where he had devoted himself to God and had taken the habit of the religion life, also whence as the first prior he had been sent to the church of Scone; from which, as we have said above, he had been elected and taken as bishop, than to receive a person from elsewhere. But he did not ask for just any person, but for brother Robert, not indeed well known by renown or way of life but only by name, whom those who knew him considered suitable for this work according to what [the Bishop had heard] from his friends and members of his household. Therefore he asked for him and he received him, nor from that church could anything be denied him or should be denied him that he might reasonably request.
The above-mentioned brother Robert by order of the lord bishop dwelt at St Andrew’s for some considerable time, and without any canons, but not without clerks, with the lord bishop providing the necessaries for him and his men. He had no power over the church, nor did he want any, until the Lord would give him what he desired, a community for the service of God. But he did not trust in himself in any way, but putting himself entirely into the hands of God, and submitting himself to His ordinance, he assiduously beseeched God that He would deign to visit and console him, and to grant him to lay a foundation for the religious life such that the building built upon it should be strong and abiding, just as he had decreed in his heart. He did not want in any way to enter into the work of outsiders (which might perhaps have been easy for him), to gather to himself brothers from other and diverse churches, lest different brothers, taking different views, wishing to appear to be a somebody, should not coalesce into unity and thus the fabric of the building should suffer harm before the foundation was laid. If, however, God should send him any persons who were prepared to live in the way in which he himself was minded to live, he would receive them warmly.
Meanwhile with Brother Robert staying there by order of the bishop, as has been said, but with the lord bishop carrying out somewhat sluggishly the business which he had begun, the king came to St Andrew’s, along with his son Earl Henry the king designate to pray, and with them many of the earls and potentates of the land. The next day, having heard mass and having observed the customary hours and made the customary offering, the king coming into the cloister, such as it was then, along with those who had come with him, and once everyone had settled down, he explained to them firstly many things of little importance, then finally the main reason why he had come. He therefore arraigned the bishop since he had not hastened on the work and service of God in establishing the religious life in the church of the blessed Andrew, even though the bishop had declared himself minded to do so, and as King Alexander had decreed. And when after many disputes the lord bishop argued that he was not permitted either to diminish or disperse the property of the bishop, lest perchance what had been conferred on the servants of God by him should be taken away from them by his successor, the king replies saying that from the land called the Boar’s Raik, which was not the bishopric’s, which King Alexander his brother had dedicated to God and to St Andrew for that very purpose, namely that in his (St Andrew’s) church the religious life might be established, he (the bishop) should endow them sufficiently, and both he and his son would confirm [it] and would help towards stocking the land; which they in fact did, and compelled certain others by oath to help. Then the lord bishop, as if of his own free will but in fact under constraint, by the advice and consent of the king and his son and of the other barons who were present, transferred into the hands of brother Robert some portion [or ‘a portion at his (the bishop’s) choice’ AAMD] of the lands of the personae which had come into his (the bishop’s) hands on their deaths, from which the brothers who came there to serve God ought to have been maintained in the meantime. Nor however did he act more sluggishly regarding the work on the church, but he busied himself in every way so that he might complete the work more swiftly. On that day Robert the priest, of pious memory, the uterine brother of the lord Bishop, renouncing the world with heart, voice and deed in order to serve God in the church of the blessed Andrew following the canonical rule of our holy father Augustine, gave himself into the hands of Brother Robert the prior, with his church of Tyningham, with the agreement of the lord bishop, so completely that the canons should have either that church or fifty shillings per year.
From Bower’s Scotichronicon, Book VI, 24
Translated by D.E.R. Watt et al.
In 1122 [1124] Robert prior of Scone was elected to the see on the urging of King Alexander. He [the king] restored in its entirety the land called the Boar’s Chase, which had been taken away from the church of St Andrew, on condition that a religious community was established there, as had been previously arranged by King Alexander [in a ceremony involving] the king’s Arabian steed with its special harness and saddle, covered with a voluminous and precious caparison, along with a shield and silver lance (which now forms the shaft of a cross) – all these things the king in the presence of the magnates of the land had brought up to the altar, and he had the church invested with, and given sasine of, the said liberties and royal customs. David his brother, then an earl, was present there and confirmed this gift.
Translated by Professor Dauvit Broun
Andrew, which according to Hebrew etymology is translated ‘beautiful’ or ‘responding’, is nonetheless translated ‘manly’, from ‘man’ in the Greek language. Brother of the blessed apostle Peter as far as the flesh is concerned, but his co-heir in grace; the first apostle chosen by Our Lord Jesus Christ according to John the Evangelist, but second according to Matthew and Mark; he received by lot as his mission the northern nations, that is the Scythians and Picts, finally the Achaians and the city called Patras where, furthermore, he was crucified on November 30th; and he was interred there. And there his bones were kept for a period of about 273 years until the time of Constantine the Great son of Helen and his sons, that is Constantius and Constantine with Constans. In their reign they were taken up and translated out of there in a marvellous and famous procession by the citizens of Constantinople, and re-interred there at Constantinople with great glory and the greatest honour; and they remained there throughout until the time of the Christian emperor Theodosiusthat is to say, for a period of 110 years. At that timenot by chance but by divine instigationa king of the Picts called Ungus son of Urguist, rising up with a great army, killing with the cruellest devastation the British nations living in the south part of this island, finally reached the plain of Mercia and wintered there. Then all the peoples of nearly the whole island, coming with a united force, surrounded him, intending to destroy him and his army completely. Next day, the aforementioned king went out for a walk with his seven most intimate companions, and a divine light shone around them, and they fell forward onto their faces, unable to bear it (the light). And lo, a voice was heard from heaven: ‘Ungus, Ungus, hear me, an apostle of Christ, Andrew by name, who am sent to defend and protect you. Get up, behold the image of the cross of Christ which stands in the sky and will go before you against your enemies: nevertheless, offer a tenth part of your inheritance in alms to God Almighty and in honour of St Andrew His apostle. Now on the third day, advised by the divine voice, he (Ungus) divided his army into thirteen troops, and the image of the cross went in front of each division, and a divine light shone from the top of each and every image. Thereupon they became victors. They gave thanks to God Almighty and St Andrew the apostle; and, arriving home unharmed, they willingly gave a tenth part of Ungus’ inheritance to God and to the venerable apostle St Andrew, fulfilling what is written: ‘give alms and, behold, all things are clean for you’. They were uncertain, however, in which place they might specially assign God’s tribute and the chief city of the apostle St Andrew. When they (the Picts) had taken counsel, fasted for periods of two, three and four days, and beseeched the mercy of Almighty God, one of the guardians of the body of St Andrew the apostle at Constantinople was admonished and instructed by a divine vision, saying: ‘go from your land and from your family and the house of your father, and make your way to the land I will have revealed to you’. Thereupon he came with an angel attending and guarding his way, [and] he arrived successfully at the top of the king’s hill, that is Rígmonaid. The same hour in which he had encamped there, tired, with his seven companions, a divine light shone around the king of the Picts who was coming with his army to a special place which is called Cartenan. And they fell on their faces, unable to bear the brightness. And the lame and blind were healed to the number of seven. And one of the blind, blind from birth, was able to see; and then he saw a place filled with a visitation of angels, and at once called out in a loud voice, saying: ‘behold, I see a place filled with a visitation of angels!’ Finally, according to God’s design, the king came with his army to the place which the Lord showed the blind man to whom He had given sight. Regulus, a monk from the city of Constantinople, indeed, met the king at the gate called Matha (that is Mordorus) with the relics of St Andrew the apostle which he had brought with him from there (i.e. Constantinople) to here. And citizens and foreigners exchanged greetings, and put up their tents there, where the king’s hall now is. King Ungus, indeed, gave this place and this city to Almighty God and to St Andrew the apostle in freedom for ever, that it might be the head and mother of all churches which are in the kingdom of the Scots. For pilgrims come together to this city, palmers from JerusalemRomans, Greeks, Armenians, Teutons, Germans, Saxons, Danes, Galicians, Gauls, English, Britons; men and women; rich and poor; the healthy and the sick; the lame and the blind; and the weak, brought here by horse and vehicle: and they are cured for all to see through the mercy of God, to the honour and glory of His own chief saint, Andrew the apostle. Through His own saint, Andrew the apostle, the Lord has performed, performs, and will for ever perform here miracles and signs and innumerable marvels which cannot be recorded here now. The monk Regulus, indeed, became abbot [and] lived the monastic life in this place, serving God by day and by night in holiness and justice all the days of his life with his own dear companions, whose bodies found rest here. They planted vegetable gardens where there is now the house of Master Samuel and his ancestors and successors. Moreover, working with their own hands they made a mill; and they built everything which belongs honourably and honestly to the monks. But Britain, the whole island, had been taught in Christianity before the Picts and Scots had entered it. But the greatest enlargement of faith was made for all faithful Christians of that island because the Lord deigned to send so distinguished and great a pastor to them, a preacher after the pattern of Andrew the apostle, first disciple of Our Lord Jesus Christ. And so the archepiscopacy of all Scotia ought to be [exercised] from this city, where the apostolic seat is. No bishop ought to be ordained in Scotia without the approval of the elders of this place. Indeed, in relation to the first Rome this is the second; this is a pre-eminent city of refuge; this is the city of cities of Scotia, to which Our Lord gave these columns as a support: that is, Archbishop Giric, Mac Bethad, and Gregoir, with other brothers of theirs. I beseech the Lord that I may always partake with them of the kingdom of heaven. Amen.
The St Andrews Foundation Legend B
Translated by Dr Simon Taylor
In the year of the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ 345 Constantius grandson of Constantine son of Helena gathered a great army to plunder the city of Patras in order to avenge the execution of the blessed Andrew the Apostle of Christ, and to remove from there his remains. But on the third night, before the emperor entered the city with his army, an angel of God descending from Heaven appeared to the holy men who were guarding the remains of St Andrew the Apostle, and ordered the holy bishop Regulus to go with his clerics to the sarcophagus, in which were deposited the bones of the blessed Andrew, and to take from there three fingers of his right hand, and the arm between the elbow and the shoulder, and the knee-cap from his knee, and one of his teeth. They took these parts of his remains, just as the angel had commanded them, and put them in a very secret place. The following day after these relics had been put away, Emperor Constantius came at dawn with his army and plundered both the city and the province; and took with him to Rome the casket in which he found the rest of the bones of the holy apostle had been placed. On his arrival there he ravaged the island of the Tiber, and the Colosseum, and took with him from there to Constantinople the bones of St Luke the Evangelist, and of Timothy the disciple of the blessed Paul the apostle, along with the remains of the blessed Andrew.
At that time Hungus son of Forso, the great king of the Picts, gathered his army against Athelstan the king of the Saxons, and pitched camp at the mouth of the river Tyne. That very night, before the two armies met, the blessed Andrew appeared to Hungus king of the Picts in his sleep, saying to him that the apostle himself would on the following day overcome the enemy army in such a way that Hungus would triumph fully over his enemies. To whom the king said; ‘Who are you? And where do you come from?’ The blessed Andrew replied saying, ‘I am Andrew, apostle of Christ, and now I have come from Heaven, sent by God, to reveal to you that tomorrow I will overcome your enemies, and subjugate them to you, and having obtained a happy victory you will return home unharmed with your army, and my remains will be brought into your kingdom, and the place to which they will be brought with all honour and veneration will be famous until the last day of time.’ With these words he vanished. So the king, on waking from his dream, told his men what the blessed Andrew had revealed to him while he slept. When they heard these things, the people of the Picts rejoiced and swore that they would with all diligence and for all time show veneration to the blessed Andrew, if those things which he had shown to their king were brought about. On the following day the Picts, made joyful by the Apostle's promise, prepared for battle; and having divided up the army they set seven ranks around their king. The Saxons divided up their army and took up a close formation around their king Athelstan in fourteen ranks. When battle was joined the Saxons, immediately deprived of all courage, by God’s will, and with the holy apostle Andrew intervening on the side of the Picts, turned in flight. The head of Athelstan, king of the Saxons, was cut off, and countless Saxons were slaughtered. And King Hungus, possessed of victory, returning with no small army to his own land, ordered Athelstan's head to be brought with him and he had it fixed on a wooden stake in the place which is called Ardchinnechena within the harbour now called Queen’s Ferry. After this victory obtained by heavenly means the Saxons never dared attack the Picts.
After a few days had passed after the happy victory of this war, the angel of God again came from Heaven to the blessed bishop Regulus, whom he addressed thus: ‘By command of God on high do not delay to go to northern parts, towards the rising sun, with the remains of Andrew the disciple of Christ which at our warning you recently kept back; and in whatever place the ship which will carry you and your company across the sea is wrecked, with no danger to you or your companions, there you will lay the foundations of a church in the name of the Lord and of his Apostle Andrew. For that place will be for you and your companions your resting place forever, and there will be your resurrection on the day of the last judgment.’ And Bishop Regulus, according to the precept of the angel, accompanied by holy men, with the remains of the holy apostle, sailed towards the north, and for the space of one and a half years, driven by many violent storm winds, founded an oratory in honour of St Andrew wherever throughout the islands of the sea of Greece he was brought to land. And so the holy men, having suffered innumerable toils along the sea coasts, with God as their guide, directed their sail towards the north, and landed on the night of St Michael in the land of the Picts, at a place which had been called Muckros, but is now called Kilrymonth. Muckros means ‘wood of pigs’. After the ship in which they were sailing had been wrecked on the rocks, they pitched tents for themselves there and fixed in the ground a cross which they had brought with them from Patras as a sign of the sacred things which they had brought, and as a protection against the snares of demons. And there they remained for 7 days and as many nights. And leaving the older men there, St. Damian and his brother Merinach, to guard the place, Regulus and the other men went to Forteviot with the relics of the most holy apostle Andrew, and there they found the three sons of King Hungus, Eoganán and Nechtan and Finguine Garb, and because their father was at that time on an expedition in Argyll, for whose life the sons were much concerned, they gave a tenth part of the city of Forteviot to God and St Andrew. Having erected a cross there the holy men blessed the place and those who dwelt there, the sons of the king.
Then they went to Monethatha, which is now called Mondynes, and there the queen Finchem gave birth to a daughter to King Hungus, who was called Mouren. The body of the virgin Mouren is buried at Kilrymonth, and no-one was buried there before her. Queen Finchem gave the house in which she had given birth to her daughter Mouren to God and St Andrew, and all the royal enclosure for ever. And having erected a cross there, they blessed the queen and that place. Then they crossed the mountains, i.e. the Mounth, and came to a place which was called Doldauha but now called Kindrochit-Alian. There the great king Hungus, on his way back from his expedition, met the holy men, and prostrated himself with all humility and reverence in front of the relics of St Andrew the Apostle when they were shown to him; and all the noble Picts who were with him prostrated themselves in front of the relics like their humble king. And the king gave to God and the holy apostle Andrew that place i.e. Doldauha, and built a church on the spot where the bare relics had been shown him. Then the king with the holy men crossed the mountains i.e. the Mounth and came to Mondynes. And there he built a church in honour of God and the blessed Apostle. And so the king with his holy men came to Forteviot, and there he built a basilica to God and the Apostle. Afterwards King Hungus, with the holy men, came to Kilrymonth, and, going round the big site of the place, offered it to God and to Saint Andrew the Apostle to build there basilicas and oratories.
Out of great devotion King Hungus and Bishop Regulus himself, and the other men went seven times round that very place, marked out by a clear sign. Having thus carried out the seven-fold circuit and perambulation, Bishop Regulus processed carrying above his head the relics of the holy apostle with all veneration, with his holy company following the bishop with songs and hymns. And the devout King Hungus followed them on foot, very devoutly pouring out profound prayers and thanks to God. And the most noble aristocrats of all the realm followed the king. Thus they commended that place to God, and fortified it with royal permission <on the 6 February>. As a sign of royal favour, the holy men erected 12 stone crosses at intervals around the circumference of the place; and they humbly begged God of heaven, that all who pray in that place with a devout mind and pure intention may obtain the fulfilment of their petition.
Afterwards King Hungus gave to the church of the holy apostle as a parochia whatever land is between the sea which is called the Firth of Forth, as far as the sea which is called Firth of Tay; and in the adjacent province along its bounds from Largo, as far as Ceres <of the Dogs or of the Cains?>; and from Ceres as far as Naughton MacIrb (Hyhatnachten Machehirb), which land is now called Naughton. And the king gave this place, that is Kilrymont, to God and St Andrew his apostle, with waters, with fields, with meadows, with pastures, with muirs, with woods in alms for ever; and he endowed that place with such liberty that its inhabitants will always be free and quit of hosting, and of castle- and bridge-work, and of the trouble of all secular exactions.
Bishop Regulus sang the prayer Alleluia so that God might forever protect that place given in alms, and guard it in honour of the apostle. As a reminder of the liberty granted King Hungus seized a divot and in front of his Pictish nobles bore it as far as the altar of St Andrew, and on it he placed that same divot as an offering. This was done in the presence of these witnesses: Talorc son of Iarnbodb, Nechtan son of Chelturan, Gartnait son of Dubnach, Drust son of Wythrossi, Nacthaleth son of Gigherti, Shinach son of Litheren, Oengus son of Foichele, Feradach son of Finlaech Phihacnanfin son of Bolg, Gilunineruh son of Taran, Demene son of Chinganena, Duptalarch son of Bargoit. Those witnesses are born of royal stock.
Afterwards in Kilrymont the holy men built seven churches. One in honour of St Regulus; the second in honour of St Aneglas {the deacon}; the third in honour of St Michael the Archangel; the fourth in honour of St Mary virgin; the fifth in honour of the honourable St Damian the elder; the sixth in honour of St Brigid virgin; the seventh in honour of a certain Mouren virgin, and in that church were 50 virgins born of royal stock, all dedicated to God, having taken the veil at eleven years of age, and all buried in the eastern part of that church.
These are the names of those men who brought the holy relics of St Andrew the apostle to Scotland: Bishop Regulus, Gelasius the deacon, Matheus the hermit, St Damian the priest and Merinachus his brother, Nermus and Chusemus from the island of Crete. Mirenus and Chubaculus the deacon, Natchabeus and Silicius his brother, seven hermits from the island of Tiber(is), Felix, Saranus, Mauritius, Madianus, Philipphus, Eugenius, Lucius; and three virgins from Collossia, viz Triduana, Potentia, Omeria. These virgins are buried in the church of St Anaglas.
Cano son of Dubabrach wrote this record for King Uurad son of Bargoit in the estate of Meigle.
The Augustinian’s Account
Translated by Dr Simon Taylor
These things, as we have said before, we have transcribed just as we found written in old books of the Picts. Most Scots affirm that the blessed Apostle Andrew was here alive in the flesh; taking as proof of their assertion the fact that he got as his lot the land of the Picts, that is Scythia, to preach in; and for this reason he held this place dear above all places; and what he did not fulfil while alive, he might fulfil after he had been released from the flesh. Because we have not found this written down, we are strongly inclined neither to deny or to affirm it. But since mention has been made of the miracles and wonders which God through His holy apostle has done and is doing, and since an occasion has offered itself to write some of these things, we have determined to write, by God's gift, the things that we have either found written down or have heard from trustworthy informers or have even observed for ourselves; and this the brothers have asked us to do. In the meantime, however, we have put this off until we may finish what has been begun.
So when the kingdom of the Picts had been completely destroyed, and had been seized by the Scots, the property and estates of the church [at St Andrews] waxed or waned in turn in proportion to the devotion kings and princes had for the holy apostle. About which things it must not be told individually, but only those things which relate to us are to be dealt with in abridged form. There was a royal city called Rymont, royal hill, which the above-mentioned King Hungus gave to God and the holy apostle. And when the saints whom we have mentioned above, who had arrived with the relics of the blessed apostle, had been removed from their present life, along with their disciples and imitators, religious worship died out there as it was a barbarous and uncouth people. But there continued in the church of St Andrew, such as it was then, by carnal succession thirteen whom they call Culdees, who were living more according to their own estimation and human tradition, than according to the statutes of the holy fathers. Indeed they still live like this; and they have certain things in common which are less in amount and value, while they have as their own the things which are greater in amount and value, as each of them is able to acquire gifts, either from friends who are united to them by some personal tie, such as kindred or connection, or from those whose anmcharait, that is soul-friends, they [the Culdees] are, or in whatever other ways. After they are made Culdees, they are not allowed to keep their wives in their houses, nor any other women from whom evil suspicion may arise.
Moreover, there were seven persons, who divided among themselves the offerings of the altar; of which seven portions the bishop used to enjoy only one, and the hospital another; the remaining five were apportioned to the other five, who performed no duty whatsoever to the altar or the church, except that they provided, according to their custom, hospitality for pilgrims and strangers, when more than six arrived, determining by lot whom or how many each of them was to receive. Indeed the hospital had continual accommodation for a number not exceeding six; but from the time that, by God's gift, it came into the possession of the canons, till the present it has received all who come to it. The canons have also determined that if anyone should arrive who is sick, or who falls ill there, his care is to be undertaken in all necessities according to the resources of the house, until he recovers his health or dies. But if he has any property, let him do what he wants with it and let him dispose of it as he will since in that house nothing will be demanded of him. Also a chaplain has been appointed by the canons to look after both the sick and the dying, and two brothers, who look after the house, receive strangers, and minister to the sick; but who do not eat or drink there, nor do they receive their clothing there. Moreover the canons have granted for this purpose the tenths of their own labours, and the remains of their food. If there is anything necessary in their cellar for either the healthy or the sick which cannot be had from the hospital, let it be given without objection. The above-mentioned persons also had their own revenues and possessions; which, when they died, their wives, whom they openly kept, and their sons and daughters, their relatives or their sons-in-law, divided amongst themselves, even the very offerings of the altar at which they did not serve; it would be shameful to speak of this were it not for the fact that they had been allowed to do it. Nor could so great an evil be removed until the time of King Alexander of happy memory, a special friend of the holy church of God; who magnified the church of the blessed apostle Andrew with estates and revenues, loaded it with many and valuable gifts, and endowed it with liberties and customs which were of his royal gift, to be held as royal possessions. Also the land which is called The Boar's Raik, which King Hungus, whom we mentioned above, had given to God and the holy apostle Andrew when the relics of the blessed apostle Andrew had been brought, and which had afterwards been taken away, he also established to its pristine condition [ or ‘anew’]; with the specific purpose and on condition that the religious life should be established in that church for the maintenance of divine worship. For there was no-one who served the altar of the blessed apostle, nor was mass celebrated there, except when the king or the bishop came there, which happened rarely. For the Culdees celebrated their office after their own fashion in a corner of the church, which [church] was very small. Of which royal donation there are many witnesses still living, and this donation his brother Earl David also confirmed, whom the king had constituted his heir and successor in the kingdom, as he is today. As a royal record of his gift the king ordered to be led to the altar an Arab steed, with its own bridle, saddle, shield and silver lance, and covered with a large, precious cloth; and he ordered the church to be invested with all the aforementioned royal gifts, liberties and customs; he also gave Turkish arms of a different kind, which are still kept in the church of St Andrew, along with its [the steed’s] shield and saddle as a memorial of royal munificence. They are shown to people coming from all the airts, so that what is so frequently brought to mind will not be forgotten in any way. It was of course in the days of this king Alexander, near the end of his earthly life, that sir Robert the first prior of the church of Scone, which the same king had also given to the canons and had enriched with many gifts and estates, was elected bishop of the Scots. Indeed from ancient times they have been called the bishops of St Andrew, and in both ancient and modern writings they are found called ‘High Archbishops’ or ‘High Bishops of the Scots’. Which is why Bishop Fothad, a man of the greatest authority, caused to be written on the cover of a gospel-book these lines:
Fothad, who is the High Bishop to the Scots,
made this cover for an ancestral gospel-book.
So now in ordinary and common speech they are called Escop Alban, that is ‘Bishops of Albany’. And they have been called, and are (still) called this on account of their pre-eminence by all the bishops of the Scots, who are called after the places over which they preside.
But before the consecration of that (bishop-)elect the said King Alexander, having died, left his brother King David, who was the only one of the brothers still alive, and who is still alive, heir not so much to the kingdom as to his devotion towards the church of God and towards the protection of the poor. For he is, and will remain, fully occupied in bringing to a conclusion with God's help what his brother the often mentioned king had begun. He founded very many churches and monasteries of both monks and canons as well as of nuns; and conferred upon them many benefices. Moreover he has done many works of mercy towards the servants and hand-maidens of Christ, which it is not within our ability to narrate. He brought it about that the head of the church of St Andrew the aforementioned sir Robert be consecrated by Thurstan archbishop of York of blessed memory, without profession, or any exaction whatsoever, saving only the dignity of both churches, and the authority of the holy and apostolic see. Therefore, once the bishop had been ordained and had returned to his own see, he applied himself zealously to accomplish what he cherished in his heart, namely the work of enlarging the church and dedicating it to divine worship. But both before and after his ordination Satan opposed him in many things; he sustained many injuries and insults, according to what the apostle said: ‘all who want to live piously in Christ suffer persecution’. He spent the seventh small portion of the altar, which was due to him, and which he took away from his own uses, on work on the church. But since the outlay was small, the building was also being constructed in a small way, until, with God's help and next after God with King David’s assent, offerings were recovered for the uses of the church, extracted from the hands of lay people, both men and women. Thereafter the more that he might have to hand to give, the faster the work went.
Therefore, having begun the foundations of the church, and now having completed the greater part, and having started some houses, and having finished some with a cloister so that now inhabitants might be able to be introduced who might not ask for too much, and who in the meantime might wait with patience, he [Bishop Robert] asked sir Athelwold bishop of Carlisle by letters and by messengers, as well as by the personal intervention of King David, to grant him from the church of St Oswald, of which the bishop himself was head by right of prior, a person with whom he might share his work, and whom he might set up as prior for the canons whom he was arranging to establish in the church of St Andrew. Since it seemed to him more intimate and sweeter to receive a person from that church where he had devoted himself to God and had taken the habit of the religion life, also whence as the first prior he had been sent to the church of Scone; from which, as we have said above, he had been elected and taken as bishop, than to receive a person from elsewhere. But he did not ask for just any person, but for brother Robert, not indeed well known by renown or way of life but only by name, whom those who knew him considered suitable for this work according to what [the Bishop had heard] from his friends and members of his household. Therefore he asked for him and he received him, nor from that church could anything be denied him or should be denied him that he might reasonably request.
The above-mentioned brother Robert by order of the lord bishop dwelt at St Andrew’s for some considerable time, and without any canons, but not without clerks, with the lord bishop providing the necessaries for him and his men. He had no power over the church, nor did he want any, until the Lord would give him what he desired, a community for the service of God. But he did not trust in himself in any way, but putting himself entirely into the hands of God, and submitting himself to His ordinance, he assiduously beseeched God that He would deign to visit and console him, and to grant him to lay a foundation for the religious life such that the building built upon it should be strong and abiding, just as he had decreed in his heart. He did not want in any way to enter into the work of outsiders (which might perhaps have been easy for him), to gather to himself brothers from other and diverse churches, lest different brothers, taking different views, wishing to appear to be a somebody, should not coalesce into unity and thus the fabric of the building should suffer harm before the foundation was laid. If, however, God should send him any persons who were prepared to live in the way in which he himself was minded to live, he would receive them warmly.
Meanwhile with Brother Robert staying there by order of the bishop, as has been said, but with the lord bishop carrying out somewhat sluggishly the business which he had begun, the king came to St Andrew’s, along with his son Earl Henry the king designate to pray, and with them many of the earls and potentates of the land. The next day, having heard mass and having observed the customary hours and made the customary offering, the king coming into the cloister, such as it was then, along with those who had come with him, and once everyone had settled down, he explained to them firstly many things of little importance, then finally the main reason why he had come. He therefore arraigned the bishop since he had not hastened on the work and service of God in establishing the religious life in the church of the blessed Andrew, even though the bishop had declared himself minded to do so, and as King Alexander had decreed. And when after many disputes the lord bishop argued that he was not permitted either to diminish or disperse the property of the bishop, lest perchance what had been conferred on the servants of God by him should be taken away from them by his successor, the king replies saying that from the land called the Boar’s Raik, which was not the bishopric’s, which King Alexander his brother had dedicated to God and to St Andrew for that very purpose, namely that in his (St Andrew’s) church the religious life might be established, he (the bishop) should endow them sufficiently, and both he and his son would confirm [it] and would help towards stocking the land; which they in fact did, and compelled certain others by oath to help. Then the lord bishop, as if of his own free will but in fact under constraint, by the advice and consent of the king and his son and of the other barons who were present, transferred into the hands of brother Robert some portion [or ‘a portion at his (the bishop’s) choice’ AAMD] of the lands of the personae which had come into his (the bishop’s) hands on their deaths, from which the brothers who came there to serve God ought to have been maintained in the meantime. Nor however did he act more sluggishly regarding the work on the church, but he busied himself in every way so that he might complete the work more swiftly. On that day Robert the priest, of pious memory, the uterine brother of the lord Bishop, renouncing the world with heart, voice and deed in order to serve God in the church of the blessed Andrew following the canonical rule of our holy father Augustine, gave himself into the hands of Brother Robert the prior, with his church of Tyningham, with the agreement of the lord bishop, so completely that the canons should have either that church or fifty shillings per year.
From Bower’s Scotichronicon, Book VI, 24
Translated by D.E.R. Watt et al.
In 1122 [1124] Robert prior of Scone was elected to the see on the urging of King Alexander. He [the king] restored in its entirety the land called the Boar’s Chase, which had been taken away from the church of St Andrew, on condition that a religious community was established there, as had been previously arranged by King Alexander [in a ceremony involving] the king’s Arabian steed with its special harness and saddle, covered with a voluminous and precious caparison, along with a shield and silver lance (which now forms the shaft of a cross) – all these things the king in the presence of the magnates of the land had brought up to the altar, and he had the church invested with, and given sasine of, the said liberties and royal customs. David his brother, then an earl, was present there and confirmed this gift.
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