Elgin Deanery
Dundurcas
Parish Church: OS Ref: NGR NJ 302510 H.E.S. No: NJ35SW 4 Dedication: Mary of Grace
Associated Chapels: Orton {NGR NJ 324552}; Hospital of St Nicholas {NGR NJ 320518}.
This parish church is one of the lesser-known in the Deanery, but over the generations, it attracted a great deal of love and respect from the local people whom it served. So much so that, when the time came for its suppression, and workmen were employed to remove the slates from the roof, a local family - believed to have been called Abigail - of the Kirkton, proceded to stone them so effectively that the men had to retreat to what they hoped would be the safety of the nearby River Spey. Sadly, one young man, while fording the river in trying to escape, was drowned. At some point the bell of the parish church was removed to Cullen House.1
The ruins of the parish church stand on a mound within the churchyard which shows some signs of having once been the site of a simple fortification.2 The present ruins are of a post-Reformation structure and are said to date from about 1760. However, the charter evidence shows clearly that this parish, and its associated parish church, have existed here certainly since the early part of the thirteenth century.
The Old Manse of the parish stood just north-west of the church at Kirkhill
The parish of Dundurcas was united with that of Boharm on 26 June 1782, when the lands of this parish were divided up amongst the parishes of Boharm, Rothes, Bellie, and Keith. The 'materials' of the church of Dundurcus were assigned to the Earl of Findlater, since he had lately built a new church in the parish of Rothes, fit to contain the whole inhabitants of the new parish.
However, there was something of a dispute over the matter of patronage. The Crown had been patron of Dundurcas and its lands whereas the patron of the church of Rothes was the Earl of Findlater, and that of Boharm was the Earl of Fife. It was said that, 'if Dundurcus, the parish intended to be suppressed, became first vacant, the Crown ought to have the first vice both in Rothes and Boharm. If Rothes shall become first vacant, the minister of Dundurcas will succeed without presentation; and in that case, the Crown [is] to have the first presentation to Rothes, and Lord Fife the first and second presentation to Boharm. If Boharm becomes first vacant, the minister of Dundurcus will, in that case, likewise succeed without presentation, and the Crown [is] to have the first vice to Boharm after his death, and the memorialist' (the Earl of Findlater) 'the first and second to Rothes'. The officers of state, on the part of the Crown, insisted, that the Crown should have 'the first vice of presentation of the two new-modelled parishes;' and the Court preferred the Crown 'to the first vice of both parishes.'3 Clearly, in the period immediately after the Reformation, the matter of patronage was of great concern!
| Name | OS Grid Ref. | Yield | Given in 1782 to | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dundurcas | NJ 302510 | 1 dabhach | Rothes | Dundurkus |
| Upper Bridge | Boharm | |||
| Nether Bridge | Boharm | |||
| Freefield & Collie | NJ 312516 | Rothes | ||
| Inchberry & Elie | NJ 322556 | Rothes | ||
| Gerbery | NJ 313524 | Rothes | Gerbity | |
| Mulben | NJ 353512 | 1 dabhach | Boharm | |
| Mulderies (1) | NJ 398504 | Keith | March Breas | |
| Mulderies (2) | NJ 372503 | Keith | Garland(s) | |
| Mulderies (3) | NJ 377503 | Rothes | Cullieshangan | |
| Thornbrec | Boharm | |||
| Crochnacroy | NJ 346517 * | Boharm | Croichnacroy | |
| Camingstoun | NJ 342507 * | Boharm | Cummingston | |
| Belnabreich | NJ 343502 | Boharm | Balnabreich | |
| Tombriacon | Boharm | |||
| Dalmanie | Boharm | |||
| Ordiefish | NJ 338571 | Bellie | Ordiquish | |
| Ortoun | NJ 318542 | Rothes | Orton | |
| Auchroisk | NJ 334511 | Boharm | ||
| Chapel & Inch | ||||
| Cairnty | NJ 325527 | Boharm | Cardenny | |
| Oldmyr | ||||
| Aikenway & ferry boat | NJ 290500 | 1 dabhach | Rothes | |
| Drakemyres | NJ 392546 | Boharm | ||
| NGR locations by David de Moravia. (* location from 1915 OS Map) | ||||
A ferry-boat crossed the river from the end of the track that leads north past the ruins of medieval Aikenway Castle
1203 x 4 December 1214 Walter Murdach and his wife Muriel {de Pollok} gave a charter in favour of Kinloss Abbey whereby they granted part {one third} of the 'haugh of Dundurcus' to the abbot and community, in free alms, saving the fishing on the Spey. They also gave the monks pasture for 12 cows and one bull and 16 oxen and four draught animals (horses?) and 100 sheep in the common pasture of the village of Dundurcus. The charter itself reveals that there had been some dispute between Walter and the monks and that this gift was meant to put an end to it.5 By some, it has been thought that this gift was intended as an aid in the restoration of the abbey after its accidental destruction by fire in the year 1258,6 but this can not be since the charter was given long before the supposed fire.
1262 (April) An agreement is formed between the abbot and convent of Kinloss, on the one side, and Thomas Wiseman, son of William Wiseman, on the other, whereby Thomas and his heirs or proxies will hold at feuferme from the abbot and convent all the lands which they had in the parish of Dundurcus at the time of the making of this document, by their right bounds, as attested by the charter of Walter Murdoch, which is inserted word-for-word. Thomas Wiseman agreed to render 100s annually for the fabric of the church of Kinloss, paying half at Pentecost and half at Martinmas. Both parties place themselves under the authority of the bishop of Moray, the archdeacon, and the dean of the cathedral, to ensure the observation of this agreement.6a
Parsonage - annexed to the hospital of Rathven (Aberdeen dioc.) sett for £40. The lands of Mullen lying in the parish of Dundurcus yielded 16 marks (to the hospital). £5 is "gevin furth" of Dundurcus to the abbey of Kinlos (sic.).7
Vicarage - held by William Wismoun {Wiseman}, paying 23 marks. "Thairof deductit ar 8 marks for the Pasche penny, oblatioun, corpspresent and umaist claith be just rentall, sua restis, £10; third thereof £3 6s 8d"8
A number writers consider that there is very little evidence in the medieval record of other religious establishments having existed in this parish, but this is, in fact, far from the case. To begin with, within its bounds was to be found one of the most popular Holy Wells in the north-east of Scotland, whose fame was such that people flocked to its waters even some one hundred years after the Second Reformation. Beside the well was a chapel for the use of 'pilgrims'. Secondly, there was the ancient Hospital of St Nicholas on Spey which, with its chapel, was a source of support to many a weary traveller, as well as the poor, from as early as the beginning of the thirteenth century.
1224-42 Symone, vicar of Dundurkus, signed, as a witness, a charter whereby Walter de Moravia gave the church of Ineurallan to the Cathedral of Moray, for the support of the fabric.9
1227-1230 Symone, vicar of Dundurkus, signs, as witness, the charter of Muriel de Polloc in which she gifts to the B.V.M. and St Nicholas {the Hospital of St Nicholas on Spey}, all her lands of Inuerorkel. {Glen Orchile extends from the Mills of Mulben to the River Spey at Boat o'Brig}.10
1238 (6 December) Symone, parson of Dundurkus, signs as witness the charter of Muriel de Rothes, daughter of the late Peter de Pollock, gifting to the hospital {of St Nicholas at Boat o' Brig} her mill in her lands of Inuerorkell, its pools, lades, etc. She also gifts the land to the east of the hospital, between the Spey and the Orkel -"portionem terre que est provima eidem versus orientem et que jacet inter Spe et proximum cundos a cruce quam ibidem feci poni usque ad aliam crucem que posita est prope aquam que vocatur Orkel et prope predictum hospitalis". Muriel and Bishop Andrew (de Moravia) perambulated the land in question.11
1235-1242 William, vicar of Dundurkus, signs as witness, the charter of Eva Morthach confirming the gift of her mother {Muriel de Polloc}, of the church of Rothes to the Hospital of St Nicholas at the Bridge of Spey, for the support of the paupers who attend the hospital, and she renounces any right which she may have had in the church.12
1381 (2 December) Papal mandate to the bishop of Ross, to provide Adam de Dundarlens, canon of Ross, to a canonry of Moray with expectation of a prebend and dignity, parsonage, office, with or without cure, even if normally elective, but provided that the dignity is not the greatest of the cathedral after that of the bishop, notwithstanding that he has a canonry and prebend of Ross; but on condition that he resign the perpetual vicarage of the parish of Dundurkus, Moray diocese. Given, at the petition of King Robert, by the Pope at Avignon, 4 non. December.13
1544 (7 May) Thomas Hay, vicar of Dundurcas, witnesses the discharge by Patrick Hepburn, Bishop of Moray, to James Grant of Freuchie and others, for 260 merks, as balance of grassum for feu-farm of the lands of the barony of Strathspey. Given at Spynie.14
1. The Ogilvie family were lairds of Cullen. Walter Ogilvie was created Lord Ogilvie in 1616 and his son, James, was created Earl of Findlater in 1638. At the time of the suppression of Dundurcas, the Earl of Findlatter, who was also Earl of Seafield, was patron of the church of Rothes. In 1766, James, the then Earl of Findlater, laid out plans for a new crofting township, including a replacement for the parish church which was dilapidated. Because of the considerable outlay he had incurred in building a new church in Rothes it was thought appropriate that he should receive the 'materials' of Dundurcas, including the church bell, in recompense. [See also Scott, H. (1926) Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae, New Edition, Vol 6, p. 336.] Return
2. H.E.S. Designation of Scheduled Monument: Dundurcas SM5621, http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/SM5621 (accessed 27/05/2020) Return
3. Connell, John (Sir) (1818) A Treatise of the Law of Scotland, respecting the Erection, Union, and Disjunction of Parishes; the Manses and Glebes of the Parochial Clergy, and the Patronage of Churches, Edinburgh, pp. 190-192. Return
4. Ross, A D (2003) The Province of Moray, c.1000-1230, PhD thesis presented to the University of Aberdeen. Vol.i., p. 60-61. Return
5. NLS, Adv.MS 29.4.2(x), 231r-232v; http www.poms.ac.uk/record/source/5907/ (accessed 27/05/2020)
6. Stuart, John (1872) Records of the Monastery of Kinloss: with illustrative documents, Edinburgh, Soc. Ant. Scot., p. xii.
6a. NLS, Adv. MS 29.4.2 (x), 231r-232v. Return
7. Kirk, J (ed.) (1995) The Books of Assumption of the thirds of benefices. Oxford: British Academy, p.456. Return
8. ibid. p. 489.
9. Moray Reg., no. 95. Return
10. Moray Reg., no. 106. Return
11. Moray Reg., no. 107. Return
12. Moray Reg., no. 112. Return
13. Burns, Charles (1976) Papal Letters to Scotland of Clement VII of Avignon, Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, p. 72. Return
14. Fraser, William (1883) The Chiefs of Grant, Vol. 3, Edinburgh, p. 279.
e-mail: admin@cushnieent.com
© 2019 Cushnie Enterprises