Rothes

The ancient history of this parish is shrouded in mystery and we only get occasional glimpses of it from early records. But the reader should not be lulled into thinking that Rothes was an obscure backwater which had little to do with Scottish history - in fact, quite the opposite is true! We should start by bringing the twelfth-century into focus and taking a look at the family of Pollok who were presented with the barony of Rothes in about 1150.

The Pollok family descended from a progenitor named Fulbert whose three sons, Peter, Robert and Helya (Elias) came to Scotland as followers of Walter fitz Alan (c.1110-1177), dapifer to successive Scottish kings. Little is known of Fulbert himself,¹ but his sons clearly earned Walter’s trust, probably from a combination of their military service and their father’s own standing in Norman England. Walter Fitz Alan, accordingly, enfoeffed them with extensive properties - in Renfrewshire (Pollok), East Lothian (Stenton) and Moray (Rothes). In doing this he was furthering King David I’s introduction of the Norman feudal system into Scotland.²
The eldest son, Peter, held the lands both of Nether Pollok and of Rothes but had no male heirs. The lands of Nether Pollok passed into the superiority of Roland of Mearns and then, by marriage, to the Maxwells of Caerlaverock.
Helya was in Holy Orders, and some consider that he was awarded a prebend named Partick in the chapter of Glasgow Cathedral.
Robert, was the founder of the Pollok family of Upper or Over Pollok, which held these lands continuously into the 20th century. His daughter Isobel married William Wallace, possibly an ancestor of the famous warrior, bringing the lands of Stenton into the Wallace family. ³

Peter had one daughter, whose name is given variously as Mauricle or Muriel, and when she married Walter de Murdach, her father bestowed the barony of Rothes upon her (and her husband) as her dowry. The couple had a daughter, Eva de Murdach (Mortach), domina de Rothes, who, for the benefit of her own soul, and the souls of her father and mother, confirmed her mother's gift, to the Blessed Trinity, and the Cathedral Church of Moray, and to Archibald, Bishop of Moray, and his successors, of all of her lands of Inverorkel. She appended her seal to this charter, which was witnessed by Thomas Wiseman; William de Dunn, dean of Moray; Archibald Heroc, archdeacon; Henry, chaplain of Rothes; Sir Gilbert de Roule, knight, Sheriff of Elgin; and others, and the charter was dated Idus Aprilis 1263. She also confirmed to the hospital of St. Nicholas, at the Bridge of Spey, the grant of the church of Rothes, made to it by her mother. Eva's charter of confirmation had her seal appended, and was witnessed by William de Aston, canon of Moray; Henry, chaplain of Rothes; Matthew de Elgin, canon of Moray; Robert de Polloc; Ada(m) de Polloc, son of Robert; William the Dispenser; and others.⁴ Andrew, Bishop of Moray, with the consent of his chapter, confirmed this grant before 1242, the year in which he died.⁵

Walter de Murdach and his wife (Muriel de Pollok) were also benefactors of the Cistercian abbey at Kinloss, founded in 1150 by King David I. They granted to the monks the lands of the Haugh of Dundurcus {NGR NJ 300508}, as well as certain other lands which John of Hastings and Walter, along with other 'worthy men', had assigned to the monks of the Abbey.⁶

Before the gifts of Muriel de Pollok and her daughter, the church of Rothes seems to have been, in the hands of the Prior and community of St Andrew's (Cathedral) Priory. However, a dispute had arisen between the priory, Muriel, the Bishop of Moray, and the hospital of St Nicholas, regarding Muriel's proposed gift of the church of Rothes to the hospital. Muriel would appear to have been acting in the capacity of patron of the church. The matter was ultimately resolved in 1235 - Prior Henry agreed to the gift of Rothes to the hospital when the Bishop (Andrew de Moravia) granted that the hospital should pay 3 merks yearly to the priory in recompense, half at Martinmas and half at Pentecost. The Prior quitclaimed any right which the Priory had held in the church of Rothes.⁷ So, having been annexed to St Andrew's Priory, Rothes was now, from 1235, annexed to the Hospital of St Nicholas. It would appear that, the rectory having been first invested in the hands of the Prior of St Andrews, was then awarded to the Master of the Hospital, the 'cure' of the parish being attended to by the ministrations of a vicar.

Ultimately, the barony of Rothes became the property of the Leslie family. The first Leslie who bore the name of Rothes was Sir George, who is described as Dominus de Rothes, in a contract of marriage, dated 26th April, 1392. He had inherited Rothes from his father, John Leslie of Rothes. The barony remained in the possession of the family for nearly four hundred years, but was then sold by John, ninth Earl of Rothes, in 1711, to John Grant, of Elchies, and it now forms part of the extensive possessions of the Earl of Seafield. However, on this sale, the Earl of Rothes "reserved to himself the castle tower, with the castle bank and the green under the walls thereof," as his hereditary caput. When the Hospital of St Nicholas ceased to function the fruits of the parish of Rothes returned from whence they had come - to the Lords of Rothes.

Possibly, it is just by chance that the parish church of Rothes bore the same dedication - St Lawrence - as the old church which lay just to the south of the ancient township of Forres. However, we should note that the family of Pollok, who held Rothes in the 12th-century, were also much involved in land-transactions around Forres and are regularly found as witnesses to royal and episcopal charters given in both Forres and Elgin.⁸

The site of the ancient church of Rothes is the subject of some debate. Some authors, such as the local minister who wrote the parish's entry in the New Statistical Account, tell of a chapel, "connected with the Castle of Rothes", at what was known as Chapel Hill {NGR: NJ 276485} .⁹ However, recent observers have questioned this site since it seems to be far from suitable for a building of any kind.¹⁰ This is a difficult matter to resolve because of the lack of evidence on the ground. Writing in 1845, the Rev Alexander McWatt, minister of Rothes, stated that the remains at Chapel Hill include, "the remains of a burying-ground, which are still to be seen, though no longer used."¹¹ The matter is made more difficult because some consider that the Chapel Hill site may have hosted a "monastery".

We are on more certain ground when we consider a second suggestion - that there was an ancient church beside what is now the Glenrothes Distillery, where there is still a graveyard {NGR: NJ 274492} . Whatever else is true, this was certainly the site of the parish church up to 1780, when the Earl of Findlater funded the building of a new church on the High Street. It is said that stone from this 'old church' was used in the construction of the new one. It is also said that substantial stone foundations have been found when digging graves in the graveyard and these are supposed to be the remains of the 'old church'.¹²

Near to the supposed site of the 'old church' were two wells which were of some antiquity. The first, St Laurence's Well, is suggested by Mackintosh to be the same as the Minister's Well, which the Ordnance Survey position at {NGR: NJ 273493} .¹³ However, some say that St Laurence's Well is a little further up the Burn of Rothes, at {NGR: NJ 271491} . The second, Tobar Domhnaich, was considered to be a 'holy well' whose waters were thought to have "rare medicinal qualities". It was a spring rather than a well and, after it was cased in, its waters were conveyed to Glengrant House for domestic use. Sadly, this house became a ruin and was swept away. Ross added that, "there is a well in Glen Grant, to the west of the town, called Tobar Domhnaich. While this name may simply mean 'Sunday's Well', it is worth noting that Domnach is also one of the earliest Gaelic church terms, designating a church of very high status."¹⁴

The suppressed parish of Dundurcus was divided between those of Boharm and Rothes in 1782.¹⁵

Other Churches and Chapels in the parish .

Chapel Ley {NGR: NJ 259483} : The OS Namebook¹⁹ records a local tradition that a chapel and/or graveyard stood at this location. Access to the site is now very difficult because of a dense plantation of trees which surrounds it. It is said that a skull was found here showing a cleft from skull to mouth. This is a remote location and there is little to suggest why there might have been a chapel here. However, the path that runs westwards along the banks of the Burn of Rothes would take a traveler directly to the Mannoch Road and then further west to Dallas and Forres. Also, nearby are the Well of the Fairies at the Dounies {NGR: NJ 261484}, and the Hillock o' the Auld {NGR: NJ 261849}, both of which might give us a suggestion of why this location was considered 'sacred' in early ages. The well was much frequented on May Day each year.²⁰

Chapel-hill: The suggestion that there was a chapel here has been mentioned above. A precept of sasine, dated c.1555, (vide supra), talks of the lands of Chapel Hill as belonging to "the chaplain of the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary within the castle of Rothes". This could be interpreted as meaning that the name implied, "the Hill belonging to the (Castle's) Chapel", rather than, "the Hill of the Chapel, i.e. the Hill where a Chapel stood". This is supported by the additional fact that, "Mr. James Leslie, chaplain of the chaplainry of Rothes, granted a tack of the lands of Chapel Hill of Rothes, and of the teinds of the same, and of the lands of Dandaleith, pertaining to him as part of the patrimony of the said chaplainry, to Andrew, Earl of Rothes, for the space of three years from Whitsunday 1571".²¹

Rothes Castle {NGR: NJ 279490} : It is said that there was a chapel within Rothes Castle. This would not be surprising since many of the more important castles of Scotland had a private chapel of some sort within their precincts. The document, dated c.1555 (vide supra), would certainly seem to confirm that there was a chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary within the castle at that date. It is most likely that the chapel existed for some time before then.

Parish Clergy :