Convinth

As with many churches in the north-east, the name of this parish is found in various forms in the historical record - Coneway, Glenconveth, Conway, Convinth, Conewy, Cunewy, Cuneway - are the most common examples. I have chosen to use the form Convinth because it is one commonly found in the Moray charters and, importantly, it sets it aside from the other 'Conveth' parishes to be found in Scotland.

The parish of Convinth is recorded as early as 1221, but the existence of a cross-incised stone and two cup-marked stones shows that the church is probably of much greater antiquity. The dedication of the church is recorded as being to St Lawrence although Ross states that a dedication to St Beoan has been found within the dabhach of Comer-Kirktown.¹ One author thought that the remains of the church were, in fact, the remains of a convent, but there is no evidence for this.² There are also those who consider that the St Lawrence dedication is evidence of the hand of the 'Roman faction' whch later held sway in Scotland, and that the ancient church would have been known by the name of some native saint of the Early Church. Mackay (Mackay 1893) reported that, "Glen-Convinth church is traditionally said to have been founded by a companion of St Erchard." Although he did not venture to suggest a name there is a ring of truth to the tale. Erchard spent much of his life working in the environs of Loch Ness and the chapel at Glenmoriston {NGR NH 279127} bears his name.

The parish of Convinth, along with the ancient parish of Dunballoch, the Red Castle and the barony of Ardmannach in the Black Isle, and the castle and barony of Kilravock, in Nairnshire, were all granted by the crown to John Byseth c.1218. These properties constituted the Lordship of the Aird. Under the terms of a grant of King William the Lion to the Bishops of Moray of one-tenth of all the King's rents in Moray, the Bishop duly claimed one-tenth of John Byseth's rent due to the King for these lands. Byset had been in the habit of paying the king, but had not been paying the 'tenth' he owed to the Church.

The original parish of Convinth or Conveth covered a very large geographical area indeed, including, it is said, no less that eleven dabhaichean (see table below). An unaviodable truth was that the location of the ancient parish church of Convinth would have been most inconvenient for many of its parishoners, especially in later times when numbers seem to have migrated down the glen. It is to be supposed that the reason the ancient parish church was built where it was lies in the fact that there was, in these times, a very large population living around that site. A glance at the old maps of the district reveals a significant number of 'cairns' and other remnants of early inhabitation, including the cross-incised stone and cup-marked stones found in the churchyard, all of which are clear evidence that this was the case. It would seem that, as arable farming became more and more important, the population migrated northwards towards the better lands of the Aird.

The parish of Convinth included two, or possibly three, 'orphaned' portions (dabhaichean) of land. The first of these was the dabhach of Erchless which lay on the north bank of the River Beauly. However, ecclesiastically, Erchless stood within the bounds of the earldom of Ross since the boundary in these parts was the river Beauly itself. It would seem that Erchless was also within the diocesan boundary of Ross. The result was that a portion of a parish which was under the jurisdiction of the Bishops of Moray lay within the territory of the Bishops of Ross. The second 'orphan' was that extensive portion of land in Strathglass consisting of the dabhaichean of Cumber (Comar-Kirktown) and Gulachkyn (Guisachan). The third is much more doubtful but a number of writers (e.g. Ross 2003, i, 76) consider that the dabhach of Buntach (Buntait) was also a part of Convinth parish.

In 1226, at the instigation of John Bisset, a section of the old parish was removed to create a new parish - that of Kiltarlity. It would appear that this church, whose endowments (lands) were both north and south of the River Beauly, was initially under the Bishop of Ross's authority,⁵ but it was not long before a dispute broke out between the bishop of Ross (Robert) and the bishop of Moray (Andrew)⁶ as to who had a proper right to the new parish.

At some point, very soon after John Byset founded Beauly Priory (1230), he endowed it with the parsonage of Convinth. Indeed, it is possible that it formed part of the original foundation endowment of the priory. The cure was provided for by a vicar perpetual and, for a time from c.1330 to c.1430, this vicarage was served by a 'priest' who also served the vicarage of the church of Wardlaw (which had been moved from Dunballoch). After this period, the vicarage of Convinth was again separated and remained independent up to the time of the Second Reformation.

There has been much specualtion about the Annat names just north of the River Beauly {NGR NH 51_13_}. "Despite its now being to the north of the River Beauly, Annat seems always to have formed part of Kiltarlity & Convinth parish. Groam of Annat, on the other hand, seems always to have been in Kilmorack. The parish boundary probably followed the older course of the River Beauly."¹²

Comar Kirktown (Clachan Comair): A church was built at Comar-Kirktown {NGR NH 335307} some time after 1350, and before 1416.⁷ It has already been noted that the dabach of Cumber, as it was called in certain charters, was a detached portion of the parish of Convinth, and even a casual glance at a map shows that it is situated at some considerable distance from the parish church. This inconvenience was most probably the cause of the laird's decision to build a church here. The Fenton family's estates in the south included Baky (Bakie), in Forfarshire, within their Barony of Rethy (Reedie) and they had a chaplainry on this estate which Batten considered to have been endowed in a similar fashion to that at Comar-Kirktown.⁸ This church at Comar-Kirktown seems to have been a parochial chapel. Although it was dependent on the parish church at Convinth it had been given certain 'parochial' rights, e.g. baptism and sepulture, without which it would have served little purpose in overcoming the considerable distance to the parish church. The possession of these 'rights' has led some writers to think that it was a separate parish in its own right, but this was not the case. The chapel is dedicated to Beathan, probably Beóán, anglicised as Bean. The well beside the chapel is called Sputan Beathain on the Chisholm plan of the Davoch of Clachan (1809). This has become unrecognisable in the OS Pathfinder Map as Sputan Bhàin.¹³

Kirkfield (Achadh na h-Eaglaise): Taylor says that on this site there was a chapel which served the dabhach of Guisachan, and that it was dedicated to St Drostan from the name of the burn Ault-Trusty ('Drostan's Burn'), attached to the burn that flows into Abhainn Deabhag (River Diak) immediately downstream from Guisachan House.¹⁰ In more modern times the name of this burn was Alt na Sidhean ('Burn of the Fairy Hill or hills')¹¹ There is a disused and ancient graveyard at {NGR NH 313273} beside an old township, and there is a second township recorded at {NGR NH 313270} which was known as Wester Achnaheglish. The lands of Guisachan were enormous extending far to the west and encompassing much of what is now the Glen Affric National Nature Reserve. We should also note here that there is an old hill-route leading from Glen Moriston → Coire Dho {NGR NH 199134} → Alt Riabhaich {NGR NH 215186} → Cougie {NGR NH 241212} which was part of the lands of Guisachan. This may provide another link with St Erchard, his establishment in Glen Moriston and the possible travels of his followers into the highlands of Guisachan and Convinth.

 

 

The dabhaichean of Convinth Parish

Charter Name	'Modern' Name	OS Grid Ref.
Herkele	Erchless	NH 410408
Muy	Moy (Ardrannich?)	NH 516414
altera Muy	Moy (Belladrum?)	NH 518419
Dunyn	Dounie	NH 506430
Fothenes	Phoineas	NH 526429
Cumber	Comar-Kirktown	NH 335307
Coneway	Easter Conveth	c.NH 51_380
Coneway	Wester Conveth	c.NH 50_360
Brutach (Glenvakie)	Bruiach	NH 500411
Gulachkyn	Guisachan	NH 287252
Buntach	Buntait	NH 395308
Names from Ross (2003), vol.2, p.58-58, with some OS Refs added by David de Moravia