The Kirk Above Dee Water III.

Roll-Call. 41

III.

ROLL-CALL.

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One of the few remaining links which connect the parish of Balmaghie with the distant past is the old Communion Cup. This cup is one of a pair* not any longer used in our Sacramental Service, since two handsome new cups of silver were presented to the parish in 1795, a year after our present church was built, by Thomas Gordon of Balmaghie, the patron of the living.

This very ancient cup, according to Mr Thomas Burns, the author of the learned volume called “Old Scottish Communion Plate,” belongs to the very beginning of the seventeenth century, and is probably little short of 300 years old. It is among the oldest cups remaining since the Reformation in the sixteenth century. Only three pre-Reformation cups (called “mazers,” grace cups) remain, one being in the possession of the Earl of Galloway, dated 1569. The date of this Balmaghie cup is ascertained by the deacon’s mark or punch to the right side of the crest (Edinburgh Castle). The mark is “J. L.,” or John Lindsay, who was deacon of the Incorporation of Goldsmiths in Edinburgh in 1617-19. This is therefore the date of the cup. To the left is the maker’s monogram “G. K.,” Gilbert Kirkwoode, who became

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* The other may be seen in the Museum at Kirkcudbright; also, the Balmaghie “Token” for the Sacrament.

42 The Kirk above Dee Water.

deacon in 1624. Mr Burns groups this cup with a number which he calls the “Dumfries Group,” where appear three other cups by the same maker, viz.: Glencairn, Tynron, and Penpont, all very similar in shape. In this group are also included the cups at Carsphairn and Kirkcudbright. The letters KᴾBMG of course stand for Parish Kirk of Balm‘Ghie. The letters HᴹM stand for Magister or Minister HEW M‘GHIE, who was minister of Balmaghie 1615-1638. The patronage of the living at that time rested with the family of M‘Ghie of Balmaghie under a charter of James VI., dated 1606. The church itself was vested in the Bishop of Edinburgh. It is said that when the Abbey of Dundrennan was destroyed, the M‘Ghies obtained possession of a large part of the Abbey plate. Perhaps this very cup was made out of silver once used there.

Between the Rev. Hew M‘Ghie and our next minister lies a troubled period of 50 years, during which Balmaghie shared the ups and downs of Episcopacy and Presbytery. Finally, in 1688, the Episcopal “curates” were “rabbled” or expelled. The last Bishop of Galloway was John Gordon (1688), who fled to France. Immediately after this the Synod of Galloway met to take stock of the state of the parishes. This meeting was at Minnigaff, May 14, 1689. Many parishes had no minister, and probably Balmaghie was among them. A number of ministers “from Ireland” attended, and some received calls, including a Mr John M‘Bride to the parish of Borgue. It was 1694 before Balmaghie secured a pastor in JOHN M‘MILLAN,* the first of

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* John Macmillan was appointed by the Presbytery on 9th April, 1695, to help in exorcising the spirit at Ringcroft, in Kells—vide Nich. Hist. Tales, p. 18. He did not, however, attend.

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that name settled here. Unfortunately, his health broke down, and during his last years he was practically laid aside. Dying in 1700, he lies buried in our churchyard to the left of the large M‘Kie monument, with the following inscription on his tomb:—Here lyes Mr John M‘Millan, minister of the Gospel in the Paroch of Balmaghie, who died upon the 26 of July 1700 and of his age 37 and of his Ministrie the 7th year.

We pass over, meantime, the great JOHN MACMILLAN, alter or second of the name in succession in the parish, who was minister in 1701. We also leave to a future notice his sometime involuntary colleague and successor, WILLIAM M‘KIE, who died in 1763, and is commemorated by a handsome monument. There follows a series of brief pastorates, beginning with DAVID BLENCHELL, 1764 to 1768, concerning whom there seems nothing special to relate, except that there is no trace of his having been interred in the churchyard. Possibly he was translated—a fate which seldom happened to incumbents of the parish, though not by any means so seldom as in St. Andrews, Fife, whence the ever-interesting A. K. H. B. declares no minister has been translated except to heaven. “This,” he adds, “augurs well for the present incumbent.”

To David Blenchell succeeded SAMUEL MARTIN, of whom an extended notice will be found further on. Mr Martin was translated in 1776 to Monimail, in Fifeshire, where he lies buried.

There followed PHILIP MORISON, whose pulpit Bible is in my care.* Tradition says that in 1803 he retired from the

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* See supra, page 19.

44 The Kirk above Dee Water.

ministry. That he had suffered family affliction while in the manse appears from the tombstone already noticed.* We may judge from his classical taste that he was a man of some scholarship. The Latin line on the tomb is the sole example of that dead language to be found in the kirkyard, if we except only the couplet on the second Mrs Macmillan,† and such purely formal phrases as Requiescat in pace and Memento Mori.

JAMES HENDERSON, who succeeded in 1804, is elsewhere commemorated. He was followed in 1839 by ALEXANDER GIBSON, of whom the savoury memory still lingers in our humble cottages. A man of deep and simple piety, he was noted in his brief day for the painstaking character of his pastoral work more than for pulpit gifts. He, like his predecessor, Henderson, was a horseman, and in all sorts of weather (of which Balmaghie can give a varied assortment) he was seen ambling along intent on visitation. Quite recently there died an aged dame who often told with pride how “Mr Gibson, he juist openit the door, and cam ben. And he says, ‘Mistress, could ye gie me a cup o’ tea?’ ‘Ay, could I,’ says I, ‘and that in a jiffey!’ ‘Jiffey,’ says the minister, ‘jiffey! whatna thing’s that?’ And he aye had his joke efterhin’ aboot the jiffey. He wid step in wi’—‘A’ve juist come in for a cup o’ yer jiffey tea!’” ‡ Mr Gibson ran a brief race. In 1846 his health entirely gave way, and he died in Hamilton in that year, tenderly nursed by a devoted wife, who still resides there at an advanced age, and has been a constant benefactor of the parish. Mr Gibson was buried in

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* See page 32.

† Vivit post funera virtus, Pietas super astra resurget [Virtue lives after funerals; piety shall rise again above the stars].

‡ [“Mr. Gibson, he just opened the door and came in. And he says, ‘Mistress, could you give me a cup of tea?’ ‘Aye, I could,’ says I, ‘and that in a jiffy!’ ‘Jiffy,’ says the minister, ‘jiffy! What sort of thing is that?’ And he always had his joke afterward about the jiffy. He would step in with, ‘I’ve just come in for a cup of your jiffy tea!’” ED.]

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Hamilton, but his widow placed in the church here the marble tablet noticed in my account of the interior.*

The empty manse was soon occupied by a different type of pastor. WILLIAM FREELAND, M.D., a native of Ireland, was translated here from the chapel of ease in Dumfries, which has since grown into the fine and prosperous S. Mary’s. Unfortunately he was in 1853 deposed by the General Assembly, it is said on somewhat slender evidence. He had previously succeeded in rousing in some of his parishioners a violent dislike, while others cherished for him an equally strong attachment. Dr. Freeland was, as became an Irishman, a man of very genial nature and sociable habits, indulging, indeed, a freedom of speech not usual among the clergy. He was a most fluent extemporaneous preacher, and is said to have frequently chosen his text in the pulpit and delivered himself without any premeditation. On his deposition, he removed to the United States of America, where he applied for admission to the American Episcopal Church. This was about to be granted, when a communication reached the Bishop from Scotland, and the application was refused. He died in his exile, and nothing is known here as to his resting-place. His deposition inflicted a severe wound on the religious life of the parish. Even yet, the scar may be traced wherever a light and disrespectful tone is heard regarding the holy ministry.

The patron of the parish, Admiral Gordon of Balmaghie, now presented a very young man to the vacant cure. WILLIAM LYON RIACH, M.A., entered Balmaghie as his first ministerial charge in 1853, and at once won “golden

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* See Page 27.

46 The Kirk above Dee Water.

opinions from all sorts of men.” The church soon became well attended. It is said that people came from all parts of the county to hear the young preacher. His fame at last reached the ears of Lady Ruthven, who had the patronage of a parish then vacant—that of Pencaitland. She travelled specially to Balmaghie to see and hear for herself, and the result was that Mr Riach in 1855 was translated to Pencaitland, amid the profound regrets of his people in Balmaghie. Mr Riach was not long permitted to remain in Pencaitland, but was speedily translated once more, this time to a charge in Edinburgh, which ultimately grew into the large and handsome pile of buildings known as the Grange Parish Church. Mr Riach still lives and labours in Edinburgh, and to the people of Balmaghie he is an object of much interest as being one of two surviving ministers of the parish.

The last incumbent presented under the system of private patronage was THOMAS STEVENSON, 1855-1881. He was transferred from his sphere as assistant-minister at Lochrutton, in Dumfriesshire, to be minister of Balmaghie. Although then 56 years of age, he completed here a ministry of 26 years more, dying in 1881 at the advanced age of 82. A handsome granite column, erected by his widow, stands in the kirkyard, but at a great distance from the “Ministers’ Corner.” During his ministry the church received some much-needed repairs.

Of the present incumbent, ordained 29th January, 1882, modesty of course forbids any detailed account. But it is not improper to record here, in concluding the Roll-call of our ministers in Balmaghie, that the period since 1882 has been fruitful in changes connected with the church and

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its services. In 1882 the congregation assembled in what was little better than a whitewashed barn, though many helpful hours of devotion were spent within its unadorned walls. In 1895 the congregation have the free use of a church, not only seemly and comfortable, but even in some respects beautiful. In 1882 we sat to sing (which few did at all), and stood up at prayers. Now, we stand at praise, and many join heartily; and in time of prayer we reverently sit with bowed heads. In 1882 there was no hymnbook, choir, or harmonium—all these have been the gain of the passing years. In these respects we have simply kept time with the whole Church of Scotland. A great future lies before that Church, and every part of it. The universal enthusiasm for finer buildings and more worthy church service portends coming changes which it would be rash to attempt to predict. In a parish like Balmaghie, so steeped as it is in Covenanting memories, it is peculiarly striking to study the gradual growth of a larger and finer taste in worship and in religious expression. To some, we may seem to be pouring “new wine into old bottles.” In reality, I believe, we are pouring back the old wine into the old bottles. We are reviving and restoring the true spirit of the Scottish National Church.

A final note, summing up in one aspect the facts presented above in our Roll-call. Between 1694 and 1881 we have had 11 ministers, being an average of one minister for every 17 years. If, however, we deduct two ministers deposed and two translated, we raise the average duration of the pastorate to about 25 years. The longest pastorate was that of William M‘Kie, 52 years. The shortest was that of Mr Riach, 2½ years.