time of David 1., extended from sea to sea. At first the diocese had no defined bishop's seat, but after being successively changed to Birny, Kineddor and Spynie, it was at last permanently fixed in the church of the Holy Trinity beside Elgin in 1224. The diocese was divided into four rural deaneries : Elgin, Inverness, Strathspey, Strathbogy.

4. Brechin, an abbey of Culdees originally, was erected into a little bishopric by David 1. in the middle of the twelfth century.

5. The bishopric of Dunblane or Stratherne had at one time a chapter of Regulars. It was the only bishopric in Scotland founded by a subject, of which the Earls of Stratherne long continued patrons.

6. The bishopric of Ross, or as it is sometimes called, Rosemarknie from its see, was founded or restored by David 1. early in the twelfth century.

7. The bishopric of Caithness, which included the whole northern peninsula, anciently the earldom of Caithness, now Sutherland and Caithness, had its see at Dornoch. The date of its foundation is not known, but it existed in the beginning of the twelfth century.

8. The bishopric of the Orkney Islands, including Zetland, was originally a Norwegian diocese, and continued subject to the Archbishops of Drontheim till the definite transference of the sovereignty of those isles was made to Scotland under James III.

in 1468, when the ecclesiastical jurisdiction followed, The cathedral, as everybody knows, was the Church of St. Magnus at Kirkwall.

Next turn to the province of Glasgow:

II. The Church of Kentigern of mythical antiquity at Glasgow, and certainly a very ancient bishopric, became the see of an archbishop by papal grant in the year 1491, seventeen years later than St. Andrews.

Glasgow was divided into two archdeaconries, Glasgow proper and Teviotdale; the former comprehending the rural deaneries of Rutherglen, Lennox, Lanark, Kyle and Cuninghame, Carrick. Teviotdale included the deaneries of Teviotdale, Peebles, Nithsdale, Anandale. The suffragans of the western Archbishopric were three :—

1. The bishopric of Galloway, the very ancient foundation of the Scotch apostle St. Ninian, had a chapter of Regulars, and was divided into three deaneries, the names of which are now almost forgotten: Desnes, Farnes, Rinnes. The last is still a popularly known district.

2. Argyle, the bishops of which were called also the bishops of Lismore, from their see in that island, was cut out of the ancient diocese of Dunkeld in the end of the twelfth century; the Bishop of Dunkeld reserving to himself his episcopal connexion with the island of Iona

alone. It contained four deaneries: Cantyre, Glassary, Lorne, Morven.

3. The bishopric of the Isles has gone through many changes; of old the episcopus insularum was Bishop of Man and all the Western Isles, including Bute and Arran, and I think Cantyre, which was popularly reputed and called an island. This bishopric was a suffragan of the see of Drontheim in Norway. More lately the Southern Isles (Sudrey) were combined with Man, giving rise to the modern title of "Sodor and Man"-still the name of an English bishopric-but last of all the Hebrides or Western Islands, including Bute and Arran, formed a diocese by themselves, the bishop of which was a suffragan of Glasgow. In this last stage, the see was fixed at the church of Iona, which had long passed away from the Columbites, and was revived as a house of Cluniac monks about the time of William the Lion.1 All the remaining buildings of Iona are subsequent to the Cluniac establishment there.

The right of appointing bishops lay of old in the chapter or council of the bishop. The royal wish must always have influenced, but only of late years when the rank and wealth of bishoprics had much

1 The preceding division of bishoprics into deaneries is taken from a chapter of old geography in "Scotland in the

M

Middle Ages," being, I believe, the only printed work where such a division is to be found.

increased, was it expressed in the peremptory form still known in England as congé d'élire-granting permission to elect a person designated by the sovereign. The King had a more formidable rival in the appointment of bishops. The Pope, under various pretexts, was continually endeavouring to engross the patronage of our bishoprics; and, when it came to be virtually admitted that an election or presentation was not effectual till confirmed by Rome, that object was not far from gained. The Pope had another hold, for it was laid down as law, and received as such at Rome, that the Pope had the absolute disposition of the benefice of every churchman who died at Rome. Whether by reason of confirmation or by direct grants, the drain of money to Rome was enormous. The rapacity of the Roman officials was however quite unconcealed and open.

The capitulum, chapter or council of a cathedral, by law the electing body of the bishop-the little Parliament of the cathedral and diocese, whose consent was necessary to all important acts of the bishop-consisted sometimes of certain secular or parochial clergymen holding benefices within the diocese, sometimes of a body of regulars, monks or canons. I have already mentioned the bishoprics that we know to have had such chapters of regulars, but other dioceses may have had such regular chap

The

ters at a time beyond the reach of record. constitution of our cathedrals was often borrowed from some English authority. Thus Glasgow sent to ascertain the usages of Sarum, and Moray formed its own chapter constitution after the model of Lincoln; and these were imitated by others.

The canons or prebendaries of a cathedral were of no certain number. We find them from ten to twenty, according to endowments. Some of them were simple canons, deriving their style and title from the benefice or prebend-prebenda, the living. Others, again, held offices in the cathedral, and sat in the chapter-house and the choir, in the stalls appropriated for their several dignities. I will name some of the dignified canons the dignitaries of the cathedral and chapter-house.

The Dean-decanus, was properly the head of the chapter, and chief person in the cathedral-the bishop not necessarily having the first seat and vote, but in some instances sitting in a lower stall in virtue of some benefice or canonry which he held. The dean had great power, and directed and controlled all the canons, chaplains, and other officers within the cathedral. Such power and duty often brought him in collision with the bishop, and very often the dean maintained the right of supremacy within the cathedral, but never asserting independence or equality with the bishop as to the