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Andrew
Spratt contributes:
Along
from the Nungate road and beside Old Abbey road in North Berwick,
hidden by trees, is the fascinating ruins of North Berwick
Nunnery. Consisting of a low boundary wall with small postern gate
(probably originally reached by a wooden foot bridge) beside a
huge chimney stack attached at right angles to a long crowstepped
gabled blockhouse with cellars from the original ecclesiastical
building. Added to this confused cluster is an oblong Towerhouse
raised by the Home/Hume family in the early 1600's. The Tower is
oblong in plan with a large turnpike stair well and elongated
bartizan facing the ditch side, both originally capped by conical
roofs. The location of the main church is now totally obscured by
modern buildings. But nearby is a courtyard entrance and with a
little imagination it is possible to visualise walking into this
courtyard with the skyline filled with buildings, with the noises
and smells of a busy community.
It
is claimed that this Cistercian church was established in the late
12th century by the MacDuffs Thanes of Fife who locally also built
the wooden motte and bailey castle known today as 'Castle Hill'.
They endowed the nunnery with considerable revenues and
possessions, including the "land called Gillecalmestun, on
which the nunnery was built." However, other accounts state
the nunnery wasn't established until 1216 which sounds more
logical.
Within
the Lothians there were three Cistercian houses, Newbattle Abbey
at Dalkeith (established in 1136),the Haddington nunnery
(established in 1178) where the Treaty of Haddington may have been
signed in 1548,and the nunnery of North Berwick. Cistercians took
their name from Citeaux near Di'jon in France. They were known as
white monks because of their plain undyed robes, were strict
vegetarians and wore no undershirts or woolen breaches (so they
would have to be hardy individuals given the winters in Scotland).
They preached a simple life of of poverty and prayer, splitting
half their day to God and the other to heavy physical work,
tending gardens, orchards etc and were skilled craftsmen in
several fields, making then the DIY monks of the ecclesiastical
world. They travelled to England and established Waverly Abbey in
1128,then Revaux Abbey in 1131.
The
Abbot of Revaux commenting on their chosen way of life said
"Our food is scanty, our garments rough; our drink is from
the stream and our sleep is often upon our book. Under our tired
limbs there is but a hard mat; when sleep is sweetest we must rise
at the bell's bidding......self will has no place there is no
moment for idleness. Everywhere is peace, everywhere is serenity
and marvellous freedom from the troubles of the world."
King
David I of Scots (1124-1153) was so impressed with the monks at
Revaux that he invited them into Scotland to establish Melrose
Abbey in 1136. The chosen location of Cistercian orders was usual
in a remote secluded valley beside a stream away from the world of
mankind. Certainly this is true with the location of Melrose,
Newbattle and Haddington but North Berwick, though not in a valley
appears to have been beside an ancient stream. The idea that
Cistercians lived in poverty and were free "from the troubles
of the world" is difficult to equate with the reality of such
establishments as they quickly became magnets for commercial,
political and at times even military assemble points. Lords fought
each other to offer their "protection" and
"gifts" of land to such orders because of the revenues
they generated.
The
monks at Newbattle Abbey for example not only maintained large
vegetable gardens, an orchard and watermills. But also mined coal,
collected salt from the pans at Prestonpans (salt was a key
tradeable commodity) and held the tax duties to ships landing and
loading cargo at Preston village harbour. In fact Preston means
"Priest's Town" after the monks of Newbattle. They also
extracted clay from the Lothians as it produced particularly fine
pottery, bricks and ornate floor tiles. Examples of these tiles
were found within the ruins of the North Berwick nunnery in the
19th century and show a lion rampant which may well represent the
Home heraldry of a silver/white lion on green, as the Homes had a
long association with the nunnery prior to the building of the
Towerhouse after 1600.
As
time progressed the Cistercian views on poverty and piety became
untenable with the wealth generated at such Abbeys as Newbattle
and her sister house of Melrose which boasted an income from the
wool and meat of some 10,000 sheep and the sale of salted fish
exported abroad. It is also noted that the monks at Newbattle had
affairs with local women. One such indiscretion resulted in the
death of Margaret Herris, her maidservant and two monks when
caught during their ellicit liaison in a cottage on the Melville
estates by her father Sir John Herris, Baron of Gilmerton.
Margaret refused to open the door to her father and in blind rage
he set fire to the roof to 'smoke out' the occupants.
Unfortunately, the cottage quickly burst into flames and collapsed
killing all within. Sir John then fled to France to escape arrest
but was allowed to return unpunished on condition the lands where
the murders took place were donated to the monks of Newbattle.
There is also an unconfirmed suggestion that the Prioress of North
Berwick expressed her concerns regarding certain nuns climbing
over the boundary wall at night to 'visit' the young men in the
village.
By
the early 16th century the nunnery, apparently in ruins even then,
was gradually absorbed by the Humes of Polwarth. The Humes or
Homes as they were originally known were, anciently, kin to the
Gospatricks Earls of Dunbar and March, who built the great coastal
fortress of Dunbar castle, then changed their name to Dunbar after
their estate. Likewise the Homes took their name from their estate
on the Merse building Hume castle in the late 13th century. The
Homes also held many other castles throughout Scotland including
Fast castle near St Abbs and Coldingham Priory for a time.
In
1529 "the Bishop of St Andrews lamented the frequent
devastation by war of the monastery of North Berwick and its
lands, and the burning of its church by the invading enemy."
Since there appears to be no mention of an English invasion at
this time it likely means that the "invading enemy."
responsible for "the burning of its church" were the
forces of King James V of Scots (1513-1542) during his siege of
the 'Red' Douglas castle of Tantallon in 1528 and 1529. As such
large siege armies 'lived off' the land and were usually made up
of mercanaries who had no respect for civilians or their property.
Initially
the King's cannon proved ineffective during this siege, so he
borrowed several great bombards from Dunbar castle. Once in
position these devastated Tantallon's outer spur work gun tower
and damaged the midtower on the main curtain wall itself. But the
garrison still held out as they were being continually re-supplied
with food and munitions by sea. So starving the garrison out was
not an option. At one point the King did have one of the Dunbar
bombards dragged down the old Haven road out of range and view of
the castle gunners in an attempt to sink one of these supply
vessels as it moored beside the cliff unloading its cargo. Because
of the necessity to pack extra gunpowder into the cannon to try
and reach the vessel, the weapon misfired and exploded killing two
of the gunners instantly and wounding several others, while the
ship sailed back out into the Firth of Forth totally unscathed.
News
then came that the 'Red' Douglas himself Archibald the 6th Earl of
Angus had fled on one of these supply ships, down the coast to
Coldingham Priory, some 20miles south of Tantallon. King James
quickly gathered together several hundred horsemen and set off at
speed towards Coldingham leaving his trusted cannon commander
David Falconer to continue the bombardment. However, en route to
Coldingham the King's forces passed by Fast castle. But because
the Homes were old rivals of the 'Red' Douglases he assumed it was
safe to pass through Home land unannounced. As the King and his
men encircled Coldingham Priory demanding the release of the
fugitive 'Red' Douglas, they were ambushed by a small force of
Home horsemen from Fast castle attacking from the north and then
by several hundred 'Red' Douglas horsemen from Billie castle
attacking from the south. The false story of the Douglas's flight
had been an elaborate trap to try and capture the King.
In
the ensuing confused conflict King James managed to escape leaving
most of his men behind to cover his undignified withdrawal. It is
also uncertain wither or not the Homes were in league with the
'Red' Douglas or merely fighting for their own interests as an
unknown body of horsemen had violated their territory and appeared
to be attacking Coldingham Priory. When the King with a token part
of his force returned to Tantallon, he was greeted with the news
that more of his men had been killed in an attempt to open the
spur work gatehouse and there was now a lack of gunpowder and the
correct gauge of shot to continue the bombardment. So after 20days
the siege was abandoned. He sent the borrowed bombards with David
Falconer back towards Dunbar while his main army marched back
through North Berwick, likely burning the Nunnery in retaliation
for the Home humiliation at Coldingham. The King was further
shamed when, that night, the 'Red' Douglas captured the borrowed
bombards before they reached Dunbar and killed David Falconer. He
then transported the bombards back to Tantallon using them to
reinforce his own defenses.
King
James besieged Tantallon again in 1529 but this time he blockade
the castle by land and sea. He then starved and bribed the
garrison into surrender. The 'Red' Douglas fled into English exile
while Tantallon was repaired by the King and only returned to
Scotland in 1542 after the King's death. Douglas then used
Tantallon as a safe haven for the English Ambassador Ralph Sadler
to distribute bribes to various Scots nobles to secure the
proposed marriage of the infant Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1567) to
the English Prince Edward. When these bribes failed and Sadler
fled to Berwick escorted by Douglas, the English resorted to fire
and sword burning villages, castles and Abbeys throughout the
kingdom from 1544 to 1549. So the days were known as the wars of
the 'Rough Wooing'.
In
the Lothians and borders in 1544 Melrose, Newbattle and Haddington
were all burnt by the invading English. Likely the North Berwick
Nunnery also suffered during these times, as it is recorded in
1548 the Prioress, Margaret Hume I "in consideration of £2,000
received for repair and rebuilding of the Monastery, granted to
her brother Alexander Hume, the conventh demesne lands of Heuch,
extending to 23 and one half husband lands, with the North Meadow
and the Law." In 1597 the one remaining nun, Margaret
Donaldson "concurred with the Prioress (Margaret Hume II) in
the last acts for dissolution of the Monastery." By 1598 the
nunnery "mansions, manor-place, houses, biggings and yairds"
were in the hands of Sir Alexander Hume. It was he who built the
oblong Towerhouse probably cannibalising stone from the
surrounding ruins. But by the 1800's it too was abandoned and
suffered the indignity of having its roof and stones stolen to
build other buildings nearby in North Berwick.
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