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The High Kirk of Edinburgh, also known as St Giles' Cathedral, has
been one of Edinburgh's religious focal points for approximately 900
years. Its distinctive crown steeple is a prominent feature of the city
skyline, at about a third of the way down the Royal Mile which runs from
the Castle to Holyrood Palace. The present church dates from the late
14th century, though it was extensively restored in the 19th century,
and is protected as a category A listed building. The congregation's
website says it is sometimes regarded as the "Mother Church of World
Presbyterianism". The cathedral is dedicated to Saint Giles, who is the
patron saint of Edinburgh, as well as of cripples and lepers, and was a
very popular saint in the Middle Ages. It is the Church of Scotland
parish church for part of Edinburgh's Old Town.
St Giles' was only a cathedral in its formal sense (i.e. the seat of a
bishop) for two periods during the 17th century (1635–1638 and
1661–1689), when episcopalianism, backed by the Crown, briefly gained
ascendancy within the Kirk (The Bishops' Wars). In the mediaeval period,
prior to the Reformation, Edinburgh had no cathedral as it was under the
jurisdiction of the Bishop of St Andrews, whose episcopal seat was St
Andrews Cathedral. For most of its post-Reformation history the Church
of Scotland has not had bishops, dioceses, or cathedrals. As such, the
use of the term cathedral today carries no practical meaning. The "High
Kirk" title is older, being attested well before the building's brief
period as a cathedral.
In 1911 the Thistle Chapel became home to the
Knights of the Thistle,
an order of chivalry associated with Scotland which dates back to 1687.
The chapel was designed in the neo-gothic arts and crafts style by the
architect Robert Lorimer, and is renowned for its intricate wood
carvings of angles, animals and flowers. The Order consists of sixteen
members, a new member only being invested when another has died. The
patron saint of the Order is St Andrew, and members meet annually around
St Andrew’s Day. Currently (2019), David Douglas-Home, 15th Earl
of Home and Richard Walter John Montagu Douglas Scott, 10th Duke of
Buccleuch and 12th Duke of Queensberry are Knights of the Thistle.
The Chapel at the north-west corner of the Nave, known as the Albany
Aisle, was founded about 1398, in the reign of Robert III. The groining
of the roof of this Chapel is much admired, supported as it is by a
graceful fluted pillar, on the capital of which are the Arms of Robert,
Duke of Albany, and Archibald,
fourth Earl of Douglas. (Evidence that the column was erected cy
1401 - 1410)
Memorials in St Giles include one to Bishop Gavin Douglas.
In 1466, St Giles’ became a Collegiate church. The early Scots makar and
translator Gavin Douglas became provost of St Giles’ in 1508. His
translation of Virgil’s Aeneid into Scots was the first translation of a
major classical poem into any modern Germanic language. He completed the
Aeneid in 1513, just days before the disastrous Battle of Flodden. All
of his literary work was composed during his time at St Giles’ and he is
still regarded as a pivotal figure in the development of early Scottish
literature.
There is also a memorial plaque for David
William Shafto Douglas who was killed during the Battle of jutland.
Other notable monuments include those to James Graham, Marquis of
Montrose (1612–50), his arch-enemy Archibald Campbell, Marquis of Argyll
(1607–61) and the 19th-century author Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94).
A framed copy of the National Covenant of 1638 is also on view. The
Protestant Reformer, John Knox, was buried in the old kirkyard, now a
car park for the High Court of Scotland. The approximate position of his
grave is marked by an engraved stone set in the tarmac. William Forbes,
the first Bishop of Edinburgh, was also buried here.
Of the several military memorials many are to the Royal Scots with
individual memorials to each battalion. That of the 1st is by Sir Robert
Lorimer.
A Jacobean style memorial to John Inglis, Lord Glencorse stands on the
wall over the stairs to the lower level.
Notable performances of the music in St Giles includes one by Professor
James Douglas (born 1932), a Scottish classical composer.
Robert
Douglas, Minister of Pencaitland was in 1639 appointed to the Second
Charge of St Giles.
HM Queen Elizabeth lay at rest in St Giles
Cathedral following her death in Balmoral, in September 2022.
Amongst those involved in the ceremonies, were:
• Richard
Walter John Montagu Douglas Scott, 10th Duke of Buccleuch, 12th
Duke of Queensberry (b. 1954), and
• Alexander Douglas
Douglas-Hamilton, 16th Duke of Hamilton, 13th Duke of Brandon
(born 1978)
See also:
• List of all Douglas Knights of the Thistle
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Armorial of the 4th Earl
of Douglas, c1410 |
Armorial for Buccleuch,
1917 |
Armorial for Buccleuch,
1949 |
Armorial for Buccleuch,
2017 |
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Armorial for Home,
1930 |
Armorial for Home,
2013 |
Armorial for Selkirk,
1975 |
The Douglas angel |
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