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Greyfriars, Edinburgh
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• A colony of Greyfriars, or Franciscans, dates to the summer of 1463 when there is notice .0f repairs to their place loosely stated to be 'outside the burgh' (Cowan, 1976, 131). The friars moved to a site within the burgh following the grant of land bestowed on them by James Douglas of Cassillis(1) before 1479 when they were confirmed in their possession by James III (Cowan, 1976, 131). The friary was destroyed by the Reformers in 1559 and in 1562 the citizens petitioned the Queen for the Greyfriars yards to be used as a municipal burying ground.
In name the church survived the Reformation. By 1612, with overcrowding in the High. Church of St. Giles, the town ordered the construction of a church on the upper part of their new cemetery. The first church had an aisled nave with six bays and a western central tower. Munitions stored by the town council in the tower exploded in 1718 causing an amount of damage to the fabric of the church. This led to the construction of a second church at Greyfriars and a split congregation which
did not unite until 1929.
• Within the Franciscan Order there were three separate families
or groups, each considered a religious order in its own right. All three
followed the Rule of St Francis of Assisi but each placed different
emphases on the various facets of the Rule. The first group were the
Friars Minor Conventual. The second group are the Friars Minor
Observants. There is a third group, the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin.
The Friars Minor Conventual gradually 'lapsed' in Scotland but, in 1446,
at the request of the King of Scots, John de Maubert, Vicar Apostolic
and General of the Order, sent "the holy father Cornelius of Zierikzee
with six companions from the Province of Cologne to Scotland." This
group of friars settled in Edinburgh, first at the Chapel of St John the
Baptist outside the West Bow, before moving to a site at the top of
Candlemaker Row sometime before 1479, where the famous Greyfriars Church
still stands to this day. James Douglas of Cassillis(1) was of great
assistance to them in these early days. The efforts of these Friars
resulted in the foundation by 1505 of nine Observantine convents
throughout Scotland, of which Elgin was one.
James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton was executed on the 2nd of June 1581. . His corpse remained on the Scaffold for the following day, until it was taken for burial in a Common grave at Greyfriars Kirkyard. His head however remained on a spike outside the Tolbooth of Edinburgh for eighteen months until it was ordered to be reunited with his body in December 1582.
Although Morton's final resting place is allegedly marked with a small sandstone post incised only with the initials "J.E.M." for James Earl of Morton, this is simply a Victorian marker for a lair edge, twisted in meaning for convenience. Logically, were a marker allowed (which was not permitted for executed criminals) firstly it would more logically read "J.D.", and secondly it would have been cleared away in 1595 when all stones were removed from Greyfriars.
Robert Douglas (1594–1674) was the only minister of the Church of Scotland to be Moderator of the General Assembly five times.
He officiated at the coronation of Charles II at Scone in 1651. During the ceremony he preached a sermon which said that it was the monarch's duty to maintain the established religion of Scotland and to bring the other religions in Britain into conformity with it. Douglas assisted in the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, and afterwards was offered the bishopric of Edinburgh if he would accept the introduction of episcopacy into Scotland. He refused, and was latterly simply Pastor of Greyfriars in Edinburgh and then Minister of the Parish of Pencaitland until his death.
Rear Admiral Sir Charles Douglas, 1st Baronet (1727 – 17 March 1789) was a descendant of the Earls of Morton and a distinguished British naval officer. He is particularly known for his part in the Battle of the Saintes during the American War of Independence where he helped pioneer the tactic of "breaking the line".
He is buried in the ground south of the church in Greyfriars Kirkyard in Edinburgh and a memorial lies on the outer south face of the church near the east gable.
Alexander, living 1609, son of Patrick Douglas of
Kilspindie, who in
1585 had lease of Aberlady, was buried in Greyfriars Cemetery on 3rd
March 1666.
When Euphemia Douglas was born on 15 May 1823, her father, Alexander Douglas W.S., of Chesterhouse, was 42 and her mother, Janet Hardie Bow, was 31. She died on 22 August 1828, at the age of 5, and was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom.
Notes:
1. I have not identified a Douglas
of Cassillis family. It is usually associated with the Kennedy
family. James Douglas, farmer, Altewan, Maybole, formerly tenant of the farms of Daljedburgh, Milton and Merkland on the estate of Cassillis and Culzean
c1944 featured in the court case Douglas v Cassillis and Culzean Estates.
1a. William Douglas, Earl of Cassillis, Ruglen and March: Claimed the titles of Earl of Cassillis and Lord Kennedy based on charters from 1641 and 1642. However, the House of Lords ruled that Sir Thomas Kennedy was the rightful heir to the titles.
Could there be a connection?
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Source
Sources for this article include:
Historic Edinburgh, Canongate and Leith: The Archaeological Implications of Development’ (1981)
Any contributions will be
gratefully accepted
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