HISTORY OF NEWPORT AND THE PARISH OF FORGAN ; AND RAMBLES ROUND THE DISTRICT, by J. S. Neish, 1890
PART VI. THE OLD KIRK OF FORGAN - THE PARISH MINISTERS
Previous to the Disruption in 1843, the Parish Church was, with the exception of a small Independent Chapel, the only place of worship for the people of Newport, the majority of whom adhered to the Established Church. The Congregationalists were few in number, but they formed a strong element in the religious history of the district. They had a meeting house of their own, and were ministered to by Mr. Thomas Just, a man of sterling piety, who laboured assiduously for the spiritual welfare of the people in the district. There was no Secession Church in the parish, and the few Seceders resident at the 'Waterside' and in other parts of the parish had to go to Tayport or Rathillet to worship with those of their own communion. As these two bodies form special features in the history of Newport, they will be separately treated in their order. In the meantime we must turn our attention to the Parish Church, and the incidents connected with its history.
The Old Kirk of Forgan is situated in a
sheltered hollow in the south-eastern border of the parish, and distant between three and four miles from Newport. A more lovely and sequestered spot for a sacred edifice could scarcely have been selected. The valley lies east and west, while the hills on the north and south rise to a height of several hundred feet above its level. The valley is thus completely sheltered from the biting north winds, while the southern heights curve to the north-east, and afford equal protection from the easterly winds. The Old Kirk is now in ruins, having been dismantled when the new Parish Church was built in 1841. The roof is gone, and the crumbling walls, overgrown with ivy, give the hoary pile the appearance of a great shrubbery in the centre of the auld kirkyard. The graveyard, which is as yet the only burying ground in the parish, contains the family burying places of the Berrys of Tayfield, the Stewarts of St Fort, and the Gillespies of Kirkton. There are a few chaste monuments of modern date which have been erected by some of the wealthy residents of Newport, but the majority of the gravestones are old and covered with moss, and are primitively sculptured with curious emblems. Some of them contain quaint and original inscriptions.
The following records the beauty and graces of a lady:-
'A Rachel's beauty, a Lydia's open heart,
A Martha's care, a Mary's better part,
In her were all combined;
Her spirit fled from earth to heaven,
Her body here to dust was given;
Both shall again be joined'.
Another, dated 1758, over the grave of an old boatman, named Adam, has the following verses, with an unmistakably nautical ring about them:-
'Though Boreas' blasts and Neptune's waves
Hath tossed me to and fro,
Yet, by the order of God's decrees,
I harbour here below.
Where now I lie at anchor sure.
With many of our fleet.
Expecting one day to set sail
Our Admiral, Christ, to meet'.
A very old table tombstone has this quaint inscription:-
'All things must die that life hath ta'en.
And likewyse that had never nane;
So I to live that I may die;
I die to live eternallie'.
Near the kirkyard, on the north-east, are the ruins of Kirkton House, the property of the Gillespie family. Only a portion of the north wall is now standing, but the ruins are sufficient to show that the mansion had been a stately building in the olden times. Like the church, the mansion house ruins are completely overgrown with ivy, reminding us forcibly of the words of Dickens' popular song:-
'Oh a dainty old plant is the ivy green
That creepeth o'er ruins old;
Of right choice food are his meals, I ween,
In his cell so lonely and cold.
The walls must be crumbled, the stones decayed,
To pleasure his dainty whim.
And the mouldering dust that years have made
Is a merry meal for him.
Creeping where no life is seen,
A rare old plant is the ivy green'.
The most interesting objects in the surroundings of the Old Kirk of Forgan are the great yew trees, which grow in an enclosure adjoining the kirkyard. For the following account of these wonderful trees we were indebted to the late Rev. Mr. Thomson, minister of Forgan, who also kindly furnished us with much valuable information:- 'The most remarkable among the antiquities of the parish are the large yew trees at Kirkton House, near Old Forgan Church. They are five in number, planted to form the points of a cross; and are in full vigour and vegetation. Of the two largest, the one has a girth of 12 feet 7 inches at 6 feet from the ground, and a total height of 60 feet, the longest branch extending to 34.5 feet. The other has a girth of 11 feet 3.5 inches, and a solid stem of 18 feet below the branches. Near them grows a large walnut tree, said to be the finest in Fife, having a girth of 12 feet, a stem of 16 feet, and a height of between 60 and 70 feet, with a fine-proportioned spread of branches. These trees belong to Mr. Gillespie of Kirkton and Mountquhannie, and are duly prized as living memories of the good old times when the neighbouring mansion, now in ruins, was inhabited by his ancestors, and in the still older times was doubtless the residence of the ecclesiastics who founded and served 'the Old Kirk of Forgan with the Chapel of Adnaughton adjoining thereto'.'
The Kirk of Forgan is very old, having been built about the beginning of the twelfth century. The oldest record of the church - which was dedicated to St Phillan - is in the register of the Priory of St Andrews. The church was granted to the Priory of St Andrews, in perpetual gift, by Alan de Lascelles, laird of Naughton, in the year 1150. The old charter here referred to designates it as 'The Church of Forgrund in Fyf, with the Chapel of Naughton, adjacent to said Church'. The parish anciently bore the two names of Forgrund (foreground) and St Phillan's, the name of the patron Saint of the church. The former name also spelt Forgane, and Forgon has since been changed to Forgan. The ivy-mantled ruins in the old kirkyard are apparently a more modern building than the Priory Kirk of the twelfth century. Two chapels were connected with the kirk - the Chapel of Naughton, already referred to, and the Chapel of St. Thomas, of the Seamylnes. Tradition says that the old kirk was built by a pious lady who lived in the Kirkton House - probably one of the Lascelles family, who then held the lands of Naughton. Prior to the Reformation it belonged to the Priory of St. Andrews, and the 'cure' was served by the canons of St Andrews Cathedral. The 'monks of old' have left their stamp on Forgan as well as in other parishes. Their traces may still be seen in the names of various localities. There is the Kirkton, beside the old Parish Church; then there is the Priors' Inch and Vicarsford, where the parish bounds that of Leuchars; and last, but not least, there are the Friartons, and on the grounds of one of the latter places the new Parish Church is built.
When the Romish Church was overthrown at the Reformation, the lands and church of Forgan having belonged to the Cathedral of St. Andrews, there was no provision left for the maintenance of the ministry in the parish, and it was some time after that great event before the parish had a settled minister, the spiritual wants of the people being in the interval supplied by a preacher or reader. From the Reformation down to 1841 the old church was used as the parish kirk, when, as we have said, it was superseded by the erection of a new church. In 1770 the old kirk underwent a thorough repair, and in the beginning of the present century it was wholly reseated. About that time the boatmen of Waterside built a gallery by subscriptions raised amongst themselves. This gallery was situated in the east end of the sacred edifice. It was named the Boatmen's Loft, was ornamented on the front with a figure of Neptune and the nautical instruments then in use, and a picture of a lugger ferryboat on its passage across the river, the design being surrounded by some appropriate mottoes. This picture, though not a relic of great antiquity, was, nevertheless, a curiosity in its way, and is said to be still in the possession of a gentleman in Newport. The other ornamented panellings of the Boatmen's Loft are preserved, the one at Tayfield House, the other at Forgan Manse. The old kirk was dismantled in a rather Vandalistic manner when it was abandoned for the new one. The interior fittings, pews, etc., were claimed by the various heritors as their private property. When the kirk was no longer required as a place of worship, the heritors called a 'roup', and the woodwork and window-frames, and other appertainings of the sacred pile, were disposed of in lots by the auctioneer's hammer to the highest bidders. The purchasers tore up their 'lots' and carted them away, and thus the ancient house of prayer was left to the owls and the bats.
The patronage of the parish was in the hands of the Crown. The stipend amounted to about £250 a year, with a manse, which was rebuilt in 1803, and a glebe of about nine acres of good land. The manse is about half-a-mile to the west of the old church, and occupies a very pleasant situation.
The communion cups belonging to the church, and still in use, bear date 1652, and are inscribed - 'Forgan Parosche. A. W. M(inister)'. They have the Hallmark as pure silver, and a pot of lilies with the initials R. C., and, on either side, the emblem of the Virgin Mary, as seen in the arms of the burgh of Dundee, showing that they had passed through the mint anciently established there. The tokens served out to intending communicants bear date '1774', with the initials 'J. B. M'. There are also belonging to Forgan kirk session two ancient money boxes - one of cylindrical form, hollowed out of a piece of ash tree; the other of old oak, an oblong of two feet by one. Both are heavily bound with iron plates, have double locks, and a slit in the lid for dropping in the collections. The session records extant date back to the year 1695. They contain some queer entries as to the particular expenditure of money, and the objects of special collections, such as, for the Harbour at Eyemouth; the Brig of Bervie; in behalf of captives taken by the Moors; of 'ane puir man at the kirk door'; for a New Testament for a puir woman, and a 'pair of shoon for the bedel'. Also of cases of discipline, the most frequent being those against the boatmen and horse hirers at the 'Waterside', for aiding Sabbath day travellers to and from the opposite side of the Tay. It is recorded that deputations of elders were sent to search the 'Waterside' during the time of divine service for persons absenting themselves from public worship without proper cause. It would be a sight nowadays to see crowds of defaulters brought up to give account of themselves, as the old records represent how bands of ferrymen were constrained to appear before Kirk Session or Town Council in former days.
The 'folk of the Waterside' were well-disposed parishioners, if they had not been (as are their successors in our own days) so much disturbed and tempted on the Lord's day by strangers; and it was in zeal on their behalf that, in the years 1720 and 1721, the Kirk Session of Forgan had an earnest correspondence with the ministers and magistrates of Dundee for devising 'what measures may be thought most fit for suppressing the profanation of the Lord's day by passing and repassing over the water, hiring of horses and running with them, which abounds much, among such as dwell at the Waterside especially?' In some cases a plea of 'mercy' was urged in excuse for this breach of the law, the passage being made solely on behalf of 'ane maidservant of Robert Aitken's, who went to see her mother, who was lying sick'. In other instances it was a special 'necessity', the boatmen 'being forced thereto by a rude gentleman both in going and returning'.
Very little is known concerning the parish ministers of Forgan subsequent to the Reformation, but many pleasant reminiscences are still current in the parish regarding the Rev. James Burn, who died at the close of the last century, and his successor, the Rev. Dr. A. Maule, who laboured in the ministry till within a few years of the Disruption. Mr. Burn, who was some time in Newcastle, was ordained minister of Forgan on 7th May, 1761. He was the great evangelical preacher of the neighbourhood, and his ministry was attended by crowds of people from his own and other parishes. Even from Dundee hearers came across in boatfuls, landing at Woodhaven or Newport, and wending their way by the kirk roads across the fields to the old church. Mr. Burn has been described as a diligent, earnest, and strict spiritual ruler, the uncompromising reprover of sin, folly, and ungodliness in high and low impartially. From the pulpit he publicly rebuked what he regarded as the wickedness of fox-hunting - his own lairds, who might be present, receiving the benefit of a practical application. He was often seen riding about the parish on his whitefaced pony, with a three-cornered hat on his head. The children fled from his presence, and hid themselves under the hedge or their mother's apron. Mr. Burn was a power in religion suited to the character of the times. He was three times married, and had children by each of his three wives. From a family register, written by his own hand, which has been kindly placed at our disposal, we learn that his life was chequered by many sore domestic afflictions and bereavements, while the bitter controversies which in his day agitated the Kirk of Scotland - in which he felt a keen interest, and took up a strong position in defence of constitutional rights and evangelical religion - combined to render his life one of harassing care and anxiety. About six months after his ordination he was married to Miss A. Hamilton, who bore him five sons, four of whom died in infancy. In June, 1768, the first Mrs. Burn died. Four years after her death, viz., in November, 1773, he was married to Miss Barbara Cockburn, who bore him three sons and a daughter, two of the former dying in infancy. The second Mrs. Burn died in July, 1779. In November, 1781, he was again married to Miss Stewart, who bore him eight children, three sons and five daughters, the eldest of whom died in infancy. Mr. Burn died on 22nd February, 1800, in the 39th year of his ministry. He left a widow and eleven children. The gentleman who furnished us with the family memoranda from which we have made these extracts, has also forwarded for our perusal a pamphlet written by Mr. Burn, purporting to be an account of the proceedings of the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland, held in May, 1780. The pamphlet, which was published in the form of letters to a friend, is written in a clear and vigorous style. It details chiefly the part which the writer took in certain discussions in the Assembly in reference to 'pluralities' of offices held by many of the ministers and professors, which Mr. Burn strongly condemned. This little work is a curiosity in its way, as it shews in a clear light the sturdy, independent spirit which animated the worthy divine, and how fearlessly and vigorously he fought against the strong 'moderate' party which then ruled the Church with a high hand, to the scandal of religion and the fostering of ungodliness and immorality throughout the land.
The Rev. Dr. Alex. Maule succeeded Mr. Burn. He was inducted minister of the parish of Forgan in the latter end of the year 1800, and for thirty-five years he filled the office of Parish Minister till his death in 1835. Dr. Maule was a man and a minister of quite a different type from his predecessor. He belonged to what was known as the moderate school, was quiet and reserved in his manners, and was highly respected in society. His favourite exercise was to roam the fields with his dog and gun. He never had the reputation of being a 'dead shot'; if he bagged a hare, he was content with his day's sport, though he often returned from the field as light as when he set out. Dr. Maule was a warm friend and frequent companion of Dr. Thomas Chalmers, who in time made his eloquent voice heard far beyond the quiet valley of Kilmany, and of their mutual and amiable friend Dr. Thomas Duncan, who passed from the Dundee High School to the chair of Mathematics in the University of St. Andrews. Dr. Maule was a good scholar, and bestowed great care in the preparation of his sermons. On the demolition of old St. Fort House, when the modern mansion was erected, Dr. Maule purchased the largest of the window frames, and set them in the two wings he added to the manse, the one off the dining-room for his library, the other off the drawing-room as a conservatory, and they still remain for the accommodation of his successors. He was devoted to the study of books and of Nature, and took much interest in his garden and flowers; and in his later years he rarely walked beyond his own premises. Dr. Maule was never married. He died after a short illness, on 28th July, 1835, in the 73rd year of his age.
In Leighton's poem, the 'Baptisement of the Bairn', the character and habits of Dr. Maule are thus admirably hit off. The couple, in their search for an orthodox divine to christen their 'weel born bairn', had called at Leuchars Manse, and found the Rev. Mr. Whyte had gone a fishing, and shaking the dust off their feet in holy indignation, they trudged northward to Forgan.
'We'll just haud north to Forgan Manse, and get
Auld Doctor Maule - in every way most fit
To consecrate the wean. He's a divine
Of auld experience, and stood high langsyne,
Ere we were born, in doctrine clear and sound.
He'll no be at the fishing I'll be bound.'
'Now here comes Forgan Manse amang the trees;
A cozie spot weel skoogit frae the breeze.
We'll just walk ane by ane up to the door
And knock, the same's we did before.
The Doctor's been a bachelor a' his life -
Ye'd almost tak' the servant for his wife.
She's sich command ower a' that's said and dune -
Hush, that maun be the cheepin' o' her shoon.
How do you do, mem? There's a bonnie day.
An' like to keep sae. We've come a' the way
Frae Edenside to get this bairn bapteesed
By Doctor Maule, if you and he be pleased.
We've no objection; but the Doctor's gone
A shootin'. Since the shootin' time cam' on
A minute frae the gun he's hardly been.
The Lord protect us! Was the like ere seen;
A shootin' minister. Think shame, auld wife!
Were he the only minister in Fife
He'd never lay a hand on bairn o' mine -
Irreverent, poachin' poother-an'-lead divine'.
On the death of Dr. Maule, the Crown, being patron of the parish, granted the people the privilege of nominating a minister of their choice as successor, and the choice fell, and was confirmed, upon Rev. Charles Nairn, then assistant in Cupar, who was duly ordained minister of the parish in the year 1836.
Mr. Nairn was an able and interesting preacher and diligent parish minister. His style was popular, and engaging, to the young. His peaceful and edifying ministry, as with many others, was disturbed by the Non-intrusion controversy which raged in these times, and which so distracted the Church of Scotland as to cause what is known as the Disruption of 1843. Mr. Nairn thought it his duty to go with his party, and demitted his charge as parish minister of Forgan, but continued to minister to the portion of his flock which followed him at Newport.
Immediately following the Disruption the Rev. David Thomson accepted a call to the charge of the parish of Forgan, and he was accordingly ordained minister of the parish on 21st September, 1843. For fully forty years Mr. Thomson laboured with much acceptance, and was highly respected by his parishioners and by a large circle of friends in Newport and Dundee. Mr. Thomson took a warm interest in everything connected with Newport and the parish over which he had the spiritual oversight. His kindly, genial manner, and loving sympathies with the joys and sorrows of humanity, made him always a welcome guest in the homes of his congregation. Nor did he confine his domestic visitations to the members of his own Church, but was ever ready to afford consolation and spiritual instruction to all, no matter to what denomination they belonged. He was born at Dunse, Berwickshire. His father, Mr. E. Thomson, was classical master at Ayr Academy, and a learned philologist and antiquarian. His mother Rebecca Forrmy, was of French extraction, her ancestors having left France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Their son David, after distinguishing himself at the Ayr Academy, entered the St. Andrew's University, where, by his ability arid industry, he made his studies self-supporting. He entered the University in 1823, and during his first three sessions he took several first class bursaries. In his fourth session he took the degree of M.A., and an Exchequer bursary for a Divinity course in St Mary's College, where he also carried off several prizes. In vacation he acted as tutor to the sons of Sir H. Stewart, Admiral R.N., K.C.B.; and while so engaged he accompanied his pupils in a cruise on board H.M.S. Benbow. He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of St Andrews in August, 1841. His first appointment was assistant to Dr. Hunter, St Andrews, and during that session he taught the Logical classes, and preached for Dr. Hunter in the Town Church. Two years after he was licensed, he was presented by the Crown to the parish of Forgan, and was ordained to that charge in September, 1843; the church having been vacated by the Rev. Mr. Nairn at the Disruption in May of that year. He married Miss Munro, sister to Sheriff Munro, of Edinburgh, and Dr. Munro of Campsie. In 1883 his University conferred on him the degree of D.D. He was President of the academical body in the district. He was a Free Mason, and held the office of Grand Chaplain to the Provincial Lodge of Fifeshire. He was also chaplain of the Newport and Tayport Volunteers, the 'Mars' and the Newport Curling Club. The good old Doctor did not long enjoy his honours. He had a rather severe illness in the autumn of 1883, but he recovered and was again ministering to his flock, when he caught a cold in Newport on Friday, 22nd May, and after a week's illness he breathed his last on Thursday, 28th May, 1884.
The funeral took place on the afternoon of Saturday, the 31st May, when a large concourse assembled to pay their last tribute of respect to the memory of the deceased. At two o'clock the coffin was conveyed from the Manse to the Church, which was densely crowded, and the scene was very impressive. The pulpit and the front of the gallery were draped in black. The coffin was placed in front of the pulpit, and the lid was completely covered with floral wreaths, the last tributes of love from sorrowing friends. The centre of the church was occupied by the Tayport and Newport batteries of the Fifeshire Artillery Volunteers, about two hundred Mars boys, and the pupils attending the Forgan and Newport schools. Several members of the Presbytery of St Andrews, and ministers of other denominations in Newport and other parishes in the district, were also present. The services were conducted by the Rev. Dr. A. K. H. Boyd, of St. Andrews, and the Rev. Thomas Fraser of Newport. The service was concluded by the congregation uniting in singing the hymn 'Thy Will be Done', during which the coffin was borne from the church and placed in the hearse. The congregation then dispersed and the procession formed in the following order: - the Mars boys, headed by their band; the school children, and then the hearse, on either side of which marched the volunteers, under the command of Captain Young, of Tayport, and Lieutenant Parker, of Newport; then came the chief mourners - Mr. J. G. Munro, Mr. G. Munro Thomson, Mr. J. B. S. Munro, Mr. Edward Gallae, and Mr. W. D. Gallae, nephews of the deceased; Dr. Stewart, Newport; Mr. Charles Macdonald, and Mr. W. Connacher, St. Fort. Next came the Kirk Session of the parish, the members of the St. Andrews Presbytery and other clergymen, the general public, and a long line of private carriages. Amongst those in the procession were Mr. Gillespie, of Mountquhannie, Admiral Maitland-Dougal, of Scotscraig, and a number of the leading inhabitants of Newport, and many influential gentlemen from Dundee. In the above order the mournful cortege moved slowly on towards the old Kirkyard of Forgan, the Mars band playing the 'Dead March' in Saul. Immense crowds followed the procession all along the route. Such a scene was never witnessed before in the parish. The long procession of sable mourners wending slowly along the narrow country road was very imposing, and the weird-like strains of the music reverberating among the hills had a most solemnising effect.
At the entrance to the graveyard the hearse was drawn up, and the coffin was thence carried on the shoulders of eight of the volunteers to the grave, which was dug in the east comer of the ruins of the Old Kirk. After the coffin was lowered into the grave, a prayer was offered up, by the Rev. R. Johnston of Leuchars. The people then dispersed, though a few lingered to strew the grave with wreaths of flowers. The funeral sermon was preached in the Church on Sabbath, June 8th, by the late Rev. Principal Tulloch of St Andrews.
The grave is now enclosed, and a monument erected over it which bears the following inscription:-
'Erected by Parishioners and Friends, in affectionate remembrance of the Rev. David Thomson, D.D., who died 28th May, 1884, in 73rd year of his age, and the 41st of his ministry in this parish. A devoted minister, ever preaching, 'God is Love'.'
Shortly after the death of the Rev. Dr. Thomson the congregation proceeded to fill up the vacancy in the church, and after due deliberation the Rev. Thomas Martin was elected, in the latter end of October, and formally inducted into the charge on Thursday, 17th December, 1884.
To meet the wants of the rapidly-increasing population of Newport, a new church in connection with the Establishment was built at Newport in 1871. East Newport had been formed into a quoad sacra parish, and the church, a handsome edifice, surmounted by a fine spire, was named St Thomas, to perpetuate the memory of the chapel of St. Thomas of Seamylnes, near to the site of which the new church has been planted. The Rev. Mr. Fraser was ordained its first pastor in 1871, and is still minister of the congregation. During the long years which Mr. Fraser has laboured in Newport he has gathered around him a large and attached congregation. He is a man of high culture, and a talented preacher. As a mark of the esteem in which he is held, he was, in 1887, honoured with the degree of D.D., and is now known as Rev. Dr. Fraser of Newport.
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