Here the zoomorphic treatment is confined to the handle and the feet of the case, which terminate in the semblance of animals' heads. But the engraved ornamentation on the flat surfaces, instead of being composed of intertwisted snakes

Fig. 78. The Bell Shrine of Kilmichael Glassary.

and lacertine creatures, presents a series of wavy foliageous scrolls; and the ribbon-work that would have adorned the borders in panels of intricate interlacements at an earlier time, is here replaced by a semblance of leafage. All these indications point to the conclusion that the work of this shrine is of a late transition period. The bell itself must

of course have been of considerable antiquity before it was enshrined. It is now impossible to ascertain to which of the Argyleshire foundations it may have belonged. But there is a possibility that it may be the bell whose legend is given in the Aberdeen Breviary as having been made for St. Moluag of Lismore.1 St. Moluag was contemporary with St. Columba, and the legend relates that having employed a neighbouring smith to make him a square iron bell (quadratam ferream campanam) for the use of his church, and the smith excusing himself for want of coals, the saint went and gathered a bundle of rushes, " and thus was fabricated the bell, which to this day is held in great estimation in the church of Lismore." The expression "to this day" refers to the time when the Breviary was compiled by Bishop Elphinstone, that is about 1509. The crosier of St. Moluag is now preserved in the possession of the Duke of Argyll, and if this be not his bell there is no other Argyllshire bell now known to exist which answers this description.2

The other example of an enshrined bell is that preserved at Guthrie Castle in Forfarshire (Fig. 79), the church of Guthrie having been a dependency of the cathedral of Brechin. The bell, which is of hammered iron, measures 8 inches high including the handle, and 5 by 4 inches across the mouth. The decoration of the shrine or case, which is of bronze or brass, consists of silver work, and niello, with traces of gilding and the remains of settings of precious stones. It possesses none of the zoomorphic features which distinguish earlier work. In the centre of the front of the shrine is a represent

1 The original name is Lugaidh (pronounced Lua), with the endearing suffix oc, Luoc, or Luoch, and the honorific mo, Molua, Moluoc, Moloch. We also find this saint's name appearing in a corrupted form, as Molonach, Moloak, M'huluoch, Malogue, Emogola, and Mulvay. Martin calls him Molingus.

2 There was a bell of St. Moluag, however, at Kilmaluig, which had a hereditary keeper so lately as 1572, when Donald Dewar had a grant of the lands of Garrindewar for the ringing of a bell at funerals within the parish.

ation of the crucifixion in the style of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Above the crucified figure is a representation of God the Father in the manner in which He was usually represented as King in the fourteenth century, viz.

crowned and bearded, and half length. On each side is the figure of a bishop robed and mitred. One figure on the side of the shrine is in a much ruder style of art than the others, and may have belonged to an earlier covering than that which

P

now encloses the bell. At the bottom of the case is an inscription, in lettering, apparently of the fourteenth century: JOHANNES ALEXANDRI ME FIERI FECIT.

Having thus described the whole of the bells of the early Celtic church that are now known to exist in Scotland, I shall briefly notice those of whose existence in former times there is distinct evidence, although all traces of them are now lost. I do so in the hope that a wider knowledge of their special interest and importance may bring those of them to light that may still be extant.

The bell of St. Kentigern, better known as St. Mungo,1 is figured on the corporation seal of Glasgow of the time of King Robert the Bruce, and on the chapter seal of the same period. It is represented as a flat-sided, quadrate bell, with a looped handle of the Celtic type.

In the Breviary of Aberdeen there is reference to the bell of St. Ternan or Torannan 2 of Banchory Ternan, where a church was said to have been erected over his tomb. Among the chief relics of this church was the bell called the Ronecht, which was preserved there along with a copy of the Gospel of St. Matthew, the latter being enclosed in a shrine or case of metal adorned with silver and gold, as was the custom of the Celtic Church. There are documents extant which show that in 1484 the Abbot of Arbroath assigned to the

1 St. Kentigern, the Apostle of the Strathclyde Britons, called Munghu, "quod Latine dicitur, carus amicus," as Joceline says, was a contemporary of St. Columba. No transformation of a saint's name is stranger than that of his mother Thenew, who in her commemorative dedication at Glasgow is now known only as St. Enoch.

2 St. Ternan or Torannan belongs to the shadowy group of pre-Columban saints. The Scholiast on the metrical calendar of Aengus the Celi De, calls him "Torannan the far-famed voyager, that is Palladius, who was sent from the successor of Peter to Erin before Patraic ;" and adds that as he was not received in Erin, he went into Alban, i.e. into Scotland. See Skene's Celtic Scotland, vol. ii. pp. 29, 32, for an account of the legends of his mission, and that of Palladius.

Vicar of Banchory all his rights in the bell of St. Ternan, and all its emoluments; and in 1489 the vicar purchased them from John Stalker, who was then in possession of the bell, by reason of heritage pertaining to him by his wife. From this we learn that the bell was then in the possession of hereditary keepers, and had its rights and emoluments like all similar relics. Among these was a croft of land called the Deray Croft of Banquhori-terne.1 No further record of

the bell remains. But not many years ago, when the railway was being made along the bank of the Dee, between Banchory Lodge and the present railway station the workmen dug up a small square iron bell. But little notice was taken of it at the time, and what became of it is unknown. If this were the Ronecht of St. Ternan, as seems not unlikely, we can only regret that a relic preserved for so many centuries with religious care should have perished at last from ignorance of the character and history of these memorials of the founders of Christianity in pagan Scotland.

The bell of St. Medan 2 also appears in feudal documents as a relic which carried with it the possession of certain pertinents, including a house and toft near the church of Lintrathen in Forfarshire. We learn from the Airlie Charters, that on the 27th of June 1447, Michael David, the bearer of the bell of St. Medan, came to the presence of John Ogilvy, knight, the lord of Lintrathen, and superior of the said bell which pertained hereditarily to the said David and his heirs, and the said David having voluntarily resigned the bell to Sir John, it was given by him in liferent to his wife Mar

1 There was a Deray Croft also at Fordoun, a "Diracroft, alias Belaikers," at the Kirktoun of Conveth or Laurencekirk, and a "Paroche croft and Diraland" at Fettercairn.

2 Medan is probably Mo-Aedhan, but the identification is uncertain. Bishop Forbes, in his Calendar of Scottish Saints, is unable to determine the saint of Lintrathen.