sonal explanations as were doubtless called for in a book intended for German readers, and relating to a foreign country, but which appeared unnecessary in a work destined for an English-speaking public, have been omitted; but their place has been more than supplied by a number of additional details, references, and illustrative notes. Every reference in the original has been carefully verified, and the orthographical and other errors inevitable in a work of the kind have been as far as possible corrected.

In conclusion, the translator desires to express his obligation to Dr Skene, Historiographer-Royal for Scotland, for permission to reproduce the two maps from Celtic Scotland, vol. ii., which were published in the German edition of this History, and also to make the numerous citations from the same volume which will be found in the earlier chapters of the present work. Acknowledgment is likewise due to W. E. Poynter, Esq., M.A., for his valuable assistance in correcting the proof-sheets, and offering various suggestions of which the translator has been glad to avail himself.

OSWALD HUNTER BLAIR, O.S.B.

ST BENEDICT'S ABBEY,

FORT AUGUSTUS, N.B., September 1887.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

WHILE the Presbyterian Church of Scotland has frequently, as is well known, been the subject of treatment by Protestant theologians in Germany, the fortunes of the Catholic Church in that distant land have hitherto found no Catholic historian in our country. This fact may not unreasonably excite surprise, especially when we consider the large number of documents bearing on the medieval Church of Scotland which have been brought to light by the researches of Scottish scholars during the past forty years. It must, however, be remembered that the Roman archives, in which are preserved the most trustworthy documents relating to Scottish Catholics as regards the period succeeding the Reformation, have been practically closed to the student up to a very recent date. Now that the treasures of those archives are no longer inaccessible, the author felt that he need no longer delay the execution of his

long-projected plan of writing the history of the Catholic Church in Scotland.

It would be superfluous to insist on the interest which attaches to the subject. That portion of the history which relates to the first or monastic period of the Scottish Church, will afford to German scholars the opportunity of becoming acquainted with the impartial and successful researches of Dr Skene; while the particulars of the development of the diocesan system, in the eleventh century, have been to great extent furnished by the diocesan and monastic records which have been brought out by the various learned societies of Scotland. It is needless to say that without some knowledge of these different periods, with their varying lights and shadows, and of the rise and development of the medieval Scottish Church, any clear comprehension of the causes which led to the introduction of the Reformation into Scotland would be impossible.

The history of the missionary period of the Church, extending from the year 1560 down to the present day, has required much and careful investigation. Such questions as whether the Catholic clergy, and the bishops in particular, quitted the field on the advance of the innovators, and left the Church defenceless; what efforts were made by the Episcopate, in the various Provincial Councils held from 1540 to 1560, to stem the progress of the Reformation, ad

vancing rapidly as it was in every direction; how the clergy endeavoured to dispel the ignorance of the people, these and similar questions have long awaited investigation and solution. Few ecclesiastical historians of Germany, in all probability, have seen, or are perhaps even aware of the existence of the Catechism of 1551, issued by order of Archbishop Hamilton of St Andrews; and theologians will doubtless be glad to have brought under their notice a work valuable not only from its great rarity-the British Museum possesses one copy1-but also as an authentic monument of the ancient faith of Scotland.

Again, what mention do we find, in our current text-books of Church history, of the religious and theological writers of Scotland in the century of the Reformation? The number of these may indeed appear but small, compared with the brilliant bevy of lay and ecclesiastical writers who in Germany, France, and Italy entered the lists on behalf of the ancient faith, and sought to stem the flood of revolution in Church and State. They are nevertheless worthy of honourable remembrance; and the name of one Scottish theologian, at least, ought not to

1 Since the above was written, two reprints of the Catechism have appeared-one (a facsimile of the original) published in Edinburgh, and the other by the Clarendon Press (1884), with a preface by the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone. The abbey of Fort Augustus possesses a copy of the original edition, brought with other books from the Scotch monastery at Ratisbon, mentioned in the text.-TRANSLATOR.

VOL. I.

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be consigned to oblivion, since German soil has the good fortune to possess his ashes. The controversial writings of Ninian Winzet, who died at Ratisbon and was buried in the Scotch monastery there, are not indeed of great range; but they possess an imperishable value not only as a faithful picture of the then state of Catholic learning, but as a monument of the ancient Scottish tongue; and as such they deserve more attention than they have hitherto received. Not less noteworthy is the name of John Leslie, the celebrated Bishop of Ross, who, as a historical and theological writer, as ambassador of Mary Queen of Scots at the English Court, and subsequently as the friend and counsellor of numerous Scottish exiles in Italy, France, and the Netherlands, rendered the highest services to the Church.

Besides the questions touched upon above, there are a variety of others—such as, for example, whether Anne of Denmark, the queen of James I., died in communion with the Catholic Church—which have hitherto been only very imperfectly investigated. It has been the endeavour of the present writer to bring them somewhat nearer to a solution, and at the same time to deprive of its significance the saying of a learned Scotchman of our own day, that the history of the Catholic Church in Scotland since the Reformation is the history of a secret society. How far the author has attained his object he leaves to the judgment of his readers, while he ventures to