LECTURE VI.

(30TH OCTOBER 1879.)

EXISTING RELICS OF THE EARLY CELTIC CHURCH

CROSIERS AND RELIQUARIES.

IN the month of July 1782 a travelling student from Christ Church College, Oxford, found his way to the village of Killin, at the head of Loch Tay. In the house of Malise Doire, a day labourer there, he was shown a relic, which, as the people told him, was called the Quigrich, and which formerly belonged to St. Fillan, who gave his name to the neighbouring strath. He was also shown a certified copy under the Privy Seal of a document1 in which King James III., on the 6th July 1487, granted confirmation to the Malise Doire of that day of the peaceable possession of the holy relic of St. Fillan, called the Quigrich, which he and his ancestors had "had in keeping from the time of King Robert Bruce and

1 The text of this document is as follows:

JAMES, be the grace of God King of Scottis, to all and sindri our liegis and subditis spirituale and temporale to quhois knaulege thir our lettres sal cum greting: Forsamekle as we haue undirstand that our servitour Malice Doire and his forebearis has had ane Relik of Sanct Fulane callit the QUEGRICH, in keping of us and of oure progenitouris of maist nobill mynde, quham God assolye, sen the tyme of King Robert the Bruys and of before, and made nane obedience nor ansuere to na persoun spirituale nor temporale in ony thing concernyng the said haly Relik uthir wayis than is contenit in the auld infeftmentis thareof made and grantit be oure said progenitouris. We chairg you therefor strately and commandis that in tyme to cum ye and ilk yane of you redily ansuere, intend and obey to the said Malise Doire in the peciable broiking and joising of the said Relik, and that ye, na nain of you, tak upon

of before, making nane answer to na person spiritual nor temporal in anything concerning it," and in which the king also charged all his subjects to make no impediment to the said Malise Doire's passing through the country with the said relic as he and his forbears were wont to do.

The traveller was so much impressed with the beauty of the relic and the unusual nature of its authentication that he wrote a letter to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, in which he mentions these circumstances, and adds that at the time of his visit a youth of nineteen, the representative of his father's name and heir presumptive to this treasure, lay drooping in the last stage of consumption. "I am induced," he says, " to advertise the Society of this circumstance, lest at the death of the present owner the relic should become a sacrifice to the neediness of his heirs, and find a ready passage to the melting pot." On the back of this letter there is a memorandum in pencil :-"The owner of the relic afterwards emigrated to America, carrying the Quigrich with him." But the Society in course of time recovered traces of the relic, and though long unable to obtain possession of it, they were at length enabled, through the medium of Dr. Daniel Wilson, their former secretary, to acquire the Quigrich for the National Museum.1 On 30th December 1876, or ninety-four years

hand to compell nor distrenye him to mak obedience nor ansuere to you nor till ony uthir but allenarly to us and oure successouris, according to the said infeftment and fundatioun of the said Relik, and siclike as wes use and wount in the tyme of oure said progenitouris of maist nobill mynde of before: And that ye mak him nane impediment, letting nor distroublance in the passing with the said Relik throw the contre, as he and his forebearis wes wount to do; And that ye and ilk ane of you in oure name and autorite kepe him unthrallit, bot to remane in siclike fredome and liberte of the said Relik, like as is contenit in the said infeftment under all the hiest pane and charge that ye and ilk ane of you may amitt, and inrun anent us in that pairt. Gevin undir oure prive sele at Edinburgh this vj day of Julij, the yere of God jm iiije lxxxvij yeris and of oure regne the xxvij yere.

JAMES R.

1 For this and other services to the archæology of Scotland, with which

after the date of the first communication regarding it which had been made to the Society, the present representative of the ancient Dewars, or hereditary keepers of the crosier, executed a deed, of which the tenor follows:

"Whereas I, Alexander Dewar of Plympton in Canada, am possessed of that ancient Scottish relic called the Quigrich or crosier of St. Fillan; and whereas the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland have applied to me, through Dr. Daniel Wilson of Toronto, for surrender to them of the said Quigrich for the consideration of seven hundred dollars to be paid in manner following, to wit five hundred dollars, and the remaining two hundred dollars to be credited to me as my contribution or donation towards the acquisition of the said relic: I have therefore granted and assigned the said relic to the Society and their successors on trust to deposit the same in the National Museum of Antiquities at Edinburgh, there to remain in all time to come, for the use, benefit, and enjoyment, of the Scottish nation."

The Quigrich thus restored to Scotland is the head of a pastoral staff, commonly, though not with strict correctness, termed a crosier. It stands 9 inches high, and consists of an external casing of silver (Fig. 81), enclosing an earlier crosierhead of bronze or copper ornamented with niello (Fig. 86).

The external case, which is of silver, gilt, and ornamented with chased work, and patterns in filigree-work of silver wire, consists of three parts-the crook proper, which is cylindrical and curved like the head of a walking stick; the bulb or socket fitted with a collar for the insertion of the wooden staff; and an ornamental crest, the object of which is to strengthen and bind together the several parts of which the crosier is composed. The crook is ornamented by eight lozenge-shaped plaques of silver, arranged end to end down

his name has been so long identified, Dr. Daniel Wilson deserves, and has received, the grateful thanks of the Society.

the centre, the angular spaces left between them being filled

Fig. 81. Side view of the external case of the Crosier of St. Fillan. View of the front or pendent portion of the Crook, and of its terminal plate.

up with plaques of triangular form. No two plaques are

exactly equal, and no two are quite alike in their ornamentation. They are implanted on a thin skin of silver, beaten to fit the pattern thus produced, and the spaces left between each plaque are slightly chased with a simple cross-hatching, rather clumsily executed.

When we examine these plaques with attention, it is perceived that their filigree-work is of two different varieties. One is an elegant scroll-work formed of a single wire, irregularly placed but boldly designed, and executed with a precision of curvature and harmony of parts that at once indicates the work of a master of the art. The other is a geometrical pattern, poor in design and feeble in execution. It is wrought with a twisted wire, and appears sometimes as

the sole ornament of the triangular plaques, but never occupies the whole surface of any of the lozenge - shaped plaques. Some of these have part of their ornamentation composed of this inferior work, and the large square plaque bearing the crystal in front of the pendent part of the crook (which is apparently the latest of the whole), is entirely composed of this inferior filigree-work.

The ornamentation of the bulb or socket of the crosier (Fig. 82) consists of semicircular panels of interlaced work, and triangular panels enclosing triquetra ornaments, separated by a pellet-bordering, which is continued along the strap under the concave surface of the crook, and reappears as a bordering