a brief history of saltoun church
A church dedicated to St Michael was first consecrated in Saltoun in 1244. However, one hundred years before then, Hugo de Moreville, one of King David l’s Norman friends, had granted lands and rights in Saltoun to the monks of Dryburgh and these were retained until the Reformation.
After the publication of the Book of Discipline in 1560, the church began to have a much more powerful influence over people’s everyday lives, and records show that in 1627 there were between four and five hundred communicants in Saltoun.
In 1643 the living (ie the laird’s right to choose the minister) belonged to Sir Andrew Fletcher, Lord Innerpeffer, when he acquired the estate of Saltoun. In 1653, during the temporary establishment of Episcopacy, this was transferred to the Bishop of Edinburgh.
After the publication of the Book of Discipline in 1560, the church began to have a much more powerful influence over people’s everyday lives, and records show that in 1627 there were between four and five hundred communicants in Saltoun.
In 1643 the living (ie the laird’s right to choose the minister) belonged to Sir Andrew Fletcher, Lord Innerpeffer, when he acquired the estate of Saltoun. In 1653, during the temporary establishment of Episcopacy, this was transferred to the Bishop of Edinburgh.
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And it was in the seventeenth century, Saltoun Church, or rather its ministers, began to make a mark on history. In 1659 Rev Patrick Scougall was appointed by Parliament as a commissioner for the trial of witches in nearby Samuelston. This tiny village was one of Scotland’s major centres of witchcraft and in 1661 Scougall and the other commissioners supervised the burning of thirteen unfortunate women whom they found to be witches. Scougall left Saltoun in 1664 to become Bishop of Aberdeen.
When Scougall left, he recommended that Sir Robert Fletcher should offer the living of Saltoun, "regarded as one of the best benefices of these parts", to the young Gilbert Burnet. Burnet was born in Edinburgh in 1643 and had studied at Aberdeen’s Marischal College. He worked in the parish as a probationer for four months: "I resolved to know all the parish and to be known of them before I would engage myself to them." They all came without any exception to me and desired me to labour among them. Burnet was ordained as a priest in 1665, two weeks after the death of his patron, Sir Robert Fletcher, who left the education of his two young sons, Andrew (who later achieved fame as The Patriot) and Henry, in Burnet’s hands. |
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Gilbert Burnet was a conscientious and devoted parish minister: he went through the Bible to consider all the texts proper to be preached on; he preached twice on Sundays and once during the week; he visited everyone at least twice a year and the sick every day; he also catechised the whole parish four times a year. This was in addition to his duties as tutor to the young Fletchers, his interest in the poor – to whom he gave liberally – and in the education of the youth of the parish.
Under Burnet’s ministry, the congregation increased and the church was enlarged. It was a "plain building, oblong in shape, without spire or tower, in length 66 feet. A low stone wall divided the nave from the choir, in which were the pulpit and the seats for the gentry. There was an earthen floor, the roof was covered with (turf) divots, there were no fixed seats or pews in the nave and each worshipper provided a seat, usually a three-legged stool." There were small windows of half wood and half glass. (TES Clarke & HC Foxcroft, A Life of Gilbert Burnet, 1907) There was no heating and the men (including the minister) only took their hats off to pray. In 1665 Lady Fletcher was granted permission by Presbytery to build an aisle with a chamber in it where she and her children could retire to refresh themselves between sermons. The manse, which had been built in 1659, was regarded by Burnet as "not only convenient but noble . . . (with) a well-stocked garden, an excellent glebe and stabling".
In 1669 Burnet left to become Professor of Divinity at Glasgow University. His parting gift to his congregation was two silver communion cups, still in use today. From Glasgow, Burnet went south to London where his outspoken and controversial views on the unsettled political situation led to his voluntary exile in Holland. He returned to this country with William of Orange and became his chaplain, friend and adviser on Scottish affairs. In 1689 he was made Bishop of Salisbury, with a seat in the House of Lords, and he held this important position until his death in 1715. Burnet’s writings, including his well-known A History of My Own Time, are a vivid contemporary record of the world in which he lived.
Under Burnet’s ministry, the congregation increased and the church was enlarged. It was a "plain building, oblong in shape, without spire or tower, in length 66 feet. A low stone wall divided the nave from the choir, in which were the pulpit and the seats for the gentry. There was an earthen floor, the roof was covered with (turf) divots, there were no fixed seats or pews in the nave and each worshipper provided a seat, usually a three-legged stool." There were small windows of half wood and half glass. (TES Clarke & HC Foxcroft, A Life of Gilbert Burnet, 1907) There was no heating and the men (including the minister) only took their hats off to pray. In 1665 Lady Fletcher was granted permission by Presbytery to build an aisle with a chamber in it where she and her children could retire to refresh themselves between sermons. The manse, which had been built in 1659, was regarded by Burnet as "not only convenient but noble . . . (with) a well-stocked garden, an excellent glebe and stabling".
In 1669 Burnet left to become Professor of Divinity at Glasgow University. His parting gift to his congregation was two silver communion cups, still in use today. From Glasgow, Burnet went south to London where his outspoken and controversial views on the unsettled political situation led to his voluntary exile in Holland. He returned to this country with William of Orange and became his chaplain, friend and adviser on Scottish affairs. In 1689 he was made Bishop of Salisbury, with a seat in the House of Lords, and he held this important position until his death in 1715. Burnet’s writings, including his well-known A History of My Own Time, are a vivid contemporary record of the world in which he lived.
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In his will Burnet left 20,000 merks in trust to the lairds of Saltoun and Herdmanston and to the incumbent, "in kind gratitude to that parish which had the first fruits of my labour, and among whose people I had all possible kindness and encouragement". The interest from this bequest was to be used for the education and clothing of thirty children of the poorest sort, for the erection of a new school-house and the augmentation of the schoolmaster’s salary, "for relieving the wants of the necessitous poor", and for adding fresh volumes to the library.
The library mentioned in Burnet’s will is probably one of the oldest private libraries in Scotland. It was founded c1660 by the bequest of Norman Leslie, who had been tutor to Sir Robert Fletcher and his brother. Burnet added some of his own books to the collection, which has become known as the Burnet Library. It includes rare Covenanting and Presbyterian literature (including works by Calvin), a rare edition of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs presented by Lady Saltoun, scarce editions of English classics and early editions of James Boswell, David Hume and Adam Smith, as well as tracts and pamphlets by Francis Bacon and Daniel Defoe. Following the sale of Saltoun manse, the library is currently being catalogued in the National Library of Scotland where it should eventually be available to anyone wishing to refer to it. |
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The Minutes of Saltoun Kirk Session date back to 1653 and make fascinating reading. The entry for 6 September 1719 reads, "This day a proclamation by the King against immorality, vice and profaneness was read in the Congregation and the Minister seriously exhorted the people to piety and virtue." In general, the Minutes were a Book of Discipline and were more concerned with morals of the parishioners than with efforts to increase the size of the congregation or raise funds for the upkeep of the building. During the service, the elders were often sent to search the village, especially the public houses, for non-attenders. The Session also dealt with ‘irregular’ marriages; births out of – or too early in – wedlock; set fines for scandalous behaviour; issued public rebukes for adultery, fornication and drunkenness; and awarded certificates of freedom from public scandal.
The church was rebuilt in 1805, probably by the architect Robert Burn. It is in the form of a cross, one arm occupied by a Gothic-style tower, and another by the laird’s aisle, which lies above the Fletcher vault. There is a chimney at each gable behind the battlements, indicating that there was originally a fireplace in each gallery. (The galleries were removed in 1885.) The spire was erected by General John Fletcher-Campbell as "a monument to the virtue of his ancestors, and an example for their posterity to imitate". It is said to be the highest in East Lothian and is certainly a landmark for miles around. Its height from ground level is 99 feet, thus avoiding the tax once payable on spires of 100 feet or over. |
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The only changes to the building since these nineteenth century improvements have been the engraving of capital letters around the outside walls, to provide a key to the burial plots, and the addition of a clock. This was given by his widow in memory of the schoolmaster John Halliday, who died in 1876. It came to be called after her, villagers looking to Auld Kate when they wanted to know the time.
In 1929 the parishes of Bolton and Saltoun were united under one minister and in 1979 they were further linked with the adjoining parishes of Yester and Humbie. The manse at Saltoun was sold and the minister for the four parishes lives in Gifford. When the manse was sold, the stable block was retained and now houses meeting rooms and a tiny folk museum displaying documents and artefacts from Saltoun’s past. 2015 has seen a further union with Yester, Bolton and Saltoun becoming one congregation, linked with Humbie.
In 1929 the parishes of Bolton and Saltoun were united under one minister and in 1979 they were further linked with the adjoining parishes of Yester and Humbie. The manse at Saltoun was sold and the minister for the four parishes lives in Gifford. When the manse was sold, the stable block was retained and now houses meeting rooms and a tiny folk museum displaying documents and artefacts from Saltoun’s past. 2015 has seen a further union with Yester, Bolton and Saltoun becoming one congregation, linked with Humbie.