Parochial Economy
Church and Monuments
In Popish times, the fabric of the parish church was maintained, as well as that of the collegiate church, a separate set of priests and chaplains officiating in each; and it seems probable that the parish church was used at the beginning of the Reformation by the reader, and first Protestant clergyman; for in the tack of tile teinds of the kirk of Corstorphine in 1597, there is an express stipulation on the lessee, Henry Forrester, to sustain and uphold the quire of the parish kirk. In the beginning of the next century, however, the collegiate church was occupied by the parish minister; and we find among the first entries in the parish register, under date 3d May 1646, an order given by the kirk-session, for taking down the old parirsh kirk. (i) Since that period, the collegiate church has always been used as the parish church, and has, from time to time, been repaired and altered as the occasion required.
Previous to the last repair, the church was of the form of a Calvary cross, with a projection to the north at the bottom or east end, and a spire and low-roofed house, now used as a session-house or vestry, at the west end. The north arm of this cross had been added during the last century by the proprietor of Saughtonhall; the rest of the building was ancient, and had the original roof of compact stone.
When the church was repaired, the Saughtonhall aisle was taken down, and another erected in a style which corresponds better with the southern aisle, and, at the same time, the roof of about two-thirds of the building was removed, and a slated double roof erected in its place, of the same height as the roof of the southern aisle, which was considerably lower than the original roof of the principal building. This, altered portion and the southern aisle constitute the present church, while the eastern end and north-eastern projection form the chancel and burying-ground of the Forresters.
According to tradition, the southern aisle is the most ancient part of the building, and was probably a part of the chapel of St. John the Baptist. On the outer wall of it are carved, in several places, the arms of the Forresters, and within, below the window, in a vaulted arch, there is recumbent stone figure of a man with a sword hanging at his side; the head resting on a stone cushion, and the feet on the figure of a dog. On the front of the arch are three armorial shields; l Party per fess, a ship within a bordure in the upper half, and a cross raguled on the lower half, Sinclair of Orkney impaling Forrester, three hunting horns stringed. 2. Forrester; 3. Forrester, having in the centre an escutcheon of pretence charged with a cross, raguled Sinclair. From the family arms being engraved on it, this must be the tomb of one of the Forresters, and probably represents Sir Alexander Forrester (ii)
On the north side of the chancel, under two similar vaults, are other stone figures in the same style of antique sculpture. The figures in the recess nearest to the body of the church represent Sir John Forrester, the founder of the Collegiate Church, and one of his ladies. Fronting this arch are five shields armorial, viz. 1. Forrester, three hunting horns stringed; 2. Forrester impaling St. Clair of Orkney; quarterly, first and fourth, a ship, second and third, a cross; 3. Forrester; 4.Forrester impaling a fess cheque Stewart; 5. Forrester. The figures under the other recess represent his son Sir John Forrester and his lady, and fronting these figures are the three following shields armorial, viz. 1. Forrester; 2. Forrester impaling Stewart, a fess cheque; 3. Forrester, indicating that his lady's name was Stewart (iii).
On the wall of the chancel there is the following inscription :
Istud Collegium incepit anno Domini 1429, et eodem anno Magister Nicholayus Banachtyne, prepositus hiq, subtus jacens, qui obiit anno Domini 147-. Cujus anniversarius simul posterisque Magistris celebrabitur 14 die mensis Junii pro quo annuus redditus 10 librarum in villa de novo Kirk Cramond. Orate pro papa et eo (iv).
This inscription may be rendered thus in English :-" This collegiate church was begun in the year of our Lord 1429, and in the same year Mr Nicol Bannatyne was Provost here, who, lying beneath, died in the year 147-; a commemoration of him and his successors in office will be celebrated on the 14th of June annually, for which an annual rent of L. 10 is set apart out of the lands of New Kirk Cramond.--Pray for the Pope and for him." There are besides in the chancel, the niche where the basin of holy water was fixed, and an empty recess, which was once, no doubt, occupied by a stone figure like the others.
In the room to the north of the chancel, formerly the burying vault of the Forresters, and now occupied by a stove for heating the church, there are several stones with inscriptions on them. One of these, which was formerly placed in the inner wall of the south aisle of the church, contained a donation to the poor; but the first part of it is delete, so that the donor's name is not known. The words are: " Et dictus Patricius dedit in perpetuum pro subsidio praedictorum pauperum unum annuum redditum quadraginta denariorum praedictae monetae, de Tota et Integra terra Joannis March, jacen in praedicto burgo, secundum tenorem cartae inde confectae." Another, which was dug up from under the wall separating the church from the chancel at the last repair, contains, the figure of a chalice with a wafer above it in the centre, and round this figure towards the margin of the stone, in old English characters, the inscription, " Hic jacet Magister Robertus Heriot Bachilarius in Decretis, quondam Rector Ecclie. de Gogar, qui obiit vii. die mensis Junii ano Dni mo, ccccxliij." A third, which was found in a vault below the centre of the church, is a stone with an inscription over the tomb, of a relative of Agnes Tod, second wife of Archibald Forrester, and is in these words: "Hic Jacet Alexr. Tod quond. filius Thomae Tod miIitis, qui obiit vii. die mensis September, ano Dni mo. cccclxxx." Other stones, containing various emblems and flowers, were found in the same vault. One of these, now at Corstorphine Hill, has a sword and emblems of a knight of one of the holy orders. This stone may possibly have covered the grave of the renowned Bernard Steuart Lord D'Aubigny, who was Knight of the Order of St. Michael, and died in the house of Archibald Forrester of Corstorphine in June 1508, and is said to have been buried within the collegiate church.
i. Parish Register, vol. I
ii. Douglas Peerage by Wood, voce Forrester
iii. Ibid.
iv. This inscription is in old English characters with numerous abbreviations, and the last five words of it are partly erased.
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