Columba or Colmcille was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is today Scotland at the start of the Hiberno-Scottish mission. He founded the important abbey on Iona,which became a dominant religious and political institution in the region for centuries. He is the patron saint of Derry. He was highly regarded by both the Gaels of Dál Riata and the Picts,and is remembered today as a Catholic saint and one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland.
A hymn is a type of song,and partially synonymous with devotional song,specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer,and typically addressed to a deity or deities,or to a prominent figure or personification. The word hymn derives from Greek ὕμνος(hymnos),which means "a song of praise". A writer of hymns is known as a hymnist. The singing or composition of hymns is called hymnody. Collections of hymns are known as hymnals or hymn books. Hymns may or may not include instrumental accompaniment. Polyhymnia is the Greco/Roman goddess of hymns.
Celtic Christianity is a form of Christianity that was common,or held to be common,across the Celtic-speaking world during the Early Middle Ages. Some writers have described a distinct Celtic Church uniting the Celtic peoples and distinguishing them from adherents of the Roman Church,while others classify Celtic Christianity as a set of distinctive practices occurring in those areas. Varying scholars reject the former notion,but note that there were certain traditions and practices present in both the Irish and British churches that were not seen in the wider Christian world.
Thomas Chalmers,was a Scottish Presbyterian minister,professor of theology,political economist,and a leader of both the Church of Scotland and of the Free Church of Scotland. He has been called "Scotland's greatest nineteenth-century churchman".
Erik Reginald Routley was an English Congregational churchman,theologian and musician and prominent hymnologist.
"Abide with Me" is a Christian hymn by Scottish Anglican cleric Henry Francis Lyte. A prayer for God to stay with the speaker throughout life and in death,it was written by Lyte in 1847 as he was dying from tuberculosis. It is most often sung to the tune "Eventide" by the English organist William Henry Monk.
The English Hymnal is a hymn book which was published in 1906 for the Church of England by Oxford University Press. It was edited by the clergyman and writer Percy Dearmer and the composer and music historian Ralph Vaughan Williams,and was a significant publication in the history of Anglican church music.
George Matheson FRSE was a Scottish minister and hymn writer and prolific author. He was blind from the age of 17.
As of the 2011 census,Christianity was the largest religion in Scotland,chosen by 53.8% of the Scottish population identifying when asked:"What religion,religious denomination or body do you belong to?" This represented a decline from the 2001 figure of 65.1%. More recent polls of public opinion have shown that the majority today consider themselves non-religious. In 2017,the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey,conducted by ScotCen Social Research found that 58% of Scots identified themselves as non-religious,compared to 40% in 1999.
Jessie Seymour Irvine was the daughter of a Church of Scotland parish minister who served at Dunottar,Peterhead,and Crimond in Aberdeenshire,Scotland. She is referred to by Ian Campbell Bradley in his 1997 book Abide with Me:The World of Victorian Hymns as standing "in a strong Scottish tradition of talented amateurs who tended to produce metrical psalm tunes rather than the dedicated hymn tunes increasingly composed in England."
Rhind Lectures are a series of lectures on archaeological topics. They have been hosted by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland since 1874. The content of the lectures is usually published in journals or expanded into new works by their authors.
St Clement is a popular British hymn tune,most commonly set to John Ellerton's hymn The Day Thou Gavest,Lord,is Ended. The tune is generally credited to the Rev. Clement Cotteril Scholefield (1839–1904). It first appeared in Sir Arthur Sullivan's Church Hymns with Tunes (1874). Scholefield was born at Edgbaston,Birmingham,and was the youngest son of William Scholefield,MP for Birmingham.
The Christianisation of Scotland was the process by which Christianity spread in what is now Scotland,which took place principally between the fifth and tenth centuries.
"Praise,my soul,the King of heaven" is a Christian hymn. Its text,which draws from Psalm 103,was written by Anglican divine Henry Francis Lyte. First published in 1834,it endures in modern hymnals to a setting written by John Goss in 1868,and remains one of the most popular hymns in English-speaking denominations.
The history of popular religion in Scotland includes all forms of the formal theology and structures of institutional religion,between the earliest times of human occupation of what is now Scotland and the present day. Very little is known about religion in Scotland before the arrival of Christianity. It is generally presumed to have resembled Celtic polytheism and there is evidence of the worship of spirits and wells. The Christianisation of Scotland was carried out by Irish-Scots missionaries and to a lesser extent those from Rome and England,from the sixth century. Elements of paganism survived into the Christian era. The earliest evidence of religious practice is heavily biased toward monastic life. Priests carried out baptisms,masses and burials,prayed for the dead and offered sermons. The church dictated moral and legal matters and impinged on other elements of everyday life through its rules on fasting,diet,the slaughter of animals and rules on purity and ritual cleansing. One of the main features of Medieval Scotland was the Cult of Saints,with shrines devoted to local and national figures,including St Andrew,and the establishment of pilgrimage routes. Scots also played a major role in the Crusades. Historians have discerned a decline of monastic life in the late medieval period. In contrast,the burghs saw the flourishing of mendicant orders of friars in the later fifteenth century. As the doctrine of Purgatory gained importance the number of chapelries,priests and masses for the dead within parish churches grew rapidly. New "international" cults of devotion connected with Jesus and the Virgin Mary began to reach Scotland in the fifteenth century. Heresy,in the form of Lollardry,began to reach Scotland from England and Bohemia in the early fifteenth century,but did not achieve a significant following.
John Glasse (1848–1918) was a Church of Scotland Minister at Greyfriars Kirk,Edinburgh,Scotland,1877-1909. He was a leading advocate of Christian Socialism,and was described by Sidney Webb as one of the "two most influential Scottish socialists".
Francis Pott was an English hymnwriter and Anglican priest. He is noted as the author or translator of a number of popular Christian hymns including "Angel Voices,Ever Singing" and "The Strife is O'er,the Battle Done". His hymns are an established part of the Anglican church music repertoire and commonly feature in hymnals such as The New English Hymnal.
"Angel Voices,Ever Singing" is an English Christian hymn. It was written in 1861 by the Church of England vicar Francis Pott (1832–1909). It was written for the dedication of an organ.
I Will Mention the Loving-kindnesses is an anthem for Easter by Arthur Sullivan. The text is taken from the Book of Isaiah,scored for solo tenor,mixed choir and organ. It was published by Novello in 1875,dedicated to John Stainer.
Barbara Elizabeth Crawford OBE FRSE FSA FSA(Scot) is a British historian. She is a leading authority on the mediaeval history of the Northern Isles of Scotland and Norwegian-Scottish 'frontier' and relations across the North Sea. She is Honorary Reader in Mediaeval History at the University of St Andrews,and Honorary Professor at the University of the Highlands and Islands. She was awarded an OBE for services to History and Archaeology in 2011. She became a Member of the Norwegian Academy in 1997 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2001.
