Beauly Priory

Last updated

Beauly Priory
Scotlan Beauly Priory.jpg
Monastery information
Order Valliscaulian, Cistercian (after 1510)
Established1230
Disestablished1634
Mother house Val-des-Choux
Diocese Diocese of Moray
Controlled churchesAbertarff; Comar; Conveth
People
Founder(s) Alexander II of Scotland
John Byset
Important associated figures Robert Reid

Beauly Priory was a Valliscaulian monastic community located at "Insula de Achenbady", now Beauly, Inverness-shire. It was probably founded in 1230. It is not known for certain who the founder was, different sources giving Alexander II of Scotland, John Byset, and both. The French monks, along with Bisset (a nearby, recently settled landowner), had a strong enough French-speaking presence to give the location and the river the name "beau lieu" ("beautiful place") and have it pass into English.

Contents

An alternative story about the naming of Beauly village told by locals is that 'Mary, Queen of Scots' was said to have been travelling through the area, probably on her way to Dingwall in her late teens and popped her head out of the Carriage window and uttered the words 'Beau Lieu' (beautiful place).

It is not the best documented abbey, and few of the priors of Beauly are known by name until the 14th century. It became Cistercian on 16 April 1510, after the suppression of the Valliscaulian Order by the Pope. The priory was gradually secularised, and ruled by a series of commendatory abbots. The priory's lands were given over to the bishop of Ross by royal charter on 20 October 1634.

The ruins today are still extensive and are one of the main visitor attractions in Inverness-shire. It is protected as a scheduled monument. [1]

John Keats

In August 1818 John Keats and his friend Charles Brown stopped at Beauly on their way to Cromarty. Their visit produced a collaborative poem, On Some Skulls in Beauley Abbey, near Inverness, written early in August 1818 or possibly some weeks or months later. The majority of the lines are by Brown. Keats contributed to the first line of the poem and the first four words of the second line, and three stanzas. [2]

Notable burials

See also

Bibliography

George F Campbell: "The First and Lost Iona." Candlemas Hill Publishing 2006 and on Kindle.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clan Mackenzie</span> Scottish clan

Clan Mackenzie is a Scottish clan, traditionally associated with Kintail and lands in Ross-shire in the Scottish Highlands. Traditional genealogies trace the ancestors of the Mackenzie chiefs to the 12th century. However, the earliest Mackenzie chief recorded by contemporary evidence is Alexander Mackenzie of Kintail who died some time after 1471. Traditionally, during the Wars of Scottish Independence, the Mackenzies supported Robert the Bruce, but feuded with the Earls of Ross in the latter part of the 14th century. During the 15th and 16th-centuries the Mackenzies feuded with the neighboring clans of Munro and MacDonald. In the 17th century the Mackenzie chief was made Earl of Seaforth in the peerage of Scotland. During the Scottish Civil War of the 17th century the Mackenzies largely supported the Royalists. During the Jacobite rising of 1715 the chief and clan of Mackenzie supported the Jacobite cause. However, during the Jacobite rising of 1745 the clan was divided with the chief, Kenneth Mackenzie, Lord Fortrose, supporting the British-Hanoverian Government and his relative, George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie, supporting the Jacobites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clan Macrae</span> Highland Scottish clan

The Clan Macrae is a Highland Scottish clan. The clan has no chief; it is therefore considered an armigerous clan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beauly</span> Town in Inverness, Scotland

Beauly is a village in the Highland area, on the River Beauly, 12 miles (19 km) west of Inverness by the Far North railway line. The town is historically within Kilmorack Parish of the Scottish County of Inverness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chanonry of Ross</span>

Castle Chanonry of Ross, also known as Seaforth Castle, was located in the town of Fortrose, to the north-east of Inverness, on the peninsula known as the Black Isle, Highland, Scotland. Nothing now remains of the castle. The castle was also known as Canonry or Chanonrie of Ross, the former county.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Bealach nam Broig</span> Battle in Highland, Scotland, UK

The Battle of Bealach nam Broig was a battle fought between Scottish clans from the lands of north-west Ross, against north-eastern clans of Ross who supported the Earl of Ross. The actual date of the battle is debated, it probably occurred in 1452 but the Conflicts of the Clans suggests a date as early as 1299.

Robert Mor Munro, 15th Baron of Foulis, and 18th chief of the Clan Munro was a 16th-century Scottish chief. He was known as Robert Mor on account of his large stature. He was the eldest son of Robert Munro, 14th Baron of Foulis. Although this Robert Munro is traditionally 15th Baron and 18th overall chief of the clan, he is only the 8th Munro chief that can be proved by contemporary evidence.

Alexander Mackenzie, known as "Ionraic", traditionally counted as 6th of Kintail, was the first chief of the Clan Mackenzie of whom indisputable contemporary documentary evidence survives. During his long life, he greatly expanded his clan's territories and influence.

Colin Mackenzie of Kintail, nicknamed "Cam", was a Highland chief of the Scottish clan Mackenzie who greatly increased his ancestral estates through royal favour and a career of vigorous self-aggrandisement.

Kenneth Mackenzie, was the 10th laird of Kintail and he was nicknamed Coinneach na Cuirc in Scottish Gaelic, was a Highland chief, head of the Clan Mackenzie, who flourished in the turbulent Scottish politics of the mid-16th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenneth Mackenzie, 7th of Kintail</span>

Kenneth Mackenzie, traditionally reckoned 7th of Kintail and nicknamed Coinneach a'bhlair, was a Highland chief, being head of the Clan Mackenzie.

John Mackenzie, or "John of Killin", traditionally reckoned 9th of Kintail, was a Highland chief and head of the Clan Mackenzie.

Fionnla Dubh mac Gillechriosd is purported to have been a 15th-century Scotsman, who lived in the north-west of Scotland. The Gaelic Fionnla Dubh mac Gillechriosd translates into English as "Fionnla the black, son of Gillechriosd". Fionnla Dubh is known from a late 17th-century traditional account of Clan Macrae; within that account he presented as a prominent ancestor of the clan. The tradition relates that for a time the chief of Clan Mackenzie was absent, and during that time his bastard uncles were causing trouble in the Mackenzies' territories of Kintail and Kinlochewe. Fionnla Dubh was then ordered to retrieve the chief and was successful in his task. From that time onward, says the tradition, the Macraes from the Kintail area rose in prominence amongst their Mackenzie lords. Tradition also states that Fionnla Dubh is an ancestor of the leading lines of the Macraes from Kintail.

Leod Macgilleandrais is purported to have been a 14th-century Scotsman, who lived in the north-west of Scotland. He is known from clan traditions, which date to the late 17th century. According to these traditions, Leod was a follower of the Earl of Ross, and that he was an enemy of the Mackenzies of Kintail. He is said to have captured one of the early Mackenzie chiefs, and was then later killed by the slain chief's son sometime in the 14th century. His memory is preserved in the place where he is said to have been slain. According to at least one version of the tradition, Leod was survived by a son named Paul. Several historians in 19th and early 20th centuries equated this son to Paul Mactire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Glen Affric</span>

The Battle of Glen Affric took place in 1721 in Glen Affric, in the Scottish Highlands. It was fought between Government backed forces of the Clan Ross against rebel the forces of the Clan Mackenzie and their allies the Clan Macrae.

Simon Fraser, 6th Lord Lovat (1570–1633) was a Scottish courtier and landowner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Drumchatt (1501)</span>

The Battle of Drumchatt, or Druim-a-Chait, was a Scottish clan battle claimed by non-contemporary historians to have taken place in the year 1501 near Strathpeffer, in the Scottish Highlands. It was allegedly fought between the Clan Mackenzie and the Clan Munro. Mackenzie chronicles have claimed a signal victory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stand-off dispute to the lands of Beauly Priory</span>

The dispute over the lands of Beauly Priory took place in about 1577-78 in Beauly, Inverness-shire, Scottish Highlands. It was contested between Colin Cam Mackenzie, 11th of Kintail, chief of Clan Mackenzie and Thomas Fraser of Knockie who was the tutor to the young Simon Fraser, 6th Lord Lovat, chief of the Clan Fraser of Lovat. Fraser was supported by Robert Mor Munro, 15th Baron of Foulis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairburn Tower</span> Architectural structure in Highland, Scotland, UK

Fairburn Tower is a recently restored Scottish castle near Inverness and Muir of Ord in the parish of Urray.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mackenzie of Gairloch</span>

The Mackenzies of Gairloch were a minor noble Scottish family and one of the senior cadet branches of the Clan Mackenzie, a Scottish clan of the Scottish Highlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murdo MacKenzie (courtier)</span>

Murdo or Murdoch Mackenzie, also known as Murdo McRorie was a Scottish courtier and the builder of Fairburn Tower near Inverness.

References

  1. Historic Environment Scotland. "Beauly Priory,priory and burial ground (SM90031)" . Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  2. Stillinger, Jack, The Poems of John Keats, London, Heinemann, 1978, p.617
  3. Way, George of Plean; Squire, Romilly of Rubislaw (1994). Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia. Glasgow: HarperCollins (for the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs). pp. 144–145. ISBN   0-00-470547-5.
  4. Paul, James Balfour (1910). The Scots peerage : founded on Wood's ed. of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland; containing an historical and genealogical account of the nobility of that kingdom. D. Douglas. p.  497. Quoting: History of Beauly Priory, Grampian Club, 105 and frontispiece
  5. Mackenzie, Alexander (1894). History of the Mackenzies: With Genealogies of the Principal Families of the Name. A. & W. Mackenzie. p.  143.
  6. Fraser, William, Sir, K.C.B. (1876). The Earls of Cromartie; their kindred, country, and correspondence. Vol. 2. Edinburgh. pp.  497. Fraser's 1876 book contains a transcript of George Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Cromartie's 17th century History of the Family of Mackenzie{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. Mackenzie, Alexander (1894). History of the Mackenzies: With Genealogies of the Principal Families of the Name. A. & W. Mackenzie. p.  178.
  8. Mackinnon, Donald (1954). The Clan Ross. Edinburgh and London: W. & A.K. Johnston. p. 24.