The Scalan was a Scottish Catholic seminary and one of the few places in Scotland where the Catholic faith was kept alive during the anti-Catholic persecutions of the 18th century.
The Scalan was a Scottish Catholic seminary and one of the few places in Scotland where the Catholic faith was kept alive during the anti-Catholic persecutions of the 18th century.
For much of the 18th century, the college at Scalan in the Braes of Glenlivet was the only place in Scotland where young men were trained to be Catholic priests, the so-called "heather priests". [1] From 1717 to 1799, over a hundred were trained despite the best efforts of the Hanoverian government and the Established Church. As it was strictly illegal, Scalan was burned to the ground on several occasions by redcoat soldiers sent from beyond the Highlands, but was always rebuilt. [2]
The college played a vital role in keeping the traditional Catholic faith alive in northern Scotland. It was named after the Gaelic word for turf sheilings ("galan") found in the Braes during that period. In 1799, the college was moved to a less remote site, Aquhorthies College, which had larger premises and more accommodation.
Alexander Geddes, Scottish theologian and scholar, was among the famous figures who studied at the college. George James Gordon, known as the "heather priest" was educated here and then taught here as a non-Jesuit for many years. [3]
The last permanent resident of the Scalan was Sandy Matheson, who died in late 2005.
Visitors today will note that the college is largely invisible until you are very close to the college, a factor invaluable in evading detection by the Hanoverian soldiers.
The Scalan is now a museum and is open all year for visitors. [4]
The Scalan Association seeks to promote the preservation of the college of Scalan and its history. [5]
Marquess of Huntly is a title in the Peerage of Scotland that was created on 17 April 1599 for George Gordon, 6th Earl of Huntly. It is the oldest existing marquessate in Scotland, and the second-oldest in the British Isles; only the English marquessate of Winchester is older. The Marquess holds the following subsidiary titles: Lord Gordon of Strathaven and Glenlivet and Earl of Aboyne, and Baron Meldrum, of Morven in the County of Aberdeen.
Alexander Geddes was a Scottish Catholic theologian and scholar. He translated a major part of the Old Testament of the Catholic Bible into English.
Tomintoul is a village in the Moray council area of Scotland in the historic county of Banffshire.
Clan Grant is a Highland Scottish clan, with one main branch, Grant of Grant, and several cadet branches, such as Grant of Glenmoriston.
Clan Gordon is a Highland Scottish clan, historically one of the most powerful Scottish clans. The Gordon lands once spanned a large territory across the Highlands. Presently, Gordon is seated at Aboyne Castle, Aberdeenshire. The Chief of the clan is the Earl of Huntly, later the Marquess of Huntly.
The Battle of Glenlivet was a Scottish clan battle fought on 3 October 1594 near Glenlivet, Moray, Scotland. It was fought between Protestant forces loyal to King James VI of Scotland who were commanded by Archibald Campbell, 7th Earl of Argyll, against Catholic forces who were commanded by George Gordon, 6th Earl of Huntly, and Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll. The Catholics won a decisive victory in the battle, but in the aftermath were subdued by King James.
The Catholic Church in Scotland overseen by the Scottish Bishops' Conference, is part of the worldwide Catholic Church headed by the Pope. After being introduced through Iona Abbey and firmly established in Scotland for nearly a millennium, the Catholic Church was outlawed following the Scottish Reformation in 1560. Throughout nearly three centuries of religious persecution, several pockets in Scotland retained a significant pre-Reformation Catholic population, including Banffshire, the Hebrides, and more northern parts of the Highlands, Galloway at Terregles House, Munches House, Kirkconnell House, New Abbey and Parton House and at Traquair in Peebleshire.
The Scots College was a college of the University of Paris, France, founded by an Act of the Parliament of Paris on 8 July 1333. The act was a ratification of an event that had already taken place, the founding of the Collegium Scoticum, one of a number of national colleges into which the university was divided. The Scots College came to an end in 1793 when the National Convention abolished the colleges and reorganized the university along different lines.
A Mass rock was a rock used as an altar by the Catholic Church in Ireland, during the 17th and 18th centuries, as a location for secret and illegal gatherings of faithful attending the Mass offered by outlawed priests. Similar altars, known as Mass stones, were used by the similarly illegal and underground Catholic Church in Scotland, membership in which was similarly criminalised following the Scottish Reformation in the mid-16th century.
Glen Cannich is a long glen in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland and through which runs the River Cannich. Emerging from the reservoir of Loch Mullardoch, the river flows east to merge with the River Affric at the village of Cannich, their combined waters forming the River Glass.
Alexander Paterson was a Roman Catholic bishop who served as the Vicar Apostolic of the Lowland District from 1825 to 1827, then, following district name change, Vicar Apostolic of the Eastern District from 1827 to 1831.
John Farquharson, was a member of the Scottish nobility and son of the Chief of Clan Farquharson. After studying at the Scots College, Douai and being ordained as a Roman Catholic priest of the Society of Jesus, Farquharson returned to Scotland and, while living in a mountain cave in Glen Cannich, he served as an outlawed missionary to Clan Chisholm and Clan Fraser of Lovat between 1729 and 1753, during the era of the Penal Laws and the Jacobite rising of 1745. Fr Farquharson was also an early folklorist and Celticist and a poet in the Scottish Gaelic language. He remains a folk hero of Lochaber and Strathglass.
Aquahorthies College or the House of Aquahorthies ; was a Catholic seminary in Scotland from 1799 to 1829. At the time it was the only Catholic seminary in the east of Scotland. The house still stands today, located between Blairdaff and Inverurie in Aberdeenshire, as a private residence. It is a Category A listed building and is very close to the Easter Aquhorthies stone circle.
Lismore Seminary was situated in Kilcheran House on the island of Lismore in the Inner Hebrides part of Argyll, Scotland. It served as a seminary for the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland in the 19th century. At the time it was the only seminary in the west of Scotland and for the Vicariate Apostolic of the Highland District. The house still stands and has a lime kiln from the time of the seminary within the grounds. Both the house and the kiln are category B listed sites.
Events from the year 1594 in the Kingdom of Scotland.
John Geddes was a Scottish Catholic prelate who served as Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic of the Lowland District from 1779 to 1797. He was also rector of the Royal Scots College, Valladolid, from 1771 to 1780. In addition to his writings about the history of the Catholic Church in Scotland, Geddes is particularly important for his friendship with Scottish national poet Robert Burns, from whom he received the now priceless volume known as The Geddes Burns.
St Peter's Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was built from 1803 and opened in 1804. It is situated on Justice Street between Peacock's Close and Market Stance, next to St Andrew's Cathedral in the centre of the city. It was the first permanent Roman Catholic Church to be built in Aberdeen after the Reformation and is a category B listed building.
Strathglass is a strath or wide and shallow valley in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland down which runs the meandering River Glass from the point at which it starts at the confluence of the River Affric and Abhainn Deabhag to the point where, on joining with the River Farrar at Struy, the combined waters become the River Beauly.
Alexander Cameron of Lochiel, S.J. was a Scottish nobleman, who became a Roman Catholic priest of the Society of Jesus.
