Lismore, Scotland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lismore Island (Lios Mór in Gaelic) is an island in Loch Linnhe, in Argyll, on the west coast of Scotland.
Contents |
[edit] Saint Moluag
Lismore is associated with Saint Moluag (Old Irish Mo-Luóc) (d. 592), who founded a monastery on the island. It was a major centre of Celtic Christianity, and the seat of the later medieval bishopric of Argyll or the Isles. To modern eyes it seems an isolated location for such a centre, but in an era when the fastest and most reliable transport was by water, Lismore was ideally situated.
Of the cathedral only the choir survives, in greatly altered form, the nave and western tower having been reduced to their foundations. The building is in use as the parish church of Lismore.
[edit] Castles
Other major antiquities on Lismore include the impressive broch of Tirefour on the south coast, and two ruinous thirteenth century castles, Castle Coeffin and Achadun Castle, the latter the seat of the Bishop until the early sixteenth century.
[edit] Ferries
Lismore is linked to the mainland by two ferries. A vehicle ferry makes the crossing to Oban, while a foot ferry makes the shorter crossing from the northern tip of the island.
[edit] Livingstones of Bachuil
Lismore is the home of the highland Clan MacLea, whose chief, Alastair Livingstone of Bachuil, Baron of the Bachuil is Coarb of St Moluag and, as such, the hereditary keeper of the saints crozier or pastoral Staff (an early church relic known as the Bachull Mòr).
There is some confusion about the nature of the Bachuil land holding. Dr Ian Carmichael, the erudite Minister of Lismore in 1945 published Lismore in Alba which is a fascinating source of information about the island. From this source the impression is often taken that the Bachuil Lands were held from the church on condition that the holder kept and took care of the crozier of St Moluag. On page 63 he quotes the Marquis of Lorn writing in Adventures in Legend in 1898 “His superiors were the monks or clergy, and the office held under them and for which the lands were granted by them, had duties belonging to them connected with the wants of the monastery or chapter.”
However, in a Lyon Court Judgement, in the Case of Livingstone of Bachuil on 21st December 1950 (published in Scots Law Times, December 29 1951), the Lord Lyon King of Arms found in fact, inter alia:
- That the co-arb of a Celtic abbot was heir of the abbot in his ecclesiastical functions and abbatical mensal territory.
His Lordship found in law.
- That the petitioner, as heritable Keeper of the Bachuil Mor, alias Bachuil Buidhe, viz. the pastoral staff of St Moluag, is co-arb of St Moluag.
Bachuil is therefore all that remains of the old Abbey Lands (Appin literally means “the jurisdiction of, and hence territory owned or ruled by, an ab or abbot, chief dignitary of a monastic community” according to Professor GWS Barrow) and the Baron holds them as Coarb of St Moluag.
In his summary the Lord Lyon states
- No evidence is adduced that the Bachuil and Bachuil-land were ever held “of or under " the Bishop of Lismore, and I do not believe that this was the case. In my view it would have been incompatible with the fundamental nature of the thing, and of being the co-arb of the Saint. The same evidently applies to the Quigerich of St Fillan : it was indeed declared independent.
- Out of this groundless assertion, however, Dr Carmichael endeavours to argue, at p. 179, that “Keepership of the Bachuil could only "be the gift of the Church" and in fact, of the Church of Scotland of Lismore. A development of this theory, viz. that the charters by Argyll in regard o the Bachuil and by King James V in regard to he Quigerich of St Fillan were a "usurpation of ecclesiastical authority", is also groundless and a non sequitur for he admits at p. 175 that the “keepership of St Fillan's staff would appear to be Completely independent" of any ecclesiastical power. This, in my view (from the very nature of he original saintly character which "admitted of no earthly, authority and hierarchy"), is just what, was the case, and neither the Roman nor the reformed Church has any locus in regard to the Bachuil. The Crown, in relation to the Quigerich of St Fillan, and the Lord of Lorne in relation to the Bachuil of St Moluag, as being the relative civil authorities responsible in each case, did have a duly (to the saint and co-arb) of guaranteeing inso far as they could, the spiritual liberty and corporeal possession of what pertained to the heir in ecclesiastical co-arbship of the original saint. In exercising this function the Crown and the Lord of Lorne were in no sense committing “usurpation” at all. They were in each case exercising the duly of affording civil protection to the holy man. They, were ensuring that the civil power could provide that the holder of the Bachuil and the holder of the Quigerich, should (in the words of King James) “be made nane obedience nor ansuere to na persoun spirituale or temporale in ony thing concerning the said haly Relik ". This said provision was no doubt very unpalatable to any bishop or kirk session who might wish to appropriate these insignia and functions of the co-arb of an independent and primitive Celtic saint.
[edit] The Great Garden or Enclosure
The Gaelic name, lios mòr, means "great garden" or "enclosure", reflecting either the fertility of a relatively low-lying island amidst mountainous surroundings, or the presence of a defined sacred area round the early monastery. In the 2001 census, the population was 146, over 45% of whom were over 60 years old, thus making it the Scottish island with the oldest population. [1]
[edit] External links
- Isle of Lismore website
- Lismore Landscape Project
- Lismore Historical Society
- Clan MacLea/Livingstone Society
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from “Dwelly’s [Scottish] Gaelic Dictionary” (1911) bachall
| Islands of the Hebrides |
|---|
| Inner Hebrides |
| Ascrib Islands | Canna | Cara | Coll | Colonsay | Crowlin Islands | Easdale | Eigg | Gigha | Iona | Isay | Islay | Jura | Kerrera | Lismore | Luing | Lunga | Oronsay | Muck | Mull | Raasay | Rùm | Seil | Shuna | Skye | Soay | Staffa | Summer Isles | Tiree | Treshnish Isles |
| Outer Hebrides |
| Barra (Isles) | Benbecula | Berneray | Eriskay | Flannan Isles | Great Bernera | Harris and Lewis | North Uist | Rockall | Scalpay | South Uist | St Kilda |
