•16 SCOTLAND ILLUSTRATED. 



century, a church was built here, and dedicated to the saint whose name it still 

 bears. Like that of Coldingham, it was destroyed more than once by fire — a 

 calamity which, owing to the churches being constructed of wood, was of frequent 

 recmrence upon any hostile incursion. About the end of the twelfth century, 

 a convent of Cistercian nuns was founded here by Ada, daughter of William- 

 the-Lion, and wife of Patrick, earl of Dunbar, where, by numerous donations, 

 it realized, in the course of years, a princely revenue. About the time of the 

 reformation, the lands were alienated by the prioress and nuns, principally to 

 Lord Home, for payment of annual feu-duties ; and on the final suppression 

 of monasteries, the benefice itself was conferred on a lady of the same family. 

 In the north wall of the present church, which is very ancient, is an arched 

 door, which formed the communication with the nunnery : the fine Gothic 

 oriel is stiU in partial preservation. Between the church and the river, the 

 remains of the Priory, though visible a few years ago, have now, for the sake 

 of the materials, been removed. The buildings must have been of considerable 

 extent ; and, what is worth notice, the nunnery was supplied with water by 

 means of leaden pipes, portions of which are from time to time dug up. South 

 and east of the church, lay the priory gardens — the whole encircled by a wall, 

 composed of three tiers of stone ; and on the east of these, another walk of 

 considerable breadth, distinguished as the Bishop's Loan. Various other relics 

 of antiquity are still pointed out ; among these, the ruins of the chapel ; and 

 about a mile westward, those of the church of Strafontane, have given place to 

 the plough. It is a favourite notion among the inliabitants, that a subterranean 

 passage still exists, leading from the nunnery of St. Bathan's under the bed 

 of the Whitadder, by which the nuns — 



" At that sweet hour when song and sun-set meet — 

 When stars are kindling, and the vesper chime 

 Gathers the worshipper from every street," — 



went to be confessed by the holy brotherhood at Strafontane. 



A short distance from the church, St. Bathan's Well — where the pilgrim 

 of other times was wont to repair for the cure of his malady, whether of mind 

 or body — still gushes fresh from its wooded nook, and, according to popular 

 belief, never fogs, nor freezes, and prevents even a mill-stream, into' which it 

 flows, from being clogged up with ice in the winter.* 



• Veins of copper ore having been discovered on this estate ; it was let, in 1828, but abandoned after 

 a single experiment. A similar mine was worked at Hoardwcel, about sixty years ago. 



