144 Pre-Reformation Ministers of Sanquhar. 



think M'Callane was merely a subordinate, a chaplain ministering 

 at one of the altars, for the document would seem to show that 

 the old church could boast several altars. All we can say with 

 certainty is that John M'Callane was a priest or presbyter who 

 ministered in the parish. Whether he was the parish minister 

 must remain doubtful. 



The next priest whose name has come down to us is Sir John 

 Young, who is described as Vicar. (The " Sir " does not mean 

 that he was a knight, for priests who were Bachelors of Arts 

 assumed this title.) His name has been preserved in an interest- 

 ing document describing the appointment of clerk to Sanquhar 

 Parish Church, 15th July, 1548. In that document, which is 

 given in full in Wilson's "Folk Lore of Uppermost Nithsdale," 

 there is much of historical value. In it we find proof of the 

 antiquity of many old Sanquhar families, e.g., the Hairs, 

 M'Kendricks, Bannatynes, and the Wilsons. Sir John was 

 not alone, however, in the spiritual oversight of the 

 parish. He was assisted by two chaplains, John Muir 

 and John Menzies, whose names are also preserved in 

 the document referred to. Possibly one of these two 

 ministered at the " Altare Sacri Languins." As Sir John 

 was only vicar it is possible that some other person, probably 

 one of the Crichtons of the Castle, was again acting as " Parson " 

 and drawing the stipend. The benefice seems to have been too 

 good a one for the Patron to let it get entirely out of his own 

 family. The last of the pre-Reformation ministers was another 

 Crichton, Robert, who is described as Rector of Sanquhar, in 

 1558, but who must have been inducted before that, for, attached, 

 to a deed of 1556, is the name " Robertus de Creichtoun, a San- \ 

 quhar prebendarius." He was, I think, the son of William Crich- 

 ton, who held the benefice about thirty years before. " Robert - 

 Creichtoun, Persoun of Sanquhair," appears from old records 

 to have been " collectour for the King for Wigtoun, Kirkcud- 

 bryght, Drumfrees and Annanderdaill." 



Robert appears, therefore, to have been a more important 

 person than the average country parson of the time. He appears 

 to have joined the Reformed Church at the Reformation as did 

 his kinsman Lord Crichton. But his heart was still with the old 

 faith rather than the new, and whatever may have been his faults 



