10 



Birnie was not a suitable centre of ecclesiastical affairs, 

 but they were by no means at one as to the proper spot 

 which they should choose. Spynie, which we must re- 

 member was then a sea-port, was thought by many to be 

 somewhat out of the way, but the Bishop, with commend- 

 able prudence, argued that, as there were still malefactors 

 who persecuted the Church, the approach to it should not 

 be made too easy, " and, besides, the Bishop could there 

 more easily and decently minister in spiritual and tem- 

 poral things to his Lord the King." An application was 

 made to Pope Innocent, and his Holiness, in 1207, referred 

 the matter to the Bishops of St. Andrews and Brechin 

 and the Abbot of Lindores, and ordered them, when they 

 came to a decision, " to decorate the said church with the 

 honourable name of Cathedral." Spynie was eventually 

 chosen, and eight canonries were appointed. We find a 

 charter referring to this new establishment as the Church 

 of the Holy Trinity of Spynie and the College of Canons 

 there serving God. Bricius modelled his Cathedral on 

 that of Lincoln. At his death, in 1222, he was buried 

 within the sacred precincts which owed so much to his 

 care and zeal.* 



But this state of things lasted only for a very brief 

 period, and the story is well known of how the succeeding 

 Bishop, Andrew Moray, animated probably by the example 

 of Bricius, carried his ambition to a more magnificent 

 fulfilment in the founding of Elgin Cathedral oo its pre- 

 sent site. He himself rests beneath the broad slab of 

 blue slate that is still conspicuous in the grass-grown 

 choir. 



Having wandered somewhat from my starting point 

 — the grey old Church of Birnie — I have left my- 



* In the " Otia Imperialia" of Gervase of Tilbury there is an interesting 

 list of the bishoprics of Scotland about this time. 



