In the chronicle of Melrose, we find that in 1159, 

 " William, Bishop of Moray, and Nicolas, at that time 

 chamberlain of the King of the Scots, paying a visit to the 

 Roman Court, on the service of King Malcolm, of their 

 own free will went to see Pope Alexander at Agnania, 

 which is beyond Rome. They were received by him with 

 due honour. William returned in the year following, 

 having been appointed the legate for the Kingdom of 

 Scotland." On St. Edmund's Day (20th November) 1160, 

 the Bishop of St. Andrews was consecrated by him as 

 apostolic legate, " in presence," as the chronicle adds, " of 

 King Malcolm, and the bishops, and abbots, and earls of 

 the realm." He died, according to the Holyrood chronicle, 

 on the 24th January, 1 162, and was succeeded by Felix, of 

 whom we know little. 



The next Bishop, however, is a person of greater inte- 

 rest to us, as he is said to have been buried at Birnie. This 

 was Simon de Toeny or Tonei. His name is the first in 

 an ancient list of Bishops in the Registrum Moravieuse, 

 and, from his episcopate onwards, our course becomes 

 clearer from the light thrown on it by that in- 

 valuable repository of historical evidence. From 

 the chronicles and other sources, we gather that Simon 

 was a monk of Melrose, and abbot of Coggeston or 

 Kogeshall, in the county of Essex, from which place he 

 had returned to Melrose in 1168. His election took place 

 in 1171. He was conducted to Moray, and consecrated on 

 the 23rd January, 1172. He seems to have been held in 

 favour by William the Lion, who gives him the " decima 

 reddituum et placitorum regis" in Moravia, and who con- 

 firms the gift of an island in the " Lake of Lunnin," and a 

 piece of land in Duldavach, which Simon had granted to a 

 personage described as " John the Hermit." The Chronicle 

 of Melrose contains the entrv of his death : " 1184, Simon, 



