00 Tlic Pre- Reformation Churches of Berimckshire. 



unfortunately, becoming yearly reduced, either by wanton 

 destruction, or from scarcely less culpable neglect. Within the 

 last twenty years the sole remaining fragment of the old 

 pre- Reformation church of Duns has been removed, under the 

 pretext of improving the churchyard, and no doubt other parishes 

 have a like tale of vandalism to tell. This circumstance must 

 form my justification in submitting to the Club these imperfect 

 notices. They will serve their purpose if they should be the 

 means of inducing some competent investigator to undertake a 

 more adequate treatment of the subject, while materials for 

 doing so still exist. 



For the sake of convenience in reference, T have arranged the 

 notices of the remains described under the parishes in which 

 they respectively occur, and the parishes themselves in alpha- 

 betical order. To have adopted a chronological arrangement 

 would, I think, have been less satisfactory, even had it been 

 practicable, which it scarcely is."^' 



In the Appendix will be found Lists of the Ancient Churches, 

 Hospitals, etc., in the county compiled from various old Registers. 

 One of the most valuable and interesting of these is the list of 

 churches dedicated by David de Bernhara, Bishop of St. Andrews, 

 about the middle of the thirteenth century, taken from the 

 Pontifical of St. Andrews, whicli is preserved in the Bibliotheque 

 Nationale in Paris. Unfortunately, the names of the patron 

 saints are not given in the Pontifical, and these, where ascer- 

 tained, liave liad to be gleaned from other sources. 



ABBEY ST. BATHANS. 



This is one of the most ancient religious sites in Berwickshire, 

 but its early history is wrapped in obscurity. It takes its de- 

 signation, there is every reason to believe, from St. Baithen or 

 Bothan, who was a cousin of St. Columba, and succeeded him as 

 Abbot of lona. Some have thought that the Saint, in the 

 course of his wanderings, actually visited this part of the coun- 

 try, and founded in person the church which has for so many 



*For the plans and drawings whicli illustrate this paper, and for much 

 valuable assistance besides, I have to express my acknowledgments to 

 Mr George Fortune, Architect, Duns, and Mr John Dickson, Solicitor, 

 Banff. My best thanks are also due to Dr Hardy, who with his accustomed 

 kindness, allowed me to draw at will upon his unrivalled stores of 

 antiquarian information. 



