106 The Pre- Reformation Churches of Berwickshire. 



montory which has, ever since, been associated with her name. 

 Its site is pointed out on a precipitous peninsula called ' The 

 Headlands,' where there are still to be seen some featureless 

 remains of ancient buildings. These, however, must have been 

 constructed at a date long posterior to that of the primitive 

 monastery of St. Ebba,* which, like all similar erections of the 

 period, would, no doubt, be formed chiefly of wood. We could 

 almost infer as much, indeed, from what we know of its sub- 

 sequent history. It was twice destroyed by fire : —first, accident- 

 ally, or as Bede and the Saxon Chronicle tell us, " by the 

 judgment of Heaven," in 679 ; and again, by the Danes, in 870. 

 On the latter occasion, it is said, the abbess, to preserve the 

 chastity of the nuns, induced them to disfigure and mutilate 

 their faces, which so irritated the ferocious invaders that they 

 set fire to the buildings, and massacred the inmates. This 

 story, however, rests on the unsupported testimony of Matthew 

 of "Westminster, a writer of the 14th century, and, besides, of 

 such evident and extreme credulity, that a considerable degree 

 of scepticism on the part of his readers may well be pardoned. 

 After this second calamity, the buildings do not seem to have 

 been re-constructed ; and thus St. Ebba's convent, which had 

 been established for more than two eeaturies, ceased to exist. 



The Benedictine Priory was founded in 1098, on a site about 

 two miles distant from the earlier foundation on St. Abb's 

 Head, by Edgar, King of Scots, after his victory over the 

 usurper Donald, and was bestowed by him upon the monks of 

 St. Cuthbert, Durham, and richly endowed with numerous 

 ^^ mansiones^^ in the Merse. Edgar and his army had fought 

 under the banner of St. Cuthbert ; and the monarch, in gi-atitude 

 for the supernatural aid which he believed had been afforded 

 him, dedicated the priory to that Saint, with S.8. Mary and 

 Ebba. With its foundation, the institution of parishes in the 

 district is closely associated. The monks speedily proceeded to 

 erect churches on the manors which had been granted them, and 

 in no long time afterwards the parochial system began to 

 be developed. Berwick, Lennel, Swinton, Edrom, Earlston, 

 Ednam, and Stitchell, were among the earliest possessions 

 of the priory ; and it is interesting to observe how, in 



* According to the Breviary of Aberdeen, Pars Estiv., fol. Ixxxviii., St. 

 Ebba's oratory was rebuilt in 1188. The existing remains are probably of 

 that date. 



