Abbot of Dryburgh

The Abbot of Dryburgh (later, Commendator of Dryburgh) was the head of the Premonstratensian community of canons regular of Dryburgh Abbey in the Scottish Borders. The monastery was founded in 1150 by canons regular from Alnwick Abbey with the patronage of Hugh de Morville, Lord of Lauderdale. In the 16th century the monastery increasingly came under secular control, and was eventually incorporated into the lordship of Cardross. The following is a list of abbots and commendators:

Seal of abbot of Dryburgh


List of abbots
ABBOT TENURE REIGN NOTES
Roger (I)1152 – 1177David I, Malcolm IV, William IFirst abbot of Dryburgh; resigned 1177.[1]
Gerard (Girardus)1177–1184x1188William IHe was the prior before his elevation.[1]
Adam of Dryburgh1184–1188William I
Richardc.1188–c.1193William I
Alan1193–1196William I
Geoffrey (Galfrid)1203–1209William IPromoted to the motherhouse to become abbot of Alnwick.[2]
William (I)1209–1210William IHe was prior during Geoffrey’s abbacy.
Thomas (I)1200x1234William I, Alexander II
Hugh1221–1229Alexander II
Henry?1230Alexander II
Walter (I)1236–1240Alexander IIHe resigned due to continuing abbey debts.[3]
John (I)1240–1245x1255Alexander II
Oliver1262–1273 xAlexander III
Thomas (II)?1270Alexander IIIGrants an undated charter, thought to be from 1270, to the chaplain of Alan, Lord of Galloway[4]
William (II)1296Edward I of EnglandOn 28 August 1296 he submitted along with abbots of Jedburgh, Kelso, and Melrose to King Edward I of England [5]
Roger (II)1308x1309Robert I
William (III)1316–1324Robert IKing Edward II of England burned the abbey in August 1322 along with abbeys of Holyrood and Melrose.[6]
Roger (III)1324x1328Robert Ioccurs as witness to a charter, granted between 1324 and 1328, by which Sir John de Graham confirmed the whole of Eskdale to the monks of Melrose.[7]
David (I)1324x1328–1342Robert I, David II, Edward Balliol
Andrew (I)1350–c.1367–69Edward Balliol, David IIAndrew witnessed, as a vassal of King Edward III of England, Edward Balliol’s resignation of all rights to the Scottish crown at Roxburgh on 20 January 1356.[8]
John (II)1381–1406Robert II, Robert IIIKing Robert III gave to the abbey the wealthy properties of the nuns of Southberwick in compensation for the destruction of the abbey by Richard II in 1385.[9]
William (IV) de Dryburgh1408James I
John (III) de Aberdeen1408–1414James I
Thomas (III) de Merton1434James I
James Crawford1444–1445James II
Walter de Var (Dewar)1461–1476 x 1477James IIILast abbot to have his provision without challenge and first documentary evidence of alienation of abbey property.[10]
John (IV) Crawford1477–1482James IIIPapal confirmation of his appointment in 1477. He tried to regain some of the properties alienated by his predecessor.[11]
Hugh Douglas1477x1482James IIIChallenged Crawford\’s abbacy in 1477 and was successful in gaining provision to the abbey but then was expelled from the convent. In 1482 Douglas counter-challenged Crawford but in that same year and before the claim could be heard, Crawford died. Douglas thereby successfully gained the abbacy but then he died before the bulls of provision could be produced.[11]
Andrew (II) Lidderdale1482–1508James III, James IVLidderdale was a secular canon and received the provision in September 1482 on condition that within 3 months he would become a Premonstratensian. He resigned in October in favour of Thomas Hay.[11]
Thomas (IV) Hay1482James IIIHay was unable to secure the abbacy and Lidderdale stayed in position.[11]
John (V) Fenton1483James IIIA group of canons elected Fenton, a Dryburgh canon, arguing that Lidderdale had failed to adopt the Premonstratensian habit. He was soon imprisoned by the followers of David Dinac.[11]
David (II) Dinac1483James IIIManaged to hold the abbacy for a few months but the provision was rejected by the pope in favour of John Fenton. Nothing is known thereafter of Fenton and it appears that Lidderdale continued in office until December 1508 when he was deprived of the abbey; he did, however, receive a pension from the abbey\’s income. The canons elected David Finlayson and nominated him to James IV.[12]
David (III) Finlayson1509James IVKing James IV did not approve the appointment. Instead, Andrew Forman became the first commendator of the abbey.[13]
COMMENDATOR HEADS OF THE ABBEY
Andrew Forman1509–1516James IV, James VWas bishop of Moray (1501–1516); resigned abbacy in 1516 two years after his translation to the archbishopric of St Andrews in 1514.[14]
James Ogilvie1516–1518James VPluralist and diplomat. Received the temporalities of the abbey in August 1516 and died in 1518.[14]
David Hamilton1519–1523James VWas bishop of Argyll (1497–1523) and had tried to obtain the commend of Glenluce Abbey in a protracted appeal at Rome. Hamilton had formerly given up his claim by 1519 when he was provided to Dryburgh.[15]
James Stewart1523–1539James VA canon of Glasgow Cathedral and kinsman of the Earl of Lennox [16]
Thomas Erskine1541–1551James V, Mary INominated by King James V in November 1539 but provision only granted in 1541 presumably due to the dispute of provision with Robert Waucope. Waucope was a secular cleric in the archbishopric of Armagh and prosecuted his claim to the abbacy of Dryburgh until his appointment as archbishop of Armagh in 1545. King James refused to allow him to the temporalities of the abbey.[17]
Robert Frasin1548Mary I
John Erskine1548–1556Mary ISucceeded his father as Lord Erskine, and later awarded the Earldom of Mar. John resigned the commend in 1556 to David Erskine, an illegitimate son of his brother, Robert. Later served as Regent of Scotland, September 1571 – 29 October 1572.[17]
David Erskine1556–1584 & 1585–1604Mary I, James VIResponsible for large-scale alienation of the abbey lands, David Erskine was also Commendator of Inchmahome, as well as one of James VI’s four preceptors or tutors. Involved in the Raid of Ruthven when the young King James was kidnapped, he was forced to flee to England following the failure of the Gowrie regime, forfeiting the commend of Dryburgh to William Stewart of Caverston in 1584, and that of Inchmahome to Henry Stewart. Received back into favour by James in 1585, his forfeitures were returned to him. He oversaw the end of Dryburgh Abbey as a working monastery; records show that though there were canons at the abbey in 1581, these had all died by 1600. In 1604, he resigned the commend of Dryburgh to his relative Henry Erskine, Master of Cardross, the son of John Erskine, Earl of Mar.[18]
William Stewart1584–1585James VIWas commendator for a little over a year.[18]
Henry Erskine1604–1628James VI, Charles IAlthough the lands had all been transferred into the Lordship of Cardross, Erskine retained the title until his death in 1628.[19]

Notes
  1. Campbell, Archibald Lawrie, Annals of the Reigns of Malcolm and William, Kings of Scotland, A.D. 1153 – 1214, p. 219
  2. Liber S. Marie de Dryburgh, Bannatine Club, Edinburgh, 1847, p. xii
  3. Fawcett, Richard & Oram, Richard, Dryburgh Abbey, Stroud, 2005, p. 16
  4. Liber S. Marie de Dryburgh, Bannatyne Club, Edinburgh, 1847, p. xiii
  5. Fawcett, Richard & Oram, Richard, Dryburgh Abbey, Stroud, 2005, p. 20
  6. Fawcett, Richard & Oram, Richard, Dryburgh Abbey, Stroud, 2005, p. 22
  7. Liber S. Marie de Dryburgh, Bannatine Club, Edinburgh, 1847, p. xiv
  8. Fawcett, Richard & Oram, Richard, Dryburgh Abbey, Stroud, 2005, p. 25
  9. Liber S. Marie de Dryburgh, Bannatine Club, Edinburgh, 1847, p. xv
  10. Fawcett, Richard & Oram, Richard, Dryburgh Abbey, Stroud, 2005, p. 29
  11. Fawcett, Richard & Oram, Richard, Dryburgh Abbey, Stroud, 2005, p. 30
  12. Fawcett, Richard & Oram, Richard, Dryburgh Abbey, Stroud, 2005, pp. 30, 31
  13. Fawcett, Richard & Oram, Richard, Dryburgh Abbey, Stroud, 2005, p. 31
  14. Fawcett, Richard & Oram, Richard, Dryburgh Abbey, Stroud, 2005, pp. 31, 32
  15. Fawcett, Richard & Oram, Richard, Dryburgh Abbey, Stroud, 2005, pp. 32, 33
  16. Fawcett, Richard & Oram, Richard, Dryburgh Abbey, Stroud, 2005, p. 33
  17. Fawcett, Richard & Oram, Richard, Dryburgh Abbey, Stroud, 2005, p. 35
  18. Fawcett, Richard & Oram, Richard, Dryburgh Abbey, Stroud, 2005, p. 36
  19. Fawcett, Richard & Oram, Richard, Dryburgh Abbey, Stroud, 2005, p. 37

Bibliography
  • Campbell, Archibald Lawrie, Annals of the Reigns of Malcolm and William, Kings of Scotland, A.D. 1153 – 1214
  • Fawcett, Richard & Oram, Richard, Dryburgh Abbey, Stroud, 2005 ISBN 0-7524-3439-X
  • Spottiswood, Liber S. Marie de Dryburgh, Bannatine Club, Edinburgh, 1847
  • Watt, D.E.R. & Shead, N.F. (eds.), The Heads of Religious Houses in Scotland from the 12th to the 16th Centuries, The Scottish Records Society, New Series, Volume 24, (Edinburgh, 2001), p. 58-62
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See also
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