Hospitals in medieval Scotland

Hospitals in medieval Scotland can be dated back to the 12th century. From c. 1144 to about 1650 many hospitals, bedehouses and maisons Dieu were built in Scotland.

Bishop Gavin Dunbar Founder of St Mary's Hospital (1531) Old Aberdeen

There are many terms that apply to, or describe a hospital. The origin of the English term, "hospital", is probably from the French or Latin. English and European terms for hospital appear to have a common root. "Hospital" – from the Latin – "a place of rest for guests". Other terms are recognized. Almshouse; bede house;[lower-alpha 1] chantry; God's house; infirmary; spital; Domus hopitalis Sancti Spiritus (Latin); Gasthuis (German); Godshuis (Dut) ; Hôpital (Fr) ; Hôtel-Dieu (French); Krankenhaus (German); Maison dieu (French); ospedale (Italian); Sjukhus (Swedish); xenodochium (Greek).

Records provide evidence of more than 180 hospitals in Scotland. The term "spit(t)al" or "temple/templar" may also indicate land endowed by churches or monasteries as well as sites associated with the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitallers.[1] Many hospitals were in the north east of Scotland in the cities of Dundee, Old Aberdeen and Aberdeen and across Aberdeenshire.

Background

Close to one thousand hospitals in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland were founded during a period of six hundred years. To begin with the causes for the building of hospitals across Europe and in Great Britain can be found in the Western Catholic Church's teaching related to Charity and Piety together that of Purgatory. In practice, the theologies of charity, piety and purgatory supported each other. Piety had three related meanings. First the sense of showing compassion; second the religious sense of Godliness and devoutness; and third, the sense of duty and respect. Taken together these meanings for piety suggest "a sense of compassion and respect driven by a religious duty". Similarly, poverty was seen as the normal condition of having few materials possessions or wealth. The nobility and royalty had wealth and influence. It was "normal" for others to be "poor".[lower-alpha 2] Poverty for many was close to a state of complete destitution. The Church taught that piety was a duty born in religious conviction. Also that poverty was not necessarily a fall from grace, rather it was an opportunity to follow the Christian teaching "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy...." (Matthew, 5:7) In this complex of supporting and contrasting theories hospitals were built by the Church for multiple reasons. In Great Britain, it was not until the Reformation in the sixteenth century that civic authorities had to face poverty, ageing and a revised approach to charity and piety by the churches.

Hospitals in England and Wales

Before considering Scotland, the situation in England and Wales provides a relevant context.

Out of 952 hospitals built, some 585 were still in existence when the records were collected at beginning of the "English" Reformation.[lower-alpha 3] In England The Great Hospital in Norwich[2] and the Bedehouse in Ewelme are well documented.[3][4] An important hospital was amongst the Church buildings in York.[5] Rotha Mary Clay provides the most definitive account of English Hospitals in the late nineteenth century.[6] Care for the poor was not institutionalized by civic authorities until the middle of the nineteenth century.[7] The almshouse or poorhouse can be seen as a development of the medieval hospital.[8]

Scotland

It is estimated that between 160 and 170 hospitals were built in Scotland. [9] Based on Hall's classification comparable figures to those above can be adduced for Scotland.[10] The nineteenth century survey in Keith et al.[11] lists only 28 hospitals. It must be assumed that Spottiswood was selective amongst the available records.[lower-alpha 4]

The data provided by Hall are based on the known date of building the hospital. A comprehensive database of places of worship (churches) provides information on ruined buildings including hospitals.[12][lower-alpha 5] The earliest hospital in Scotland was probably St Leonard's in St Andrews, founded by Bishop Robert of St Andrews in 1144. This was both a hospice and traveller's inn. Another early development was a traveller's inn founded in North Berwick in about 1154. Up to 1400, as many as 60 hospitals were founded. Many of these hospitals also served as leper houses or leper colonies. Cowan & Easson together with Hall identify about twenty Leper Houses.[lower-alpha 6]

The best indicator of the remains or site of a Medieval hospital is the use of the phrase "spital" in place names. Across Scotland, the Ordnance Survey lists 58 places with the phrase "spital" in a place name.[lower-alpha 7]

The north east of Scotland

Listed below, in a summary table, are the recorded hospital sites in the north east of Scotland. Some of the locations remain uncertain. Details of the dates founded and "terminated" are provided where known. In some cases the designation (i.e. type) is a composite. Leper houses are included, as they may have had a dual purpose. The designation maison Dieu is generally a description from land or map records. The term is usually synonymous with "bedehouse".[13]

For details of the various sites and notes see Cowan & Easson.[14]

Derek Hall provides some additional data.[15] The table below shows the locations for north east Scotland and Dundee hospitals.

Hospitals in Old Aberdeen and Aberdeen
Hospitals in Old Aberdeen and "New" Aberdeen - 1200 to 1600

There are records for nine hospitals in Aberdeen and Old Aberdeen.[17] Just before the Scottish Reformation, Bishop Gavin Dunbar founded St Mary's Hospital (NJ 93838 08800) - also known as Bishop Dunbar's Hospital in 1531. Much earlier, a hospital for the sick and elderly, St Peters (NJ 94000 07600) was founded in 1179. The Aberdeen Leper House dates from 1333 (NS 59100 64430). See map on the right.

Types of hospital

It is impossible to provide an exact classification for Scottish hospitals. Cowan & Easson and Hall use differing terms. Many of these institutions were known simply as hospitals. The term "almshouse" or "poorhouse" was sometimes given to these institutions. In general, hospitals were Church foundations. As such, they served the elderly and provided care for the sick within Western Christian practice. Some would have had a primitive "hospital" function (in the modern sense) with an adjacent herbal or "physic" garden.[18] Both men and women would have been admitted. In most cases it was elderly men. In addition, the Church instituted a class of hospital that was akin to a monastery. These sub-monastic hospitals (e.g. St Mary's in Old Aberdeen – known as Bishop Dunbar's Hospital) in addition to caring for the elderly provided a chantry function with bedesmen praying for the dead. (See Bede House, Old Aberdeen) As such they are sometimes known as "bede houses". In addition leper houses served a specific function with regard to leprosy. Hospitals, in addition to providing care for the elderly and infirm, were places where pilgrims or travellers would rest. It is likely that such institutions would have provided spiritual aid to travellers.[19] Travellers's "hospitals" would have been on or adjacent to what are now called "heritage routes". It is possible that some "traveller’s hospices" would have been akin to the chapels built at bridges to allow travellers to stop and offer prayers for their safe transit.[20] It is likely that any Medieval hospital on or adjacent to such routes would have served several purposes.

Traveller’s inns

It would be expected that inns or hostels would be situated on roads and paths. Paths normally follow natural contours across hilly territory. North - south travel across the north east of Scotland have to traverse the Grampians and Cairngorms. Across these hills paths take advantage of gaps between hills, that is passes. There are some fourteen passes over what is sometimes called the Mounth.[lower-alpha 8] Recently the various paths and passes have been categorized in a project by the Scottish Rights of Way Society.[21] These are: Causey or Cowie Mounth (Stonehaven to Aberdeen); Elsick Mounth (Stonehaven to Drum); Slug Road Stonehaven to Durris); Cryne Corse Mounth (Laurencekirk to Durris); Stock Mounth (Glenbervie to Strachan); Builg Mounth (Glenfarquhar to Bridge of Dye); Cairnamounth (Fettercairn to Kincardine o' Neil); Forest of Birse Mounth (Tarfside to Aboyne); Fir Mounth (Glen Esk to Glen Tanar); Mounth Keen (Invermarkie to Ballater); Capel Mounth (Glen Clova to Glen Muick); Tolmounth (Glen Clova to Glen Clunie); Monega Pass (Glen Isal to Glen Clunie); Cairnwell (Glen Shee to Braemar).[lower-alpha 9] (1928) provides nine crossings of the Mounth[22] these passes are confined to the eastern ranges, especially the province of Mar. Fraser (1980) and Smith add additional routes.[23] Additional passes extend westward towards Inverness and Nairn.

These paths had stopping places for travellers and as a result a number of the hospitals were located adjacent to or on these routes. In addition, where paths crossed rivers by bridges, fords or ferries, traveller's inns were located. It is notable that the Mounth passes also linked Castles across the whole of Scotland. This is clearly shown in the north east. It appears that the location of Hospitals on Mounth paths (e.g. Kincardine O’Neil, Spital of Loch Muick and perhaps the hospital at Boat O’Brig on the River Spey) were associated with travellers between settlements and castles. Simpson (1928) provides a detailed analysis of the Castles of Mar and their association with Mounth paths.[24] The Cairnnamount path links Castlehill, Kincardine O’Neil and Lumphanan castles.[25] The Capel Mounth, after traversing Loch Muick, passes Kinord Castle and the Loch Davan Motte before running past Migvie Castle. A western branch of the Capel Mounth path passes Loch Callater – to the west of Loch Muick – to Kindrochit and Braemar castles before leading towards Corgarf Castle.

There is clear evidence that hospitals were built to accommodate travellers or pilgrims on these routes. Across Scotland there are in excess of 400 "heritage" roads/tracks/routes. Of these, there are 27 military roads (e.g. Ruthven Military Road, Grampian/ Aberdeenshire); 14 pilgrim's routes (e.g. St Duthac's Way, Moray); 20 coffin roads (e.g. The Monks' Road, in Fyfe); and 108 drove/drover roads (e.g. Moniaive to Sanquhar Drove Road, in Dumfries and Galloway). In Grampian/ Aberdeenshire there are 16 heritage roads/tracks. Five Medieval roads are also considered as pilgrim roads and two (Causey Mounth and Firmounth) as drove roads.[26][27]

Aberdeenshire and the Cairngorms
Eastern hospitals
Selected Deeside drover roads - as far as the River Dee

Hall (2006)[28] includes, in Aberdeenshire, the Hospital at Kincardine O’Neil (NO 59211 99644) which served the dual purpose of a Hospice and a Hostel for Travellers[29] – see adjacent map.[30]

The location close to the River Dee on the Cairn a Mounth road supports this classification. (see Kincardine O'Neil Hospital, Aberdeenshire) Of the many definite hospital sites, the evidence for Kincardine O’Neil being a traveller's inn is most persuasive.

To the west of Kincardine O’Neil the Capel Mounth drover's road led past Loch Muick and an eighteenth-century ruined hospital or traveller's inn. (NO 3074 8500).[31] The earliest reference to it is found in estate papers.

" ....to “the sheallings called hospital haugh” allied to Braichlay, at the foot of the Glen, in 1709 (Instrument of Sasine In Favour of Isaac Fullerton, 1709, Invercauld Papers); and a sub-tack of 1754 which required the sub-tacksman to re-roof “the house in Spittall” (Sub-tack, Lewis Mackenzie to Donald Glass, 1754, Invercauld Papers).

[32]

Fraser (1931) writes:

" ...Easson states that its existence cannot be verified but Jervise says that, “... a religious house and hospice were early established at the Spital of Muick by the Bishop and Chapter of Aberdeen, and was superseded by a hostelry until about 1850 near the old site...”

Fraser mentions that "...extensive foundations of the Spital... near the loch... can still be seen..."[33]

The Royal Commission on Ancient and Historic Monuments in Scotland[34] provides recent archaeological evidence about the Spital of Glen Muick. In its Notes on archaeological work at Glen Muick RCAHMS repeats a claim made by Sheila Sedgwick that:

“.... The Spittal (Spittelhauche in 1600) was the highest place of abode in the Glen (Muick)... . It stood on the south side of the river, about a mile east of the loch. For generations it had been a hospice for drovers crossing the Capel Mounth to Glen Clova, and in medieval time monks ran a shelter there, to cater for travellers to and from the south by the Capel Mounth. The religious house there was under the auspices of the Bishop and Chapter of Aberdeen. In 1764 Donald Glass kept thirty sheep, twenty four lambs and a goat. Up until about 1880 the inn was a busy place. .....”

[35] There appears to be a confusion by the authors of the report and Sedgwick with regard to the " ... monks .. (and) .. the Bishop and Chapter of Aberdeen ...".

Spital of Loch Muick Hospital c. 12th century

There is no evidence of any hospital in this location run by a monastic order. It is probable that the Bishop of Aberdeen founded such an establishment. So far the specific charters from the Bishop of Aberdeen have not been identified. However, there is a charter from 1195x1197 that concerns:

...Matthew, bishop of Aberdeen, for Michael the clerk; at the presentation of Prior Gilbert de Vere and the rest of the Hospitallers in England, he has given and granted the churches of Glenmuick (ABD), and has canonically instituted him as parson in those churches, rendering to the house of the Hospitallers 9 marks...”

.[36]

It is possible that this charter may have been misinterpreted. The "hospitallers" referred to above were the military order of the Knights of Saint John and Order of Saint John, the Knights Hospitaller.

The Hospital at the 'Spital of Glen Muick - on the Capel Mounth Path

This charter suggests that the Church at Glen Muick was "given" to the Hospitallers by Bishop Matthew (Kinnimund) of Aberdeen (1172-1199).[37]

In recent times the Visitor's Centre at the Loch Muick suggests that the hospital was founded in the 15th century and run as a traveller's inn for the comfort of travellers – akin to a motorway service station.

Sedgwick provides a detailed account (pp 107 to 116) of the building known as the "Spital" at Glen Muick from c1800. It clear that it served as an inn for drovers, agricultural workers and perhaps for smugglers. There is a possibility that in the last three centuries the building had two stories. The stones from the remains were probably used to build more recent buildings in the adjacent "Teetaboutie".[38]

One final possibility is that this and other hospitals located on pilgrim routes or ancient drover's roads were used by travellers might have had a similar religious function to bridge chapels where travellers "rested" and said prayers before continuing their journey.[39]

On balance there is sufficient circumstantial evidence regarding the Hospital to believe that it did serve some function for those who travelled on the Capel Mounth route.

Western hospitals

Further west a drovers' road ran past the Spit(t)al of Glenshee towards the River Dee at Braemar. While the name "spit(t)al" is normally associated with a hospital, there is some evidence that in this case the term may have a Gaelic origin. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments in Scotland (RCAHMS) suggests:

“ ... It is generally believed locally that “spit(t)al” is a corruption of the Gaelic word meaning - '.. narrow pass between the hills ..' and is not associated with a hospital. If this translation is correct the name Spittal fits the position perfectly....”.

An early reference to this hospital may be the ownership of a "station" or "house" at Glenshee by the Knights Hospitallers. J. Cuthbert Hadden (1910) says:

“.. the Knights Hospitallers had a station here and performed such services as are now discharged by the Monks of St Bernard on the Alps...”[40]

[41] This authors also suggests that during the 16th century, it was a shelter for "belated travellers" avoiding bands of wolves.

There are some inconclusive references to a hospital at the Spital of Cairnwell, some 5 miles to the north of the Spital of Glenshee. The earliest reference appears to be in an unpublished manuscript by Keith entitled "View of the Diocese of Aberdeen.[42] This document is printed in "Collections for a History of the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff by the Spalding Club in 1843. It reads:

“ ...Ther was an Hospitall at Cairnwall, (called Shean-Spittal, or Old Hospital,) wher ther is a road over the Grampian hills. 'Tis said ther were several other such hospitals for poor travellers passing over Granzbin....”

.

[43] It is likely that the site at Glenshee is confused with that at the Cairnwell Pass.

An interesting example of a Travellers' Inn may be one at the Boat O'Brig on the River Spey. (NJ 3185 5167) It is first recorded in 1232.[44] There may have been a bridge over the Spey here from Roman times, known as Pons de Spey. The hospital belonged to the Chapter of Elgin Cathedral. There is an interesting charter from Muriel de Rothes, daughter of Peter de Pollock, in 1232, part of which reads in translation:

“ ... know all men present and to come, I have given and granted and by this my charter have confirmed the Hospital of Saint Nicholas ... to serve the maintenance of the poor ...”

[45] An ancient Drove road, going north-east from Tomintoul approaches the Spey near Craigellachie about 6 miles from Boat O'Brig. The hospital may have accommodated travellers as well as paupers. The "Registrum Episcopatus Moraviensis" (1837) reports:

“ ... It appears to have been situated at the passage of the Spey, still called the Boat of Brigg, where a new bridge has been lately erected. The hospital of St Nicholas, erected close to the bridge, and endowed for the reception of travellers, is now probably no longer to be traced. It is said that some remains of the foundations of the ancient bridge were lately visible. The super structure was probably of wood....” (f.n. pIII)

Additional evidence for the use of the Hospital of St Nicholas is provided by Shaw, L and J. F. S. Gordon in The History of the Province of Moray.[46]

”...At the beginning of the 13th century, Muriel de Pollock, daughter of Peter de Pollock, heiress of Rothes, bequeathed her estate of Inverorkil, or Inverlochtie, where a bridge was first built by her, for an Hospital to God, the blessed Virgin Mary, and S. Nicholas (the patron Saint of all who travel by water) for the reception of poor travellers. The wooden bridge existed at the Reformation, but having fallen into neglect and disrepair it was swept away by the Spey, and its place was supplied by a ferryboat, whence the spot was termed " Boat o' Brig." ...”

There are no traces of the Hospital of St Nicholas or the 13th-century bridge at present.

Scottish Borders
Soutra Aisle Hospital and Drover Roads in the Scottish Borders

In the Scottish Borders, a clear example of a traveller's inn is at Soutra Aisle (NT 45254 58409).[47]

In this case, a drover's road that ran north towards Edinburgh suggests a probable association. There were two main drover's roads starting in Hawick and dividing at Jedburgh into an easterly and a westerly route north. The westerly route passed through Selkirk and adjacent to Soutra Isle Holy Trinity. – see adjacent map. It is probable that Dere Street(North) (Start NT 453 582; End NT 482 545) is the likely route. The RCAHMS records the evidence as:

“ ... Soutra Hospital is said to have been founded by Malcolm IV in 1164, for lodging travellers, but the foundation was probably somewhat earlier. In 1236, specific mention is made that the rule of St Augustine shall be observed, and it is called the house or hospital of the Holy Trinity. Reference to residents in the hospital are found up to 1583-4, but in the 17th C. , it is described as utterly ruined....”.

Leper houses / hospitals
Leper houses in Scotland: 1200 to 1600

It is normal to include leper hospitals, leper colonies or lazar-houses in any classification of Medieval Hospitals. Both Cowan & Easson and Hall identify buildings where those suffering from leprosy were looked after. Leprosy or Hansen's Disease (lepra tuberculosa), may have come into Britain in the 4th century with Roman soldiers. The disease became a serious problem, north and south of the border, by the middle of the 11th century.[48] By the late 16th century hospitals in Scotland were no longer considered necessary to care for lepers.[49]

The origin of the Leper hospital draws on two contrasting aspects of the Christian theology of charity, firstly a conflict between "inclusion with care" and "exclusion with care". Christian New Testament teaching emphasized the need for "inclusion with care".[50] Second, and in contrast, Third Council of the Lateran (1179) of the Medieval Western Christian Church subscribed to a policy of exclusion. The translation of Canon 23 of the Third Council of the Lateran makes it clear that "charity in exclusion" was the policy of the Bishops:

“...we decree, in accordance with apostolic charity, that wherever so many are gathered together under a common way of life that they are able to establish a church for themselves with a cemetery and rejoice in their own priest... let them take care, however, not to harm in any way the parochial rights of established churches. For we do not wish that what is granted them on the score of piety should result in harm to others...”

This was more in tune with an Old Testament Jewish tradition found in Deuteronomy.[51]

In Old Testament Biblical times, leprosy was prevalent in Palestine. Not only was it looked upon as a divine punishment, but at all times the Hebrews believed it to be contagious and hereditary,[52] hence it was considered as a cause of defilement and involved exclusion from the community. In his seminal work on leprosy, Sir James Simpson writes:

"...laws were enacted by Princes and Courts to arrest (lepsosy’s) diffusion, the Pope issued. Bulls with regard to the ecclesiastical separation and rights of the affected, a particular order of knighthood was instituted to watch over the sick, and leper hospitals or lazar-houses were everywhere instituted to receive the victims of the disease..." [53]

Often leper hospitals were sited on roads into and out of towns.[54] Many of the hospitals were civic foundations. Some were connected with cathedrals. The Elgin Leper House, founded in 1360, may have been under the supervision of Elgin Cathedral.[55]In Scotland leper houses were generally under the control of a "custos" (i.e. a guard) and sometimes a prior.[56] Overall, records show that some 20 leper hospitals were built between 1200 and 1600. The sites are marked with an L on the adjacent map.

Bede houses

The term "bede house" is sometimes applied to poorhouses or almshouses. Strictly, the designation should only apply to hospitals where the male residents lived a sub-monastic life as bedesmen. That is, they followed Divine Office throughout the day and said or heard prayers for the dead. The term "bede" comes from the old root of "prayer". It is likely that many of the hospitals built between the eleventh century and the Reformation in Scotland followed this practice. After the Reformation, residents of some hospitals were often called bedesmen.[57] St Mary's Hospital – known as Bishop Dunbar's Hospital in Old Aberdeen – was a bede house. (NJ 93844 08795)[58] It is likely that the almshouse at Newburgh, Aberdeenshire (NK 00000 25400) served as a bedehouse. In the foundation charter Alexander Comyn, 2nd Earl of Buchan writes:

“...nouerit uniuersitas vestra nos diuine caritatis intuitu et pro salute anime nostre et Isabelle comitisse sponse nostre et pro animabus antecessorum nostrorum et successorum nostrorum dedisse concessisse et hac presenti carta confirmasse sex pauperibus prebendariis apud nouum burgum in Buchane ... “

Translated:

“... (be it) known to all of you that we divine the sake of charity and for the salvation of our soul, and Isabella countess of our spouse, and for the souls of our ancestors and of our successors, have given, granted and by this present charter have confirmed to the six to the poor prebendaries with the new burgh and their successors in the same place for the sake of alms in the Buchan... “ [59]

The wording of the charter is typical for a hospital set up as a "chantry" to house priests to say prayers for the dead, in this case Alexander and Elizabeth (Isabella) de Quincy, his wife. Alexander died in 1289 and his wife in 1282. There are no remains of the hospital visible in the village of Newburgh. It is likely that any remains were covered by an inn in the 18th century. It is possible that the Pittodrie Bede House in Aberdeenshire was a Travellers' Inn. However, the foundation date - c. 1639 suggests that the residents did not follow Divine Office. Recent archaeological work has found evidence of a two story building. (NJ 69330 23560). The data provided by Hall (2006) lists six bedehouses. (See the table below.) This is an uncertain classification as pre-Reformation hospitals would require bedesmen to say prayers for the dead and following Divine Office. Before the Scottish Reformation most hospitals would have been ordered on a religious regime, and as a result the term "bedesman" was self-evident in common parlance.

Hall's classification of almshouse or poorhouse would have contained hospitals that were known locally as bedehouses. St Mary's Wynd Hospital (1438) in Edinburgh (NT 2618 7354) was probably a bedehouse for women.[60] It is possible that the hospital at Rathven (NJ 4433 6568) may have served as a bedehouse for some time. Cowan and Easson (p 153) say it was founded in 1224/6 by John Byseth for a "...Chaplain, seven lepers and a servant...". There is evidence that in the nineteenth century, this "hospital" served elderly men in a similar fashion to the bedehouse in Old Aberdeen.[61]

Bede Houses in Scotland

"There is a Bede-House still in being, though in bad repair, and six bede-men on the establishment ; but none of them lives in the house. The nomination to a vacancy is in the gift of Lord Findlater, as proprietor of Rannes ; and the yearly income of the bede-men is as follows: from the lands of Rannes, every bede-man has half an acre of land during life, and one boll of oat-meal annually; from the lands of Findochtie, eight shillings, a penny and a farthing ; and from Freuchnie, formerly part of the lands of Rannes, one shilling, four pence and three farthings, making in all nine shillings and sixpence yearly."(The Statistical Account of Scotland, xiii. p, 412.)

Also:

"The Bede-House is still standing in the village of Rathven, and was very lately repaired: two of the six bede-men, who are still maintained on the establishment, at present live in the house."(The New Statistical Account of Scotland, xxxviii. p. 268.)

The Bedehouse in Tarves (NJ 87491 30824) founded by William Forbes of Tolquhon in 1684 is post Scottish Reformation but the term "bedesmen" was used for 4 resident men for many years. It was claimed that:

“...in return for food clothing a stipend and lodging the poor men had to attend the local church to pray for the founder’s soul..." [62][63]

This reference to Bedesmen saying prayers for the dead has to be considered very carefully. Prayers for the dead were not considered necessary or theologically sound by the Reformed Church in Scotland. Further, after the Scottish Reformation some parishes were slow to adopt change from Pre-Reformation practice. Across the NE of Scotland parishes of both the “Scottish Episcopal Church” and the Reformed “Church in Scotland” varied in the way each church choose to treat bedesmen. In general, more Episcopal parishes continued to hold this practice. [64] The Tarves bedehouse is also known as "Boghouse". In Illustrations of the Topography and Antiquities of the Shires of Aberdeen (p.330) the description of the parish of Tarves claims:

"…here is a hospital (hard by the church) founded by William Forbes of Tolquhon for four poor men who were to eat and lye here and to have each a peck of meal and three shillings a penny and two-sixths of a penny, Scots, weekly: also, some malt, peats etc. The meal and money they still have; but their house which is slated is neglected and quite waste…”

[65]

Overall, the designation "bedehouse" is ambiguous. (See adjacent map) It appears that in common parlance the term "bedesman" was applied to any resident of almshouses, poor houses, maison-dieu and possibly former leper houses, or those supported by hospital trusts after the Scottish Reformation (1559/1560).

Summary

Medieval hospitals or "spitals"[66] provide a record of the development of help for the poor, the sick and the widowed. Hospitals built between 1144 and c1650 highlight the many changes to the landscape, the settlements and the people who lived in Scotland. It is impossible to put a religious boundary around the period of hospital building as the social values developed pre-Reformation were continued for at least hundred years after 1559. The names of hospitals record epidemics such as leprosy. Their locations give a clue to the way travellers, drovers and perhaps smugglers traversed the landscape. The foundation of sub-monastic bede houses highlights the importance of prayers for the dead and a belief in Purgatory in the pre-Reformation Catholic Church. Mortifications setting up hospitals etc. record the influence and wealth of the nobility and the Church. The remains of Medieval hospitals can still be seen.[lower-alpha 10] Their existence throws light on life in Scotland, England and Wales and Europe to this day.

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See also

Notes
  1. The term "bede" refers to a prayer. The spelling varies with different texts. It can be "bede" or "beid" or "bead". As a result a "Bede House" is a place where prayers were said for the dead by "Bedesmen".
  2. In many ways the Church’s teachings supported the early medieval civic approach to begging and beggars. See Beggar's badge.
  3. At the time of the Abolition of Chantries Acts, 1545 and 1547
  4. It is important to note that Hall's classification and register of hospitals is much more constrained than that provided by Cowan, David; Edward Easson, and Richard Neville Hadcock, Medieval Religious Houses, Scotland with an Appendix on the Houses in the Isle of Man. 2nd Edn, (London: Longman, 1976). This is in part due to a more rigorous selection process and in part due to the provision of location information often absent in Cowan & Easson.
  5. The current database has identified 132 sites with the name "hospital". Also identified are seven called "maison-dieu", and ten as "leper houses". Only three bede houses are included in this database – (1) Bede House Site, Cullen (Cullen, Grampian); (2) Bedehouse Wood Hospital, Oyne (Oyne, Grampian); (3) Rathven Bede House (Rathven, Grampian) – see above in the text.
  6. Leprosy appeared in Europe in the 11th century and by the end of the 15th century had almost disappeared.
  7. Additionally, street names often include "Spital" or "Bede", for Bedehouse, in their designation.
  8. A ridge of hills running east to west from Durris (outside Aberdeen) to Glas Maol south of Braemar.
  9. Other south to north crossings, roads and passes increase this number to eighteen. Some of these may have served as pilgrim's routes and drover's roads during the period when hospitals were built.
  10. e.g. Soutra Aisle, Scottish Bedesmen, Kincardine O'Neil Hospital, Aberdeenshire.

References
  1. Ian Borthwick Cowan, David Edward Easson, and Richard Neville Hadcock, Medieval Religious Houses, Scotland with an Appendix on the Houses in the Isle of Man. 2nd edn (London: Longman, 1976), pp. xxviii, 252p, NB More recent 2nd. Edition 1976 See Reading Below [4] fold plates; and, D Hall, 'Unto Yone Hospitall at the Tounis End: The Scottish Medieval Hospital', Tayside and Fife Archeological Journal, 12 (2006), 89-105. For further details of the way "Spittal" has been used, see McNiven, P (2013) Spittal place names in Menteith and Strarthendrick: evidence of crusading endowments, for a detailed explanation of the links to Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaler establishments and endowments. See also, Mackinlay, J M (1904) Influence of the Pre-Reformation Church on Scottish Place Names, Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh, esp Ch. XXVIII (Hospitals) and XXIX (The Templars)
  2. http://www.thegreathospital.co.uk/; and Carole Rawcliffe, Medicine for the Soul : The Life, Death and Resurrection of an English Medieval Hospital : St. Giles's, Norwich, C. 1249-1550 (Stroud: Sutton Pub., 1999), pp. xviii, 334 p., [24] p. of plates.
  3. Goodall, John A.A. (2001). God's House at Ewelme. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing. pp. not cited. ISBN 0-7546-0047-5
  4. Walter H. Godfrey, The English Almshouse, with Some Account of Its Predecessor, the Medieval Hospital (London, 1955)
  5. Carole Smith, The Almshouses of York : Medieval Charity to Modern Welfare Quacks Books, 2010).
  6. Rotha Mary Clay, The Mediaeval Hospitals of England, The Antiquary's Books (London,: Methuen & co., 1909), pp. xxii p., 1 l., 357, [1] p., 31 pl.; more recent work is by Nicholas Orme, and Margaret Elise Graham Webster, The English Hospital 1070-1570 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995), pp. xii, 308 pp. The earliest account is probably Thomas Bishop of Saint Asaph Tanner, Notitia Monastica, or a Short History of the Religious Houses in England and Wales (Oxford: Printed at the Theater, 1695).
  7. See English Poor Laws and Scottish Poor Laws; See, for, example http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Aberdeen/ for information on the Poor Houses in Aberdeen.
  8. See Walter H. Godfrey, The English Almshouse, with Some Account of Its Predecessor, the Medieval Hospital (London,1955).
  9. See D Hall, 'Unto Yone Hospitall at the Tounis End: The Scottish Medieval Hospital', Tayside and Fife Archeological Journal, 12 (2006), 89-105. and Ian Borthwick Cowan, David Edward Easson, and Richard Neville Hadcock, Medieval Religious Houses, Scotland with an Appendix on the Houses in the Isle of Man. 2nd edn (London: Longman, 1976), pp. xxviii, 252p,[4]fold plates.
  10. D Hall, 'Unto Yone Hospitall at the Tounis End: The Scottish Medieval Hospital', Tayside and Fife Archeological Journal, 12 (2006), p105.
  11. Robert Keith, John Spottiswood, and Michael Russell, An Historical Catalogue of the Scottish Bishops Down to the Year 1688. Also an Account of All the Religious Houses. A new edn (Edinburgh: Bell & Bradfute, 1824), pp. cx, 576 p.
  12. http://www.scottishchurches.org.uk/sites/regions/
  13. See Hôtel-Dieu de Paris
  14. Ian Borthwick Cowan, David Edward Easson, and Richard Neville Hadcock, Medieval Religious Houses, Scotland with an Appendix on the Houses in the Isle of Man. 2nd edn (London: Longman, 1976), pp. xxviii, 252p,[4]fold plates.
  15. D Hall, 'Unto Yone Hospitall at the Tounis End: The Scottish Medieval Hospital', Tayside and Fife Archeological Journal, 12 (2006), 89-105.
  16. Hall has provided a classification for each establishment. Some of the hospitals served multiple functions.
  17. Leper houses are sometimes included in these numbers.
  18. See Provan Lordship Garden/ St Nicholas Glasgow; NT 34000 72000
  19. In Kincardine O'Neil Hospital, Aberdeenshire the hospital was built adjacent to the church with pilgrims or the infirm being able to hear Mass through windows that separated the hospital from the knave of the church. See William Douglas Simpson, The Ancient Stones of Scotland. 2nd edn (London ; Hale,, 1968), p. 256 pp 168-170
  20. For an interesting 19th century account of an English bridge Chapel see: Norrisson Scatcherd, 'A Dissertation on Ancient Bridges and Bridge Chapels, and Especially That ... Edifice on Wakefield Bridge, Commonly ... Called the Chapel of Edward the Fourth. [Electronic Resource]', printed for Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, (1828).
  21. Information provided by Graham Marr as part of the Scotways Heritage Paths project. Scotways is the Scottish Rights of Way & Access Society.
  22. W D Simpson, 'The Early Castles of Mar', Proceedings of the Society of Antiquarians in Scotland, LXIII (1928), 102-39.
  23. G. M. Fraser, The Old Deeside Road (Aberdeen to Braemar): Its Course, History, and Associations, Aberdeen Natural History and Antiquarian Society: Publications (Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, 1921).; and R Smith, Grampian Ways (Perth: Melven Press, 1980).
  24. Simpson (see below) provides details of the castles of Mar. Mar covers the eastern end of the River Dee from Braemar to Aberdeen.
  25. See Lumphanan
  26. Data from Scottish Rights of Way and Access Society 24 Annandale Street Edinburgh EH7 4AN
  27. In Europe the best known route is St James’s route to Santiago de Compostela. In England pilgrims used a route from Winchester to Canterbury. .
  28. The list of traveller's inns/ hospitals provided by Hall (2006) is: Holy Trinity Soutra; Kilpatrick (Dumbartonshire); Latherton (Highlands); Maison Dieu Spittal (Dumfries & Galloway) ; North Berwick; Oyne; Shean Spittal Alt A'Gharbh-Choire (Perthshire); St Mary Kincardine O'Neil; St Mary Lasswade.
  29. A Charter from Alan the Durward granting the Church of Kincardine O'Neil to the Hospital Exists. Spalding Club (Aberdeen Scotland), and Cosmo Innes, Registrum Episcopatus Aberdonensis : Ecclesia Cathedralis Aberdonensis: Regesta Que Extant in Unum Collecta, Spalding Club (Edinburgh: Spalding Club, 1845), vII, 273-278.
  30. Note that only a selection of drover’s roads are shown on this map. For a full description of such roads see http://oldroadsofscotland.com/index.html; See http://www.heritagepaths.co.uk/ for a comprehensive database of "heritage paths". The term "heritage path" applies to Roman roads, Medieval roads, trade routes, drove roads, religious routes, industrial paths and military roads.
  31. The term "Capel" may be a contraction of "c(h)apel". The Capel Mounth, NO 308 850 to NO 285 750 connects the Angus Glens to Deeside at Loch Muick. See http://www.heritagepaths.co.uk/pathdetails.php?path=35 for details of this route and other Heritage Paths.
  32. In archaeological account of the site by RCAHMS/ Canmore 80058.
  33. See G .M. Fraser, 'The Bridge of Dye and Its Neighborhood', Deeside Field, 5 (1931), p 39; and Andrew Jervise, ‘Epitaphs and Inscriptions from Old Buildings in the North - East of Scotland with Historical, Biographical, Genealogical and Antiquarian Notes’ , Also an Appendix of Illustrative Papers (Edinburgh: Edminston & Douglas, 1875), p 165; Ian Borthwick Cowan, David Edward Easson, and Richard Neville Hadcock, Medieval Religious Houses, Scotland with an Appendix on the Houses in the Isle of Man. 2nd Edn. (London: Longman, 1976), pp. xxviii, 252p,[4]fold plates, p 162. See also: Joseph Robertson, and Spalding Club (Aberdeen Scotland), Collections for a History of the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff, Spalding Club (Aberdeen: Printed for the Spalding Club, 1843), pp. xii, 658 p 640.
  34. http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/
  35. Sheila Sedgwick, The Legion of the Lost, (William Culross, 1999).
  36. Document 2/1/6 (SEA, i, no. 10); http://db.poms.ac.uk/record/source/1095/ ; Gilbert de Vere (1122- c1195?) was Prior of the Hospitallers in England.
  37. Bishop Matthew also founded St Peter’s Hospital in Aberdeen c 1172/ 1179 (NJ 9408 0766).
  38. Teetaboutie is the name of a few houses some 500m to the north of the Spital of Glen Muick.
  39. See the story of the Bridge of Dee in Aberdeen and the statue called Our Lady of Aberdeen.
  40. see W W Hyde, 'The Great St Bernard Pass and Its Hospice', The History of Science Society, 27 (1937), 306-20.
  41. Reported in Anonymous, 'Aberdeen Journal Notes and Queries', (Aberdeen: Aberdeen Daily Journal, 1908), v3,pp 246-248.
  42. Faculty of Advocates MSS Bibl Adv. 31. 2. 12. (Jae. V. 6. 24)
  43. This claim is repeated in VII of the Illustrations of the Topography and Antiquities of the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff, p84.
  44. Canmore ID 16918; http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/ is a searchable database of sites across Scotland provided by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland
  45. from George Grub, and Joseph Robertson, Illustrations of the Topography and Antiquities of the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff, Spalding Club: Publications (Aberdeen: Spalding Club, 1847), V.2, p 286.; See also Cosmo Innes, Bannatyne Club (Edinburgh Scotland), and Episcopal Church in Scotland. Diocese of Moray., Registrum Episcopatus Moraviensis E Pluribus Codicibus Consarcinatum Circa AD MCCC, Cum continuatione diplomatum recentiorum usque ad AD MDCXXIII, [Bannatyne Club Publications] (Edinburgh: [Bannatyne Club], 1837), pp. 120-125
  46. Shaw, L and J. F. S. Gordon in The History of the Province of Moray, provide sources for the Charters of the Hospital of St Nicholas, V1, pp 78-79.
  47. See http://oldroadsofscotland.com/roads%20by%20county%20cambridge.htm#peebles/ for the evidence. There may have been a number of linking paths through valleys.
  48. see Nicholas Orme, and Margaret Elise Graham Webster, The English Hospital 1070-1570 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995) pp23-31; additionally, Matthew Paris (1197-1259) estimated the number of these leper houses in Europe at some 19,000; France alone had about 2000, and England more than 100.
  49. See James Young Simpson, and John Stuart, Archaeological Essays. 2 vols. (Edinburgh, 1872), for details of the decline in leprosy in the 16th and 17th centuries.
  50. See Luke 17:11-19, where Jesus heals ten lepers.
  51. See, Dut: 24; 8 "...Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that thou observe diligently, and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you..." (KGB)
  52. See, 2 Samuel 3:29
  53. See Leprosy and Leper Hospitals in Scotland and England (Archaeological Essays, pp. 1-184)
  54. In Aberdeen and Old Aberdeen, the leper hospitals were situated adjacent to a road that ran south from Old Aberdeen to Aberdeen (what is now called "the spital"). The location was half-way between the two burghs.
  55. The location is NJ 226 626.
  56. In England, the hospital at St. Giles (Norwich), for instance, had a prior and eight canons (acting chaplains), two clerks, seven choristers, and two sisters; see http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09182a.htm
  57. The Trinitarian monastery, St Thomas, in Aberdeen was translated into the Burgesses or Trades Hospital c 1632. The residents are referred to as bedesmen in Dr William Guild’s Mortification. They followed an austere regime but did not follow Divine Office or say prayers for the dead.
  58. see Bishop Dunbar's Hospital; also, in England, the Bedehouse at Ewelme Oxfordshire (SU 64521 91294) has a similar foundation charter to Dunbar’s Hospital Mortification (1531). See John A. A. Goodall, God's House at Ewelme : Life, Devotion, and Architecture in a Fifteenth-Century Almshouse (Aldershot, Hants, England ; Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2001), pp. xx, 361 pp.
  59. The charter was found in the Charter Room at (new) Slaines Castle. The original Slaines Castle, the home of Alexander Comyn, was destroyed in 1594.
  60. See Cowan and Easson op cit. This hospital is also known as the Edinburgh Cistercian Convent. See Canmore Record ID 52508;
  61. Bedesmen lived in the bedehouse (NJ 93952 08531) in Don Street, Old Aberdeen from 1786 to c1830. From c 1830 until the death of the last bedesman from Dunbar’s Hospital in 1988, the bedesmen lived in the community supported by the Dunbar Hospital Trust; see Ray McAleese, 'Old Aberdeen's Bedesmen - Poverty and Piety (Pt1)', History Scotland, 12 (2012), 46 - 49.; Ray McAleese, 'Old Aberdeen's Bedesmen - Poverty and Piety (Pt2)', History Scotland, 12 (2012), 26 - 29.
  62. From a public sign in Tarves.
  63. In the village of Tarves, there is a street named "Bede Way". (NJ 86986 30988).
  64. See, McGill, M. (2018). "A Protestant Purgatory? Visions of an Intermediate State in Eighteenth-century Scotland." The Scottish Historical Review 97(2): 153-186
  65. George Grub, and Joseph Robertson, Illustrations of the Topography and Antiquities of the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff, Spalding Club: Publications (Aberdeen: Spalding Club, 1847), v2, pp142-146.
  66. Also: spit(t)ale, spittaill, spitle, spytaile, spetale, (spitel, spyttal(e, spytel, spetalle, spetel(l). [ME and e.m.E. spitel (Ancr. R.), spitele (Wyclif), spitell (c1425), spyttell (a1529), spitall (1634); See http://www.dsl.ac.uk/snda4frames.php?dtext=all&query=SPITAL in the Dictionary of the Scots Language ("Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 July 2013. Retrieved 1 October 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link))

Further reading
  • K., Richard W.; Bain, James; Grub, George (1931). Bishop Gavin Dunbar's Hospital. Memorandum dealing with the history and records from the foundation of the benefaction and list of title deeds and other writs relating thereto. Aberdeen: Rosemount P.
  • Cathcart, R.; Hall, Derek (1998). Gazetteer of Medieval Hospital Sites in Angus, Dundee, Perth and Kinross and East, Mid and West Lothian Council Areas. Historic Scotland.
  • Clay, Rotha Mary (1909). The mediaeval hospitals of England (The Antiquary's Books}. London: Methuen & Co. pp. xxii p., 1 l., 357, [1] p. 31.
  • Cowan, Ian B.; Easson, D. E. (1976). Medieval Religious Houses Scotland - with an appendix on Houses in the Isle of Man, Long, an (2nd ed.). London.
  • Durkan, John. McRoberts, David (ed.). Care of the Poor: Pre-Reformation Hospitals. Essays on the Scottish Reformation.
  • Durkan, John (1959). Care of the Poor: Pre-Reformation Hospitals. Innes Review. 10. pp. 268–80.
  • Gasquet, Francis Aidan (1904). A hand-list of ancient English religious houses and hospitals. (From "English monastic life".). Plymouth.
  • Godfrey, Walter H. (1955). The English almshouse, with some account of its predecessor, the medieval hospital. London.
  • Hall, D. (2006). "Unto yone hospitall at the tounis end: the Scottish Medieval Hospital". Tayside and Fife Archeological Journal. 12: 89–105.
  • McAleese, R. (January 2011). The Bede House and the Bedesmen in Old Aberdeen. Leopard. pp. 59–67.
  • McAleese, R. (2012). "Old Aberdeen's Bedesmen - Poverty and Piety (Pt1)". History Scotland. 12: 46–49.
  • McAleese, R. (2012). "Old Aberdeen's Bedesmen - Poverty and Piety (Pt2)". History Scotland. 12: 26–29.
  • McAleese, R. (2012). Gavin Dunbar: Nobleman, Statesman, Catholic Bishop and Philanthropist'. Scottish Local History. pp. 14–21.
  • McAleese, R. (2013). Walter, R. H. Duncan (ed.). Bishop Gavin Dunbar: Nobleman, Statesman, Catholic Bishop, Administrator and Philanthropist. 2. Aberdeen: Friends of St Machar, Occasional Publications. p. 40.
  • McRoberts, David (1962). Essays on the Scottish Reformation, 1513-1625. Glasgow. pp. xxix, 496 p.
  • Orme, Nicholas; Webster, Margaret Elise Graham (1995). The English hospital 1070-1570. New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. xii, 308 p.
  • Cachart, R.; Murray, C.; Hall, D. W. (1998). Gazetteer of Medieval Hospital sites in Aberdeenshire, Glasgow City, Highland, Lanarkshire and Moray Council areas', (Historic Scotland.
  • Rissue, Guenter B. (1999). Mending bodies, saving souls: a history of hospitals. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. xx, 716.
  • Scottish Burgh Records Society, J. D.; Marwick (1871). Charters and documents relating to the Collegiate Church and Hospital of the Holy Trinity and the Trinity Hospital, Edinburgh. A.D. 1460-1661. Edinburgh: Scottish Burgh Records Society.
  • Simpson, J.Y. On leprosy and leper hospitals in Scotland and England.
  • Walcott, Mackenzie Edward Charles (1874). Scoti-Monasticon. The ancient Church of Scotland: a history of the cathedrals, conventual foundations, collegiate churches, and hospitals of Scotland ... With ... engravings, ground plans, and a map. London.
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