Part II

Chapter IV: "The Men"

[25] The "men," if concession is made to the unfavourable popular opinion that they were dour, obstinate, conservative, and rigidly opposed to the regular ministry, while claiming a kind of spiritual ascendency over the people, can be traced back in the Highlands to the 9th century; for the Culdees, who were the last organised opposition to Roman Catholic claims, appear in the light of history to fit in with the above description. But even after the suppression of the Culdees, there were "men" in the north-west of Sutherlandshire who claimed descent from the famous missionary, Maolrubha, and in virtue of that, though laymen, claimed a right to the office of the ministry.

"So troublesome were they to the regular Clergy in the Roman Catholic period that the Bishop of the diocese had to come to terms with them, and on one occasion one of them was ordained to a regular charge.See Scottish Historical Review, vol. vi. No. 23, p. 280. With the planting of Presbyterianism in the Highlands, they came again into prominence. In the first half of the 18th century, the Presbytery of Dornoch came into conflict [26] with them, and made an unseemly effort to suppress them entirely by attempting to change the Communion Fast Day from Thursday to Friday, which latter day was from before then, and is until now, recognised as the "men's" day. The General Assembly, however, declined to sustain the appeal of the Presbytery against the "men" See Religious Life in Ross, p. 33.

From a close study of the religious history of the Highlands, three things emerge in connection with the "men". The first is that the Church, whether Roman Catholic or Protestant, was largely responsible for the attitude, perhaps of arrogant revolt adopted by some of the "men". The second is that in proportion to the decay of vital religion in the pulpit, the "men" ascended into prominence, when they alone held aloft the blazing torch of Truth. The third is as unquestionably true, that only a small number of the " men" were extremists or separatists, the vast majority being loyal, devoted, and serviceable office-bearers in the Church.

The term "men" is one of religious and not ecclesiastical distinction. They attained to it, not by personal effort, but by the im-pressiveness of their piety, the consistency of [27] their character, the fervour and warmth of their prayers, the penetration of their insight into Scripture, and sinners' needs, the eloquence of their utterances, and their arresting mental ability. In fact, most of these men, if trained, would have adorned the ministry of any Church. They had a ready wit, pawky good humour, with a tendency sometimes to sarcasm and satire. They were close students of the Scriptures. One of them — Donald Cattanach, so well known in Duthil — once incidentally dropped a hint that he prayerfully studied every verse in the Bible. What a flood of light this throws on these lives, and it is no wonder that such lives impressed others. "I tell you," said a Roman Catholic to a co-religionist, "that there is no person this side the Pope of Rome as holy as Donald Cattanach."

With the Friday of the Communion, known as the "question" day, they are best and most associated. The "question" was primarily real enough. A believer who had difficulty about the interpretation of a certain portion of Scripture, or who was doubtful as to his being one of the "afflicted and poor people" who "shall trust in the name of the Lord," or as to his having "passed from death to life", or whether he was [28] indeed "born again", gave out the passage of Scripture, or got another to do so, after the usual devotional exercises on the Friday, and asked for "marks" of those poor who trust, or those who are brought to life, or are born again, as the case might be. An exposition of the passage is given by the minister in charge. Then the "men" are asked to speak, and give marks from their own experience. The ethical side of the question was dealt with first, then the spiritual.

Sometimes the speaking was a broad, luminous and comprehensive discussion on the doctrinal side. At other times, the experiences alone flowed out in short, terse, and epigrammatic phrases—" I did not know that I had been dead until I was brought to life"; "Israel was brought out of Egypt in one night, but it took forty years to bring Egypt out of Israel"; "The farthing has the king's image on it as surely as the sovereign, so little faith is as much the gift of God as great faith"; and such like.

At times they were intensely practical. Joseph Mackay, speaking to the question— "Love to the brethren"—said, "If we had a little of the love to the brethren of which we have been hearing, we should give David Gunn a new cow." David Gunn was the catechistr and poor. He had lost his only cow. The [29] practical suggestion took effect. The interpretation was on occasions deeply mystical, as the following reference to the anointing of Saul and that of David—the one futile, the other effective—shows:— "Saul was anointed from a phial—a brittle vessel which, if it fell, would break; David was anointed with oil from a horn, and even should this vessel fall it would not break."

Sandy Gair—a native of Tain, resident in Caithness—who was pronounced, by no less eminent authority than the late Professor John Stuart Blackie, a man of genius (his published letters show that the estimate is not overdrawn), was an extremist, and was largely responsible for the tendency to separatism that developed among the "men" and reached as far as Duthil. He invariably was the last speaker on the "question" on Communion Fridays. His remarks often took the form of a searching criticism of what the previous speakers had said, and if he thought these had merely copies or rehearsed Christian experiences which they had not felt, he was unsparing in his condemnation. On a "question" day in Latheron, he spoke thus: "We have heard much of experience to-day; well, it reminds me of myself when I was at school. I wasn't good at [30] arithmetic, but there was a lad sitting beside me who could do the sums very correctly. I used to look over his shoulder, and copy the sum on my own slate. Then the schoolmaster would say, ' Come up here, lads.' I would go up with the others. He would look at the slates, and would say to the others, 'Correct.' He would ask me to go through the sum, but I could not. Then he would spit on my slate and say, 'Go to your seat, lad.'" This was all he said. The point is so obvious as to call for no explanation. He was equally unsparing of the ministry. Two stories will illustrate this.

After the Disruption, Sandy was supposed to be lukewarm to the movement. He preached to the fishermen in the fishing season in the north of Caithness. The Highland Committee of the Free Church, acting on local advice, thought it well to send a minister north, who, without depriving Sandy of his salary or service, would take one of the sermons. This was done. The minister took the first sermon, and Sandy followed, there being no break in the service. Sandy did not take kindly to the new arrangement, and on the very first occasion he made no effort to conceal his disapproval. After the minister had finished, he sat in the pew and listened to Sandy, whose introduction to his discourse [31] was as follows :—" The sermon that we have listened to reminds me of the story of a man who was very anxious to learn to play on the bagpipes. But after much effort, he made little progress. Then one day he walked down to the shore and he saw a mermaid. He knew if he could get hold of the mermaid she would grant him whatever he wished, so he got hold of her and asked his wish. ' Is it to please others you want to play, or to please yourself,' said she. 'To please myself, of course!' he said. Then she gave him his wish, and he played and played on the bagpipes ever afterwards. His playing pleased himself immensely, but it pleased nobody else."

Dr Thomas McLauchlan, who "led out" his father's congregation in the neighbouring parish of Moy (his father remained in), was convener of the Highland Committee of the Free Church, an eminent Celtic scholar, and a fiery and combative Gael. Without any fear of Sandy Gair, he undertook the duty of a "deputy " to the fishermen. On the first day on which he preached, Sandy followed him, as was the custom. The Doctor sat quietly in the pew to wait for what was coming. He had not long to wait, for Sandy in his opening Psalm found [32] an expression for his feelings and views about the discourse: —

"O that I like a dove had wings,
Said I, then would I flee
Far hence, that I might find a place
Where I in rest might be."—Ps. lv. 6.

Out of respect for the House of God, and the solemnity of the occasion, Dr McLauchlan had to sit in torture, bridling his rage as best he could.

Sandy Gair had a large following among the "men". Their conception of the Christian religion was, notwithstanding all that has been said against them, when set free from accretions and perversions, and taken at its best, a fine type of Scriptural mysticism. In the crises within the Church his disciples certainly showred an inclination to be captious, and perhaps censorious. But all that was the outcome of unfeigned jealousy for the glory of their Redeemer and the integrity of His Word. Through the teaching of Peter Stewart and Joseph Mackay, Sandy Gair's form of thought helped largely to formulate the views of the extremer "men" of Duthil.

Of the religious forces that converged at the Disruption, none was more important than that controlled by the "men". The "men" of [33] Duthil won for themselves a distinction, and perhaps a notoriety, that reached far beyond the bounds of the parish. A section of them was " separatist." Their "separatism" was not a revolt from Presbyterian polity, but from the formalism of many of the ministers, whose religion was barely more than an accommodation to the social conventions of the time. The sterility of this formalism threw the religious spirit back upon itself, and the exercises of the soul became an object of deep contemplation and absorbing introspection. Hence the remarkable soul experiences to which they sometimes gave utterance. They tended strongly to demand a uniformity of experience which ignored the variety of Scripture. They set up a certain type as an ideal, and anyone falling short of this standard found no place in the circle of their pious people. The chief qualification of the type was a protracted knowledge of the thunders and lightnings of Mount Sinai, from which they should emerge after much soul anguish with a mental agony that bordered on despair.

In the new life a certain hesitancy of faith, in contrast to bold assurance, must be a prominent feature. This attitude of mind narrowed their outlook, embittered their lives, [34] and, for lack of clear discrimination, placed them in a position, of hostile criticism of almost all ministers. Peter Stewart, a Caithness separatist who laboured in Duthil, may be taken as a type. He was a man of small stature, with a larg-e head and an uncommonly broad forehead. He had good ability as an expounder of the truth, and his life was consistent with his profession. His sincerity of purpose nobody could deny, nor did any doubt his piety. But his usefulness was narrowed by a liberal use against all ministers of a wealth of vituperative epithets. Peter Stewart was not allowed to have it all his own way in the unedifying pastime of abuse, There was published anonymously at Elgin in 1828—" Imcheisd Eaglais Na H'Alba, na Madadh Alluidh Air a Rusgadh .Dhe Chomhdach le Aon Do Chairdean Dileas na H 'Eagiais" (" Trouble of the Church of Scotland, or—The Wolf shorn of his Covering, by One of the Faithful Friends of the Church"). The piece is attributed to the Rev. John Macdonald, then parish minister of Alvie. For undiluted scurrility it excels the most abusive invectives of Alexander Macdonald. Peter is the subject of the piece. He is referred to as Graidhean, or Dearie. He is described as a "selfseeking self-righteous hypocrite,"' a 'glutton" and "wine-bibber." He had a trumpeter who summoned the "silly people" to his meetings. " Tailors," "shoemakers," "fishermen "blacksmiths," "tinkers," "weavers," give up their toil and repair to the " meeting," drawn as much by " dread" of the man as by " love" for him. The piece is one of 50 verses of eight lines each, with a prose preface. It is not without, merit as a poetic effort. Here are some of the verses : —

(35) 'S iomadh ceum tha dhe shaothair
A sior sgaoileadh a chogail,
Ann am fonn sgireachd Dhaothal,
Cumail dhaoine ann an cogadh;
Ga 'n cuir an cluasan a cheile,
Gun fhios ciod e mu na throd iad;
Stri mu fhaileasan breige,
Nach dean feum dhoibh ach dochann.

Feumaidh muilt-fheoil as cearcan
Bhi gle phailt air a bhord ann;
Feumaidh bior a bhi laimh ribh,
'S toil le Graidhean feoil rosda;
Feumaidh buideal le siucair
Air son fliuchadh an scornan,
Measg a chuideachd as fiughail
Mar am burn bhi ga dhortadh

Feumaidh uibhean, gu 'n suipear,
Im as gruithim as caisc
Bainne briste le 'loinid,
Uisg, an coire, bhi laimh riu;
Glaine ghlas, air dheadh lionadh,
Gu ol sios deochan slainte;
Saoghal buan do 'n fhear teagaisg,
'S dha na th 'aige do chairdean.

(36) Ach ge luath-bhreitheach Graidhean,
S meas a' ghraisg tha ga leamuhuinn.
Cha n eil oilean nan ceard orr,
Tha iad ardanach feargach;
Tha iad dian ann na 'm barail,
Tha iad fanaideach cealgach;
Fear nach ei—d riu le taitneas,
Bheir iad achasan searbh dha.

Ach tha aon bhalach* suarach
Ann ceann shuas sgireachd Dhaothal,
Tha gle thric ga mo bhualadh,
Bha na bhuachaille chaorach;
Gun chionfath thug e fuath dhomh,
Tha e luath-bheumach craosach;
Tha ro thlachd ann sa bhruaidlean,
Tha e buaireasach daondan

* Robbie Cibeir.

Not even Dr Macdonald of Ferintosh escaped his biting satire.. His mental alertness may be judged by the [35] answer given by him to a question put by his clerical examiners before he was appointed a catechist. " Which is stronger, grace or holiness?" was the question. "Grace," replied Peter Stewart instantly, "for Adam had holiness, .and he fell; Joseph had grace, and he did not fall".

Peter Stewart and his associates were ardent Protestants, and they viewed with [36] alarm the "Roman Catholic Emancipation Act". For what they considered as apostasy on the part of the national Church for allowing this Act to be embedded in the statute books of the realm without even a feeble protest, and for Dr Chalmers' whole-hearted approval of the Act, the gulf between these "men" and the ministry had become deeper. Dr Chalmers lived to regret the active part he had taken in this agitation, and described the passing of the " Emancipation Bill" as " an historic blunder." True it is that some of the Northern ministry, like the Rev. Alexander Stewart, then the young minister of Cromarty, were opposed to it ; but Dr Macdonald, with his immense popularity and influence in the [37] Highlands, following the lead of Chalmers, carried many of the Northern ministers with him.

At a great public meeting held in Edinburgh on the 14th of March, 1829 (an extraordinary-meeting of the Presbytery of Edinburgh was held on the 1st of April—a significant date— at which Dr Chalmers strongly supported the popular movement for the removal of the political disabilities of Roman Catholics), in favour of the bill before Parliament, Dr Chalmers delivered a speech with such moving eloquence that Lord Jeffrey, who was present, gave it as a deliberate opinion that " never had eloquence produced a greater effect upon a popular assembly." This is a sentence out of Dr Chalmers' thrilling peroration :—" Give the Catholics of Ireland their emancipation ; give them a seat in the Parliament of their country; give them a free and equal participation in the politics of the realm ; give them a place at the right ear of majesty, and a voice in his councils —and give me the circulation of the Bible, and with this mighty engine I will overthrow the tyranny of ^nti-Christ, and establish the fair and original form of Christianity on its ruins.'' Peter Stewart would give no quarter to the "adulterous scarlet woman." He believed the safety of the nation lay in tightening rather [38] than in slackening the fetters that bound her, and he, accordingly, gave full scope to his spirit of relentless hatred to her in acrimonious versification. From his " Song on the Parliament," See Bain Spioradail, le Ughdairibh Eug-samhail (Forres) 1852. this is an apposite verse :—

"Chuir iad cleir an aird 'n sud,
A's Chalmers oirr' na bheul
Duine cho lobht aileadh,
'S tha stan fuidh na ghrein,
Oir bha bhroinn air sgaineadh,
Le ardan a's le fein;
Thug e chreidsinn air 'n fheaghainn bhaoth ud,
Gru 'n leighiseadh e'n drasd a' bheisd."

Translation

And there, with Chalmers as their mouth,
They set on foot a court,
A man of rotten savour, worse
Than any of his sort;
Beneath the sun, whose belly burst
With pride and self within;
He led the boobies to believe
He'd heal the man of sin."

After eighty years of the Emancipation Act, one, without any prejuduce, must accept the caustic criticism of the last two lines as containing an element of truth which does greater credit to the shrewdness of the critic than to the foresight of the great orator criticised.

[39] There is another piece by the same author on "The Presbytery," which is boiling with the same bitter feeling. Ministers are described as ''roaring bulls of Bashan," "time-servers for filthy lucre's sake." " the persecutors of the true flock of God " ; and the elders as " graceless traitors" and "horrible dogs."

Ensign Joseph Mackay, a Waterloo veteran, and a native of Sutherlandshire, was a different man. Tall (he stood 6 feet 4 inches), handsome, and of a commanding bearing, he exhibited some of the finest traits of the Christian soldier.

Once when Joseph was catechising in these parts he happened to have in the company a young man from Strath Errick. afterwards well known as a professing Christian — Angus Cameron. Recognising him as a stranger, the catechist asked him where he was from. " From Strath Errick," was the reply ; and then Joseph asked, " which have you more there, the Lord's people or the rest ?" " We have more of the Lord's people," said Angus. " How do you make that out ?" was the next question. " Well," said the young man, " if there had been ten righteous people in Sodom they would have outweighed all the rest, and I believe we have more than ten in Strath Errick."

[40] Joseph also indulged in verse making. See Dain Spioradail, le Ughdairibh Eug-samhuil. Forres, 1852. Of his efforts in this direction five were elegies, and the subject of one of them was the well-known John Grant, for whom it would seem the author had special regard. He composed, in addition, a " Song on George Miller's Marriage " a,nd " A Song to a Certain Young Girl." In this song the author, although he is never far removed from his severe religious standpoint, shows some touches of human feeling, mingled with flashes of humour, in which his well-known musical aptitude finds free expression. He advises the young woman to " ask counsel of God," and " not to marry a prayerless man who would keep her soul in prison," " nor a man with the wig, nor at all a man without substance (money), not even the precentor of the parish, though you would like a young man." He counsels her " to rise early on Sabbath morning, and, like the women in Scripture, to be early at the grave." This is a verse of the poem, which will serve as a good example of the whole :—

"Na chi thu na inns' e,
'S na chluinneas na sgaoil e,
S bith fuaigheal a daondan,
Gach aodach bhitheas reubadh."

[41] Translation:

"Don't tell what you see;
Don't spread what you hear!
And. try to sew up;
What's beginning to tear."

There was something stern and forbidding' in the religious beliefs of these "men". They made little allowance in the case of others for weak human nature. The common frailties and infirmities of believers, and to which they were not strangers themselves, evoked neither their sympathy nor their forgiveness. Requiring of all Christian professors a long period of probation, they scanned critically, and even repelled, the warm enthusiasm of early faith. In spiritual revolt from the unfortunately not uncommon practice of making the Lord's table "a common table," they surrounded it with such formidable and unscriptural hedges as made it an almost empty table.

This sad result, which is still unfortunately a marked feature of the Communion Sabbath in all the parishes about Inverness, where their influence was felt, gives apparent though not real support to the noisy outburst of Dr Thomas M'Lauchlan's prejudice against them when he said, "They would make an infidel of me." Though they were punctilious in their distinction [42] between man and minister, warped as they were with prejudice against the ministry, they were unwilling to discriminate between ministers. Ready to accept the hospitality of the man, they would not submit their souls to the spiritual nurture of the minister, though he were one and the same person. This was actually illustrated by Peter Stewart in the Manse of Duthil.

Notwithstanding their many defects, they were held in the highest esteem in the circle of their own followers, as the numerous elegies on them still extant can testify. They were devout and God-fearing, strong wrestlers at the throne of grace, and men of distinct ability and much force of character. While forgetting their distorted vision and narrow application of Scriptural doctrine, they deserve to be remembered for their effective checking of bold irreverence, laxity of Christian conduct, and the grossly profane life of their time. In Duthil they had a considerable following, and their influence can be seen there at the present day. Joseph Mackay took up a neutral attitude at the Disruption, largely owing to Dr Chalmers' support of the Emancipation Bill, but most of his followers identified themselves with the movement.

 

Chapter V: The Disruption

[43] The religious histcny of the parish since the Disruption is the history of the Free Church. The vast majority of the people came out, and for seven long years, summer and winter, they worshipped under the shelter afforded them by the solemn pine trees.Click here to see illustration.

No inconvenience was suffered during the summer in the pretty glade. But the rigours of winter, at an altitude of nearly 900 feet in an inland district, would have cooled the ardour of less earnest people than those who sat there from twelve till three o'clock every Sabbath day. Often they were clad in a mantle of snow, which gave them the appearance of their surroundings, and not one of them, so it is said, " suffered even from a sore head in consequence." A disappointment keener than the frost was lying before them, A settlement was duly effected which gave promise of a bright and useful future; but, alas ! "poor human nature" yielded to a vicious habit that necessitated the quick creation of a vacancy. Sorely hurt in spirit, Peter M'Kenzie now hived off with a select few who never [44] again returned to the fold. Peter, although he cordially sympathised with Peter Stewart and Joseph Mackay in their opposition to Popery, was scarcely a separatist himself, if his mental attitude can be judged from his choice of sermons. To the few around him he frequently translated with ease and fluency Ralph Erskine's sermon on " The Law of God's House" (Vol. II., p. 154). William Grant's attachment to the Church had also been shaken, not only by the misfortune referred to, but also by his sympathy with the unusual views of Joseph Mackay, in the latter's controversy with the Rev. Archibald Cook of Daviot and Moy over the mysterious beginnings of the soul.

Chapter VI: Catechising

[45] Catechising was an excellent system for teaching the people the great doctrines of the Written Word. It dates back to the establishment of Presbyterianism in the Highlands, and where it was done systematically and carefully since, it was fruitful of much blessing. Further, it was a splendid mental exercise which quickened the intellect. It gave precision to the thought and strength to the character. It enabled the congregation to understand and appreciate the strong doctrinal teaching of the time. That it is now largely in abeyance is reflected in the languid listlessness in the pew, and in the pulpit too, where a tendency to sterilize the sermon of all clearly enunciated dogmatic teaching is every day becoming more widespread and more apparent.

Not only were there noted catechists among the laity, such as are referred to in these pages, but there were ministers also who excelled in this religious exercise. It afforded the minister a good opportunity to come in close contact with the religious thinking of his people, to gauge their grasp, and to ascertain the spiritual

[46] difficulties that perplexed them. The ends of the ministry were well and truly served when the sermon was accordingly measured to the capacity of the hearers, and was laden with explicit expositions of Scripture which would meet the case of anxious enquirers.

The catechising was first and foremost a deeply religious function. So the people understood it, and so it was that, when diets were fixed in the parish, old and young assembled in the appointed place with solemn reverence and becoming gravity. The people arranged themselves round the room. A table, often quite bare, stood near the fire; on it was placed the Bible, and at its end sat the catechist. He, too, was grave. After the usual opening devotional exercises, the catechising proper began. It was on the "Shorter Catechism" the people were questioned. The questions were taken up one by one until the whole Catechism was gone over. Sometimes it took three or four winters to get over the whole, for not only were the bare questions of the Catechism put, but a great number of questions arising out of them. An example is here given of the questions actually put at a catechising. The interest attached to these lies not in that they bear a resemblance to those in Fisher's [47] or Willison's Catechisms, but in that they were framed and put by the catechist and answered by the people.

Rising out of the one question, "What is effectual calling?" were over 200 subsidiary ones. Here are some of them:— "What are the five steps in effectual calling?" "What is the call, its design, the work necessary, its necessity, and the reason of it?" Each of these was taken separately, and out of each sprang a number of supplementary ones. One or two examples of these may be given. "What are the causes of the call?" "What are its properties?" "From whence does its necessity arise ?" The design of the call— "Where is Christ to be found that the sinner may be united to Him?" "What warrant has a sinner to receive and embrace Christ ?" "On whose authority is Christ offered in the Gospel?" "Is the sinner's unwillingness and inability to embrace Christ his own?" The work necessary—"In what way does the Spirit bring the sinner to obey the call?" "On which of the faculties of the mind does the Spirit operate in the work of effectual calling?" "Is there a difference between conviction of sin and conviction of sins?" "What is it in Christ's work the Spirit enlightens the mind of the sinner of ?" "Does the Spirit use any [48] violence or compulsion on the will in renewing it? "The necessity of it— "From whence arises the necessity of being effectually called?" The reason for this call— "Is there any encouragement provided for such as sinfully delay seeking; God until old age?" "What is the duty of all those who have not yet been .effectually called?"

It goes without saying that those who could .answer such questions correctly merited a good degree, Yet, correct answers were not always taken as a sign of grace, as a dry retort from the Hev. Archibald Cook, who sometimes catechised the Duthil people, seems to indicate. " Sit down," said he to an old man who answered correctly every question put, " You are very righteous." Joseph Mackay spoke with like intent to an old woman, whose precision in answering was more evident than her piety. " In this place," said he, " there are just now men called sappers. They measure every foot of the land and know it, but they do not own one inch of it."

Sometimes it was difficult to maintain a grave countenance, listening to the answers of ignorance. "Who was the first man?" was asked of an old man. "Indeed," replied he, "even if my grandfather were living, he would [49] not remember that." Some of the catechists probed human nature to its very bottom. The behaviour and habits of the people were reflected in the answers. At times the persons •questioned expressed their opinion of the questioner in incisive, if straight, replies. A Skye woman was asked by a minister who was not too evangelical, " How many persons are there in the Godhead ?" " Two," she replied. He repeated the question. Then, said she, '" Before you came here there were three persons in the Godhead, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but now there are only two—the Father and Son." The catechists of Duthil were faithful and earnest men, who, in addition to the form of catechising already described, made the younger people repeat portions of the Scripture and verses of the metrical Psalms. No wonder, then, in the light of all this, that the people still have a knowledge of, and a liking for, sound doctrine.