St Mary's of the Storms - Cowie, Stonehaven
A wealth of information on local history may be gleaned within old Scottish kirkyards. Many are located on a site of ancient ecclesiastical importance where an early Christian missionary may have built a small heather-thatched chapel over a thousand years ago. The ruins of a medieval church still stand in some kirkyards. Others contain the burial vault of a local laird, or a watchtower built to guard against grave-robbers.
Kirkyards are peaceful places and a study of the memorials therein can be fascinating and rewarding. Even the pattern of moss and lichen growth on time-worn stones may tell a tale. Stones vary from roughly hewn granite rocks and simple sandstone slabs to elaborate monuments of polished granite or marble. Inscriptions on headstones are of particular value to those wishing to trace symbols in addition to names, dates and ages. Sometimes the achievements of the deceased are listed and perhaps also the cause of death.
Headstones dating from the 17th and 18th centuries may be engraved with emblems of mortality, such as skulls and bones, the sexton’s spade and turf cutter, or an hourglass symbolising the sands of time running out. These older stones may also be embellished with winged souls, often at the top of the headstone, to represent the hope of resurrection and immortality.
Epitaphs may be eulogies for the deceased, often listing amazing virtues, or may be simple rhymes intended to remind the passer-by of the inevitability of death:
“Remember man, as thou goes by,
As thou art now so once was I,
As I am now so thou must be,
Remember man that thou must die.”
Other epitaphs dwell on the hope of resurrection –
“They rest in hope, exempt from pain,
They lived to Christ, their deaths are gain,
And now those friends together meet
In Christ their joys are full complete
St Nathalan or St Nachlan, is reputed to have built the first small chapel at Cowie on this windswept clifftop sometime during the 7th century. Legends abound regarding this Scottish saint, who also built churches at Coull and Tullich on Deeside. In addition to preaching the gospil, St Nathalan taught his people to cultivate the land and grow crops. He died around 678 AD and is believed to have been buried at Tullich. There is a tradition that he owned great treasure which was wrapped in a bull’s hide, tied with a ropeand buried in the area now occupied by the extension of the kirkyard. A well known Cowie rhyme tell us:
“Between the kirk and the kirk ford,
There lies Saint Nachlan’s hoard.”
A narrow footbridge spans the Kirk Burn today but in past times travellers crossed by the ford in the den below the chapel. A path linked the chapel to Cowie Castle, which stood on the cliff top some 200 metres to the south. All that now remains of the castle is a section of low stonewall, partially hidden in the undergrowth. It is hard to believe that here for over 400 years stood an important stronghold which guarded the southern end of the Cowie Mounth, the route to Aberdeen. Cowie Castle belonged to the Frasers until 1369 when it passed by marriage to the Keiths of Dunotttar, the powerful Earls Marischal of Scotland. It is likely that the kings of Scotland would have stayed at Cowie Castle when visiting this region. The Castle fell into decline around 1645; the fragment of castle wall and the ruined chapel are the sole remains of the Royal Burgh of Cowie, a township once of greater importance than Stonehaven.
Epitaphs may be eulogies for the deceased, often listing amazing virtues, or may be simple rhymes intended to remind the passer-by of the inevitability of death:
“Remember man, as thou goes by,
As thou art now so once was I,
As I am now so thou must be,
Remember man that thou must die.”
Other epitaphs dwell on the hope of resurrection –
“They rest in hope, exempt from pain,
They lived to Christ, their deaths are gain,
And now those friends together meet
In Christ their joys are full complete
St Nathalan or St Nachlan, is reputed to have built the first small chapel at Cowie on this windswept clifftop sometime during the 7th century. Legends abound regarding this Scottish saint, who also built churches at Coull and Tullich on Deeside. In addition to preaching the gospil, St Nathalan taught his people to cultivate the land and grow crops. He died around 678 AD and is believed to have been buried at Tullich. There is a tradition that he owned great treasure which was wrapped in a bull’s hide, tied with a ropeand buried in the area now occupied by the extension of the kirkyard. A well known Cowie rhyme tell us:
“Between the kirk and the kirk ford,
There lies Saint Nachlan’s hoard.”
A narrow footbridge spans the Kirk Burn today but in past times travellers crossed by the ford in the den below the chapel. A path linked the chapel to Cowie Castle, which stood on the cliff top some 200 metres to the south. All that now remains of the castle is a section of low stonewall, partially hidden in the undergrowth. It is hard to believe that here for over 400 years stood an important stronghold which guarded the southern end of the Cowie Mounth, the route to Aberdeen. Cowie Castle belonged to the Frasers until 1369 when it passed by marriage to the Keiths of Dunotttar, the powerful Earls Marischal of Scotland. It is likely that the kings of Scotland would have stayed at Cowie Castle when visiting this region. The Castle fell into decline around 1645; the fragment of castle wall and the ruined chapel are the sole remains of the Royal Burgh of Cowie, a township once of greater importance than Stonehaven.
Within the kirkyard is the ruin of the Chalpel of St Mary and St Nathalan, often know as the Chapel of Our Lady of the Storms. It was dedicated on the 22 May 1276 by William Wishart, Bishop of St Andrews, and probably stands on the same site as St Nathalan’s early church. The chapel was never a parish church but was included within the parish of Fetteresso. Several Scottish Monarchs, in particular James IV, frequently worshipped here and gave generous donations to the chapel.
The small unicameral chapel, built of whinstone in 13th century Early English style, is typical church of the period, although it appears to have been lengthened by about 7 metres at the west end at some later date. Three elegent lancet windows grace the east gable of the church. The south wall was partially rebuilt in the 1860s but the priest’s door is still complete. A small aumbry may be seen in the northeast corner of the chapel.
The chapel fell into disuse soon after the Reformation. It is recorded that it “was unroofed by the ecclesiastical authority on account of certain scandals”. The local people then begin to take stones from the walls for building purposes despite a legend that the stones would rain drops of blood upon any house built with them. The lintel from above the main doorway is reputed to have been removed several times but each time mysteriously reappeared in its original position; it has, however, been missing for many years.
About 1830 a mort-house with a flight of steps leading underground to an arched chamber was built against the west wall of the chapel. Here bodies were stored for some weeks after death to protect them from the grave robbers who sold corpses to anatomy students for dissection.
Rev James Stewart's Headstone at Cowie Stonehaven
From the Chapel of Our Lady of the Storms the North Sea may be viewed in all its moods, and within the sheltering walls of the kirkyard rest many who depended on these waters for their livelihood. Numerous headstones, some adorned with ships and anchors, stand in memory of seamen and fishermen. Many of these men lost their lives at sea. Close to the west gable of the chapel is a prominent memorial to the crew of the Stonehaven lifeboat, St George, who died on 27 February, 1874 whilst going to the rescue of the barque, Grace Darling. When distress signals were spotted, the crew launched the lifeboat in heavy seas and rowed frantically to help the barque which was being swept northwards. The lifeboat crew was unable to overtake the barque and had abandon the mission at Aberdeen, Tragically, the lifeboat capsized as it entered Aberdeen harbour with the loss of the coxswain and three crew members. Two of these courageous men are buried here at Cowie, one at Nigg and one at Belhelvie.
Scattered throughout Cowie kirkyard are headstones which display symbols of mortality, such as skulls, crossed bones, hourglasses and the sexton’s spades. The unusual symbol of a winged hourglass may be seen on a badly eroded 18th century stone within the ruined chapel. There are aalso excellent examples of trade symbols such as the crown and hammer of the blacksmith, the crown and last of the shoemaker, the tree-masted ship of the merchant seaman, the boat of the fisherman, and the ploughshare and coulter of the farmer. Close to the priest’s door is the headstone of a Stonehaven merchant which bears the traditional merchant’s symbol based on the figure 4. Nearby is a late 18th century stone memory of William Edward and his wife, engraved by their son with the Masonic symbols of sun, moon, star, set square and compasses, trowel, chisel on ashlar, level, plumb rule, mell, set square and gavel.
There are several curious inscriptions in Cowie kirkyard. One of these commemorates Raymond Stewart, who is described as a “a Black Man, a native of Granada who lived 30 years in the service of the late Mr Farquharsoon of Breda, in this country, and was much respected. “ He died at Elsick on 3rd January 1834 “leaving money which he had saved for charitable purposes”. Another intriguing epitaph is that of William Kilgour which describes him as “an original genius who exercised his craft of a weaver at Glithnow for the long period of 62 years”. It continues :
“here lyes the man, for aught we know,
That lived and died without a foe
Now mouldr’ing here beneath that clod
An honest man’s the noblest work of God.”
Not far from the seaward wall is a goup of tombstones commemorating ministers of the Episcopal Church. One of these stones marks the resting place of the Reverent John Troup of Muchalls, who died in 1776. Mr Troup, along with his fellow clergymen, Mr John Petrie of Drumlithie and Mr Alexander Greig of Stonehaven, defiantly contravened the Act which prohibited Episcopal minister from preaching to more than 4 persons at a time. Consequently, all three gentlemen were imprisoned in the Old Tolbooth at Stonehave for six months during the winter of 1748-49. It is said that Mr Troup made his personal protest by boldly piping the Jacobite air, “O’er the Water to Charlie”, as he was led to prison.
Regardless of their confinement, the three clergymen continued to minister to their faithful follower and regularly read matins and evenson to those who gathered below the window of their cell. Baptisms too were conducted, the infants being carried in creels through knee-deep water and over rocks to be held up to the bars of the shore side prison windows.
The small unicameral chapel, built of whinstone in 13th century Early English style, is typical church of the period, although it appears to have been lengthened by about 7 metres at the west end at some later date. Three elegent lancet windows grace the east gable of the church. The south wall was partially rebuilt in the 1860s but the priest’s door is still complete. A small aumbry may be seen in the northeast corner of the chapel.
The chapel fell into disuse soon after the Reformation. It is recorded that it “was unroofed by the ecclesiastical authority on account of certain scandals”. The local people then begin to take stones from the walls for building purposes despite a legend that the stones would rain drops of blood upon any house built with them. The lintel from above the main doorway is reputed to have been removed several times but each time mysteriously reappeared in its original position; it has, however, been missing for many years.
About 1830 a mort-house with a flight of steps leading underground to an arched chamber was built against the west wall of the chapel. Here bodies were stored for some weeks after death to protect them from the grave robbers who sold corpses to anatomy students for dissection.
Rev James Stewart's Headstone at Cowie Stonehaven
From the Chapel of Our Lady of the Storms the North Sea may be viewed in all its moods, and within the sheltering walls of the kirkyard rest many who depended on these waters for their livelihood. Numerous headstones, some adorned with ships and anchors, stand in memory of seamen and fishermen. Many of these men lost their lives at sea. Close to the west gable of the chapel is a prominent memorial to the crew of the Stonehaven lifeboat, St George, who died on 27 February, 1874 whilst going to the rescue of the barque, Grace Darling. When distress signals were spotted, the crew launched the lifeboat in heavy seas and rowed frantically to help the barque which was being swept northwards. The lifeboat crew was unable to overtake the barque and had abandon the mission at Aberdeen, Tragically, the lifeboat capsized as it entered Aberdeen harbour with the loss of the coxswain and three crew members. Two of these courageous men are buried here at Cowie, one at Nigg and one at Belhelvie.
Scattered throughout Cowie kirkyard are headstones which display symbols of mortality, such as skulls, crossed bones, hourglasses and the sexton’s spades. The unusual symbol of a winged hourglass may be seen on a badly eroded 18th century stone within the ruined chapel. There are aalso excellent examples of trade symbols such as the crown and hammer of the blacksmith, the crown and last of the shoemaker, the tree-masted ship of the merchant seaman, the boat of the fisherman, and the ploughshare and coulter of the farmer. Close to the priest’s door is the headstone of a Stonehaven merchant which bears the traditional merchant’s symbol based on the figure 4. Nearby is a late 18th century stone memory of William Edward and his wife, engraved by their son with the Masonic symbols of sun, moon, star, set square and compasses, trowel, chisel on ashlar, level, plumb rule, mell, set square and gavel.
There are several curious inscriptions in Cowie kirkyard. One of these commemorates Raymond Stewart, who is described as a “a Black Man, a native of Granada who lived 30 years in the service of the late Mr Farquharsoon of Breda, in this country, and was much respected. “ He died at Elsick on 3rd January 1834 “leaving money which he had saved for charitable purposes”. Another intriguing epitaph is that of William Kilgour which describes him as “an original genius who exercised his craft of a weaver at Glithnow for the long period of 62 years”. It continues :
“here lyes the man, for aught we know,
That lived and died without a foe
Now mouldr’ing here beneath that clod
An honest man’s the noblest work of God.”
Not far from the seaward wall is a goup of tombstones commemorating ministers of the Episcopal Church. One of these stones marks the resting place of the Reverent John Troup of Muchalls, who died in 1776. Mr Troup, along with his fellow clergymen, Mr John Petrie of Drumlithie and Mr Alexander Greig of Stonehaven, defiantly contravened the Act which prohibited Episcopal minister from preaching to more than 4 persons at a time. Consequently, all three gentlemen were imprisoned in the Old Tolbooth at Stonehave for six months during the winter of 1748-49. It is said that Mr Troup made his personal protest by boldly piping the Jacobite air, “O’er the Water to Charlie”, as he was led to prison.
Regardless of their confinement, the three clergymen continued to minister to their faithful follower and regularly read matins and evenson to those who gathered below the window of their cell. Baptisms too were conducted, the infants being carried in creels through knee-deep water and over rocks to be held up to the bars of the shore side prison windows.
Further Information
Information from Kincardine and Deeside District Council -1995