Alba Historical

  THE COVENANTING MINISTER OF THE BARONY. One of the four central prominent preachers around whom traditions of the Covenanters are clustered was the minister of the Barony parish of Glasgow. Cameron, Cargill, Peden, and Renwick uttered no uncertain sound at that crisis of Scotland's history. Whilst Peden barely escaped a bloody death, the other three were called upon to lay down their lives for the cause, Cargill and Renwick on the scaffold, and Cameron on the battlefield. Donald Cargill had no other charge than the Barony; and by his brave unflinching testimony during the darkest hour, not only served his own day and generation, but it is to him and such as he, that his fellow-citizens of Glasgow and of Scotland owe their civil and religious liberty. Cargill was born about 1610, of a respected family in the parish of Rattray. Schooled at Aberdeen and St Andrews College, he was called to be minister of the Barony parish of Glasgow. Upon the 26th May following, the day appointed to...

 A place of pilgrimage Glasgow Cathedral has evolved since the 12th century as the magnificent housing for the shrine of one of Scotland's native patron saints, Kentigern. This is the best preserved large Medieval church in Scotland, specifically designed to enable the veneration of the relics. Nowhere else is it possible for the modern visitor to so easily replicate providing best the experience of the Medieval pilgrim. Glasgow shares an important feature in common with the reliquary churches of two other important native saints, at Whithorn and Iona, in possessing an under church or crypt – providing best-preserved a highly atmospheric, semi-subterranean setting for the climax of the pilgrimage. It is believed that Kentigern served as bishop for early Christian communities in Strathclyde, and had also been active as far south as Cumbria. Certainly, the devotees to his later Medieval cult came from these areas. There is a tradition that Kentigern had developed a church or monaster...

 Central and Southern Scotland Place names rooted in Welsh Many place names in central and southern Scotland are derived from British, the language very close to Welsh which was spoken by the Northern Britons, Glasgow, originally Glasgau, means the green hollow in Britonic.  Edinburgh first appears in Welsh sources as the fort of Din Eidyn. When the Bernicians took over they translated this into English as Edinburgh. Lanark Lanerc: the clearing (Welsh-lanerch).  Peebles-Pebyl: the shielings (Welsh-pebyll).  Partick-Perthec: the copse (Welsh-perth); also the derivation of Perth, Paisley-Pasaleg a church word based on Basaleg, a Welsh borrowing from Latin-basilica, mother-church. Penicuik-Pen y gog: cuckoo's headland.  Cramond Caer Amond: the fort on the River Almond.  Moscow-Maes coll: Hazelfield (Welsh-maes and coll).  Bathgate-Baeddgoed: Boar-wood (Welsh-baedd and coedi)  Melrose Moelrose: the bald/bare headland.  Ecclefechan: perhaps the li...

 Govan's ancient treasures It is easy to pass Govan Old Parish Church without suspecting the remarkable history that lies within. On the banks of the River Clyde, flanked by the Pearce Institute and the offices of a housing association, the church does not outwardly reflect antiquity. It was built in 1820, but the land on which it stands has been used for Christian worship since the 9th century when it was the Britons major Christian centre before that. It is home to a collection of early carved stones that attract archaeologists from all over the world.  Long before the birth of Christ, this was a significant place. Evidence has been found that Bronze Age people settled in Govan. It was then almost an island in the River Clyde, which could be reached only by a ford. It is not certain when the first church was built there, but the collection of sculpted stones spanning the 9th to 11th centuries suggests it was very early indeed. In fact, they represent a major school of stone-...

 Ystrat Clud Britons are the ancestors no one seems to have heard about. They were Christians, spoke Welsh, worshipped at Govan, and ruled from Carlisle to Glasgow for 600 years. They are the nearest thing we have to a 'native' people! They called it Ystrat Clud - Strathclyde. Their church was at Govan, their hunting estate at Partick, their stronghold was Cadzow near Hamilton. They were the Welsh forefathers of today's Glaswegians. They were the Britons. Of all the peoples who made up Scotland in the early historic period, the group who are probably least well. Known to the average Scot was the Britons. This is odd, as these are the people who were here when written history began, the nearest thing Scotland has to a “native” people. When the Romans arrived in Britain, first in the 1st century BC, and then during their forays into Scotland in the 1st century AD, Britain was inhabited by Britons from south to north. The Romans called them Brittones. The languages spoken thro...