Music Masters and Precentors. Was his abhorrence, tinkling itching ears He could not brook."-Verses on Dunbar church. After the "kist fu' o' whistles" (the organ,) was banished from the church, vocal music formed a material part of the presbyterian worship. One of the earliest works of the reformed clergy was the translation of the Psalms of David into Scots metre, for the purpose of being introduced into the kirk, and sung to the old church tunes. The book of Psalms, by John Knox, containing the common tunes, is still extant, and the harmony of the measure shews that their masters were complete adepts in the art. To enlarge the psalmody, several parts of Scripture, and some old Latin hymns, and other pieces, were soon after added; and as there were no objections to the old music, an effort was made to reclaim some of those tunes from the profane ballads into which they had been burlesqued. A collection of these pieces was printed at Edinburgh, about 1590, under the title of" A compendious Book of Godly and Spiritual Songs, &c., with sundrie other Ballads, changed out of prophane Sangs, for avoiding of sinne and harlotrie," &c. On the 17th June, 1583, "John Buchan was feed and conduced to serve in the office of master of a sang school, and also to uptake the Psalms in the kirk; and to serve at the baptism and communion, as he should be required. To have fourscore merks of money yearly, a house furnished, with a chamber to teach the bairns in, mail free," e. This person fell under the censure of the magistrates. On the last day of March 1592,"compeared John Buchane, master of the sang school of the burgh, and meinit him to the council of his present necessities, and desired their good will and benevolence for service done by him the year preceding; and concerning the offence done by him to the town in speaking and giving injurious and slanderous words, he confessed he had spoken the same unadvisedly, in grief, and craved pardon for his offence," &c. The council, on considering the case, ordained the treasurer, on the 25th April, to deliver to the said John Buchan and his creditors, in his name, the sum of xlv. merks."* The first minstrel had the misfortune to fall under church censure. 1578-79, February 6th," The quhilk day, Johne Ker, menstralie, confessit him to have gottin wt Katrene Gray twa barnis by his wyff; ane is ane madin of xiiij. zeir auld, and ane laid of viij. zeris auld: and actit him to compeir in the next daylie conventioun, and thair to rasane injunctiounis fra the kirk, and failzeing thairof, to be banist the burt. foreuer.”—Haddn. Coun. Reg. This extract is given in the original spelling, as a specimen of the orthography of the town-council records of that date. 460 1619, September 13th, James Dunbar, son of the late Patrick Dunbar, who was master of the "Sang scole of this burgh," was continued in his father's place. In 1677, December 27th, Walter Gray was appointed musicmaster, for instructing men as well as children, to sing music, and to play upon instruments; for taking up the psalms in the kirk on Sundays and other preaching days; and for reading the prayers and scriptures. His salary to be L.100 Scots, with house maill, besides perquisites. His charge not to exceed 2s. sterling per quarter, for burgesses. On the 1st July, 1728, Charles May, a famous musician, was engaged for one year. "The provost (Alexander M'Call,) represented to the council, that seeing John Oswald, the piper, had left the town, it was proper to instal another in his place; and that at present there was one, Charles May, a good musician in town, who could play on hautboy, violin, base, german flute, and other instruments; that he had been communing with him, but found that he would not serve at the ordinary fee; and, therefore, he desired the council's opinion anent engaging with him, which being considered by the council, they recommended to the magistrates to settle with Charles May, but not to promise him more than five pounds sterling of fee, for one year after this date." In 1730, December 8th, the town-council finding that the salary of one hundred pounds Scots, had of late been misapplied in being granted to unqualified persons, for teaching music, deposed Patrick Begbie, and appointed Mr. David Young, first doctor of the grammar-school, and his successors, keepers of a music school, provided they appointed proper persons." In 1732, February 6th, James Erskine, late provost, was appointed music-master and precentor, with power to choose a deputy. In 1753, November 17th, William Ray,* merchant in Haddington, was appointed music-master on the death of James Erskine. His salary was 100 pounds Scots (L.8, 6s. 8d.) The precentor of Haddington church has now L.13 per annum.-St. John's church L.10. The sum of from L.5 to L.8 is paid in country parishes. • William Rae Wilson of Kelvinbank, author of Travels in the East, is descended from this family on the maternal side. CHAPTER IV. DISSENTING CLERGY. THE EAST LOTHIAN BIBLE SOCIETIES. -CHURCH EXTENSION. ST. JOHN'S AND OTHER CHURCHES. NEW SCHISM IN THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.— EPISCOPALIAN CHURCH. IT is not the province of this work to enter into any minute detail of the various schisms, which have, from time to time, agitated our national church; for “Who shall decide when doctors disagree?" But we shall, as briefly as possible, notice the denominations which have sprung from them. About the year 1732, Ebenezer Erskine and a few ministers, having openly decried patronage and other acts of the general assembly, came under the censure of that body, and were expelled from the Scottish kirk. The expulsion of these individuals laid the foundation of the secession church, which now extends over the greater part of Scotland. Original Seceders. Mr. ROBERT ARCHIBALD may be considered as the father of the secession church in East Lothian. He was ordained minister in Haddington, in 1744; and died in 1762, in the 58th year of his age. He was succeeded by Mr. Laurence Witherspoon, who was ordained July 10th, 1766. He died in August 1779, at the early age of 37. Mr. Robert Chalmers was his successor. He died on the 29th December, 1837, in the 82nd year of his age, and 58th of his ministry. Mr. William White was appointed his assistant and successor in 1836. Messrs. Archibald and Witherspoon afterwards joined the Antiburghers, on the schism in their church respecting the old burgess-oath. The late emineut Professor PAXTON, of the orginal secession church, was born at a farm-steading, called Clacherdean, (which does not now exist,) near Coalston House. His father was the blacksmith of the place. United Associate Synod.-There are two meeting-houses of the united secession church in Haddington. The first congregation was established about 1751, of which Mr. JOHN BROWN, author of the Self-interpreting Bible and Dictionary, and several other popular religious works, was 36 years minister, and 20 years professor under the same synod. He died on the 19th June, 1787, in the 65th year of his age. The Rev. John Brown was born in the small village of Kerpoo, in Perthshire, in the year 1722. Mr. Brown's parents, of whom he was deprived at an early age, were in humble circumstances; but such was his zeal and application, that he acquired a knowledge of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, almost without a teacher; and in such an unaccountable manner, that his superstitious neighbours imagined that he had acquired his learning (to use his own words)" in some sinful way." Notwithstanding his learned acquirements, Mr. Brown was distinguished for his great humility throughout life, and resignation in distress. Talking about death, a few weeks before that event occurred, he observed it might be written on his coffin-" Here lies one of the cares of Provi dence, who early wanted both father and mother, and yet never missed them." Among the celebrated characters that came in contact with Mr. Brown, were the Rev. John Logan, the poet, who was sometime under his tuition; and Robert Fergus son, the Scottish bard, whom he met in the churchyard of Haddington, and to whom be gave a friendly and seasonable admonition. Mr. Brown was licensed to preach in the year 1750. His stipend was from L.40 te L.50 a-year. Mr. Benoni Black was ordained minister in 1789. He died in 1828, in the 39th year of his ministry. Mr. Joseph Young succeeded Mr. Black, and was ordained in 1829. The present church stands nearly on the site of the old meeting-house, and was built in 1806. Antiburghers.-William Hogg, A. M., was ordained minister in 1809. This church now forms the 2nd congregation of the United Secession. A Relief Church was built about the end of the eighteenth century. Mr. Gellatly was minister in 1794. He was succeeded by Mr. Reid. The Congregational Church was established in Haddington, by Messrs. Robert and James Haldane, about the year 1798. They purchased the West meeting-house, which then belonged to the Relief body, whose congregation had either returned to the establishment or joined the dissenters. The church was not properly organized till the 22nd November, 1801, when Mr. Dunn and others officiated. Mr. James Hill, their first pastor, was ordained, 11th December, 1804. He continued to preach in that chapel, which was then called the Tabernacle, till 1808, when the Messrs. Haldane having embraced the sentiments of the Baptists, the congregation, with their mi ister, afterwards met for worship in a house in one of the south closes of the high-street, which was fitted up as a chapel. Mr. Hill died in 1812. He was succeeded by Mr. William Ritchie, in January 1813. Mr. Robert Ferguson was ordained in 1830: removed to London in 1832. Andrew Russell, A. M., ordained 1833; removed to Dundee in 1840.Mr. Thomas Drummond Thomson was ordained 16th June, 1841. The present chapel, in the Herdgate, was built in 1815, Methodists. A congregation of Wesleyan methodists was established here in 1806, by Mr. James M'Cullagh, who is still their preacher. Mr. Donald Fraser was the first minister appointed by the Conference, in 1811. Mr. Jackson was appointed in 1814. Daniel M'Callum, M.D. in 1817. Mr. Joseph E. Beaumont, (now M.D.) in 1820. Mr. S. Thompson, 1824. Mr. Maclean, 1825. Mr. Edward Usher, 1827. A vacancy occurred for some years, during which the Dunbar preachers officiated. Mr. Bond was appointed in 1834. Mr. J. Innes, 1836. Mr. John Harland, 1838. Mr. Bromford, 1841. The methodist chapel was built, partly by subscription, in Sidegate street, in 1816. It cost L.600, and contains upwards of 300 sittings, EAST LOTHIAN BIBLE SOCIETIES. The exertions of the British and Foreign Bible Society, which had early in the present century contributed towards printing editions of the Bible, or part of it, into no less than twenty-six different dialects or languages, seventeen of which were spoken on the continent of Europe, led to the formation of a similar society in Edinburgh. Stimulated with the same fervour, a respectable meeting was held in the town-hall, Haddington, on the 24th October, 1809, when the Rev. Dr. Sibbald being called to the chair, a series of resolutions were entered into, which led to the establishment of the East Lothian Bible Society. The chief features of this society were:-That the poor of the county should be sufficiently supplied with the Scriptures;—that the subscription of half-a-guinea onnually should constitute a member; and the payment of ten guineas a member for life; —that each subscriber should be allowed to purchase Bibles or New Testaments at the society's price, to five times the amount of his annual subscription;—that twenty directors, a secretary, and treasurer, should manage the business of the society,—one half to go out annually by rotation. The general meeting to be held annually in the month of June." No cause was ever more popular than the establishment of the Bible Society at its commencement. There was something pleasing to the devout, in the idea of converting the sunburnt • The Rev. James Kirkwood, a native of the parish of Dunbar, in conjunction with the Hon. Robert Boyle, (the celebrated chemist and philosopher,) was the first to circulate the Scriptures in the Gaelic language. A few years after Mr. Kirkwood had passed his probationary trials at Haddington, he was called to preach in the Earl of Breadalbane's family in the highlands, most of the servants of which did not understand Gaelic. It was when here that he beheld the ignorance of the natives. He found the parishes without schools, the people without bibles, and the clergy with indifferent libraries, and immediately set about the remedy. Fortunately he was invited to a small living in England by Bishop Burnet, (formerly minister of Salton,) in 1684 and thence was promoted to the rectory of Astwick, where he formed an acquaintance with Mr. Boyle. Five hundred copies of the Irish bible, by William Beddell, Bishop of Kilmore, were printed in 4to, at London, in 1685, at the expense of Mr. Boyle. This excellent person presented Mr. Kirkwood with 200 copies, one copy of which was sent as a church-bible to each parish in the highlands, that it might be read to the people in their own language on the Sundays. Mr. Kirkwood afterwards printed 3000 copies of the same bible by private subscription, in the Roman character, and 1000 copies of the New Testaments separately for gratuitous distribution. This edition was printed by R. Everingham, London, in 1690. Mr. Boyle, for the same purpose, printed 6000 catechisms and Prayer Books at his own expense. Dr. Johnson, in his tour to the Hebrides, alludes to the above translation: "We were a while told, (says he) that they had an old translation of the Scriptures; and told it till it would appear obstinacy to inquire again. Yet by continued accumulation of questions we found, that the translation was nothing else than the Irish Bible." A library was also established for the clergy in the highlands by Mr. Kirkwood, in 1699. |