St Ninian in a 15th century Book of Hours

To understand Scottish history it is important to understand also Scottish religion, the faith of Scotland has had such a massive impact throughout the last 1500 years that is impossible to understand one without the other. The first problem is that early Christianity in Scotland is recorded sparingly and often in a laconic and hagiographic manner. The first named missionary to Scotland is Ninian who is referred to in an aside by Bede while discussing the conversion of the Picts in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People written in 731 AD. In this aside he says 'The southern Picts, who live on this side of the mountains, are said to have abandoned the errors of idolatry long before this date and accepted the true Faith through the preaching of Bishop Ninian, a most reverend and holy man of British race, who had been regularly instructed in the mysteries of the Christian Faith in Rome. Ninian's own Episcopal see, named after Saint Martin and famous for its stately church, is now held by the English, and it is here that his body and those of many saints lie at rest. The place belongs to the province of Bernicia and is commonly known as Candida Casa, the White House, because he built the church of stone, which was unusual among the Britons.' Ninian is also dealt with in Miracula Nyniae Episcopi which also mentions a king called Tudwal, historians have used the above evidence to date Ninian to the 5th century, about the same time as Patrick. There have been many suggestions that Ninian operated much further north than Galloway and dedications to him can be found as far north as Fife and even into Angus. Although the term missionary has been used here it is likely that Christianity of some kind already existed and that Ninian, Columba and the other early saints were not missionaries in the modern sense.

Columba was born at Gartan, Donegal in Ireland and came from a warring royal line. After a battle in Ulster in around 563 it is thought that he was banished, thus bringing him to Iona. It is, of course, possible that he came of his own free will to work as a missionary to the Scots in Dal Riata but his later involvement in Scottish politics suggests that he was always involved in non-religious activities.

He arrived in Scotland in around 563 and came as a pilgrim, he first landed on the island of Hinba and it is possible that he did not go to Iona until the 570's. Before moving to Iona he had already founded a church at Derry and a monastery at Durrow so he was experienced in building new ecclesiastical foundations. Columba was the next saint mentioned by Bede, he arrived in Scotland in around 563 and came as a pilgrim, he first landed on the island of Hinba and it is possible that he did not go to Iona until the 570's. The first account of Columba is the Amra which was written shortly after his death in 597 and miracles are being attributed to him even at this early stage and he is also described as 'the protector of a hundred churches' which suggests there was a reasonable Christian community in existence. The next work, written in the 660's on Iona, is called the Liber de virtutibus sancti Columbae, and this also has Columba performing miracles. Neither account has him working in a missionary capacity, however, he does travel up the Great Glen to visit the Pictish king, Bridei, but conversion was not the purpose of the trip. In general Columba's contacts were with those of the Dalriadan Scots, especially the territory of the Cenel Loairn (modern Argyll). By ordaining Aedan mac Gabrain, who granted Iona to him, Columba allied himself with the Scots (not the Picts as mentioned by Bede) although he was also on friendly terms with Rhydderch, King of the Dumbarton Britons. Only a year after he ordained Aedan he was at the Convention of Druim Cett in 575, this meeting of the kings of Dalriada and of those of northern Ireland began an alliance which also did Columba's paruchia (family of churches) no harm at all.

Columba preaching to the Picts - portrait by William Hole

Iona was the most important part of the paruchia linking all the separate churches together into one coherent unit. Both the Amra and Adomnan's Life of Columba suggest that at least 150 monks would have lived on the island at any one time. The monks, most of whom would have come from Ireland, lived in small individual cells made of turf or stone and there would have been students, teachers and workers as well as those actively involved in ministry.

Columba's work spread throughout the west of Scotland and linked with the earlier foundation at Whithorn, he died on Iona in c.597.

Columba was not the only holy man to work in Scotland, others came from Ireland such as St Moluag, founder of the monastery on Lismore in 562 and St Maelrubba in the mid 660's who established himself at Applecross. Others went to the south, St Aidan set out to convert the Angles in Northumbria while St Cuthbert did the same in the Lothians. One of the most famous of all the early saints is Kentigern, although only the date of his death is known with any certainty, c. 612. He may have been born in Culross, Fife and most of what we know concerning him comes from Jocelyn's Life of Kentigern which was written in the twelfth century.

The view from Ulva towards Iona

Columba's Shrine or Brecbennach

By 664 and the Synod of Whitby there were real differences between the Celtic and Roman Churches and at the synod the Roman side decisively won. Adomnan, author of the most famous Life of Columba, became abbot of Iona in 697 and during his period on Iona he linked it with the Irish royal house very strongly. He also put forward the 'Law of the Innocents', which was designed to protect the clergy, women and children from the worst aspects of Dark Age warfare, to the Synod of Birr (in County Offaly, Ireland) in 697 and surprisingly it was ratified by the kings of the Scots and Picts, probably by the king of Strathclyde and several Irish kings.

Due to the repeated attacks by the Vikings Iona was abandoned in 807 with most of the monks retiring to Ireland although a token presence may have been left behind. What became known as the Book of Kells was taken to Kells and the psalter known as the Battler was also taken to Ireland. Columba's Brecbennach and crozier both went east. When Kenneth MacAlpin came to the throne in c. 843 he established a religious centre at Dunkeld and Columba's relics were brought there. Scotland now had two religious centres, the new one at Dunkeld but also the previously established one at St Andrews. St Andrews or Kilrimont had been dedicated by the Pictish king Oengus and it would shortly become the centre for the royal MacAlpin dynasty. Brechin was also a religious centre at this time but there were no set boundaries between the three centres and the arrangement was not yet truly Episcopal. Monasticism survived, and indeed grew, during the period up to 1000 AD and beyond - the monastic orders such as the Culdees were attached to the great royal and ecclesiastical centres such as Kilrimont and Dunkeld. Partnership rather than conflict between 'Irish' and 'Roman' ways was the norm and both could be combined in the same person, such as Tuathal son of Artgus (Gaelic name) who was 'chief bishop of Fortriu'.

Bishops now became more common with Constantine II having a bishop called Cellach, he himself retired to a monastery in 943. The first bishop with a known diocese was Turgot who was referred to, in 1108, as 'Bishop of the Church of St Andrew of Scotland' during the reign of Alexander I. A distinctive Scottish Church was recognised by a papal bull of 1174 which stated that it was a 'special daughter' of Rome. Other ecclesiastics and their writings are known to us from this time, including Adam of Dryburgh and Saint Gilbert.