east-lothian-1924/05-058

Transcription

ABERLADY.] -- HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. -- [ABERLADY.

shield is planted on the shaft bearing on a
chevron a rose between two lions counter-
combatant - the Hepburn arms. Around the
edge of the stone is the inscription in Gothic
characters : . . . HONORABILIS VIR KENT-
IGERNUS HEPBURN . . . DE WAUCHTOUN.
In the sanctuary and in the angles of the
nave are traces of paving. The structure dates
from the end of the 13th century.
HISTORICAL NOTE. - The Carmelites or White
Friars were constituted as a mendicant order in
1264. They wore a white cappa or cloak over
a brown tunic &c., whence the descriptive
name. The friars of Luffness (fratres de Lufnok)
had a grant in alms of ten marks annually
from Luffness estate, which grant, in 1335-6,
was said to be ancient. ² At this date the land
of " Lufnok " was in the hands of Edward III.
of England by his forfeiture of John de " Bikir-
toun." ³ On its transference to the Hepburns in
the fifteenth century and Kentigern Hepburn
see No. 3. The tomb noted above was said
(1723) to be of one of the Bickertons . .
"commonly called Lord Bickerton" ⁴ - but there
was no such title. According to James Miller
(1844) " the statue of a man as large as life,
with a shield on his breast " went by the name
of " Friar Bickerton." ⁵
The lands and buildings " ad lie Carmelit
Freiris " of Luffness were granted in feu farm
in 1609 to Robert Hepburn junior in Over
Hailes but nine years later to Patrick Hepburn
of Waughton. ⁶

1 Scotichronicon, ii., p. 540 ; Reg. Mag.
Sig., i., p. 606 ; 2 Cal. Docts. iii., p. 338 ;
3 Ibid ; 4 Macfarlane, Geog. Colls. i., p. 374 ;
5 Lamp of Lothian, p. 122 note ; 6 Reg. Mag.
Sig. s.a.

iv. N.E. Convent (Carmelite Friars). 3
July, 1913.

2. Aberlady Parish Church .- This church is
situated at the western extremity of the village,
overlooking Aberlady Bay. The tower at the
western end (fig. 33) is a 15th century con-
struction 18 feet square on plan ; it rises
unbroken, save for a projecting string-course,
to an intake 30 feet above the ground. Ten
feet above this it terminates in a corbel course
supporting a plain stone parapet, within which
it is roofed with a slated pyramidal spire. The
ground floor is vaulted and this and the two
intermediate floors are lit by narrow slits ;
the fourth floor has two-light windows with
semicircular heads and modern mullions. The
walls are 3 feet 6 inches thick.
The two burial aisles on the north were
built c. late 16th and early 17th century.
The north windows imitative of " plate "
tracery are of some interest. The empty panel
space above a door in the eastern aisle may not
belong to this structure but to Kilspindie
Tower (No. 4).
In the Statistical Account, vi., p. 548 it is
recorded that the church was built in 1773
replacing an older building 100 feet in length,
16 1/2 feet in breadth and between 10 and 11 feet
in height with walls partially built of mud. The
later structure in its turn has been restored
within recent years and is in use and in good
condition.
MONUMENT. - To the east of the church
within the graveyard is an elaborate free-
standing monument of the 17th century, de-
signed in the Renaissance style.
HISTORICAL NOTE. - The lands of Aberlady,
including the church, belonged to the bishop
of Dunkeld. In 1454 all the lands south of the
Forth possessed by that bishop were incor-
porated in the barony of Aberlady - these lands
being Aberlady, Preston, Cramond and Aber-
corn. ¹ Bishop Thomas Lauder (1452-76)
erected the vicarage into a prebend of the
cathedral church ² and in 1469 granted, with
the consent of his chapter, 6 merks annually
from the prebend for the support of chorister
boys in the cathedral, a grant confirmed by
James III. in 1472. ³ There was a chapel
dedicated to the B. V. Mary within the ceme-
tery of the parish church. ⁴

1 Reg. Mag. Sig. s.a. No. 600 ; 2 Rentale
Dunkeldense, p. 337 ; 3 Reg. Mag. Sig. s.a.
No. 1056 ; 4 Inquis. Spec. i. Hadd. No. 1.

iv. N.E. (unnoted). 2 June 1914.

CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC STRUCTURES.

3. Luffness House. - The mansion of Luffness
stands within wooded policies at the mouth of
the Peffer burn on the shore of Aberlady Bay,
and commands an extensive prospect of the
Firth of Forth. On plan the structure is

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