The ancient town of Tain claims to have received its first privileges from Malcolm Canmore in the eleventh century. It was also the site of an early church, and St. Duthus, the patron saint of the town, is reputed to have been the Bishop of Ross in the eleventh century. The existing town stands at a point near the entrance to Dornoch Frith, on an ancient sea margin, which rises above a great expanse of sandy links stretching eastwards towards the sea. It possesses no less than three ancient churches, all said to have been dedicated to St. Duthus. This saint probably lived about the year 1000, and his remains are said to have been translated to his native town of Tain in 1253.[186] The most ancient church ([Fig. 931]) stands on a knoll which rises above the general level of the links. It is now surrounded by a well kept modern cemetery, and is at some distance from the town, but is believed to have stood in the midst of the houses of the older Tain, which occupied the low ground near the sea. This ancient fane is a simple parallelogram, 46 feet long by 16 feet 6 inches wide internally. Three of its walls ([Fig. 932]), which are all built with the granite boulders of the district, and the east and west gables are still almost entire, but the south wall is reduced to a state of ruin. The north, east, and west walls, which are much exposed to the storms from the sea, are without any openings, except a small pointed window in the west gable. The doorway and windows seem to have been in the south wall, which may account for its ruinous condition. The one small window remaining in that wall, and the pointed window in the west gable, indicate a date not earlier than the thirteenth century. Besides these there are no features to give a clue to the date of the structure; but the period they point to agrees with the time when the body of St. Duthus is believed to have been brought here for burial.
The shrine of St. Duthus was regarded as specially sacred, and possessed the right of sanctuary. To it the wife and daughter of King Robert I. betook themselves when compelled to flee from Kildrummy Castle, in Aberdeenshire. But the sacred nature of the sanctuary did not avail the royal fugitives, and they were delivered up to Edward by the Earl of Ross.
Fig. 932.—Old St. Duthus’ Church. View from South-West.
It is believed that this church was destroyed by fire in 1429; M‘Neill of Creich, having pursued his enemies thither, took that means of evading the right of sanctuary. He did not seize his enemies within the sacred ground, but set fire to the church in which they had taken refuge.
The second church in point of antiquity is a small quadrangular structure ([Fig. 933]) which stands near the principal church, and to the south-east of it, on the higher ground adjacent to the modern town. It is 32 feet long by 13 feet wide within the walls, which are now reduced to about 6 to 7 feet in height all round. The north wall appears to have been rebuilt, for Mr. Neale describes it in his Ecclesiological Notes[187] as being ruinous, but having one lancet. The east end contains a triplet enclosed in one arch, and the south side has a door and a two-light window under one arch. These features point to the date of this chapel as being early, but it is scarcely possible to fix a definite time. It is, however, apparently earlier than 1429, the date of the burning of St. Duthus’ Church on the links, and it is thought that this may have been the original parish church. The adjoining larger church is recorded as having been a rebuilding of a previous church, and it seems most probable that the building now under consideration was the earlier church.
As regards the third church (see [Fig. 933]), which was undoubtedly dedicated to St. Duthus, chronicles declare it to have been built by William, Earl of Ross, who died in 1371. In 1487 James III. procured from the Bishop of Ross and the Pope sanction for converting it into a collegiate establishment for a provost, five canons, two deacons, a sacrist, with an assistant clerk, and three singing boys. This institution was liberally endowed out of the crown lands, and, after the death of James III., an annual sum was paid out of the royal treasury.[188]
