Beauly Priory
 | |
| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Order | Valliscaulian, Cistercian (after 1510) |
| Established | 1230 |
| Disestablished | 1634 |
| Mother house | Val-des-Choux |
| Diocese | Diocese of Moray |
| Controlled churches | Abertarff; Comar; Conveth |
| People | |
| Founder(s) |
Alexander II of Scotland John Byset |
| Important associated figures | Robert Reid |
Beauly Priory was a Valliscaulian monastic community located at "Insula de Achenbady", now Beauly, Inverness-shire. It was probably founded in 1230. It is not known for certain who the founder was, different sources giving Alexander II of Scotland, John Byset, and both. The French monks, along with Bisset (a nearby, recently settled landowner), had a strong enough French-speaking presence to give the location and the river the name "beau lieu" ("beautiful place") and have it pass into English.
It is not the best documented abbey, and few of the priors of Beauly are known by name until the 14th century. It became Cistercian on April 16, 1510, after the suppression of the Valliscaulian Order by the Pope. The priory was gradually secularized, and ruled by a series of commendatory abbots. The priory's lands were given over to the bishop of Ross by royal charter on October 20, 1634.
The ruins today are still extensive and are one of the main visitor attractions in Inverness-shire. It is protected as a scheduled monument and a Category A listed building.[1][2]
John Keats
In August 1818 John Keats and his friend Charles Brown stopped at Beauly on their way to Cromarty. Their visit produced a collaborative poem, On Some Skulls in Beauley Abbey, near Inverness, written early in August 1818 or possibly some weeks or months later. The majority of the lines are by Brown. Keats contributed the first line of the poem and the first four words of the second line, and three stanzas.[3]
Notable burials
- Hugh Fraser, 3rd Lord Lovat was buried at Beauly Priory after he was killed at the Battle of the Shirts in 1544.[4]
- Walter Ross, son of William Ross the provost of Tain, was buried at Beauly Priory after he died from wounds received at the Battle of Glen Affric in 1721.[5]
Gallery
Beauly Priory facade
Sign outside
See also
Bibliography
- Chisholm-Batten, Edmund, The Charters of the Priory of Beauly with Notices of the Priories of Pluscardine and Ardchattan and of the Family of the Founder John Byset. London: Houlston & Sons. 1877. alt
- Cowan, Ian B. & Easson, David E., Medieval Religious Houses: Scotland With an Appendix on the Houses in the Isle of Man, Second Edition, (London, 1976), p. 84
- Watt, D.E.R. & Shead, N.F. (eds.), The Heads of Religious Houses in Scotland from the 12th to the 16th Centuries, The Scottish Records Society, New Series, Volume 24, (Edinburgh, 2001), pp. 15–18
References
- ↑ "Beauly Priory,priory and burial ground SM90031". Historic Environment Scotland. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
- ↑ "BEAULY PRIORY LB7129". Historic Environment Scotland. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
- ↑ Stillinger, Jack, The Poems of John Keats, London, Heinemann, 1978, p.617
- ↑ Way, George and Squire, Romily. (1994). Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia. (Foreword by The Rt Hon. The Earl of Elgin KT, Convenor, The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs). pp. 144 - 145.
- ↑ Mackinnon, Donald. (1954). The Clan Ross. p. 24. W & A K Johnston's Clan Histories. Edinburgh and London.
External links
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