AN OLD SCOTTISH SEMINARY

New Zealand Tablet, 11 August 1910, Page 1255

AN OLD SCOTTISH SEMINARY

One of the. most affecting spots in Scotland to a Catholic is the old seminary of Scalan in Banffshire (says the Catholic Herald). Here in the trying days of the 18th century the lamp of faith was kept burning, and amidst innumerable trials and difficulties young men were trained for the priesthood and fostered in that spirit of fortitude and self-sacrifice so necessary to the proper fulfilment of their vocation. The idea of a seminary was first broached in 1713 by Bishops Nicholson and Gordon, and its first "establishment was an island in Loch Morar. The disturbances in the country caused by the rising of 1715 brought about the dissolution of the infant seminary, however, and re-establish-ment was not attempted till a year of two later, when Scalan was fixed upon as a suitable place in which the project might be prudently resumed. The property was situated upon the estate of the Duke of Gordon, who, being a Catholic, was anxious to further the good work. It was his influence that-made the establishment possible, and while he lived the seminary never wanted a friend. From this time on until the close of the century Scalan enjoyed a practically continuous existence and had an important influence upon the fortunes of the reviving Church in Scotland. Although laid in ashes by order of Cumberland after the disastrous defeat of the clans at Culloden, its work was only temporarily interrupted, and it continued to be the centre of Catholic life in the Highlands for more than fifty years. In 1799, for economic reasons, the college was removed to Aquhorties by Bishop Hay. It is now little more than a memory, yet within its sacred walls were trained some of the most capable and painstaking missionaries of the eighteenth century.