The History of Lochee

Old Lochee Book 1911.

From "Lochee" - As it was and is - by Alexander Elliot - 1911

Chapter 6

LOGIE—ITS KIRK IN BYGONE TIMES.

REGARDED in the light of antiquity, Logie and all that pertains to it far, very far, overshadows old Lochee. In centuries almost forgotten it was a separate and independent parish, and its church was under the temporal and spiritual jurisdiction of great clerics. Now, however, that it has been incorporated with Lochee, it is expedient that reference befitting its importance be made to it. The Parish of Logie formed the outlying or landward possessions of the burgh, and to distinguish it from other places bearing the same name it was designated Logic-Dundee. Though closely identified with the town, and having intimate business relations with it, there is a paucity of detail as to its past history. Information of an authentic kind is meagre and difficult to obtain, and that which has been got cannot be called satisfying to those who are interested in such matters. Of the antiquity of the church and parish there cannot be any doubt. Whether the privilege of sepulture was attached to it from the beginning or was accorded at a later date has not been ascertained. At all events, apart from the right of interment, it is definitely known that the church of Logie was in existence in the twelfth century.

It is probable it might have been erected in the time of King Edgar, who died in Dundee on 10th January 1106, after, writes Thomson, "a peaceable reign of nine years." There is, however, a certainty that Logie had a habitation and name in the reign of Edgar's brother and immediate successor, Alexander I., who ascended the Throne 1107, and who shortly thereafter, as stated by several chroniclers, made a gift of the church and its lands to a great ecclesiastical house. Jervise, a most reliable writer, says that, "like the kirks of Liff and Invergowrie, 'Logyn-Dundho' was given to the Abbey of Scone by Alexander I. In the diocese of St Andrews, it was dedicated by Bishop David [Bernham] in 1243." The name of the patron saint, if ever it was so honoured, has passed into oblivion. Neither have we a record of the style of architecture, the dimensions of the structure, nor the names of the clergymen who were the earliest, or amongst the earliest, to conduct the devotions of the period within its walls. The services probably were maintained by successive readers or lay brothers belonging either to some of the churches in the burgh or to the Abbey. It was not till 1551 that the name of a clergyman associated with the church is mentioned. As a centre of religious thought, even on the limited scale peculiar to those times, Logie Church does not appear to have been deemed of much importance. The value of Logie, such as it was, lay no doubt in its lauds and pertinents. These were extensive, and as they were contiguous to, and, in some instances, formed part of the ancient burgh, their worth, as time went on, became enhanced. Before the Reformation, and sometime after, Logie remained intact; and an idea of its extent as an estate and parish may be gathered from the fact that it embraced within its bounds the estates of Blackness, Balgay, a large portion of Dudhope, and property extending as far as Constitution Road, Barrack Street, West Port, and Park Place.

The church for a very lengthened period was mensal, its emoluments having been granted to the See of Brechin to assist in maintaining the table of the Bishop. When this gift was made, and by whom, like everything relating to its early affairs, is not known. From the date of dedication in 1243 till 1551 a hiatus occurs in its history. It can only be surmised that religious services were periodically conducted in conjunction with Liff and Invergowrie, with which it was ecclesiastically combined. After emerging from that unenlightened period, the earliest reference to Logie Church is made by Maxwell. He states that the benefices of the before-mentioned three churches were held in 1551 by "Dan Andro Gornar, ane o' the brether o' the Abbay of Scone," who was "vicar of Loge, Lif, and Innergowry." Here we have the first recorded name of a clergyman who had had a connection with Logie, if we except Bishop Bernham, by whom it was consecrated. Scott, in his "Fasti," makes no reference to Gornar. He states that William Haitlie officiated in Logie in 1574, and that he was followed by John Christieson, a reader from Dunfermline, in 1576. The latter, according to the same authority, seems to have been associated with the parish for about twelve years, as Scott, in his addenda under the heading "Logie," says he "continued till 1608." Quoting still further from the "Fasti," it is noted that the first clergyman of Liff Church was Ninian Hall, who held the three charges in 1567. As this no doubt is correct, Ninian Hall had followed Gornar, and preceded Haitlie in the charge of Logie. Scott further says, with reference to the suppression of Logie as an independent parish, that it was "united to Liff by Commissioners in Parliament before 3rd September 1613, but was served quoad spiritualia by a parson from Dundee, for whom provision was made to the extent of 'twelve bollis victuals'"—it is presumed per annum. Consequent on this rearrangement, equitable or otherwise, the various "parts or pertinents" of Logie were divided. The eastern part, which was supposed to amount to one-third, was annexed to Dundee, and the other two-thirds were handed over to the custody of Liff.

Hence the interest that for a long time Dundee on the one hand, and its sister parish of Liff on the other, had in Logie and all connected therewith. When Logie ceased to be a place of worship cannot be determined with any degree of certainty. It can only be assumed that when a mob during the Reformation period, in an outburst of extravagant fervour, marched from Dundee to Liff and Abernyte, destroying in its progress the churches and purloining the bells, it must have gone by way of Logie, as the only road to these villages went by the south-east side of it. It is therefore presumed that Logie shared the fate of the other buildings; and as it was situated nearer the town, it was probably the first upon which ruthless hands were placed. The teachings of Wishart, Knox, and Paul Methven, the latter a native of the town and a man of much ability, had ripened, and long suppressed religious excitement culminated in outbursts of extravagant zeal that found expression in the insensate demolition of superb ecclesiastical edifices. If the church of Logie was destroyed at that period, which there is no reason to doubt, it does not appear that an attempt at restoration had ever subsequently been made. It is assumed, therefore, that the ruins were allowed to lie neglected until removed elsewhere.

In the course of years the town's portion of the estate of Logie was severed from the control of the authorities, whose finances had run low. This arose from a variety of causes. In order to liquidate some of its liabilities the Council therefore resolved to dispose of the lands. As recorded in the Burgh Charters this resolution was come to on 6th December 1705, and in the following February the property was taken over by Alexander Wedderburn of Blackness for the sum of 17,500 merks, being an equivalent to a money value of about £900. This, to most people, may seem a ridiculously meagre figure. It must, however, be remembered that the value of land was then reckoned at a very low standard. Logie, it may be pointed out, for a considerable period was in possession of the Wedderburris, but eventually, when misfortune fell upon them, it was disposed of to a relative at a high figure to enable a later baronet to purchase a commission in the army.
Despite the circumstance that a church had existed at Logie for centuries, it does not appear that a residential population had ever settled in its neighbourhood. A few houses of a primitive type probably were scattered around, but, taken altogether, the likelihood is that the adjacent land was either partially a waste moor or covered with timber.

THE AULD KIRKYARD.

If the privilege of sepulture was not conferred upon Logie when the church was built, it is probable it was granted soon after. It, therefore, can only be conjectured that the mound upon which the venerable edifice stood from that date till it was officially closed in 1865 had been used as a burial place. In support of this contention it may be mentioned that when certain excavations were in progress in 1826 several interesting relics were discovered amongst the debris of the foundations of the old fabric. Jervise states that one of these consisted of a "fragment (stone) of a coffin slab, possibly of the fourteenth or fifteenth century. It is similar to those fine samples," he continues," which lie at the Church of St Mary, Dundee, with a floral cross upon the face of it and an old-fashioned sword upon one of the sides." Myles, too, refers to it, and indicates that "this stone had likely been the memento of someone distinguished for military prowess who had been interred within the church, and for aught known to the contrary may have been the monument of one of the ancient Scrimgeours of Dudhope, Hereditary Constables of Dundee." Quoting further from Jervise, "the other relic," that writer remarks, "is the shaft of a pillar monument, with square hole in top, miscalled ' the holy water stane.' "This unique and somewhat solitary remnant of the ancient church has been preserved, and stands in an upright position at the top of the old footpath within the churchyard.

The statement that in former times it had been used as a font in the ceremonial of baptism is now discredited. From its construction it is supposed that it had formed part of an ornate superstructure probably within the chancel or in the archway which led to it. Though weatherworn, the "font" is still in good preservation. It is also averred that during the excavations mentioned " a few round pieces of lead about the size of a shilling were unearthed. One side bore a representation of the passion cross, and on the other the single word 'Logie' was inscribed—both being impressed in low relief. These were Sacramental or Communion tokens which had been in use prior to the extinction of Logie as an independent parish." In his "Summary of the Roman Catholic Religion," Alexander Macdonald, writing of Logie, says that about 1835, with the exception of these meagre souvenirs there is no other known vestige linking Logie of modern times with the Logie of a remote day. For several centuries this ancient churchyard was disgracefully neglected. The authorities paid no heed to its condition, and it became the rendezvous of nonde­scripts of a most undesirable kind.

In the early years of the nineteenth century the graves were often violated by resurrectionists, and watchers were employed to prevent systematic desecration. It was described as "the most desolate burial-ground in Scotland, as there was no enclosure to keep out man or beast." Alexander Leighton, a Dundee gentleman, in the "Tales of the Borders," whilst relating the story of the "Cradle of Logie," adverts to the churchyard, with the condition of which he was well acquainted. Describing it as "a small and romantic Golgotha on the left of the road leading to Lochee, whose inhabitants it contained, and which was so limited and crowded that one might prefigure it as one of those holes or dungeons in some of Michael Angelo's pictures," he declares it to be a "contracted valley of tumuli and bones." "No churchyard," he adds, "except those of Judea, was ever invested with such terrors—not even the mystical fears of a divine Fate seen descending in a cloud with Justice gleaming with fiery eyes on Sin, and holding the scales, the decision of which would destine to eternal bliss or eternal woe."

A DECADENT RESTING-PLACE.

Other writers were as severe in their criticism of this decadent resting-place of humanity, where footpads abounded at night, and cattle and horses made it a grazing ground by day. The strictures were deserved, and contemporary residenters aver that the state of Logic Churchyard was in every sense repugnant to the sentiments of those who entertained respect for the memory of departed friends and kindred. Though certain people of affluence claimed Logie as their family burial-place, in reality it was the cemetery of the poor. By the inhabitants of the west end of Dundee it was largely used. Until a late date few of the people of Logie or Lochee were interred there. The residenters in old Lochee, living as they did close to and associated with Liff, were attached to the churchyard of that parish. It was only when the population of Lochee and Logie extended that the ancient place of sepulture was more fully resorted to for interment. The neglect of sanitation, and indifference to or ignorance on the part of a supine Local Authority, rendered Dundee and neighbourhood, in the early part of the eighteenth century, open to attacks of virulent disorders. As a concomitant the death-rate stood abnormally high, and infectious disease, seldom absent, swept hundreds into premature graves. As showing the awful scope of typhus alone, it was estimated from calculations made from Departmental bills of mortality that from 1833 till 1839, when the population of the burgh ranged between fifty and sixty thousand, no fewer than 11,800 cases occurred, with a resultant list of 1312 deaths. Smallpox claimed a large quota of victims, some years numbering 126. Consumption, the most ruthless scourge of all, unfortunately was not regarded with that solicitude which its fatal nature demanded. Its treatment seemed to elude medical skill, and sufferers met their fate for the sufficient reason that the causes which led up to it were not properly understood. In these circumstances, therefore, and considered apart from the mortality that arose incidentally •and from natural causes, deaths were painfully numerous. A large proportion of the interments were made in Logie, no heed being taken of its overcrowded state. So limited, indeed, were its resources in that respect that the footpaths by which it was traversed were converted into burial pits. It is recorded that in a specific year a hundred interments were made where there was only legitimate space for three! In other respects it was dis­honoured—degraded. One corner was used as a manure stance, and another was flanked by an extensive piggery! And attempts even were twice made to denude it of its trees—its only ornament! Indeed, such was the indifference of the time, instead of exciting legitimate veneration, this depository of all that is mortal was subjected to most unhallowed indignities.
These ever-recurring offences against public feeling in due time were brought to an end, or at all events became less obnoxious. An appeal to those in authority for the erection of a retaining wall to afford protection was unheeded. A sum sufficient for that purpose, however, was raised by subscription, and a surrounding wall eight feet in height was built in 1837. At the same time a small burn on the north side was paved over and converted into a footpath. This was so far satisfactory, but still the churchyard continued to be the haunt of the loafer. To prevent this as far as possible, the former wall was taken down in 1898 and a four-foot parapet, surmounted by a tall iron railing, was erected to ensure privacy and afford more effectual security

EPITAPHS AND INSCRIPTIONS.

Churchyard literature has a fascination peculiarly its own. In especial it appeals to the antiquarian, and even the superficial observer does not disdain to take an interest in the mute records of our forefathers. It is said that schoolmasters and parish ministers were responsible for many of the flights of quasi-poetic thought that grace memorial tablets. Logie must plead a modest excuse. No matter how much it may have offended modern taste in other respects, this indictment cannot be laid to its charge. Literature of the tombstone of an obsolete or of even a unique pattern it has none. Jervise, referring to this matter, says, " The oldest lettered tombstone so far as I have seen is dated 1786; and though numerous, few, if any, of the inscriptions are of general interest."Dr Rodger, another antiquarian of repute, writes in the same strain. Though the Doctor was well acquainted with Logie, he treats it with scant courtesy. The tombstone to which Jervise refers is either demolished or removed, as it cannot now be discovered. Another, dated 1794, was erected by Jean Barrie in memory of her spouse, that date being nearest to the one given by Jervise.

John, second son of Alexr. Rattray, d. 1839, a. 6 y. 8 m.
And must this body die ?
This mortal frame decay ?
And must these active limbs of mine
Lie mouldering in the clay 1—(Jervise).

Myles says that the following are the only inscriptions worthy of
note:—

Reader! cease thy pace, we pray,
Hearken unto what we say ;
As you are, such once were we;
As we are, such once you'll be.                      

There is an epitaph, similarly couched, inscribed on a tombstone
in the Howff.

This monument stands here to show
That all is mortal here below;
In a short time, as we draw breath,
Are suddenly cut down by death.

A striking memorial records the death of John Bennet, cabinetmaker, Dundee, who died 26th April 1822, aged 47. This stone was erected by a select number of journeymen cabinet­makers as a mark of respect and esteem for a kind master and a sincere friend; and their high sense of the genuine integrity of conduct and warmth of feeling which distinguished through life him who lies below. The tombstone is still in a fair state of preservation, but it is showing signs of decay, and leans over heavily.

Sacred to the memory of Thomas Scott, who died in 1811. Erected by his children.
This stone is in a decaying condition.
The most imposing private burial place is that belonging to members of the Baxter family. It is stated that it was owned by Edward Baxter, merchant, Dundee, laird of Kincaldrum, and father of W. E. Baxter, M.P. It contains a handsome freestone monument, with a marble tablet, upon which are recorded the death of Mr Baxter's first wife, Euphemia Wilson, who died at Balgay House, 22nd August 1833; also that of his second wife, Elizabeth Jobson, who died 2nd July 1842; together with two daughters who died young.

An examination of the tombstones, in so far as they can be deciphered, shows that people belonging to all parts of Dundee have been interred in Logie. Many of the stones are broken, and the majority of those still standing are in a state of dilapidation. The Town Council in 1897, with a view to their preservation, instructed their Superintendent of Cemeteries, Mr Carnochan, to make inquiries about the owners or their representatives. In very few instances was Mr Carnochan able to trace the ownership, most of the parties having an interest in the lairs being dead.

The small building on the top of the mound has been regarded as a landmark for many years. It was erected by Major Fyffe, who intended it as a family mausoleum. As he removed to Monikie soon after its completion, that project was' abandoned. Since then it has been used for the storage of the caretaker's implements. This erection rests upon part of the ground covered by the pre-Reformation Church. Judging, indeed, from the style of masonry at the north-east corner, it seems to be supported by a fragment of the ancient edifice. In the north wall, too, a shield, minus inscription, is inserted. No clue is given of its origin. At the side of the south wall, and lying flat on the sward, is an ancient stone, covered with carving, and apparently belonging to the early part of the seventeenth century. It is broken in two pieces.

THE LAST PERSONS BURIED IN LOGIE.

When the Privy Council ordered Logie and similar intramural burial grounds to be closed, they at the same time made judicious provision for the due recognition of the parties having vested rights. For some time, therefore, after the issue of the order interments took place at intervals; but in the course of a few years these rights expired, when burials altogether ceased. The final interments in Logie were:—Elizabeth McGavin or Low, High Street, Lochee – 18th May 1872; John Gordon, manufactor, Gordon Street, Lochee – 14th September 1874; Thomas Wilson, Oakbank Elgin – 18th May 1875. (Mr Wislon was tenant of the farm of Hillside of Balgay for many years)