The reredos at Old Saint Paul’s

Edinburgh: tradition, temperance and tearooms

The high Anglo-Catholic tradition practiced at Old Saint Paul’s is complimented by many of the fitments & fixtures in the church and particularly by the very ornate reredos behind the altar. 

It was installed in 1892, but only in Spring 2016 were the accumulations of dust, candle smoke and incense cleaned off to reveal its original gilded glory. I also felt that it was time to blow some dust off the archives and investigate the origins of this major fixture at OSP.

It was in November 1892 that Rector Canon Mitchell-Innes wrote in OSP Magazine “a long-felt want in the church is about to be fulfilled by a kind gift from a member of the congregation”; this was the donation of the reredos by a Miss Kate Cranston of Edinburgh.  Our Kate Cranston was the cousin of the more famous other Kate Cranston of the “Willow Tearooms” in Glasgow and both Cranston families were very involved in the 19th century Temperance Movement. The families ran “teetotal” hotels, shops and tearooms, both in Glasgow, Edinburgh and London in an attempt to counter the lax alcohol laws of that time. 

An advert for the New Waverley Temperance Hotel, Princes Street, Edinburgh, owned by Robert Cranston and run by his daughter (our) Kate Cranston.

Rector Mitchell-Innes spent a great deal of time and effort in getting both the design and content of the reredos structure correct by consulting the leading clergy of that time. The architect chosen was Hay Henderson of Edinburgh and the famous Zwink family of Oberamergau in Bavaria carved the figures. Letters from Zwink to OSP provide an amusing insight into misinterpretation and mistranslation on both sides, as Zwink assumed we were Roman Catholic, not Scottish Episcopal, and so provided R.C. iconography. Also, the term “ark” was misinterpreted and Noah near ended up holding the Ark of the Covenant!

The cleaned and restored reredos at Old St Paul's, Edinburgh. 

The iconography is complex, but is related to the four sacred offices of Jesus- Prophet, Priest, King and Saviour as exemplified by four, central, major Old Testament Prophets, Moses (prophet), Melchisedek (priest), Solomon (king) and Joshua (saviour). Each major prophet is surrounded by four lesser prophets and all the figures were inserted into the Hay Henderson framework, made by John Gibson, sculptor of Edinburgh. The final assembly lacked the central paintings, but was dedicated by Bishop Dowden in late 1893.

The central painting of “Virgin & Child” was a copy of one by Benozzo Gonzoli and the two side panel paintings were copied from a frieze in the Medici Palace in Venice. Both were added several years later at another dedication service.

This note is a shortened version of two articles I wrote for the Parish Newsletter of Old Saint Paul’s Church called “The White Rose’ in December 2015 & February/March 2016. Full text and illustrations can be read and downloaded at www.osp.org.uk.

Peder Aspen, Archivist for Old Saint Paul’s SEC, Edinburgh. 

Dr Archibald Pitcairne

This week is the 300th anniversary of the death of Dr Archibald Pitcairne, a significant Episcopalian layman and committed Jacobite, and who went to the aid of Sir Isaac Newton during his dark years.  Pitcairne is buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard in Edinburgh. According to the DNB he died on 23 October 1713 and was buried on 26th, whilst the tombstone give 26th for his death.

 

I would be interested to learn of instances when Pitcairne makes an appearance in the SEC story.  He probably treated quite a number of early Episcopalians, eg., when the young Countess Dundonald contracted smallpox in Paisley in 1710, Pitcairne summoned Bishop Alexander Rose to her deathbed.

 

Should you be near Greyfriars this week, I hope you can pay your respects to Dr Pitcairne.

 

Roger Edwards

The Sad Story of James Lundin Cooper

Eleanor Harris is researching the 430 individuals who appear in the registers of Charlotte Episcopal Chapel, Edinburgh, 1794-1818. James Lundin Cooper of Kirkcaldy, and his unfortunate bride Sarah Brown, were amongst them...
In 1816, twenty-five-year-old James Lundin Cooper brought his bride Sarah Brown to Edinburgh to be married by Bishop Daniel Sandford in the stylish Charlotte Chapel. He was a writer in Kirkcaldy and she was the daughter of a local merchant. He appears a few years later practising his profession, administering the estate of a bankrupt businessman in Kirkcaldy.
Cooper was an ambitious man, and not content to remain merely a provincial lawyer he sought his fortune in business. By 1830 he was manager of the Kirkcaldy and London Shipping Company, which ran three ships and employed three Captains, rejoicing in the names of Moir, Morison and Mann. As the leading Manager (or vestryman) of the Episcopal Chapel in Kirkcaldy, he successfully charmed the energetic, young and dedicated priest Mr Marshall into replacing their decrepit old incumbent, even though the chapel could only offer a paltry £20 stipend. Meanwhile his family prospered: Sarah bore him three chidren, Elizabeth, Michael and Mary.
It quickly became clear to Rev Marshall, however, that Cooper and his fellow managers were running a racket, giving themselves huge discounts on seat-rents, keeping Marshall's salary low, and 'finding it convenient that the clause should fall into disuse' which stipulated that the whole congregation should choose their managers annually, preferring instead to appoint themselves for life.
When the priest tried to rectify the situation, the managers went to the bishop, accusing Marshall of immorality, neglect of duty, and (when this didn't work), insanity. This was a great mistake: Marshall was well-respected, and eloquent clergy weighed in to defend his character from this evident nonsense. Cooper, one of them reported, 'had the modesty to offer evidence to Bishop Torry that Mr Marshall is (or was) insane, and in his hand writing came forth a document in which that gentleman was charged with going to a theatre and dining out.' Cooper, who had been the man of education and status amongst the merchants and shoemakers on the vestry, was made to look very foolish by being represented in the lead actor in this farce.
Whereas other managers left the Episcopal Church altogether and began attending the Kirk -- although they still made a point of turning up to collect the contents of the collection plate, and chattering and laughing in the porch during Mr Marshall's service -- James does appear to have put his head down and attempted to make amends with the priest.
But it was too late. Whether it was divine judgement, the discrediting of his character, bad luck or similarly bad judgement in his business dealings, Cooper went bankrupt  in 1836. In 1838 his daughters Elizabeth and Mary died, and the following year James himself went to his grave. His teenage son Michael only outlived him by two years. I don't know what happened to Sarah. Perhaps she remarried.
One could take various morals from this story. I suppose the first might be, don't accuse your priest of insanity if you meet him at the theatre.
Eleanor Harris.