Elgin Cathedral

Infobox Medieval cathedral
name=Elgin Cathedral

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dedicated=The Holy Trinity
established=fl. x1114–1127x1131
1224 (in present location)
bull=Honorius III in 1224
diocese=Diocese of Moray (Moravienses)
diocese_est=x1114–1127x1131
deanery=Elgin
Inverness
Strathbogie
Strathspey
canons=25
events=Cathedral and chanonry damaged by fire–1270, 1390 and 1402
bishop=Bricius de Douglas
Andreas de Moravia
Alexander Bur
Patrick Hepburn
people=King Alexander II
Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan
John Shanks

Elgin Cathedral (coord|57|39|04|N|03|18|17|W) sometimes referred to as "The Lantern of the North" is an historic ruin in Elgin, Moray, north-east Scotland. The seats of the early bishops of Moray alternated between the churches of Birnie, Kineddar and Spynie. Bishop Bricius obtained papal authority to establish a fixed location for his cathedral at Spynie in 1206 but petitioned the pope before 1216 to have it moved to Elgin. Despite this, the cathedral remained at Spynie until 1224 when it was finally translated to Elgin by Bricius's successor, Andreas. The construction of this cathedral was completed near the end of the 13th century. Its octagonal chapter house—a unique feature in Scottish cathedrals—is mostly intact. The aisles contain the recessed tombs and effigies of some of the bishops as well as those of some of the cathedral's powerful benefactors. In 1390 the cathedral, the canons' manses and the Royal Burgh of Elgin were burned by Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, also known as the Wolf of Badenoch. The cathedral manses were attacked and destroyed again in 1402 by the Lord of the Isles’s followers. Substantial repairs to the cathedral were carried out in the 15th and 16th centuries before falling into disuse and ruination following the Scottish Reformation. Preservation of the building began slowly in the 19th century but in the latter half of the 20th century with the renovation of decayed blockwork the building is now fully stabilised.

Early cathedral churches of Moray

The first recorded bishop was Gregoir of Moray who was a signatory to the foundation charter of Scone Priory, issued by King Alexander I ("Alaxandair mac Maíl Choluim") between December 1123 and April , "Early Sources of Scottish History: AD 500–1286", 2 Vols, (Edinburgh, 1922), vol. ii, pp. 173–4, 183; Alan Orr Anderson, "Scottish Annals from English Chroniclers: AD 500–1286", (London, 1908), republished, Marjorie Anderson (ed.) (Stamford, 1991), pp. 158, 166; for confusion with "Malcom MacHeth", and analysis, see Richard Oram, "David: The King Who Made Scotland", (Gloucestershire, 2004), pp. 77, 84–7, 90–1, 93, 101, 113–5, 117–8, 189.] Fawcett, "Elgin Cathedral", p. 5]

The post-Óengus bishops of Moray did not have a settled location for their cathedral and sited it successively at Birnie, Kinneddar and Spynie.Cowan & Easson, "Religious Houses", p. 206] Pope Innocent III issued a bull on 7 April 1206 that allowed bishop Bricius de Douglas to fix his cathedral church at Spynie—its inauguration took place between spring 1207 and summer 1208. [Cant, "Historic Elgin and Cathedral", p. 21] A chapter of eight canons for the day-to-day running of the cathedral was authorised and based its constitution on that of Lincoln Cathedral. [Cant, "Historic Elgin and Cathedral", pp. 21, 22] Elgin became the lay centre of the province under King David who probably established the first castle in the town. [Oram, "Moray & Badenoch", p. 119] [Fawcett, "Elgin Cathedral", p. 5] It may have been this castle with its prospect of better security that caused Bricius before July 1216, to petition the pope to move the seat from Spynie. [Lost Episcopal Acta]

Cathedral church at Elgin

Despite Bricius's appeal, the seat was not transferred to Elgin until 10 April 1224 during Bishop Andreas de Moravia's episcopate. [ Lost Episcopal Acta] Pope Honorius III authorised his legates Gilbert de Moravia, bishop of Caithness and Robert, abbot of Kinloss to perform the translation ceremony which took place on 19 July 1224. Before that, on 10 July, King Alexander II ("Alaxandair mac Uilliam") agreed to the transference in an edict that referred to his having given the land previously for this purpose. [Cant, "Historic Elgin and Cathedral" p. 23] Given that the land-grant predated the Papal mandate, there is evidence that the building had started in around 1215. [Bishop, "Lands and People of Moray", p. 9] Completion was after 1242 but in 1270, according to the chronicler Fordun, the cathedral church and the canons’ houses had burned down but no reason was given. The cathedral was rebuilt in a grander style to form the greater part of the structure that is now visible in its ruined state. [Oram, "Moray & Badenoch" p. 93] It is supposed to have been completed by the outbreak of the Wars of Independence in 1296. The sanctity of the cathedral was respected by both the Scots and English during these wars as it was also by King Edward III of England during his assault on Moray in 1336.

In 1323 Bishop David de Moravia (1299–1326), a benefactor to religious learning, gave the lands of Grisy-Suisnes, outside Paris which formed the founding endowment of the Collège des Écossais. [Hunter-Blair, D.O., "The Catholic Encyclopedia", Vol XIII, 1912—article 'Scotland'] Soon after his election to the see in 1362–3, Bishop Alexander Bur requested funds from Pope Urban V for repairs to the cathedral citing neglect and hostile attacks. In August 1370 Bur began protection payments to Alexander Stewart, the de facto lord of Badenoch and son of Robert the Steward and who was soon to become King Robert II. [Boardman, "Early Stewart Kings", pp. 72–73] Stewart, Earl of Buchan from 1382, and Bur had many disputes that culminated in Stewart's excommunication in February 1390 and the bishop turning to Thomas Dunbar, son of the a grant from the customs of Inverness was provided.Fawcett, "Elgin Cathedral", p. 6 ] Relying on the collections from the faithful could not be relied upon. Among the ordinary people there was a growing feeling of disenchantment with the higher church establishment and this was further exacerbated by an increasing inclination for them to support the smaller churches where the bulk of the people worshipped. [Dowden, "Medieval Church", p. 97 ] Increasingly, the appropriation of the parish church revenues led in many cases to churches becoming dilapidated and unable to attract educated priests—by the later Middle Ages, the standard of pastoral care outside of the main burghs was totally inadequate. [Oram, "Moray & Badenoch", p. 83] Bishop John Innes (1407–14) contributed greatly to the rebuilding of the cathedral evidenced by the inscription on his tomb praising his efforts. The major alterations to the west front were completed before 1435 and contain the arms of Bishop Columba de Dunbar (1422–35) whereas it is presumed that the choir aisles were finished before 1460 as it contains the tomb of John de Winchester (1435–60). [Oram, "Moray & Badenoch", pp. 83, 91] Probably one of the last important rebuilding feature was the reshaping of the chapter house which contains the arms of Bishop Andrew Stewart (1482–1501). [MacDonald, W. Rae: Notes on the Heraldry of Elgin and its Surrounding District, Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot. 1899 Vol. 34 pp. 344–429]

Diocesan organisation

Chapter and deaneries

The name "chapter" is believed to have derived from the reading of a chapter of the rule book of Saint Benedict to assembled monks and collegiate secular priests of cathedrals. Gradually the meeting itself and those who attended it became "the chapter" and the assembly met in the "chapter house".Fanning, "Catholic Encyclopedia"] In cathedrals, the dignitories and canons, who constituted the chapter, had the primary role of aiding the bishop in the governance of the diocese. In general, the bishop was the titular head of the chapter but at the same time was excluded from its rule making decisions with the dean as the chapter superior. In the diocese of Moray with its rites based on that of Lincoln (introduced by Bishop Bricius) the bishop was allowed to participate in the decision making process but only as an ordinary canon. [Cant, "Historic Elgin and Cathedral", p. 22]

Bishop Bricius set his chapter as five dignitaries and three canons for his cathedral at Spynie. [Cant, "Historic Elgin and Cathedral", p. 22] His successor, Bishop Andreas de Moravia greatly expanded the chapter by creating two additional hierarchical posts (succentor and subdean) and added fifteen more canons. [Watt, "Fasti", pp 301, 304] A large number of new prebends were created to cater for the very much enlarged establishment.Cowan & Easson, "Medieval Houses", pp. 206, 207] Shaw, Gordon, "History of Moray", pp. 293–295] The subdean received the church of Dallas as his prebend along with the altarage of Auldearn from the dean while the succentor, for his prebends, got Rafford from the precentor and Ardclach from the chancellor. To compensate the chancellor, he received the single prebend from the combined churches of Inveravon and Urquhart. A total of 23 prebends had been created by the time of Andreas' death and a further two added a just before the Reformation (see table below for full details). Bishop Andreas changed the constitution to follow those of Salisbury Cathedral shortly before he died.

Rural deans were responsible for the overseeing of the priests under their charge and for implementing the bishop's edicts. In the Moray diocese, their were four deaneries—Elgin, Inverness, Strathbogie and Strathspey—and provided the mensal and prependal income not only for the cathedral chapter but also for other religious houses within and outwith the diocese. Cowan & Easson, "Medieval Houses", pp. 206, 207] [Watt, "Fasti", pp. 316, 317] Arbroath Abbey in the diocese of St Andrews received the income from the church of Inverness, Beauly Priory had that of Abertarf and Conveth while Pluscarden Priory had Daviot and Dores.

Cathedral offices

Large cathedrals such as Elgin with its many chapel altars and daily services required to be suitably staffed with canons and a plentiful number of assisting vicars. The income to support the canons was from appropriations from parish churches. Around forty churches were allocated to support designated canons and about six others were held in common for all of the canons while the income from fifteen other parishes used directly for the upkeep of the bishop. [Cowan, "Parishes, Medieval Scotland", pp. 217, 218] in the north transept—it had five chaplains. [Fawcett, "Elgin Cathedral", pp. 6,7] Other chaplaincies mentioned are those of the Holy Rood, St Catherine, St Duthac, St Lawrence, St Mary Magdalene, St Mary the Virgin and St Michael.Fawcett, "Elgin Cathedral", p. 7] By the time of Bishop Bur's episcopate, the cathedral had 15 canons (excluding dignitories), 22 vicars-choral and about the same amount of chaplains. [Mackintosh, "Elgin Past and Present",p. 42]

Despite these numbers, all of the clergy were not present at the services—absence was an enduring fact of life in all cathedrals in a period when those seeking career advancement would accept positions in other colleges. This is not to say that the time spent away from the chanonry was without permission. Some canons were appointed to be always present while others were allowed to attend on a part time basis.Dalyell, "Records of Bishopric of Moray" pp. 13,14 ] The dean was permanently in attendance while the precentor, chancellor and treasurer were available for half the year; the non-permanent canons had to attend continuously for 3 months. However, in 1240, the chapter decided to penalise persistently absent canons who broke the terms of their attendance by removing one seventh of their income. [Dowden, "Bishops of Scotland" p. 79 ] The bulk of the workload fell to the vicars and a small number of permanent canons who were responsible for celebrating high mass and for leading and arranging sermons and feast day processions. A total of seven services were held daily some of which were solely for the clergy and those took place behind the rood screen; this separated the high alter and choir from lay worshipers. Each morning, the canons held a meeting in the chapter house where a chapter from the canonical rule book of St Benedict was read. [Historic Scotland, "Investigating Elgin Cathedral", p. 10] An unknown number of lay lawyers and clerks as well as masons, carpenters, glaziers, plumbers and gardeners were employed—Master Gregory the mason and Master Richard the glazier are mentioned in the chartulary of the cathedral. [Cant, "Historic Elgin and Cathedral", p. 31] clear

Chanonry

The chanonry, referred to in the cathedral's chartulary as the "college of the chanonry" or simply as the "college", was the collection of manses that surrounded the cathedral.Cant, "Historic Elgin and Cathedral", p. 28, 29] . [Taylor, "Edward I in North Scotland" pp 213,214]

Consequence of the Scottish Reformation

In August 1560, parliament rejected the authority of the pope over the Scottish Church and the Mass, as the fundamental act of worship, was abolished. However, the office of bishop was not ended until 1689. The evolving church was generally unsympathetic to most of the previous episcopal practices and to cathedrals as centres of worship. The cathedrals that survived did so because they also doubled as parish churches but with the trappings of the Roman church removed—Elgin had the parish church of St Giles which mitigated against the cathedral. [Oram, "Moray & Badenoch", p. 93] It is evident that the use of the cathedral must have ceased fairly soon after the Reformation parliament's decisions. An Act of parliament passed on 14 February 1567 authorising Regent Lord James Stewart's Privy Council to order the removal of the lead from the roofs of both Elgin and Aberdeen cathedrals and to be sold for the upkeep of his army—the ship that was destined to take the cargo to Holland was so overladen that it sunk in Aberdeen harbour. [Shaw, Gordon, "History of Moray", pp. 284,285]

In 1615, John Taylor, the ‘Water Poet’ wrote: [Brown, "Early Travellers in Scotland", p. 124]

a faire and beautiful church with three steeples, the walls of it and the steeples all yet standing; but the roofes, windowes and many marble monuments and tombes of honourable and worthie personages all broken and defaced.

Decay had set in and on 4 December 1637, the roof of the eastern limb collapsed during a gale. [Shaw, Gordon, "History of Moray" p. 285 ] Even by this time not all of the fixtures of the old religion had been removed, the most prominent of which was the rood screen. Determined to remedy this, the minister of St Giles kirk, Mr Gilbert Ross along with the lairds of Innes and Brodie pulled it down and chopped it up for firewood. [Shaw, Gordon, "History of Moray", pp. 290, 291] At some point the cathedral grounds had become the burial ground for Elgin and because of this the Town Council arranged for the boundary wall to be repaired in 1685—significantly the council ordered that the stones from the cathedral should not be used for this purpose. [Cramond, "Records of Elgin", p. 337] Although the building was becoming increasingly unstable, some parts of it continued to be utilised with the chapterhouse used for the meetings of the Incorporated Trades from 1671 to 1676 and then again from 1701 to around 1731. [Mackintosh, "Elgin Past and Present", p.68] No attempt at stabilising the decay was carried out and on Easter Sunday 1711 the central tower gave way demolishing the nave and heralding 'quarrying' of stone work for local projects. [Oram, "Moray & Badenoch", p. 93] Many artists came to Elgin to sketch the ruins and it is from these that the slow but continuing ruination can be observed.Fawcett, "Elgin Cathedral", p. 11] By the closing years of the 18th century, travellers stopping in Elgin would visit the ruin. Pamphlets giving the history of the cathedral were prepared for the early tourist and in 1773 Samuel Johnson recorded: [Johnson, "Journey to Western Isles" p. 19]

a paper was put into our hands, which deduced from sufficient authorities the history of this venerable ruin

The ruins consist of three main areas. These are the western towers, the eastern limb with the adjoining chapterhouse and the south transept. The west front has the two buttressed towers standing to a height of 27.4m but originally topped by wooden spires covered in protective lead and date from the 13th century.Oram, "Moray & Badenoch", p.87] It is thought that the towers were not part of the original design as is evidenced by the differing base course construction to that of the transepts—it is likely that the integration of the nave and towers was carried out while the 13th century construction was still evolving. [Fawcett, "Elgin Cathedral" p. 15] The great west door is centred between the towers and capped with three gablets. The internal division of the entrance was inserted in the late 14th or early 15th century and has intricate carvings of branches, vines, acorns and oak leaves. Above the door is a large pointed arch opening in the gable that contained a large sequence of windows, the uppermost of which was a circular or rose window. This window was rebuilt between 1422 and 1436 and just above it can be seen three coats of arms—on the right is that of the bishopric of Moray, in the middle are the Royal Arms of Scotland and on the left is the armorial shield of Bishop Columba Dunbar.The nave whose walls are now very low or even foundation level excepting one small section in the south wall which is near its original height. This section has windows that appear to date from the 15th century to replace the 13th century openings and may have been carried out following the 1390 attack. [Fawcett, "Elgin Cathedral" p. 60] Nothing of the elevated structure of the nave remains but its appearance can be deduced from the scarring seen where it attached to the eastern walls of the towers—nothing of the crossing now remains following its destruction when the central tower collapsed in 1711. [Oram, "Moray & Badenoch", p. 89] The eastern extension comprising the choir and presbytery appears to have been nearly doubled in length following the fire of 1270 with simultaneous wide aisles built on each side. [Fawcett, "Elgin Cathedral" pp. 17, 18] These aisles run the length of the choir and passed the first bay of the presbytery. , in England have similar aisles. [Fawcett, "Elgin Cathedral" p. 18] [Cant, "Historic Elgin and Cathedral", p. 25] The chapterhouse attaches to the choir through a short vaulted vestry and is 10.3m high at its apex and 11.3m from wall to opposite wall. A single pillar gives support to the vaulted roof. It was re-built by Bishop Andrew Stewart (1482–1501) whose coat of arms is placed in the central pillar. [Oram, "Moray & Badenoch", p. 92] The fact that it took until Bishop Andrew's episcapy to carry out these repairs demonstrates how extensively damaged the 1390 attack had been [Fawcett, "Elgin Cathedral", p. 62] Only one buttress of the north transept still remains, but the south transept's south wall is nearly intact providing an idea of what the north transept would have looked like. These buildings are original to the first construction dating to the early 13th Century. The south transept was built in a plain, simplistic style although the strongest architectural emphasis was given to the front of the transept. [Fawcett, "Elgin Cathedral", pp. 21–26] Both transepts were used as chapels and had recessed tombs. [Oram, "Moray & Badenoch", p. 90]

tabilisation

Since the abolition of bishops within the Scottish church in 1689, ownership of the abandoned cathedral fell to the crown, but no attempt to halt the decline of the building took place. It was Elgin Town Council that showed the first signs of recognising the need to stabilise the structure firstly by rebuilding the surrounding wall in 1809 and in around 1815 the debris around the remaining walls were cleared. [Fawcett, "Elgin Cathedral", pp. 9, 11] In 1824 John Shanks, an Elgin shoemaker and probably the most important figure in the conservation of the cathedral, started his work. Sponsored by local gentleman, Isaac Forsyth, Shanks was to clear the grounds of centuries of rubbish dumping and rubble. [Shaw, Gordon, "History of Moray", p. 290] Shanks was officially appointed Keeper and Watchman in 1826 and though his work was highly valued at the time and brought the cathedral back into public focus, his clearance work had not been carried out scientifically so there is no way of knowing if any valuable evidence of the cathedral’s history had been lost. On his death in 1841, the Inverness Courier printed:

April 28.—John Shanks, the beadle or cicerone of Elgin Cathedral, died on the 14th inst. in the eighty-third year of his age. His unwearied enthusiasm in clearing away the rubbish which encumbered the area of the Cathedral and obscured its architectural beauties, may be gathered from the fact that he removed, with his pick-axe and shovel, 2866 barrowfuls of earth, besides disclosing a flight of steps that led to the grand gateway of the edifice. Tombs and figures, which had long lain hid in obscurity, were unearthed and every monumental fragment of saints and holy men was carefully preserved, and placed in some appropriate situation..... So faithfully did he discharge his duty as keeper of the ruins, that little now remains but to preserve what he accomplished.

In 1847–48 some of the old houses associated with the cathedral on the west side were demolished and a series of relatively minor changes to the boundary wall were completed. Major consolidation of the structure and some reconstruction work began in the early 20th century. This included restoration of the east gable rose window in 1904 and also the replacement of the missing form pieces and mullions and decorative ribs in the window in the north-east wall of the chapter house. [Fawcett, "Elgin Cathedral", p. 86] By 1913 work to re-point the walls and additional waterproofing of the wall tops were completed. Lowering of the ground level and the repositioning of the tomb of the Earl of Huntly which had been a 17th century construction took place in 1924. [Fawcett, "Elgin Cathedral", p. 71] Further repairs and restoration occurred during the 1930’s including partly dismantling some of the 19th century buttressing, rebuilding sections of the nave piers using recovered pieces and the roofing of the vault in the south choir in 1939. [Fawcett, "Elgin Cathedral", pp. 12,13] During the last forty years of the 20th century there was unremitting replacement of crumbling stonework. Between 1976 and 1988, the chapter house window tracery was gradually replaced and its re-roofing completed the process. Floors, glazing and a new roof were added to the south-west tower between 1988 and 1998 and the same procedure was applied to the north-west tower in 1998 to 2000.

Notes

References

*Bishop, Bruce, B., "The Lands and People of Moray: Part 5", J & B Bishop, Elgin, 2001, ISBN 0953936996 [Bishop, "Lands and People of Moray"]
*Boardman, Stephen, "The Early Stewart Kings: Robert II and Robert III, 1371–1406," Edinburgh, 1996 ISBN 1-904607-68-3 [Boardman, "Early Stewart Kings"]
*Brown, P. Hume, "Early Travellers in Scotland", Edinburgh 1877 [Brown, "Early Travellers in Scotland"]
*Cant, Robert, "Historic Elgin and its Cathedral", Elgin Society, 1974 ISBN 978-0950402802 [Cant, "Historic Elgin and Cathedral"]
*Cowan, Ian B & Easson, David E, "Medieval Religious Houses, Scotland" 2nd ed., London, 1976: ISBN 0-582-12069-1 [Cowan & Easson, "Medieval Houses"]
*Cowan, Ian B., "The Parishes of Medieval Scotland" (Scottish Record Society), Edinburgh [Cowan, "Parishes, Medieval Scotland"]
*Cramond, William, "The Records of Elgin", (new Spalding Club) Aberdeen, 1903 and 1908 [Cramond, "Records of Elgin"]
*Dalyell, John G., "Records of the Bishopric of Moray", Edinburgh, 1826 [Dalyell, "Records of Bishopric of Moray"]
*Donaldson, Gordon, "Bishops’ Sees Before the Reign of David I", Scottish Church History, Edinburgh, 1985 [Gordon, "Sees Before David I"]
*Dowden, John, "The Bishops of Scotland", Glasgow, 1910 [Dowden, "Bishops of Scotland"]
*Dowden, John, "Medieval Church in Scotland: its constitution, organisation and law", Glasgow, 1910 [Dowden, "Medieval Church"]
*Fanning, William. "Chapter." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. [AD] http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03582b.htm. [Fanning, "Catholic Encyclpedia"]
*Fawcett, Richard, "Elgin Cathedral, Edinburgh". ISBN 1-903570-24-7 [Fawcett, "Elgin Cathedral"]
*Grant, Alexander, "The Wolf of Badenoch" in W.D.H. Sellar (ed.), Moray: Province and People. Scottish Society for Northern Studies, Edinburgh, 1993. ISBN 0-9505994-7-6 [Grant, "Moray: Province and People"]
*Historic Scotland, "Investigating Elgin Cathedral", http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/eduelgin.pdf, accessed 20 February 2008
*Inverness Courier extract, http://www.electricscotland.org/history/highlands/2no17.htm, accessed 20 February 2008 [Inverness Courier extract]
*Johnson, Samuel, "A Journey to the Western Isles of Scotland", Edinburgh, 1996 ISBN 1857152530 [Johnson, "Journey to Western Isles"]
*Lawrie, Archibald. C., "Early Scottish Charters Prior to A.D. 1153", Glasgow, 1905
*"Lost Episcopal Acta": http://www.arts.gla.ac.uk/scottishstudies/charters/Lost%20Episcopal%20Acta.rev.10.07.pdf retrieved 7 April 2008
*Mackintosh, Herbert B., "Elgin Past and Present", Elgin 1914 [Mackintosh, "Elgin Past and Present"]
*McCormack, Finbar, "Excavations at Pluscarden Priory, Moray", Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, vol. 124, (1994) [McCormack, "Excavations at Pluscarden Priory]
*Oram, Richard, "Moray & Badenoch, A Historical Guide", Edinburgh, 1996 ISBN 1-874744-46-7 [Oram, "Moray & Badenoch"]
*Shaw, Lachlan, ed., J. F. S. Gordon, "The History of the Province of Moray", 2nd Ed., Vol. III, Glasgow, 1882 [Shaw, Gordon, "History of Moray"]
*Taylor. J, "Edward I of England in the North of Scotland", Elgin, 1853 [Taylor, "Edward I in North Scotland"]
*Watt, D. E. R. "Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae Medii Aevii Ad Annum 1638", Edinburgh, 2003, ISBN 0-902054-19-8 [Watt, "Fasti"]
*Young, Robert, "Annals of the Parish and Burgh of Elgin", Elgin, 1879 [Young, "Annals of Elgin"]

Further reading

*Clark, W, "A series of Views of the Ruins of Elgin Cathedral", Elgin 1826
*Crook, J. Mordant & Port, MH, "The History of the King’s Works", London, 1973
*Sellar, W. D. H., Ed., "Moray: Province and People", Edinburgh, 1993 ISBN 0950599476
*Simpson, A T & Stevenson, S, "Historic Elgin, the archaeological implications of development", Glasgow : University of Glasgow,Dept. of Archaeology, 1982.

External links

*historic-scotland-link|133
* [http://www.britannia-picture.com/search.php?searchstring=Elgin&go=Go%21 Photos of Elgin Cathedral]
* [http://www.cushnieent.force9.co.uk/Master/medievalmenu.htm Firth's Celtic Scotland]