Janet "Jenny" Geddes (c. 1600 – c. 1660) was a
Scottish market-trader in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
who is alleged to have thrown a stool at the head of the
minister in
St Giles' Cathedral
St Giles' Cathedral ( gd, Cathair-eaglais Naomh Giles), or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town of Edinburgh. The current building was begun in the 14th century and extended until the early 1 ...
in objection to the first public use of the
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland.
The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...
's 1637 edition of the ''
Book of Common Prayer
The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...
'' in Scotland. The act is reputed to have sparked the riot that led to the
Wars of the Three Kingdoms
The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of related conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, then separate entities united in a personal union under Charles I. They include the 1639 to 1640 Bi ...
, which included the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I (" Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of r ...
.
Background
Since the early years of the 17th century, the Church of Scotland had been established as an
episcopal church on the same basis as the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...
, but was far more
Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...
both in doctrine and practice. In 1633, King
Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
came to St Giles' to have his Scottish coronation service, using the full Anglican rites, accompanied by
William Laud
William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Charles I's religious reforms, he was arrested by Parliament in 1640 ...
his new
Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Just ...
. In the years that followed he began to consider ways of introducing Anglican-style church services in Scotland. The king arranged a commission to draw up a prayer book suitable for Scotland, and in 1637 an Edinburgh printer produced:
These developments met with widespread opposition.
Incident
The first use of the prayer book was in St Giles' on Sunday, 23 July 1637, when
James Hannay, Dean of
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, began to read the Collects, part of the prescribed service, and Geddes, a market-woman or street-seller, threw her stool straight at the minister's head. Some sources describe it as a "fald stool" or a "creepie-stool" meaning a folding stool as shown flying towards the dean in the illustration, while others claim that it was a larger, three-legged
cuttie-stool
A cuttie-stool, or cutty-stool (also -stuil), was a type of three-legged chair used in Scotland. It was a short stool, often having a round seat on the top, but the word also designates a larger piece of furniture associated with public penance in ...
. As she hurled the stool she is reported to have yelled: "" meaning "Devil cause you
colic
Colic or cholic () is a form of pain that starts and stops abruptly. It occurs due to muscular contractions of a hollow tube (small and large intestine, gall bladder, ureter, etc.) in an attempt to relieve an obstruction by forcing content out. ...
in your stomach, false thief: dare you say the Mass in my ear?"
This was the start of a general tumult with much of the congregation shouting abuse and throwing Bibles, stools, sticks and stones.
John Prebble reports the phrase "Daur ye say Mass in my lug?" as being addressed to a gentleman in the congregation who murmured a dutiful response to the liturgy, getting thumped with a Bible for his pains, and describes Jenny as one of a number of "waiting-women" who were paid to arrive early and sit on their folding stools to hold a place for their patrons. Officers summoned by the
Provost ejected the rioters, who, for the rest of the service, stayed to hammer at the doors and throw stones at the windows.
More serious rioting in the streets (and in other cities) followed, and the provost and magistrates were besieged in the City Chambers, to the extent that it became necessary to negotiate with the Edinburgh mob. At the suggestion of the
Lord Advocate
His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate ( gd, Morair Tagraidh, sco, Laird Advocat), is the chief legal officer of the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for both civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved p ...
,
Thomas Hope, it appointed a committee known as ''the Tables'' to negotiate with the
Privy Council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...
. Characteristically, Charles turned down the Tables' demands for withdrawal of the Anglican liturgy and more riots ensued with talk of civil war. This led to widespread signing of the
National Covenant
The National Covenant () was an agreement signed by many people of Scotland during 1638, opposing the proposed reforms of the Church of Scotland (also known as '' The Kirk'') by King Charles I. The king's efforts to impose changes on the church ...
in February 1638, with its defiance of any attempt to introduce innovations like the prayer book that had not first been subject to the scrutiny of Parliament and the general assembly of the church. In In November of the same year, the bishops and archbishops were formally expelled from the Church of Scotland, which was then established on a full Presbyterian basis. Charles reacted by launching the
Bishops' Wars
The 1639 and 1640 Bishops' Wars () were the first of the conflicts known collectively as the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which took place in Scotland, England and Ireland. Others include the Irish Confederate Wars, the First ...
, thus beginning the Wars of Three Kingdoms.
In the aftermath of the riots definitive evidence is hard to come by, and some doubt if Geddes started the fight or if she even existed, but she remains a part of Edinburgh tradition and has long had a memorial in St Giles. The sculpture that was added recently shows a three-legged
cuttie-stool
A cuttie-stool, or cutty-stool (also -stuil), was a type of three-legged chair used in Scotland. It was a short stool, often having a round seat on the top, but the word also designates a larger piece of furniture associated with public penance in ...
rather than a folding stool.
Lord Barrett of Newburgh
Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or a ...
wrote of the riot on 29 August 1637, "I hear they were by the women beaten out of the church with their little stools (which it seems their custom is to sit upon)."
[''HMC 4th Report: Earl de la Warr'' (London, 1874), p. 293.]
Around 1787,
Robert Burns
Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...
named his mare after Geddes and wrote amusingly of this faithful horse.
Commemoration
In 1886 a plaque was erected to Geddes's memory in
St Giles' Cathedral
St Giles' Cathedral ( gd, Cathair-eaglais Naomh Giles), or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town of Edinburgh. The current building was begun in the 14th century and extended until the early 1 ...
. It was paid for by the philanthropist
Robert Halliday Gunning
Robert Halliday Gunning FRSE PRPSE FSA LLD (12 December 1818 – 22 March 1900) was a Scottish surgeon, entrepreneur and philanthropist. He did much to improve social conditions in Brazil and also became rich there. He endowed numerous prizes a ...
.
See also
*
Bishops' Wars
The 1639 and 1640 Bishops' Wars () were the first of the conflicts known collectively as the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which took place in Scotland, England and Ireland. Others include the Irish Confederate Wars, the First ...
*''
Book of Common Order
The ''Book of Common Order'' is the name of several directories for public worship, the first originated by John Knox for use on the continent of Europe and in use by the Church of Scotland since the 16th century. The Church published revised ed ...
''
*
Prayer Book Rebellion
The Prayer Book Rebellion or Western Rising was a popular revolt in Cornwall and Devon in 1549. In that year, the ''Book of Common Prayer (1549), Book of Common Prayer'', presenting the theology of the English Reformation, was introduced. The ...
in the West of England
*
Religion in the United Kingdom
Religion in the United Kingdom, and in the countries that preceded it, has been dominated for over 1,000 years by various forms of Christianity, replacing Romano-British religions, Celtic and Anglo-Saxon paganism as the primary religion. Rel ...
References
;Citations
;Sources
*
*
*
* ''Scotland, A Concise History'', Fitzroy Maclean, Thames and Hudson 1991,
*
* ''The Lion in the North'', John Prebble, Penguin Books 1973
*
*
External links
ElectricScotland.com The Churches of EdinburghRobert Burns Country: The Burns Encyclopedia: Geddes, Jenny
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geddes, Jenny
1637 in Europe
1637 riots
1600s births
1660s deaths
17th-century Scottish businesspeople
Covenanters
Religiously motivated violence in Scotland
Riots and civil disorder in Scotland
Scottish activists
Scottish Presbyterians
Businesspeople from Edinburgh
People whose existence is disputed
Wars of the Three Kingdoms
St Giles' Cathedral