Saulseat or Soulseat Abbey was a Premonstratensian monastic community located in

Wigtownshire Wigtownshire or the County of Wigtown (, ) is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Wigtownshire was an administrative county used for local government. Since 1975 the area has f ...

Galloway Galloway ( ; sco, Gallowa; la, Gallovidia) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway. A native or ...

, in the Gaelic-speaking south-west of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

History

There is some evidence that Soulseat Abbey is ''Viride Stagnum'' ("green loch"), that is, the Cistercian monastery founded by

St Malachy Malachy (}; Modern ga, Maelmhaedhoc Ó Morgair; ) (1094 – 2 November 1148) is an Irish saint who was Archbishop of Armagh, to whom were attributed several miracles and an alleged vision of 112 popes later attributed to the apocryphal ...

somewhere in Galloway in 1148."Soulseat Abbey", Canmore
/ref> The name comes from the Gaelic word ''Sabhal'', a word with many religious and monastic connotations. Perhaps because of Anglophone folk etymology, the name came to imply a connection to both

Saul Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered t ...

and the

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

, taking the Latin form ''Sedes Animarum'' ("Seat of the Spirit"). Soulseat Loch takes its name from the Abbey, which was founded by

Fergus, Lord of Galloway Fergus of Galloway (died 12 May 1161) was a twelfth-century Lord of Galloway. Although his familial origins are unknown, it is possible that he was of Norse-Gaelic ancestry. Fergus first appears on record in 1136, when he witnessed a charter ...

, for Premonstratensian canons regular, stood on a small peninsula in the loch. The abbey was apparently enclosed on the land side by a fosse or trench or canal which left it surrounded on all sides by water and therefore, relatively secure from attack of an enemy. Premonstratensian canons regular from Alnwick Abbey in Northumberland had founded

Dryburgh Abbey Dryburgh Abbey, near Dryburgh on the banks of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders, was nominally founded on 10 November (Martinmas) 1150 in an agreement between Hugh de Morville, Constable of Scotland, and the Premonstratensian canons regu ...

, on the banks of the

River Tweed The River Tweed, or Tweed Water ( gd, Abhainn Thuaidh, sco, Watter o Tweid, cy, Tuedd), is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the ...

Martinmas Saint Martin's Day or Martinmas, sometimes historically called Old Halloween or Old Hallowmas Eve, is the feast day of Saint Martin of Tours and is celebrated in the liturgical year on 11 November. In the Middle Ages and early modern period, ...

1150. The site of Soulseat Abbey (now a mound with five 16th-century gravestones thereon) is on the promontory of a loch with a very narrow isthmus, thus perhaps fitting the description. The Premonstratensian establishment certainly occurred before the death of King

Fergus of Galloway Fergus of Galloway (died 12 May 1161) was a twelfth-century Lord of Galloway. Although his familial origins are unknown, it is possible that he was of Norse-Gaelic ancestry. Fergus first appears on record in 1136, when he witnessed a charter ...

, which took place in 1161. The ''Obituary of Prémontré'' lists both King Fergus and Christian,

bishop of Galloway The Bishop of Galloway, also called the Bishop of Whithorn, was the eccesiastical head of the Diocese of Galloway, said to have been founded by Saint Ninian in the mid-5th century. The subsequent Anglo-Saxon bishopric was founded in the late 7th ...

(1154-86), as joint founders. Probably because of the abbey's cultural isolation from Lowland Scotland, almost none of the abbots are known by name before the 15th century. It is known though that the abbey suffered devastation from wars in the 14th century. Control of the abbey became secularized in the 15th century, and even more so after the Scottish Reformation. In 1630, it was taken over by the parsonage of

Portpatrick Portpatrick is a village and civil parish in the historical county of Wigtownshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located on the west coast of the Rhins of Galloway. The parish is about in length and in breadth, covering . History ...

. The site is now protected as a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

References

Bibliography

* Anderson, A.O., ''Early Sources for Scottish History'', 2 vols., vol. ii, pp. 208–9 (quoting St Bernard's ''Vita Sancti Malachaiae'') * Cowan, Ian B. & Easson, David E., ''Medieval Religious Houses: Scotland With an Appendix on the Houses in the Isle of Man'', Second Edition, (London, 1976), pp. 78–9, 102-3 * Watt, D.E.R. & Shead, N.F. (eds.), ''The Heads of Religious Houses in Scotland from the 12th to the 16th Centuries'', The Scottish Records Society, New Series, Volume 24, (Edinburgh, 2001), pp. 204–6 * T. Alistair Findlay, Chronological History of Soulseat Abbey, Scotland (accessed 26 January 2008): https://web.archive.org/web/20120209005602/http://www.premontre.org/subpages/loci/imagines/imsoulseat/Soulseat%20Chronological%20History.htm {{coord, 54.8874, -4.9625, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Premonstratensian monasteries in Scotland Religion in Dumfries and Galloway History of Galloway Christian monasteries established in the 12th century Monasteries dissolved under the Scottish Reformation Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Dumfries and Galloway Former Christian monasteries in Scotland

History

See also

References

Bibliography