Beauly Priory was a

Valliscaulian The Valliscaulian Order was a religious order of the Catholic Church. It was named after ''Vallis Caulium'' or ''Val-des-Choux'', its first monastery, located in Burgundy. The order was founded at the end of the twelfth century and lasted until i ...

monastic community located at "Insula de Achenbady", now

Beauly Beauly ( ; ; gd, A' Mhanachainn) is a village in the Highland area, on the River Beauly, west of Inverness by the Far North railway line. The town is historically within Kilmorack Parish of the Scottish County of Inverness. The land around B ...

Inverness-shire Inverness-shire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Nis) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Covering much of the Highlands and Outer Hebrides, it is Scotland's largest county, though one of the smallest in populatio ...

. It was probably founded in 1230. It is not known for certain who the founder was, different sources giving

Alexander II of Scotland Alexander II (Medieval Gaelic: '; Modern Gaelic: '; 24 August 1198 – 6 July 1249) was King of Scotland from 1214 until his death. He concluded the Treaty of York (1237) which defined the boundary between England and Scotland, virtually unch ...

John Byset John Byset the Elder, Lord of the Aird (died 1257) was a Scoto-Norman nobleman who is the progenitor of the Bissett family of the Glens of Antrim in medieval northeastern Ireland, present-day Northern Ireland. Biography Born in Scotland, certain ...

, and both. The French monks, along with Bisset (a nearby, recently settled landowner), had a strong enough French-speaking presence to give the location and the river the name "beau lieu" ("beautiful place") and have it pass into English. An alternative story about the naming of

village told by locals is that '

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...

' was said to have been travelling through the area, probably on her way to

Dingwall Dingwall ( sco, Dingwal, gd, Inbhir Pheofharain ) is a town and a royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It has a population of 5,491. It was an east-coast harbour that now lies inland. Dingwall Castle was once the biggest cast ...

in her late teens and popped her head out of the Carriage window and uttered the words 'Beau Lieu' (beautiful place). It is not the best documented abbey, and few of the priors of Beauly are known by name until the 14th century. It became

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

on 16 April 1510, after the suppression of the Valliscaulian Order by the Pope. The priory was gradually secularised, and ruled by a series of

commendatory abbot A commendatory abbot ( la, abbas commendatarius) is an ecclesiastic, or sometimes a layman, who holds an abbey ''in commendam'', drawing its revenues but not exercising any authority over its inner monastic discipline. If a commendatory abbot is an ...

s. The priory's lands were given over to the bishop of Ross by royal charter on 20 October 1634. The ruins today are still extensive and are one of the main visitor attractions in Inverness-shire. It is 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 ...

John Keats

In August 1818

John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculo ...

and his friend Charles Brown stopped at Beauly on their way to Cromarty. Their visit produced a collaborative poem, ''On Some Skulls in Beauley Abbey, near Inverness'', written early in August 1818 or possibly some weeks or months later. The majority of the lines are by Brown. Keats contributed to the first line of the poem and the first four words of the second line, and three stanzas.

Notable burials

Hugh Fraser, 3rd Lord Lovat Hugh Fraser, 3rd Lord Lovat (c. 1494 – 15 July 1544) was a Scottish peer and Chief of Clan Fraser of Lovat from 1524 until 1544. Biography Fraser was the eldest son of Thomas Fraser, 2nd Lord Lovat (died 1524) and Janet Gordon, daughter ...

was buried at Beauly Priory after he was killed at the

Battle of the Shirts The Battle of the Shirts ( gd, Blàr na Léine, also the Battle of Kinloch-Lochy) was a Scottish clan battle that took place in 1544 in the Great Glen, at the northern end of Loch Lochy. The Clan Macdonald of Clanranald and their allies the ...

in 1544. *

Kenneth Mackenzie, 7th of Kintail Kenneth Mackenzie (died 7 February 1492), traditionally reckoned 7th of Kintail and nicknamed Coinneach a'bhlair (or “Kenneth of the Battle”), was a Highland chief, being head of the Clan Mackenzie. Origins Kenneth was the eldest son of Alex ...

who died in 1492 is buried at Beauly Priory and according to ''

The Scots Peerage ''The Scots Peerage'' is a nine-volume book series of the Scottish nobility compiled and edited by Sir James Balfour Paul, published in Edinburgh from 1904 to 1914. The full title is ''The Scots Peerage: Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Robert ...

'' which was published in 1910, his tomb is still extant. *

John Mackenzie, 9th of Kintail John Mackenzie (c. 1480-c. 1561), or "John of Killin", traditionally reckoned 9th of Kintail, was a Highland chief and head of the Clan Mackenzie. Origins and education John was the son of Kenneth Mackenzie, 7th of Kintail (d. 1492) by his seco ...

who died in 1561 is buried in the Mackenzie's

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parl ...

at Beauly. *

Kenneth Mackenzie, 10th of Kintail Kenneth Mackenzie (died 6 June 1568), was the 10th laird of Kintail and he was nicknamed ''Coinneach na Cuirc'' in Scottish Gaelic (or “Kenneth of the Whittle”), was a Highland chief, head of the Clan Mackenzie, who flourished in the turbulent ...

who died on 6 June 1568, having fought at the

Battle of Langside The Battle of Langside was fought on 13 May 1568 between forces loyal to Mary, Queen of Scots, and forces acting in the name of her infant son James VI. Mary’s short period of personal rule ended in 1567 in recrimination, intrigue, and disast ...

on 13 May 1568, was buried in the Mackenzie's aisle at Beauly. *

Colin Cam Mackenzie, 11th of Kintail Colin Mackenzie of Kintail (died 14 June 1594), nicknamed "Cam" ("crooked", because one-eyed), was a Highland chief of the Scottish clan Mackenzie who greatly increased his ancestral estates through royal favour and a career of vigorous self-aggra ...

who died in 1594 at

Redcastle Redcastle ( gd, an Caisteal ruadh), historically known as Edirdovar and Ederdour, is a medieval castle in Killearnan on the Black Isle, northern Scotland. It is so named from the colour of the stone of which it is built. The castle is now in a ...

is buried at Beauly. *Walter Ross, son of William Ross the provost of

Tain Tain ( Gaelic: ''Baile Dhubhthaich'') is a royal burgh and parish in the County of Ross, in the Highlands of Scotland. Etymology The name derives from the nearby River Tain, the name of which comes from an Indo-European root meaning 'flow'. The ...

, was buried at Beauly Priory after he died from wounds received at the Battle of Glen Affric in 1721.

Gallery

Image:Scotland Beauly Priory 2.jpg, Beauly Priory facade Image:Beauly Priory outside.jpg File:Beauly Priory 2017-05-26 - 4.jpg Image:Beauly Priory sign.jpg, Sign outside

Bibliography

* Chisholm-Batten, Edmund,
The Charters of the Priory of Beauly with Notices of the Priories of Pluscardine and Ardchattan and of the Family of the Founder John Byset
'. London: Houlston & Sons. 1877
alt
* 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), p. 84 * 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. 15–18 George F Campbell: "The First and Lost Iona." Candlemas Hill Publishing 2006 and on Kindle.

References

External links