Collessie is a village and parish of
Fife
Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...
, Scotland. The village is set on a small hillock centred on a historic church. Due to rerouting of roads, it now lies north of the A91. Though a railway embankment was constructed through the middle of the village in the 19th century, it retains many of its traditional 17th–18th century houses. In recent years some of the older houses have been re-roofed in traditional
thatch
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, Phragmites, water reed, Cyperaceae, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), Juncus, rushes, Calluna, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away fr ...
.
Name
Collessie's name derives from
Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...
although the exact derivation is unknown. The first element is either ''cùl'' (behind) or ''cùil'' (nook) and the last element may be either ''eas'' (waterfall) or ''lios'' (enclosure, garden).
Demographics
The civil parish had a population of 1,921 in 2011.
[Census of Scotland 2011, Table KS101SC – Usually Resident Population, publ. by National Records of Scotland. Web site http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ retrieved March 2016. See "Standard Outputs", Table KS101SC, Area type: Civil Parish 1930]
Notable locations
The Church
The church was consecrated by the Bishop David de Bernham of
St. Andrews in July 30, 1243,
and is mentioned in charters of both 1252 and 1262. Prior to the
Reformation
The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...
, the church was under the ownership of the
Abbot of Lindores
Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...
and was dedicated to the
Virgin Mary
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
.
In 1742 and 1743 the Rev
Hugh Blair
Hugh Blair FRSE (7 April 1718 – 27 December 1800) was a Scottish minister of religion, author and rhetorician, considered one of the first great theorists of written discourse.
As a minister of the Church of Scotland, and occupant of the C ...
was the minister of Collessie.
The church was remodelled in 1838–39 by
R & R Dickson
Richard and Robert Dickson (usually simply referred to as R & R Dickson) were brothers, acting as architects in Scotland in the early and mid-19th century. Whilst most of their work is typified by remote country houses they are best known for t ...
[Dictionary of Scottish Architects: Dickson] to a T-plan form with a pinnacled western tower and has remained virtually unchanged since that date.
The minister was the Rev John MacFarlane (1798-1875) who served from 1833 but left in the
Disruption of 1843
The Disruption of 1843, also known as the Great Disruption, was a schism in 1843 in which 450 evangelical ministers broke away from the Church of Scotland to form the Free Church of Scotland.
The main conflict was over whether the Church of Sc ...
. The pulpit is in a central position at the head of the T, as in several Scottish churches including as
Currie
Currie is a village and suburb on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated south west of the city centre. Formerly within the County of Midlothian, it now falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Edinburgh Council. It is situated be ...
on the outskirts of
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
. The pews date back to 1911, when they were adjusted to a less upright stance to improve comfort. The font dates from 1928.
The Collessie
war memorial
A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war.
Symbolism
Historical usage
It has ...
is in the east
transept
A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...
. The communion table was brought from Cowlairs Church in 1978 and was their war memorial.
In 2020 the church was listed for sale by the
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...
.
As of January 2022, a local resident planned to buy the church and remodel it into a home.
The Churchyard
The churchyard has been in use since at least the 12th century. It was extended in 1840 and 1871 and was taken over by the local County Council in 1929, who still manage it as of 2022.
The Melville Tomb
The central feature of the churchyard is 'the Melville Tomb', the mausoleum of the local lairdly family of Melville of Halhill, which was restored from a ruinous condition in 2004. It was erected in 1609 to house the remains of Christian Boswell, the wife of the courtier, diplomat and memoirist
Sir James Melville of Halhill. She was a
Boswell of Balmuto, an estate north of Burntisland.
Sir James Melville and Christian Boswell had four children; the most well known being the poet
Elizabeth Melville
Elizabeth Melville, Lady Culross (c.1578–c.1640) was a Scottish people, Scottish poet. In 1603 she became the earliest known Scottish woman writer to see her work in print, when the Edinburgh publisher Robert Charteris issued the first edition ...
, Lady Culross, who named one of her daughters Christian. Presumably, the mausoleum received Sir James's body in 1617, and is now somewhat inaccurately described on the information board next to it simply as 'the tomb of Sir James Melville of Halhill'. The Collessie mausoleum gradually fell prey to neglect and became a ruin: the carved heraldic shields that once filled niches on the walls are gone, as has the date '1609', recorded as late as 1895.
Before restoration, the Melville Tomb was already well known in 'funerary' literature, because it bears two seven-line stanzas of Scots-language verse. These are inscribed on the outer wall, which forms part of the churchyard boundary, and overlooks what was formerly the principal highway to St Andrews. Now damaged, it was transcribed and published complete in 1895.
The Collessie poem makes no mention of Christian Boswell or her husband, but constitutes a short sermon about sin, redemption, death, burial and resurrection. The second stanza sternly denounces the widespread practice of burying bodies inside churches, and its striking first line has twice been used in the titles of articles on burial practices. Both these articles discuss ''The Blame of Kirk-Buriall, Tending to Perswade Cemeteriall Civilitie, by Mr William Birnie, Minister of Lanark ''(Edinburgh, 1606), edited W.B.D.D. Turnbull (London, 1833).
:Ye loadin pilgrims passing langs this way
:Pans on your fall, and your offencis past, ''ponder''
:How your frail flesh first formit of the clay
:In dust mon be desolvit at the last:
:Repent, amend, on Christ the burden cast
:Of your sad sinnes, quha can your sauls refresh
:Syne rais from grave to gloir your grislie flesh.
:Defyle not Chrysts kirk with your carrion,
:A soleme sait for Gods service prepar
,
:For praier, preaching and communion:
:Your burial suld be in the kirkyaird.
:On your uprysing set your great regard,
:Quhen saull and body ioynes, with joy to ring ''reign''
:In heaven for ay with Christ our head and king.
The poem, which uses 'rhyme royal' (known in Scotland as 'Troilus verse'), has been attributed to Christian Boswell's poet-daughter Elizabeth Melville on biographical and stylistic grounds. The original literary inspiration may have come from an inscription on the wall of Aberdour Kirk on the Fife coast, close to Balmuto Castle and to another Melville family seat,
Rossend Castle
Rossend Castle is a historic building in Burntisland, a town on the south coast of Fife, Scotland.
History
A keep, known as the Tower of Kingorne Wester, was in existence on the site from 1119. It was later referred to as Burntisland Castle, a ...
in Burntisland (home of Elizabeth Melville's uncle
Sir Robert of Murdocairnie, and then his son, Sir Robert of Burntisland):
:Pans O pilgrim ''ponder''
:That passith by this way
:Upon thine end
:And thou sal fear to sin
:And think also
:Upon the latter day
:When thou to God man count ''must give account''
:Then best thou now begin ''then''
Which laid out as pentameter verse (with a hypermetric last line) would read:
:Pans O pilgrim that passith by this way
:Upon thine end, and thou sal fear to sin:
:And think also upon the latter day,
:When thou to God man count: then best thou now begin.
It has been suggested that 'pilgrim' alludes to the mediaeval pilgrimages to a well-known, now vanished healing well located near the church. However, 'when' (rather than Scots 'quhen') is suspicious in a supposedly pre-Reformation inscription. The word 'pilgrim' for all human beings on their earthly journey was a standard metaphor much used by Protestants, as the Collessie mausoleum inscription indicates. Elizabeth Melville repeatedly employs the term in her poetry.
It is possible that the Melville tomb inscription provided the inspiration for the Aberdour inscription. If the Aberdour inscription predates 1609 and the Collessie tomb, Elizabeth Melville could have known of it from the man who in 1603 became master of Culross grammar school – her fellow Presbyterian John Fairfoul, former minister of Aberdour, who had become minister of Dunfermline in 1598. Alternatively, Sir James Melville himself may have told his daughter about the Aberdour inscription (he is likely have had considerable input into the content of the poem on his wife's mausoleum). Aberdour is quite close both to Balmuto Castle where Christian Boswell was born, and to another Melville family seat, Rossend Castle in Burntisland, home of Sir James's elder brother Sir Robert of Murdocairnie, 1st Lord Melville, and then of his son, Sir Robert of Burntisland, 2nd Lord Melville. Furthermore, Aberdour Kirk stands next to
Aberdour Castle
Aberdour Castle is in the village of Aberdour, Easter Aberdour, Fife, Scotland. Parts of the castle date from around 1200, making Aberdour one of the two oldest datable standing castles in Scotland, along with Castle Sween in Argyll, which was ...
, one of the seats of the Douglas earls of Morton. It was therefore a residence of two important Scottish peers well known to Sir James Melville, namely the
Regent Morton
James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton (c. 1516 – 2 June 1581) was a Scottish nobleman. He played a leading role in the murders of Queen Mary's confidant, David Rizzio, and king consort Henry Darnley. He was the last of the four regents of Scot ...
(died 1581) and the militantly Presbyterian
Archibald Douglas, eighth Earl of Angus and fifth of Morton.
[''Memoirs of His Own Life by Sir James Melville '' (Bannatyne Club : Edinburgh, 1827) pp.247-61 ; 300, 325.]
Other notable interments
*Sir
William Oliphant Hutchison
Sir William Oliphant Hutchison LLD PRSA (2 July 1889 – 5 February 1970) was a Scottish portrait and landscape painter. He was an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy, President of the Royal Scottish Academy and a member of the Royal Society ...
(1889–1970) artist, President of the
Royal Scottish Academy
The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country's national academy of art. It promotes contemporary art, contemporary Scottish art.
The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy ...
*John Cheape of Rossie, father of Sir
John Cheape
General Sir John Cheape (5 October 1792 – 30 March 1875) was a Scottish people, Scottish military officer of the Bengal Army in British India.
Life
The son of John Cheape of Rossie, Fife, he was educated at Woolwich and Addiscombe, and enter ...
The school
The school and schoolmaster's house date from 1846 providing free education (prior to the
Education Act of 1872) from an early date. As with the church, it was designed by
R & R Dickson
Richard and Robert Dickson (usually simply referred to as R & R Dickson) were brothers, acting as architects in Scotland in the early and mid-19th century. Whilst most of their work is typified by remote country houses they are best known for t ...
.
Notable residents
*
John Balfour of Kinloch
*
Rev George Kay minister from 1739 to 1741
References
{{authority control
Villages in Fife
Parishes in Fife