St Mary's Chapel (known also as "the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin") is a late 12th/early 13th century

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

found in Rattray,

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It was built by

William Comyn, jure uxoris Earl of Buchan William Comyn (1163 - 1233) was Lord of Badenoch and 1st Earl of Buchan. He was one of the seven children of Richard Comyn, Justiciar of Lothian, and wife Hextilda of Tynedale. Born in Altyre, Moray, Scotland, he died in Buchan and is buried in ...

during the same period as the

Castle of Rattray The Castle of Rattray was a medieval Scotland, Scottish castle, with multiple variations on its structure over approximately six centuries. Originally built as a ''"late 12th- or early 13th century defensive Motte-and-bailey, motte"'' it prov ...

and was ''"private chapel for the castle"'' and its residents. ''"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 ...

"'' it was possibly constructed after the ''"drowning of a"...'' nknown''"son of Comyn in the well near by."'' There is some controversy as to the date of the chapel's construction. There is a wall plaque with the date 911, but this is certainly a fake as the style of the church and its windows did not appear in Scotland until the late 12th century, which coincides with an account that states it ''"probably dates back to the late 1100s."'' William Comyn did not inherit the Earldom of Buchan until 1212, so the chapel's construction almost certainly did not begin prior to this date. William Comyn is recorded as giving the chapel ''"a gift of wax"'' on a yearly basis ''"between 1214 and 1233"'' so it must have at least been under construction as early as 1214. The gift ''"derived from bees"'' had a weight of ''"two stones"'' (approx. 10.8 kg)Historically a

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

of wax was equal to 12 pounds (not 14 as is standard in today's imperial measurements), so it would likely (but not certainly) have been approximately 10.8

kilograms The kilogram (also spelled kilogramme) is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand grams. It has the unit symbol kg. The word "kilogram" is formed from the combination of the metric prefix kilo- (m ...

in modern weight. and was the full amount that Comyn received from ''"Cospatric Macmadethyn"... "at

Whitsunday Whitsun (also Whitsunday or Whit Sunday) is the name used in Britain, and other countries among Anglicans and Methodists, for the Christian holy day of Pentecost. It falls on the seventh Sunday after Easter and commemorates the descent of the Ho ...

yearly"'' for the rent of the ''"lands and mill of Stratheyn and Kyndrochet"''. One account gives the specific date of construction as 1220.

References

External links

* St Mary's Chapel images on

Flickr Flickr ( ) is an image hosting service, image and Online video platform, video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was previously a co ...

. Two sets of pictures tagged
"oldrattray"
an
"oldkirkofrattray"
{{coord, 57.610521, N, 1.853857, W, display=title Chapels in Scotland Churches in Aberdeenshire