Séon Carsuel
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Séon Carsuel (
Anglicized Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...
: ''John Carswell'', modern
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 ...
: ''Seon Carsuail''; c. 1522 – 1572) was a 16th-century Scottish
prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...
,
humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...
, and
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
reformer. When Carsuel completed his education he joined the service of the Protestant
Earl of Argyll Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The titl ...
, tutoring his son and using his patronage to obtain benefices, most notably becoming
Bishop of the Isles The Bishop of the Isles or Bishop of Sodor was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of the Isles (or Sodor), one of Scotland's thirteen medieval bishoprics. The bishopric, encompassing both the Hebrides and Mann, probably traces its origins as ...
in 1565. Standing at over in height, Carsuel was an important figure in the history of Scottish Gaelic, as in 1567 his ''Foirm na n-Urrnuidheadh'', the Gaelic translation of the ''
Book of Common Order The ''Book of Common Order'', originally titled ''The Forme of Prayers'', is a liturgical book by John Knox written for use in the Calvinism, Reformed denomination. The text was composed in Geneva in 1556 and was adopted by the Church of Scotla ...
'', became the first work to be printed in any
Goidelic language The Goidelic ( ) or Gaelic languages (; ; ) form one of the two groups of Insular Celtic languages, the other being the Brittonic languages. Goidelic languages historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from Ireland through the Isl ...
.


Biography


Background and early years

Carsuel's family probably originated in
Wigtownshire Wigtownshire or the County of Wigtown (, ) is one of the Counties of Scotland, historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Wigtownshire was an counties of Scotland, administrative county used for ...
, the western part of
Galloway Galloway ( ; ; ) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the counties of Scotland, historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council areas of Scotland, council area of Dumfries and Gallow ...
, from Corsewall; the Campbell family, rulers of much of
Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle; , ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of western Scotland. The county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975 and most of the area ...
, owned the estate there.Stiùbhart, "Carswell, John éon Carsuel(c.1522–1572)". Additionally, most of Wigtownshire, like Argyll, was still Gaelic speaking at the beginning, at least, of the 16th century. Rev. Dr. Thomas McLauchlan and others have stated that Séon himself was born at Kilmartin in Argyll, but Robert Black has concluded that there is no evidence for this. He and Donald Meek consider it more likely that Carsuel's birthplace was in the
Rhins of Galloway The Rhins (or Rhinns) of Galloway is a double-headed peninsula in southwestern Scotland. It takes the form of a hammerhead projecting into the Irish Sea, terminating in the north at Corsewall and Milleur Points and in the south at the Mull of ...
. Born around 1522, Carsuel probably experienced a period of traditional Gaelic bardic schooling before becoming a student at the
University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...
in 1540; he graduated
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
in either 1544 or 1545. There is evidence that in 1545, Carsuel joined the revolt of Domhnall Dubh, the claimant to the forfeited
Lordship of the Isles Lord of the Isles or King of the Isles ( or ; ) is a title of nobility in the Baronage of Scotland with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It began with Somerled in the 12th century and thereafter the title was h ...
; however, he appears to have abandoned this cause soon after, becoming a staunch supporter of Gilleasbaig Ruadh Caimbeul (Archibald Roy Campbell), fourth
Earl of Argyll Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The titl ...
. Carsuel's associations with Earl Gilleasbaig were strong enough for Carsuel to become
chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...
to the earl, and probably lay behind in possession by September 1550, and certainly by 14 October 1551, of the Treasurership of Lismore Cathedral. He became
parson A parson is an ordained Christian person responsible for a small area, typically a parish. The term was formerly often used for some Anglican clergy and, more rarely, for ordained ministers in some other churches. It is no longer a formal term d ...
of the
parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...
of Kilmartin in 1553. It is probable that Carsuel was already a strong Protestant sympathiser by this point; Earl Gilleasbaig Ruadh was likewise a Protestant, possibly having converted as early as 1536 when he visited France. Earl Gilleasbaig placed his eldest son, also called Gilleasbaig (later fifth Earl of Argyll), under the tutelage of Carsuel. In February 1559, the year following Earl Gilleasbaig Ruadh's death and the consequent succession of his son Gilleasbaig the fifth Earl of Argyll, the latter entrusted his stronghold of Carnassarie Castle to Carsuel, and in 1560 put Craignish Castle into his hands too. During his occupation of Carnassarie, he "massively enlarged" the castle using masons who had worked on
Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most historically and architecturally important castles in Scotland. The castle sits atop an Intrusive rock, intrusive Crag and tail, crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill ge ...
. In 1558, Argyll had secured Carsuel the position of
Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...
of the
Chapel Royal A chapel royal is an establishment in the British and Canadian royal households serving the spiritual needs of the sovereign and the royal family. Historically, the chapel royal was a body of priests and singers that travelled with the monarc ...
at
Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...
.


Protestant prelate

In the aftermath of the Reformation Parliament of 1560, in the following year Carsuel was appointed Protestant Superintendent of
Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle; , ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of western Scotland. The county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975 and most of the area ...
and the Isles. In 1563, he was given the power to lease the diocese of Argyll and the abbey of Saddell, and on 12 January 1565, Carsuel received a grant from
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 List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...
, of the revenues of the bishopric of the Isles and the abbey of Iona. He received formal crown provision (rather than papal provision) on 24 March; a rival, Lachlan MacGill-Eathain (MacLean), was accused of going to the papacy to obtain the rights to the Isles and Iona, but gave up his rights in May 1567. Carsuel had obtained other
benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...
s by this time, and by the end of his life had acquired land all over the west coast of Scotland, and it was later said in a Gaelic
quatrain A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four Line (poetry), lines. Existing in a variety of forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Persia, Ancient India ...
that he had "an empty greedy capacious maw" (''sgròban lom gionach farsaing'').


''Foirm na n-Urrnuidheadh''

It was during his time as Bishop of the Isles that Carsuel enacted the most important accomplishment of his life, the publication of ''Foirm na n-Urrnuidheadh'' (literally, "The form of the prayers"). This text was based upon the 1564 Scottish edition of the ''
Book of Common Order The ''Book of Common Order'', originally titled ''The Forme of Prayers'', is a liturgical book by John Knox written for use in the Calvinism, Reformed denomination. The text was composed in Geneva in 1556 and was adopted by the Church of Scotla ...
'', for which it is to some extent a translation; it was dedicated to the earl of Argyll, and contains a poem by Carsuel. When it was published in
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 ...
by Robert Lekprevik on 24 April 1567, it became the first book ever to be printed in Scottish Gaelic or any
Goidelic language The Goidelic ( ) or Gaelic languages (; ; ) form one of the two groups of Insular Celtic languages, the other being the Brittonic languages. Goidelic languages historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from Ireland through the Isl ...
. Its language has been characterised as "exuberant, highly decorated classical common Gaelic", and helped forward the message of Scottish Protestantism from the English-speaking south-east of the country into Gaelic-speaking Scotland. It was written in the traditional orthography of Irish Classical Common Gaelic, and Donald Meek has suggested that if it were not for Carsuel's training in this form of literacy and his decision to use it, Scottish Gaelic today may be employing, like the
Manx language Manx ( or , or ), also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Goidelic language, Gaelic language of the insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family. Manx is the heritage language of the Manx ...
, a script with orthographic rules more similar to English and French than traditional Irish. It was also ground-breaking in its use of prose for non-heroic material, "the first to use this type of formal Classical aelicprose". And Carsuel had indeed complained in his work about earlier Gaelic writings, slamming the
...darkness of sin and ignorance and design of those who teach and write and cultivate Gaelic, that they are more designed, and more accustomed, to compose vain, seductive, lying and worldly tales about the Tuatha De Danann and the sons of Mil and the heroes and Finn MacCoul and his warriors and to cultivate and piece together much else which I will not enumerate or tell here, for the purpose of winning for themselves the vain rewards of the world.


Family and death

Carsuel married a daughter of Hamilton of Halcraig, with whom he had at least one son, his heir Gilleasbaig Carsuel; he married a second time, to Mairead Chaimbeul (Margaret Campbell), to whom his daughter Christiana was probably born. He was recorded as very ill in December 1570, and he died sometime between 21 June and 4 September 1572; he was buried in a stone coffin in
Ardchattan Priory Ardchattan Priory was a Valliscaulian monastic community in Ardchattan, Argyll, Scotland. History The Priory was founded in 1230 by Donnchadh of Argyll, Duncan MacDougall, Lord of Argyll. The most widely believed origin of Clan Chattan is th ...
, in a funeral remembered in tradition for the great storm which took place at the time.Stiùbhart, "Carswell, John éon Carsuel(c.1522–1572)"; Watt & Murray, ''Fasti Ecclesiae'', p. 267. In the late 19th century, his skeleton was dug up; the skeleton measured seven feet in length, making Carsuel an extremely tall man by the standard of any era or geographical location.


Notes


References

* Black, Ronald, "The Gaelic Literature of Galloway: 'Òran Bagraidh' and Willie Matheson", in Ansell, Michael, Black, Ronald & Cowan, Edward J. (eds.) (2022), ''Galloway: The Lost Province of Gaelic Scotland'', John Dewar Publishers Ltd., pp. 225 - 264, * Dawson, Jane E. A., "Campbell, Archibald, fourth earl of Argyll (1498–1558)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 200
, accessed 25 Jan 2008
* Dawson, Jane E. A.,"Campbell, Archibald, fifth earl of Argyll (1538–1573)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 200
, accessed 25 Jan 2008
* Lorimer, W. L., "The Persistence of Gaelic in Galloway and Carrick", in ''Scottish Gaelic Studies'', VI.2 (1949), pp. 114–36 * MacInnes, Ranald, "The Castles and Mansions of Argyll", in Donald Omand (ed.), ''The Argyll Book'', (Edinburgh, 2004), pp. 190–204 * Meek, Donald E., "The Scots-Gaelic Scribes of Late Medieval Perthshire: An Overview of the Orthography and Contents of the Book of the Dean of Lismore", in Janet Hadley Williams (ed.), ''Stewart Style, 1513-1542: Essays on the Court of James V'', (East Linton, 1996), pp. 254–72 * Ó Baoill, Colm, "The Scots-Gaelic Interface", in Charles Jones (ed.), ''The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language'' (Edinburgh, 1997), pp. 551–568 * Shaw, John, "Oral Traditions/Folklore of Argyll", in Donald Omand (ed.), ''The Argyll Book'', (Edinburgh, 2004), pp. 213–22 * Stiùbhart, Domhnall Uilleam, "Carswell, John éon Carsuel(c.1522–1572)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 24 Jan 2008
* Wormald, Jenny, ''Court, Kirk and Community: Scotland, 1470-1625'', (Edinburgh, 1981), {{DEFAULTSORT:Carsuel, Seon 1522 births 1572 deaths Abbots of Iona Alumni of the University of St Andrews Bishops of the Isles Clergy from Argyll and Bute Protestant Reformers Scottish Calvinist and Reformed Christians 16th-century Scottish writers 16th-century Scottish male writers 16th-century bishops of the Church of Scotland 16th-century Scottish bishops People from Dumfries and Galloway