On October 9th, 25 members and friends of Lanark and District Archaeological Society met in the Elphinstone Hotel, Biggar for an illustrated talk by Dr Peter Yeoman of Historic Scotland. Peter's talk was on Mediaeval Pilgrimages in Scotland. In the Middle Ages people had a very personal relationship with their Saints and it was important for people to take a pilgrimage, and it was important that the pilgrimage was a difficult journey. The buildings that were constructed to house the bones and secondary relics of the Saints had to be suitably significant and most were built to similar designs. The shrines had to placed in highly decorated building and were usually surrounded by heavy covers that were raised to allow the pilgrims to view. This was both to protect a valuable asset and to help confine and contain the power of the saint.
Peter began by discussing Whithorn which is the best researched Mediaeval pilgrimage site in Britain. James IV made several pilgrimages there and was responsible for much of the development of the town. On one occasion he walked to the shrine from Edinburgh and took just 10 days to complete the journey. Iona was the next centre discussed. At this time the pilgrimage would involve travelling over the whole island and specific psalms and prayers were recited in significant places. The income from the pilgrimages funded the Abbey. As St Columba's grave was cut into a rock, this dictated the pattern of further development of the buildings.
Glasgow was also an important centre for pilgrimage. David I encouraged this, although his motives were partially political, as he wanted to move the focus away from the earlier centre at Govan. A number of Arms houses surrounded the Cathedral precinct. In one of these there were apparently 2 pots, one was for the soup and the other was for washing the feet of the pilgrims, Peter thought that it would have been important not to confuse the two. After the reformation, Glasgow Cathedral was converted into 3 parish churches and so the key elements of the building still exist today as they were in the 15th Century.
David I's mother, Saint Margaret was the only one of the Scottish saints to be officially canonised. She was buried in Dunfermline and her bones were subsequently moved to a purpose built reliquary to the east of the high alter. Her head shrine, which contained her upper body complete with hair, was taken from Scotland during the Reformation, but this subsequently disappeared during the French Revolution. A list with 40 of the miracles that supported Saint Margaret's canonisation was recently found in the Spanish royal archive. This details the illnesses that the pilgrims believe they had been cured of. and also describes the development of the buildings and their contents.
Finally, Peter turned his attention to St Andrews. This was an important centre as it demonstrated the close link that Scotland had with an apostle. The remains apparently included an arm bone, a kneecap and 3 finger bones. The pilgrimage traditionally started in North Berwick and a free crossing was provided for pilgrims across the Firth of Forth. On the way the pilgrims would have passed the Isle of May. On the island Peter had performed extensive excavations. In particular, they had found the remains of a young man, who from the scallop shell placed in his month had certainly been on a pilgrimage to Spain. The pilgrim badges that were worn at this time give archaeologists an unrivalled amount of information, as they can be accurately date, their origins are accurately known and they can illuminate the history of the owner.