The Highlanders of Scotland - Clan Strachan Society

132 THE HIGHLANDERS [parti
The exact coincidence of these dioceses with the most
ancient territorial divisions, forms an important and sure guide
in ascertaining the extent and history of the latter.
David I. is generally supposed to have altogether overthrown
the Culdee church, and to have introduced the Roman Catholic
clerg}' in their place
nature and extent of the alteration effected by him. To give
; but this is a most erroneous view of the
a complete view of the change which took place in his reign
would lead to too great length here ; it may be sufficient to
mention that it appears, from all the authentic information on
the subject that remains to us, that the alteration produced by
him affected the church in three particulars only. First, by the
establishment of parochial clergy, and consequently superseding
the missionary system which had hitherto supplied the spiritual
wants of the people. Secondly, by the introduction of the
monastic orders of the Roman Catholic church into the country;
and, thirdly, by appointing a bishop over the parochial clergy,
and declaring the territory over which the Culdee monastery
had exercised their jurisdiction to be his diocese, in the Roman
Catholic sense of the word. The extent and number of the
dioceses remained unaltered, being just those which had previously
existed among the Culdees. The bishop was almost
invariably the Culdee abbot, who was taken out of his monastery
; his place was supplied by an officer termed a prior, and
wherever the privilege was not expressly taken from them, the
prior and Culdee college constituted the dean and chapter of
the diocese, and elected the same person as bishop whom they
would formerly have elected to precisely the same office under
the title of abbot.
Such is a short sketch of the peculiar form which the Chris-
tian church, established among the Picts or Highlanders of
Scotland, assumed on their conversion from Paganism b\' the
exertions of St. Columba, the great apostle of their
of'th"High-'' nation. But, while the influence of Christianity, and
the zeal with which it was propagated, soon dispelled
the public and general worship of false gods, and substituted
the true religion as a professed belief in place of their former
idolatry ; yet, as might be expected from a character so enthusiastic
as that of the Highlanders, a great part of the spirit of that