Reivers - Book-a-Bosom Priest
Many Churches Were Abandoned for Years in the Times of the Reiver
Jul 21, 2009 Thomas William Moss
As the Reiver raids on each side of theEnglish\Scottish Borderline became a way of life, lands and crops were burned and cattle, sheep and insight (household goods) were stolen. This led to a society on two levels. There were those who were strong in arms and numbers who reived on a regular basis and defied any to take back what was stolen. Others of a weaker and more pacific nature were left destitute and hungry, victims of the relentless crime.
Reiving Impoverishes the Church
In a society where care for the soul and a happy afterlife still dominated the lives of many, the mainstay of the community was the Church. It relied for its temporal needs on a portion of the produce of the people who worked, often toiled in the fields and a percentage of the meat which they nurtured and fattened.
Should the community, be it steading or village, suffer at the hands of an opportunistic reiver, then the church takings would be mean indeed.
Churches are Abandoned throughout the English\Scottish Border Lands
In very short time the community was unable to support the Church and many of the priests were forced to leave and try their luck elsewhere. Churches were abandoned for many a year, others dismantled by a people who saw no future use for the House of God.
The parish of Ettleton in Liddesdale was without a minister in the years 1576, 1578, 1579, 1580, 1585, 1586, 1588, and 1589. The parish of Castleton, in the same valley, was vacant during the same years. It was an intolerable situation, rife throughout the English Scottish Borders, and not easily remedied. The nurture of the soul became almost non-existent at a time when the fear of God might have helped to improve the ways of a hard and obdurate people.
The Book-a- Bosom PriestEnter the Borders the Book-a-Bosom priest, an itinerant priest, a wandering priest, who would walk the Borderlands at a time when many were afraid to enter its confines, and preach to the people. He wandered from village to village administering his spiritual help and guidance at the Market Cross, the focal point of the community, or any wayside cross-road. He carried the 'Good Book' within his garments, hence his title.
Bernard Gilpin, Apostle of the NorthGilpin was the complete exponent of the Book-a-Bosom priest. He was a very well-educated man, a fellow of Queen's College Oxford, and from a well-to-do family in Kentmere in what is now the English Lake District. He became a favourite in the far-flung parishes of Northumberland because of his willingness to help the ordinary folk with their everyday problems. He did not confine himself to their spiritual needs, though he took great care to guide the folk in the right direction and throw off the torment promoted by others of the cloth. He had a knack of involving himself in their life on this earth as well as that of the next and provided many a solution to their material problems.
The Book-a-Bosom priest provided care and gave hope to a people who were worn down with the daily care of living in a hostile region. He was a welcome sight to many as he made his way into the crowd. He was here to bring succour and peace if only for a while.
Bernard Gilpin Apostle of the North
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Kentmere, Home of Bernard Gilpin
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