Among the
Aberdeen Churches
Aberdeen, in the matter of its churches, is nothing if not
historical, for is it not on record that, somewhere about the year 567,
St Columba brought the gospel to the tribes then inhabiting Scotland
north of the Grampians, and forthwith began to build churches? And it is
not altogether beyond the pale of probability that among the number was
the "original" Church of St Nicholas, on the site of which now stand the
West and the East churches! An account of the building of these churches
would be fruitful of much that is interesting, but a very few words must
here suffice.
The West Parish Church is built on what was the nave or westmost
portion of an Old Church of St Nicholas that "began to be builded" -
this, on the authority of an old writer - "by the citizens about the
year 1060." In 1732 or 1733, the old church had become unsafe in
consequence of its great age, and ceased to be used as a place of
worship. It lay in a totally neglected state for well nigh twenty years
- till 1751, in fact, when contracts were entered into for taking down
the insecure nave and erecting the present edifice. The designs for both
the East and West Kirks, it should be noted, were furnished respectively
by Archibald Simpson and James Gibbs, our townsmen, and at the end of
four years the West Church was opened with considerable ceremony on
"Sunday, the 9th day of Novenmber, 1755" - Thomas Shannon and a "hired
band" leading the praise. It is worthy of mention that the freestone of
which the church is almost entirely built was brought from Queensferry -
a considerable distance then - at a substantial addition to the cost of
the mason work. This action can only be accounted for by the fact that
the working of the native granite was not so well understood as to
warrant the builders attempting to put together such an edifice with the
local material. It goes without saying, however, that the substitution
of sandstone for granite is a blemish in an otherwise fine
ecclesiastical structure. The Walls, by the action of the weather betray
a black and battered appearance, but the base courses, built of Aberdeen
granite, are as perfect as on the day they were laid down.
The First East Church occupied the east end of the site whereupon
stood the old Church of St Nicholas. In 1352 - five years before the
first stone of the Cathedral of St Machar was laid - the two bells,
"Maria" and "Lawrence" ("Old Lowry"), were hung in St Nicholas Tower.
The old steeple and belfry, with its peal of eight bells (including the
two named), was completely destroyed by the great fire of 1874. The
original East Church, which cost over £6s000 was taken down in 1837 and
the present building erected.
The Music of the Sanctuary
If thus the history of the "stone and lime" is fraught with cherished
associations, how much more so is that of the growth and development of
the music within the walls of these sanctuaries! In this important
connection, some details of the rise and progress of psalmody in the
West and East Churches - principally as embodied in the appointments of
several precentors - may prove acceptable.
In "A History of the Guthrie Family" the following interesting
excerpt, condensed, is taken:- James Chalmers, senior, born 1713; died
1764; studied for the ministry of the Church of England. Said to have
attended Oxford University. He was well skilled in the learned
languages, and of many accomplishments, including music. Chalmers
returned to Aberdeen in 1736. In 1740 he was appointed precentor of the
Old or West Kirk and Master of the Music School. He was the eldest
surviving son of Professor James Chalmer, a graduate of Aberdeen
University, and minister of Greyfriars Church in 1728. During his
tenancy of the "dask" Mr Chalmers published a collection of Church tunes
- which, after the manner of the day, he dedicated to the Provost,
Baillies, and Town Council. This publication appeared about 1748-9.
On 21st November, 1774, then, Mr James Chalmers, Jun., printer, after
"having sung before the congregation" on the 9th of the same month, was
duly elected precentor by the Town Council, in succession to a Mr James
Pringle, resigned. About Mr Pringle there seems to be no specific
information; but Mr Chalmers was the son of Mr James Chalmers, the
founder, proprietor, and printer of the "Aberdeen Journal."
Mr Chalmers continued in office at the Kirk for twenty-three years at
a yearly salary of £200 Scots. It would appear Mr Chalmers, in addition
to his musical ability, must have been humoursome as well, for we find
Burns referring to him as "a facetious fellow." Burns also, with
reference to the meeting, says "There was an adjournment for a dram;
though our time was short we had fifty auld sangs through our hand, and
spent an hour or two most agreeably." Chalmers was high in the good
graces of the select little Musical Society of his day.
In 1792, we find John Aitken, a teacher of vocal music, advertising
in the columns of the "Journal" that he is now to reside in Aberdeen,
and is to open a class on Sunday evenings gratis to "persons who bring
with them recommendations from their ministers." Whether, in point of
attendance, the class was successful or not, there are no means of
knowing. The notion is, however, novel.
"After competitive trial," on 13th December 1797, Mr William Maxwell
Shaw, who came to Aberdeen from Dingwall, was elected to the office of "precentor
of the West Church, and teacher of vocal music in the city," at a salary
of £20 for precentor and £5 as a teacher of vocal music." It is somewhat
doubtful Mr Shaw was a native - some authorities maintain he was, while
others seem equally determined he was not - but at least he was of
Scottish extraction. For about eight years, Mr Shaw "took up the line"
in the West Kirk, and then left for America, where at Boston, in July,
1805 - the year in which he resigned office - he died.
Following Mr Shaw came Mr William Milne, in business as a painter and
glazier for many years in Aberdeen. Mr Milne has left little record of
his six years' stewardship other than that he was a man of most retiring
disposition, and the possessor of a very fair, sweet, and tuneful tenor
voice.
About this period a change seems to have come over the spirit and
ambition of the city fathers, for next on the list of eminent men and
qualified musicians who have occupied the "lateran" of the West Church
came Mr John Knott, a jolly Englishman, who served from 23rd May, 1811,
till about the end of 1823. Mr Knott is said to have been a baker to
trade, and came form Newcastle to Aberdeen. He was "a respectable and
very gentlemanly, stoutish man, of nearly middle height, with a fine
fresh complexion, beautifully-curling fair hair, and an easy roll in his
gait - in fact, a gentleman all over." Mr Knott might have been
"anything" between thirty and forty when he entered on his duties at the
West Church. He had a powerful mellow tenor voice, and an animated,
somewhat declamatory manner of singing. For some time Mr Knott had no
choir, but Mrs Knott, on occasion, sat beside her husband and helped him
materially in leading the praise. The good lady, it is said, "had a
remarkably fine voice." Not very long after Mr Knott secured a few
picked voices from among the boys of Gordon's Hospital, and the singing
of the lads was characterised by "excellence and purity of tone." He was
also music master at Gordon's Hospital, but does not seem to have been a
favourite with the boys. In 1824, Mr Knott left Aberdeen for Edinburgh,
where he was precentor for some years in the then New North Church. He
died in the capital in 1837. His period of service in Aberdeen extended
to about twelve years.
The Old Scottish Precentor
By W Milne Gibson
1907
