A pictish saint of Deeside.
Died: 678AD
The ancient story of this most ancient of Pictish
saints is one of the most colourful of all that we have given you
so far!
St Nachlan, known as St Nathalan and St Nauchlan,
was a native of Deeside and as some would have it he was of noble
birth from within one of the local Pictish tribes. He became
famous in the district round Tullich for his great knowledge of
how to grow crops and the success he had was a wonder to behold
when many others' crops around him were seen to fail. He gave
thanks for the wonder to God and was glad he had enough to give
to others at these hard times. However, Nachlan was not made of
pure spirit - he had a little of the temper of his people within
his breast still. When, on an occasion when his crops failed as
well, he gave vent to his anger and blamed God in no uncertain
terms! It was not long before he was filled with remorse and
sadness at such a failing in his faith and he determined to do
great penance to try to make up for his sins. He straightway
bound his hand and arm to his side and fixed the chains with a
padlock. In this fashion he determined to go to Rome and beg
forgiveness of the Pope himself. Needless to say, just to make
things a little harder, he threw the key to the padlock into the
nearby River Dee! A swampy hollow on the left of the road leading
from Tullich to Ballater, believed to be part of the old bed of
the Dee, is locally known as Pol-n'-euchrach, "the
Key Pool", a topographical reminder of the saint's penance.
Ruins
of a later church built over Nachlan's at Tullich.
{Press HERE or on picture
for full-size image}
Much later, having travelled for
many weeks, Nachlan arrived in Rome and was overpowered by the
holiness of the city. In a market place he came across a small
boy who was selling fish. Nachlan purchased one from the
unsuspecting urchin and upon opening it he found the key he had
thrown into the Dee so many hundreds of miles away and so many
months before. With much joy, he unlocked the padlock and freed
his arm again, rejoicing that this was surely a sign of his
forgiveness by God. On hearing the story the Pope is said to have
instantly made Nachlan a bishop as a mark of his obvious favour
with God.
What was known as'St Nachlan's Cross' long stood on the market
stance of the old village of Tullich. The monument is said to have been about 12
feet in height and was broken up by the modernizers of the mid-1800's and
the fragments used for building purposes! In 1541 King James V instituted a fair
to be held in Tullich on St Nathalan's day, 8th Januuary, which was altered to
the 19th on the change of the calendar in 1752.
Apart from the very ancient
settlement at Tullich, Nachlan founded churches also at Coull at
the entrance to the Howe of Cromar and at Bothelnie (otherwise, Bal-Nathlan),
known since about 1684 as Oldmeldrum, north of the River Don. He
was held in special reverence here because he is believed to have
saved the parish from plague by his fervent prayers while going
round its bounds on his knees. The local burying-ground of
Bothelnie was credited with containing his remains. A large ash
tree, locally styled the Parcock Tree, in the corner of a field
at the head of the Lang Causeway, now King Street, was a landmark
in the parish, for beside it, according to tradition, St Nathlan
finally left this earthly life. As at Tullich, the saint's day,
8th January, was long held in Bothelnie as a holiday, and even in
quite modern times it was customary to refrain from work on the
occasion.On the hillside near the Parcock Tree games were held in
honour of the festival.
The reader must be cautious with
regard to the church at Coull since some ancient sources show its
dedication to have been to St Brioc. The confusion, it is said,
comes from the old chapel at Cowie, near Stonehaven. This chapel
is well documented and its remains still stand as a silent
testament to the wilds of the North Sea. In ancient times Cowie
was called Collie and its chapel was dedicated to St Mary and St
Nathalan. A rhyme formerly current in Cowie says:
"Atween the kirk and
the kirk ford
There lies St Nauchlan's
hoard."
The remains of the
old Kirk of Cowie
The hoard is thought to be
concealed in a bull's hide. The old belief, which cannot have had
the effect of encouraging anyone to the quest, was that a rope is
tied round the hide, and that it will be used to hang the finder
of the treasure! In 1541, as in Tullich parish, a fair was
instituted at Cowie by King James V to be held annually on St
Nachlan's day.
Returning briefly to the old
church which still stands within a circular burying-ground at
Tullich, there is certainly evidence that it is a site of great
antiquity since, just outside the north wall there are several
ancient symbol-stones. One is a symbol-bearing slab of blue
slate, while five others are granite slabs having incised crosses
of very old design. Nearby the church there is also a souterrain.
It can not be doubted that Tullich was a Christian site in very
early times but there is less evidence to date the life of
Nachlan himself. He is mentioned in some of the early Irish
martyrologies and is said in one to have lived and worked either
in the fifth century, or, according to others, about the seventh
century.
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