As it’s St Fillan’s 900th anniversary I’m looking at Rev. Rutherford’s children’s address, where he talks about the history of the church. There was none for this week, instead I’m looking at the 1627 bible which is mentioned in the January 1951 newsletter.
Through the kindness of Lord Moray, the congregation in Aberdour has been presented with a Bible which belonged to his ancestor, James, the 4th Earl of Moray, who died in 1653. It is well bound in leather with the embossed crest of the family and is in a good state of preservation. It is hoped that in the near future the Bible will be displayed in St. Fillan’s Church.
The bible was displayed in the church under the ‘Liston Window’ (you can see the four feet it rested on) but it began to deteriorate so was donated to the National Library of Scotland.
It contains the Book of Common Prayer, the Genealogies, The Holy Bible and The Book of Psalms.
Moray Bible, Aberdour
This is a donation from St Fillan’s Church, Aberdour. The Bible, which was printed in London in 1627, was owned by James Stewart, 4th Earl of Moray who died in 1653. It has the names and dates of birth of his children on the front pastedown, and a record of his reading of the bible, and which parts, on the rear endpapers and pastedown.
The Bible came to us through the Kirk Session at Aberdour after a period of indecision and uncertainty about what to do with it. Eventually someone suggested that the National Library be contacted for advice. It has had extensive conservation work done on it over the past year.
This was one of the first bibles printed in English (the King James bible was first printed in 1611) – it must have been amazing to have your own bible to read at home.