THE publication of the Minutes (or strictly speaking, a transcription of the Minutes) of the Synod of Argyll is an event of more than ordinary interest in connection with the religious history of the Highlands. The wide extent of the province of the Synod and its important literary undertakings have given it an importance that cannot be overlooked to say nothing of the sidelights on events that disturbed the peace and harmony not only of the civil but also the ecclesiastical life of the country. Mr. MacTavish has done his work well and it is regrettable that he did not live to see his work through the press.
*Minutes of the Synod of Argyll (1652-1661) edited by Duncan C. MacTavish, Castleton, Lochlilthead, with Introduction by James D. Ogilvie, Edinburgh. Printed by A. Constable, Ltd., for the Scottish History Society. 2 vols.
The Synod of Argyll. The General Assembly of 1638 placed under the Synod the territory of the old dioceses of Argyll and the Isles, and extended from the Butt of Lewis (including Skye) to the Mull of Kintyre embracing the western mainland of Inverness as far north as Glenelg.
It was owing to the foresight of Rev. Robert Duncanson, Minister of the Gaelic congregation of Campbeltown, a native of Inverary, that we have a record of the transactions of the Synod of Argyll from 1652 to 1661. He took a transcript of the Minutes covering this important period of the Synod’s loyalty to a Presbyterian testimony. The original Minutes, according to Mr. MacTavish, were probably suppressed during the Episcopal regime which followed on the restoration of Charles II. The Synod was faced with a formidable task in organizing the territory under its jurisdiction. Apart from the difficulties attendant on attendance of the meetings the Synod was faced with the distractions of the Civil War including the Royalist Rebellion of 1644-47 “a visitation so terrible,” says Mr. MacTavish, “that after the lapse of almost three centuries the memory of it still lingers in local tradition in Argyll” (The Gaelic Psalms, 1694). The translation of the Shorter Catechism.
In 1648 the Shorter Catechism had been approved by the General Assembly and appointed to be used as a directory for catechising, and in May, 1649, the Synod of Argyll resolved on making a Gaelic translation. Prior to this date only two books had been printed in Gaelic—Carsewell of Carnassary’s translation of John Knox’s Liturgy (1567) and translation of Calvin’s Catechism published in 1631. It has thus the honour of being the third book printed in Gaelic and the first translation of the Catechism, as far as is known, into any language. In May, 1652, after many interventions, the translation appeared. The translation was largely the work of Rev. Dugald Campbell, Knapdale, and Rev. Ewen Cameron, Dunoon, “two staunch Presbyterians” as Mr. MacTavish describes them. It was published at Edinburgh in 1653 “in an edition of which all trace has been lost for a hundred years” (The Gaelic Psalms, 1694). Copies of the Synod’s translation of the Shorter Catechism were distributed at a meeting held in Rothesay in May, 1653.
Translation of the Psalms in Metre into Gaelic at the foregoing meeting the Synod decided to translate the Psalms into Irish (Gaelic) so as they may be sung with the common tunes.” We quote Mr. MacTavish: “The version of the Scots metrical Psalms still in use had been approved by the Commission of the General Assembly three years previously and emitted for public use, but it is noted in the Minutes of the Synod that the ordinance of singing, through want of the Irish (Gaelic) metre never has been gone about by such as are ignorant of the English language. So that in some congregations there is no need of the ordinance at all. The Synod’s resolution of May, 1653, provided for the execution of the translation by the Presbyteries of Inverary, Cowal, Kintyre and Lorn, but as it was to be expected, the arrangement was productive of little result and two years later the Synod decided to devolve the task on individuals, appointing in October, 1655, that the first 80 Psalms should be translated by six of their number before May, 1656, in order that they might be corrected and made fit for the press.
(To be continued.)