Book of Common Prayer
Object numberI900
TitleBook of Common Prayer
DescriptionPrinted in Oxford in 1683, this Book of Common Prayer belonged to the Episcopal Church in Stonehaven. The book has been repaired in the past, and was in situ in the church in 1750. In 1746, the Episcopal chapels at Muchalls and Portlethen were destroyed on the orders of the Duke of Cumberland. The incumbent, Rev. John Troup, thereafter held services in private houses and in the open air at secluded places. One Saturday night, he sent word round the villages of Skateraw (now Newtonhill) and Seatoun of Muchalls that he would, on the following morning, conduct a service a a place called Goudie, a large rock situated a little to the north of Seatoun of Muchalls. The next day, the congregation gathered there, the Skateraw people coming in their boats. The service had scarcely begun when the watchman, whom Rev. Troup had posted, warned of soldiers approaching. Clearly, someone had informed the authorities. The Seatoun villagers scattered and the Skateraw people went home in their boats. Rev. Troup escaped on that occasion, but it was clear that a congregation meeting in the open could no longer escape detection.
A drystone chapel was built in a field above Muchalls Castle about 1748. A meeting place in the grounds of a friendly estate would perhaps be less open to prying eyes. However, during the winter of 1748-49, Rev. Troup, along with Rev. Alexander Greig of Stonehaven and Rev. John Petrie of Drumlithie, was imprisoned in Stonehaven Tolbooth for conducting services that were contrary to the penal law forbidding Episcopalian worship with more than four people present. Even though they were jailed, the three men still ministered to their flocks and the fisherfolk from Skateraw, Seatoun and other villages brought their infants to be baptised through the bars of the jail window.
Production placeOxford
Production date 1683
Object nameBook, Common Prayer
Dimensions
- height: 55.5 cm
width: 22.0 cm
depth: 4.3 cm