The Choir of the Cathedral was repaired in 1691 by the Atholl family to make it suitable as a place of worship for the Kirk of Scotland. State grants have been given at intervals for the same purpose, the most important being in 1815, when the building was fast hastening to ruin.

The restoration of the Choir to its former state as far as possible was accomplished in 1908 through the princely generosity of Sir Donald Currie of Garth. It was re-roofed with Caithness slabs, the end galleries and Atholl family seat removed and all restored, wherever possible, in keeping with the original design.

The seats are of oak, so are the carved pulpit screen and organ.

The stained glass in the East Window was also the gift of Sir Donald Currie, to whose memory a bronze tablet is affixed on the south wall. In addition, the tablet records the reopening of the Cathedral after the restoration in 1908, and the dedication of the East Window. In 1922, the Cathedral was handed over to the care of the nation by the Duke of Athol!, and the work of preservation was begun under the supervision of the Ancient and Historic Monuments Department of H.M. Office of Works. Not too soon was this ancient edifice handed over for preservation Nearly a hundred years ago a local poet said of it— "Time, the destroyer, wi’ his pick, has gi’en the biggin’ mony a prick."

And these lines are truer now than then. Within the last few decades decay has proceeded at a rapid rate, the stonework of many of the beautiful windows in the roofless Nave having fallen to the ground, where it lay in shapeless masses. In every nook and cranny of the ruined walls plants had sprung up, trees with spreading roots and clusters of wallflowers. Two of the greatest enemies after the clashing destruction of war were clinging ivy and birds. To quote again the poet James Stewart, already referred to -

"Green ivy cleeds the roofless wa’s,

Soughs through each arch the wind that blaws,

While here and there in dusky raws,

The feathered nations

0’ hoolets, kaes and huddy craws

Haud consultation."

Preservation, not restoration, is the keynote. Crumbling mouldings and carvings, also the stone framework of windows, are carefully treated and rendered watertight to prevent further decay. Huge growths of ivy, the products of centuries, were removed from the walls. These long clinging trails of lustrous green had lent a picturesque appearance to the ruin, and their removal makes it look shorn and bare, so that a little natural regret may be felt at this necessary destruction. Specially is this the case in the small lateral porch at the south wall, formerly a beautiful sight, summer or winter. In the time of roses, sprays twined through the ivy and clambered over the porch, their white and pink flowers peeping out from amongst the glossy leaves. The porch is bare now, devoid of twining sprays, but the doorway to which it leads is seen to advantage and other remains of former ornamentation. The side walls of the porch, however, show little ornamentation, and are so out of keeping with the rest of it as to raise a suspicion that they are a later addition.

In the basement room of the Tower or Belfry remains of early paintings are yet seen on the wall, the subjects of which are rather difficult to determine. One figure is suggested as being a portrayal of Solomon acting as arbiter between the two women who claimed the same child. If this were so, the subject was probably chosen as befitting a Court of Justice. In this room or consistory of the early church have been held various Dunkeld Courts of Justice. It is in good preservation yet.

The ground extending from the entrance gate to the boundary fence beyond the building and sloping towards the Tay now provides an open space with seats for visitors. Previous to 1560 this part was the place of interment, but since then, until lately, was occupied by "The Cottage" and gardens. The view is one of quiet, yet striking, beauty. The noble river sweeping on in silent majesty, the picturesque arches of the stately bridge which spans its flow, the meeting of the Braan and Tay, with the classic brow of Birnam Hill just beyond, the historic ruin almost under the shadow of craggy peaks—all combine to form a scene seldom equalled.

The lawn is softly green, and there still rises to a noble height near the Tower one of the parent larches brought to Scotland in a carpet bag by Menzies of Culdares when young plants, and planted in 1738. It is rather strange to learn that these trees were at first treated as hothouse plants, pining and fading under such treatment, until finally they were put outside to live or die as they pleased. One fell in 1909, and from its timber various articles have been made as mementos and curiosities.

Although the ancient glories of Dunkeld Cathedral, such as its altars and paintings, have disappeared, there are still many interesting relics of the past. Several monuments and tombs have survived the destroyers’ hands.

Entering by the east door to the right, behind the Screen, are seen the two early Christian monumental slabs described in Chapter II. Between them, on the east wall, is a monument which has given rise to controversy, that to the Black Watch. It is certainly a gruesome and realistic piece of work. Over it hung formerly the tattered regimental colours which are now above the Atholl family pew. The monument is executed in white marble by Sir John Steele, RS.A., and was unveiled by the Duchess Dowager of Atholl in 1872. The battlefield, with its slaughter and carnage, destruction and horrors, is represented; the centre figure, an officer of the regiment, stands with bared head surveying the terrible results of deadly strife. This monument was erected by officers of the corps, and bears a suitable inscription with the names of the many battlefields in which the regiment won fame.

"And heroes haunt those old Cathedral walls."

Opposite is the stone sarcophagus of the Wolf of Badenoch, thus named from his ferocity. Alister More Mac an Righ, third son of Robert II., died in 1394. He was cruel and merciless as a wolf, sparing none; his fury fell upon all, Church, noble, and burgher, but his epitaph reads, "Bona Memoriae" and that he died in the odour of sanctity at peace with the Church is indicated by the clasped hands on the breast of the statue. A graphic description of the Wolf’s penance, prescribed by the Church, can be read in Sir Thomas Dick Lauder’s novel, "The Wolf of Badenoch". Into the Blackfriars Monastery, in Perth, the penitent walked barefooted and clad in penitential robes through gaping, wondering crowds, and there confessed his sins publicly before the Bishops of Dunkeld, Dunblane and St. Andrews. The humiliation and subjugation of such a fierce and influential personage vividly portrays the power of the Church of Rome in the 14th century. The sarcophagus is still in tolerable preservation and the Latin inscription easily deciphered. The statue is in armour with a lion at the feet, a lamb in its clutches. A groat of Robert II, found in this coffin, was presented to the Perth Museum.

Near this statue on the east wall is a bronze in memory of the Cameronian officers who fell in the Great War. It was erected by relatives, and is placed beside that commemorating Lieut.-Colonel Cleland of the same regiment, who fell in the Battle of Dunkeld. A slab to the memory of Rev. John Robb recalls the stirring tale of Grace Darling, and the wreck of the Forfarshire, for after a short incumbency Mr. Robb was drowned in that shipwreck, 1838, and was buried in Bamborough Churchyard.

Another tablet is to the memory of Major-General Sir Robert Dick of Tullymet, who fell at Sabron in 1846.

Near the pulpit is the Hagioscope, a small opening in the wall, placed in an oblique direction to enable the worshippers, in parts where the altars were not visible, to see the Elevation of the Host. Such openings were sometimes termed Leper windows, or "Squints."

The mutilated statue of Bishop Sinclair, the honoured friend of Robert the Bruce, lies in the North Aisle, while the statue of another Bishop is also preserved. This is the founder of the Nave, Bishop Cardney, whose tomb is in a recess of the south wall of the ruins, dated 1420. There is a Latin inscription on the top, but much of the lettering is defaced. The statue is full length with mitre, robe and stall. The Bishop himself was buried in St. Ninian’s Chapel (Atholl Street), and the monument originally erected there, but afterwards brought to the Cathedral. Opposite, in the north wall, is the Cardney family monument with a vault below. Still within the ruins and near the stone marking the grave of Lieut.-Colonel Cleland lies General Charles Edward Stewart, Count Rochenstart, son of the Duchess of Albany, daughter of Prince Charlie, who was born in Rome and died in Dunkeld, 1854, from the result of an accident. Returning from Inverness, after a visit to Lord Lovat, the coach in which he was travelling was upset near Inver. He was conveyed to the Atholl Arms Hotel, Dunkeld, where he died. Those who met him testified to the charm of manner which made it apparent that he was a true descendant of the Prince who had won so many Highland hearts. An anecdote lingers in Inver to the effect that he sent a sum of money to several women in Inver who had rushed to help the injured. This they invested in Stewart tartan ribbon and wore it for many a day. Perhaps no more fitting place for the "Last of the Stewarts," as he styled himself, could be found than within the walls of Dunkeld Cathedral, close to the land of Atholl, from whose glens and valleys had poured many gallant men to fight and die for his grandsire.

Mention is sometimes made of an epitaph written by Pennycook on Marjory Scott, said to be buried here in 1728, but it is not to be found on stone. MacLean’s Guide gives it in full. Part of it runs—

"Betwixt my cradle and my grave were seen, Seven mighty Kings of Scotland and a Queen.

I saw the Stewart race thrust out, nay more,

I saw our country sold for English ore.

Our numerous nobles, who have famous been

Sunk to the lowly number of sixteen,

I have an end of all perfection seen."

Bishop Brown’s memorial window, already referred to, is in the north wall near the Tower, and there are besides other monuments of interest, both modern and ancient, amongst them a rough unhewn Ionic Cross to Dr. Murray, a true surgeon of the old school. The Rev. T. Wilson, a faithful pastor, who died in 1877, is buried here, as his tombstone records. His successor, the Rev. T. R. Rutherford, M.A., died shortly before the attainment of his jubilee as minister. He is buried in Dowally Churchyard.

The great bell is protected within a wooden erection which sadly muffles its tone. Formerly this bell rang at six o’clock in the morning and tolled the curfew at eight each evening. The former practice was discontinued many years ago, the latter only during the war, and has, as yet, not been resumed.

The Cathedral grounds are entered from Cathedral Street, a narrow, quaint street fully bearing out the ancient character of the little city. The view through the gate along the street is very picturesque, and is greatly improved since the plates of iron across the bars have been removed. The gate itself is a beautiful piece of workmanship and once stood at the entrance to the original Dunkeld House, the avenue to which can still be traced behind the building in present use as an Armoury, near the Fountain.

Dunkeld an Ancient City
Elizabeth Stewart
Dunkeld, 1926

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