Burns Bible

Images of some of the pages are shown below  ………………..

PROVENANCE

This book – it is a ‘folio’ book containing the King James Bible and the 1662 (English) Book of Common Prayer– was printed in 1708.  It was probably bought in about 1735 by George Straton, one of the managers of the newly opened Episcopal Chapel, then in the High Street.

He passed it on to his grand-daughter, Anne Cushnie or Burness, the wife of Robert Burness, a writer in Stonehaven, who was a second cousin of the famous Robert Burns.

The frontispiece page then records its presentation by Anne in 1800 to her nephew, Rev. Patrick Cushnie, who was the Episcopalian Minister at Montrose from 1780 to 1847.

Patrick signed the book, calling himself Jnr.  This must have been him because he never married.

Patrick’s sister, Anna, signed the book in 1856.   Patrick left the book in his will to his legal heir, her grandson, Dr Alexander Morison.

Dr Morison signed it in 1907, and kindly gifted it back to St James’.

ENGRAVED FRONTISPIECES

The beautifully engraved frontispieces record the instruction of King James IV in 1612 for a new English translation – part of his efforts to unite the Kingdom after the English Civil War.

SCRIBBLINGS

There are many scribblings in the book – some of which are very child-like.

• Is this someone practicing their sums?
• Was someone getting bored?

FAMILY CONNECTIONS

But quite of lot of scribblings refer to the family of George Stratton who was a manager of the Episcopal Chapel in the 1740s.  From this evidence we can construct the family tree.

PHOTOGRAPHS of individual PAGES

We have photographed many of the interesting pages in this Bible.  They are organised in the following sections below.  Just click on the section name to scroll down quickly.

Note that there are controls to scroll through the pages and/or magnify them at the foot of the photo.

OPENING PAGES                                FAMILY NOTES                      METRICAL PSALMS                            TABLE of BIBLICAL NAMES

ACT of UNIFORMITY                            MAPS                                     TRANSLATOR’S NOTES                       SELECTED BIBLE PAGES

OPENING PAGES of the Bible/Prayer Book,

WHO OWNED THIS BIBLE

On the opening otherwise blank page, there is an inscription (on the first page) that the Bible was given by a Mrs. Burness to her nephew Patrick Cushnie.

On the second page, someone has noted that Patrick Cushnie signature is on the page of Psalm 27.   Then Anne Morrison signs it in 1856.  At the bottom, Dr Alexander Morison signs the book in 1907, giving his full medical qualifications (M.D and F.R.C.P. Edinburgh and London).  It was he who gave it back to St James’.

However, later on a George Straton has signed the Bible, and it is clear from the records held in the Diocesan Archives that he was the manager of the Episcopal Chapel in Stonehaven’s High Street at the time it was built in 1737.  Family history research has concluded that he passed it to his granddaughter, Anne Cushnie, who became Anne Burness, marrying into the family of Robert Burns.

Note that there are controls to scroll through the pages and/or magnify them at the foot of the photo.

The Family Connections

4 Pages which have ‘scribbles’ giving details that one might see in a family Bible.  These have allowed us to create the family trees (including the Burns connection) which you see below, and to confirm the Jamaican Cushie connection.

Note that there are controls to scroll through the pages and/or magnify them at the foot of the photo.

THE ROBERT BURNS CONNECTION

The family tree of Anne Cushie or Burness is shown below.  It shows that she was the second cousin of the Bard.

Then Anne Cushnie was the grand-daughter of George Straton, the manager of the Episcopal Chapel, and who bought the Prayer Book originally.  She passed it on to Revd Patrick Cushnie of Montrose, and he bequeathed to Dr Andrew Morrison.  Dr Morrison returned the book to St James in 1907.

THE JAMAICAN CONNECTION

On the 6th image appears the details of George Straton’s family, most of whom emigrated to Jamaica in the mid 1740/50s.  Some of Anne Cushie’s relatives went there as well, as we had a delegation of some 18 people from there at St James in 2018,  They had been tracing the Cushnie family tree and had made the connection with St James.

ACT OF UNIFORMITY

The 1662 Prayer Book was a revision of the original 1589 Prayer Book, whose purpose was to invoke a sense of unity throughout the Kingdom, and to persuade people to use the same services.  This was implemented by the Act of Uniformity 0f 1588 (the first year of Queen Elizabeth’s reign).  To reinforce the point, the full wording of the 1588 Act was reprinted at the front of the Prayer Book.

The last two pages here set out further instructions on how to conduct services.

Note that there are controls to scroll through the pages and/or magnify them at the foot of the photo.

MAPS

Since the events recounted in the Bible were in the Holy Lands, far away, beautiful maps were included in the book.

Note that there are controls to scroll through the pages and/or magnify them at the foot of the photo.

Note that the original maps are on large (about A3-sized) paper, and so that they can be read here, we have had to scan them in two halves.  There are 5 maps over 10 pages.

METRICAL PSALMS

Part of the tradition in Presbyterian, (especially Calvinist) churches, which were prevalent in Scotland, was the singing of Psalms transcribed into a metrical version, that is, one having a fixed metre.  This allows the use of tunes which have a clear fixed rhythm (unlike Anglican chanting, which requires ‘pointing’ to fit the words as in the Authorised Bible to the set notes of the chant).  This book has a set of metrical psalms added as an Appendix, which would suggest it was specially printed for a Scottish (or at least Calvinist traditional) audience.

Note that there are controls to scroll through the pages and/or magnify them at the foot of the photo.

TRANSLATOR’S NOTES

The translators of the Bible (in about 1588 or earlier) were at great pains to set out their reasoning in making certain translations.  This reflects the sensitivity of the fundamental move away from Latin-only versions of the Scriptures.

Note that there are controls to scroll through the pages and/or magnify them at the foot of the photo.

TABLE of BIBLICAL NAMES

As with the Maps, the Bible contains many names which are strange to English speaking ears, so the compliers felt it worthwhile to explain some of them.

Note that there are controls to scroll through the pages and/or magnify them at the foot of the photo.

Other SELECTED PAGES from the BIBLE

Apart from the extracts shown above, there are a few pages in the Bible that have more than just the plain text.

Note that there are controls to scroll through the pages and/or magnify them at the foot of the photo.

End