Saint Duthac (also Duthus or Duthak; 1000–1065) was a Scottish Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Ross. He is the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

Tain Tain ( ) is a royal burgh and parish in the County of Ross, in the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. Etymology The name derives from the nearby River Tain, the name of which comes from an Indo-European root meaning 'flow'. The Gaelic n ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. His feast day is 8 March.

Biography and legacy

According to the ''

Aberdeen Breviary The ''Aberdeen Breviary'' () is a 16th-century Scottish Catholic breviary. It was the first full-length book to be printed in Edinburgh, and in Scotland. Origin The creation of the Aberdeen Breviary can be seen as one of the features of the growi ...

,'' Duthac was a

native Scot Scottish people or Scots (; ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded the Kingdom of Scotland (or ...

. Tradition has it that Duthac was born in Tain and educated in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. A

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

was built in his honour and a sanctuary established at Tain by the great Ferchar mac in tSagairt, first Earl or

Mormaer of Ross The Earl or Mormaer of Ross was the ruler of the province of Ross in northern Scotland, as well as chief of Clan Ross. Origins and transfers In the early Middle Ages, Ross was part of the vast earldom of Moray. It seems to have been made a ...

in the thirteenth century, and was ministered by the

Norbertine The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular in the Catholic Church ...

canons of

Fearn Abbey Fearn Abbey – known as "The Lamp of the North" – has its origins in one of Scotland's oldest pre-Reformation church buildings. Part of the Church of Scotland and located to the southeast of Tain, Ross-shire, the historic building ...

. St. Duthus's Chapel, is thought to have been where St Duthac was born. A century later, this sanctuary was notably breached by

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

supporters who captured

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (), was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. Robert led Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against Kingdom of Eng ...

's wife, daughter and sisters sheltering in the chapel. The chapel was burnt later in political violence between regional power groups, namely the

Clan MacKay Clan Mackay ( ; ) is an ancient and once-powerful Scottish Highlands, Highland Scottish clan from the far north of the Scottish Highlands, but with roots in the old Mormaer of Moray, Kingdom of Moray. They supported Robert I of Scotland, Rober ...

and the

Clan Ross Clan Ross ( ) is a Highland Scottish clan. The original chiefs of the clan were the original Earl of Ross, Earls of Ross. History Origins The first recorded chief of the Clan Ross was Fearchar, Earl of Ross, "Fearcher Mac an t-Sagairt" which ...

. The ruins of the chapel still exist as a centrepiece of St Duthus Old Burial Ground on the shores of the

Dornoch Firth The Dornoch Firth (, ) is a firth on the east coast of Highland, in northern Scotland. It forms part of the boundary between Ross and Cromarty, to the south, and Sutherland, to the north. The firth is designated as a national scenic area, one of ...

. Saint Duthac was greatly venerated in Scotland and his memory is still preserved in variations, in the names of places and organisations, including Kilduthie; Arduthie near Stonehaven and Kilduich on the

Loch Duich Loch Duich (Scottish Gaelic: "Loch Dubhthaich") is a sea loch situated on the western coast of Scotland, in the Scottish highlands, Highlands. History In 1719, British forces burned many homesteads along the loch's shores in the month preceding ...

. Tain, where he is reputed to have died and been buried, had the Church built in his honour. His death is recorded in the "

Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' () are annals of History of Ireland, medieval Ireland. The entries span the years from 431 AD to 1540 AD. The entries up to 1489 AD were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luin� ...

" for the year 1065. After many years his body was found to be

incorrupt Incorruptibility is a Catholic and Orthodox belief that divine intervention allows some human bodies (specifically saints and beati) to completely or partially avoid the normal process of decomposition after death as a sign of their holiness. I ...

and his

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

were translated to the shrine at St. Duthus Collegiate Church built between 1370 and 1458. The ruins of the St Duthus Church are still there but the relics disappeared c. 1560 at the time of the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

Veneration

St Duthac was known as the Chief Confessor of Ireland and Scotland (Dubtach Albanach) and his saint's

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

is 8 March. His shrine was visited multiple times by

King James IV James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauch ...

,Turpie, Tom. "The many lives of St Duthac of Tain", ''Northern Studies'', vol. 44
/ref> Robert the Bruce and his family, and other notable pilgrims.

was called Baile Dhubhthaich in

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

or Duthac's Town and near it stands St. Duthac's Cairn, although the biennial Fairs called by his name are no longer held in the town. St Duthac is venerated by Catholics, Anglicans, and Eastern Orthodox Christians.

St Duthac's Way

St Duthac's Way runs from Tain to Aberdeen, with an expanded section continuing to St. Andrews. From St Mary's Cathedral in Aberdeen the route continues to

Stonehaven Stonehaven ( ) is a town on the northeast coast of Scotland, south of Aberdeen. It had a population of 11,177 at th2022 Census Stonehaven was formerly the county town of Kincardineshire, succeeding the now abandoned town of Kincardine, Aberd ...

and goes down the coast pass

Dunnottar Castle Dunnottar Castle (, "fort on the shelving slope") is a ruined medieval fortress located upon a rocky headland on the northeast coast of Scotland, about south of Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire. The surviving buildings are largely of the 15th ...

to Montrose, then pass

Arbroath Abbey Arbroath Abbey, in the Scottish town of Arbroath, was founded in 1178 by William I of Scotland, King William the Lion for a group of Tironensian Benedictine monks from Kelso Abbey. It was consecration, consecrated in 1197 with a dedication to th ...

and

Inchcape Inchcape or the Bell Rock is a reef about off the east coast of Angus, Scotland, near Dundee and Fife, occupied by the Bell Rock Lighthouse. The name ''Inchcape'' comes from the Scottish Gaelic ''Innis Sgeap'', meaning "beehive isle", probabl ...

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

, and on to

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

."St Duthac's Way", The Way of St Andrews
/ref>

References

Bibliography

* Boyle, Alexander, "Notes on Scottish Saints," in ''The Innes Review'', Spring 1981, pp. 66–7 See the Acta Sanctorum and KSS pp. 328–329

Biography and legacy

Veneration

St Duthac's Way

References

Bibliography

Further reading