Alexander Scrogie (1565–1659) was a Scottish clergyman in the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

who was minister of St Machar's Cathedral in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), ...

and was an anti-Covenanting figure in Scotland during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of Kingdom of England, England's governanc ...

. He served as Rector of Aberdeen University.

Life

He was born in northern Scotland in 1565. He was educated at King's College, Aberdeen graduating MA around 1580. He then became a "regent", lecturing at Marischal College, Aberdeen. He became an assistant minister at Skene, Aberdeenshire in 1603 and was formally ordained there in 1605. In that year he attended the unlawful

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of pres ...

in Aberdeen, chaired by Rev David Rait. In January 1606 he translated to Drumoak parish south-west of

. In March 1608 the General Assembly ordered him to reside in the parish (as he was not) and in March 1609 they charged him with non-residence. He answered that his family lived there every day but he only lived there at weekends due to his commitments at Marischal College (which continued). He was ordered to quit his college role at

Lammastide Lammas Day (Anglo-Saxon ''hlaf-mas'', "loaf-mass"), also known as Loaf Mass Day, is a Christian holiday celebrated in some English-speaking countries in the Northern Hemisphere on 1 August. The name originates from the word "loaf" in reference ...

. In 1621 he translated to St Machar's Cathedral in place of David Rait. In 1627 King's College awarded him a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...

. He joined with others of equal status to oppose the National Covenant in the early 1630s. He was elected Rector of King's College in 1636. In 1638 he was officially rebuked for celebrating communion on

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

(as the General Assembly had banned this). On 15 July 1639 his house was seized by soldiers of William Keith, Earl Marischal's Regiment, in his capture of Aberdeen. In August 1640 he was deposed as minister due to his continuing opposition to the Covenant, but in July 1641 made apology and made full recantation to his presbytery in May 1642 and was reinstated in full. He stepped down from St Machar's in 1640 but did not fully retire until 1655 and died in

Rathven Rathven ( sco, Raffin) is an ecclesiastical parish, village and former civil parish in the historic county of Banff, now in Moray, Scotland. The civil parish was last used as a census subdivision in 2001 when the population was 12,378, The fo ...

manse (the home of his son William) on the north coast in 1659.

Family

He married Jean Ross daughter of Rev James Ross, second charge at Aberdeen. They had several children: * William Scrogie,

Bishop of Argyll The Bishop of Argyll or Bishop of Lismore was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Argyll, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics. It was created in 1200, when the western half of the territory of the Bishopric of Dunkeld was formed into t ...

from 1666 to 1675 * Alexander Scrogie (1615–1661), minister of St Machar's * James Scrogie * Patrick (F), married William Douglas of Forgue * Marjorie, married Alexander Innes of Mortlach

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scrogie, Alexander 1565 births 1659 deaths Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Academics of the University of Aberdeen