St. Fillan's Crozier is an 8th century

Insular crozier An Insular crozier is a type of processional bishop's staff (crozier) produced in Ireland and Scotland between 800 and 1200. They are distinguished from mainland European types by their curved and open crooks, and drop (that is, the hollow box- ...

crook (or head) traditionally associated with the Irish monk St. Fillan (Gaelic: Fáelán; "little wolf"),McDonald (2013), p. 66 who lived in the eighth century at Glendochart in

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

, central Scotland. Only the crook survives; the staff was lost at an unknown date. Sometime around the late 13th century it was encased in the Coigreach (or Quigrich), a crosier-shrine of similar size and form built as a protective case,McKeown (1933), p. 246 made from silver, gold and

rock crystal Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical fo ...

and dating from the late 13th century, with additions c. the 14th or 15th centuries. The Coigreach was rediscovered in the mid-19th century by the archaeologist Daniel Wilson, who opened it and found St. Fillan's Crozier inside. Records show that the original wooden crozier (

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 ...

: ''Baculus'') was used for blessings and as a

talisman A talisman is any object ascribed with religious or magical powers intended to protect, heal, or harm individuals for whom they are made. Talismans are often portable objects carried on someone in a variety of ways, but can also be installed perm ...

or battle standard: it is recorded as having been brought onto the field at the

Battle of Bannockburn The Battle of Bannockburn ( or ) was fought on 23–24 June 1314, between the army of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots, and the army of King Edward II of England, during the First War of Scottish Independence. It was a decisive victory for Ro ...

in 1314.The Quigrich or Crozier of St Fillan
. Am Baile: Highland History and Culture. Retrieved 12 December 2021 It was later thought to be able to heal people and animals, and under the ownership of the Dewars of Glendochart—its hereditary keepers until the mid-18th century—acted as a ceremonial object for oaths of loyalty and dispute settlement, mostly related to the recovery of stolen cattle. Both St. Fillan's Crozier (catalogue nr H.KC 1) and the Coigreach (H.KC 2) are in the collection of the

National Museum of Scotland The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a museum of Scottish history and culture. It was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, where they are displayed in the Kingdom of the Scots gallery, and are described by the museum as an "object-pair".Crozier and Coigreach of St Fillan
.

. Retrieved 12 December 2021

Description

The crozier head is designed in the West

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

style, and like all contemporary

s formed from a wooden core lined with bronze plates, which are decorated with niello, lead sulphid, copper and silver. It is thought to date from c. 800 AD and was reworked in the 11th century. It was found inside the late-14th or 15th century Coigreach (or "Coigrich", sometimes spelled "Quigrich"), an ornamented crosier-shrine built as a protective case to hold what was left of the earlier object.Towill (1979), p. 56 The Coigreach is made from a bronze base lined with a series of plaques decorated with raised bands of engraved metal ornamented with niello. Some of the bands have silver gilt and

filigree Filigree (also less commonly spelled ''filagree'', and formerly written ''filigrann'' or ''filigrene'') is a form of intricate metalwork used in jewellery and other small forms of metalwork. In jewellery, it is usually of gold and silver, m ...

; a number of these elements were removed from the crosier and transferred onto the Coigreach.Crosier, known as The Coigrich, associated with St Fillan of Glendochart
. National Museums Scotland. Retrieved 12 December 2021Stuart (1877), p. 5 The head is in height and long. The rest of the crozier (i.e. its staff) is lost.

Provenance

Fillan travelled from Ireland to

Strath Fillan Strath Fillan () is a strath in west Perthshire named after an 8th-century Irish hermit monk, later canonised as Saint Fillan. Located in the region was once Strath Fillan Priory, an early 14th century foundation, later destroyed by the Campbell ...

, central Scotland, in 730AD, apparently to Christianize the

Picts The Picts were a group of peoples in what is now Scotland north of the Firth of Forth, in the Scotland in the early Middle Ages, Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and details of their culture can be gleaned from early medieval texts and Pic ...

. He founded a prior at Glendochart, and became greatly venerated in the region and eventually became a national saint. At his death, Fillan bequeathed his relics to laymen in Glendochart rather than the priory monks. These relics included his bell (or ''bernane''), and a lost arm relic today known as the Shrine of St. Fillan's Hand, which for a period was mistakenly identified as the 14th-century object now known as

Shrine of Saint Patrick's Hand A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...: ''escri ...

.Quadrangular bell of cast bronze, associated with St Fillan, from Strathfillan, Perthshire, 9th century
. National Museums Scotland. Retrieved 12 December 2021 Sometime around the 13th or 14th century the crozier was enshrined within the Coigreach. It then fell into the possession of the Dewar (sometimes spelled "Deoir" or "Jore") family sometime around 1400. They became its hereditary keepers and passed it from father to son for five centuries. Ownership of the crozier entitled its possessor to ownership of lands and the right to tax local sales of grain; effectively retaining its original function as a

staff of office A staff of office is a staff, the carrying of which often denotes an official's position, a social rank or a degree of social prestige. Apart from the #Eccleasiastical use, ecclesiastical and #Ceremonial, ceremonial usages mentioned below, ther ...

and sign of authority. The Coigreach was kept at the family home at Eyich, outside

Crianlarich Crianlarich (; ) is a village in Stirling council area and in the registration county of Perthshire, Scotland, around north-east of the head of Loch Lomond. The village bills itself as "the gateway to the Highlands". Etymology The name ''Cria ...

.Bourke; Hook (2017), p. 134 In 1819 Archibald Dewar (d. 1831) emigrated to

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

in Canada and took the Coigreach with him. According to the National Museum of Scotland, while there and "as had been the custom in Scotland, the Coigreach was used to bless the drinking water of cattle of Scottish emigrants". Soon afterwards the

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

and archaeologist Daniel Wilson realised its value and arranged for its return to Scotland, under the ownership of the Wuigrich to the Society of Antiquaries for the National Museum of Scotland. Shortly after this rediscovery, the Coigreach was opened and found to contain the much earlier crozier.

Gallery

File:St Fillan’s Crozier.jpg, Full view St. Fillan’s Crozier File:St Fillan’s Crozier. NMS.jpg, St. Fillan’s Crozier, with the Coigreach to the right File:The Coigreach.jpg, The Coigreach

References

Citations

Sources

* Bourke, Cormac; Hook, Duncan. "The Prosperous, Co. Kildare, Crozier: archaeology and use". ''Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Archaeology, Culture, History, Literature'', volume 117C, 2017 * Caldwell, D. H. (ed). ''Angels, Nobles and Unicorns: Art and Patronage in Medieval Scotland''. Edinburgh: National Museum of Scotland, 1982. * McKeown, L. M. "The Shrine of St. Fillan's Hand". ''The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland'', Seventh Series, volume 3, No. 2, December 31, 1933. * Michelli, Perette. "Four Scottish crosiers and their relation to the Irish tradition". ''Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland'', 118, 1986 * Stuart, John. "Historical Notices of St. Fillan's Crozier, and of the Devotion of King Robert Bruce to St. Fillan". ''Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland'', volume XII, 1876 * Towill, Edwin. "The Isle of Youth and the Baculus Iesu". ''Folklore'', volume 90, No. 1, 1979.

External links

Crozier and Coigreach of St Fillan
National Museums Scotland {{Insular Croziers Archaeology of Scotland Collection of National Museums Scotland Insular croziers