Scalan

Scalan is an important ecclesiastical site in Scotland and is renowned for its important role in helping to preserve Roman Catholic worship in the country during the 18th century when faith in this religion was illegal. 

Scalan was a small Seminary where young men and boys began their education and training as Priests before they left Scotland to complete their schooling in Colleges on the Continent.

Scalan was in use as a Seminary until the end of the 19th century, when a new and larger Seminary opened at Aquhorthies, near Inverurie, and subsequently at Blairs College near Aberdeen.

Communications with Rome were fraught with difficulty. Church matters had to be conducted clandestinely. This gave rise to all kinds of subterfuge. In writing letters, Latin and Italian were often employed but, when English was used, code words became common parlance: Rome was “Old Town” or “Hamburg”; a priest was a “labourer”, Scalan was “the shop” and its students were “prentices”. Aliases were also used. Bishop Hugh MacDonald was “Mr Marolle” after a French benefice which gave the Scottish Mission financial support; Bishop Geddes was “Mr Maroch” because he was titular bishop of Morocco.

With the passage of time, the Bishops had some dissatisfaction with the seminaries on the continent. Too many students were leaving. A common problem was that they were not really prepared for the demands of the teaching institutes which they attended on the continent. There was also a desire to prepare men for Priesthood entirely on Scottish soil despite the law against it. There was also a more recent penal law which prohibited parents sending their offspring abroad for education. This all lead to the creation in 1714 of the first seminary in Scotland on Eilean Bàn, an island on Loch Morar in the Western Highlands. Unfortunately, it was discovered and destroyed by Government troops, the “redcoats”, in 1716, as they laid waste much of the Highlands in punishment for the Jacobite Uprising of 1715. 

Its successor was Scalan, a name which possibly encapsulates not only the Penal Times, but hopes for and the beginning of a better future for Scots Catholics. It was situated in the Braes of Glenlivet, eight miles from Tomintoul, in the lands of the Catholic Duke of Gordon who, along with its remote location, provided it with some security. Between 1716 and 1799 it prepared about 64 priests for Scotland at a crucial time. 

It did not escape entirely the attentions of the authorities and was completely destroyed after Bonnie Prince Charlie’s failed 1745 Jacobite Uprising. Catholics were presumed to be Jacobites. As Bishop John Geddes wrote: “The Scottish Catholics were generally desirous of the restoration of the family of the Stuarts to the throne of Britain; nor is this to be wondered at…The Scottish Catholics were discouraged and much exposed to oppression - it was natural for them to hope for an event that was likely to relieve them and put them again in possession of the privileges of free-born citizens.” By this time, the authorities were not particularly interested in how we worshipped God but they were mightily concerned about our politics, and when Bishop George Hay instructed Catholics in 1780 to start praying for the King in London rather than the “King over the water” it was a significant step in helping Catholics to emerge from the catacombs and to begin to play a fuller part in Scottish society.

An annual Mass is celebrated outdoors at The Scalan on the first Sunday of July at 4.00pm. Scalan can be reached by leaving Tomintoul on the B9008. Just beyond Auchnarrow, about five miles later, Scalan is signposted on the right on an unclassified but fairly good road. For those on satellite systems AB37 9JS is a useful though approximate postcode. It should get you to Chapeltown of Glenlivet. There you will see the Catholic Church on your right, the distillery and the Highland Spring bottling plant. Shortly after that is the point where buses must disembark their passengers. Cars and mimibuses can get very close to Scalan

Scalan is one mile from this point, along a country track requiring sensible shoes, and one should be prepared for any weather. Thankfully, like good Christians, those who take their cars along this track can be confidently waved down by those who would like a lift.

The house is still able to be visited and the Scalan Association is active in keeping it in good condition and promoting knowledge of it in Scotland and abroad. Annual membership is £10, and this can be paid to Fr. Michael Briody, St. Michael’s, 133 Glenmanor Avenue, Moodiesburn, G69 0DL. Members receive a newsletter twice a year containing items on Scalan and Scottish Catholic and Local History, and are invited to the AGM of the Association which usually takes place at the end of May.

Fr Michael Briody