CADGERS BACKGROUND

Richard Goss

Message 30247 · 3 Apr 2002 13:12:56 · Fixed-width font · Whole thread

I am responding to Alan's original question <1> then to some
of the answers.

**CADGER**

While the normal function of Malcolm's <2> "cadger" is
correct, this job can be included to that of each of the two
men who carried wealthy ladies in sedan chairs in the 18th
century Edinburgh. Its root is also the source of cady,
either as a cart for tea, or person for a golf bag.

**CANONGATE**

Don't feel bad about the supernumerary "n", it happens
all the time in Scots spelling. As a kid, I never could
figure out what canon law had to do with artillery.
In the early Roman church, the seat of a bishop was the
<<cathedral>> and its town was then qualified to be called a
city [Catholic Edinburgh was referred to as a town because
it never had a bishop]. Parish priests lived in villages
outside cities, where priests who served city populations
lived within the cathedral close. They lived off the income
of the diocese at the pleasure of the bishop.
While the bishop in the Western [non Celtic] Catholic
Church was secular, as were the pastors of the rural
parishes, the priests attached to the cathedral were regular
priests in that they followed the rule set down by St Augus-
tine. They lived monastic (but uncloistered) lives and were
called Canons of St Augustin, Austins, or Augustinians.
One of their powers was the ability to elect not only
their prior (immediate spiritual leader) but also the bishop
of the cathedral to which they were attached. Note: by
manipulating the voting, Henry II was able to promote his
former tutor, Thomas Becket, from university graduate
through all the holy orders from deacon -> priest ->
archbishop and primate of England.
An interesting aside, can be found in the history of St
Mary's College at St Andrews University. Before the Celtic
church of Scotland joined Rome, there was a collegiate
chapel called St Mary's-on-the-Rock [ruin currently outside
the close, east of the Cathedral]. It's Culdee members came
from the Irish tradition of Columba instead of the English
of Augustin.
As a part of the arrangement between the Celtic and
Roman churches, these incumbents were allowed to keep their
livings along with the right to elect the bishop of St
Andrews. As each died, his living and vote was transferred
over to an Augustinian Canon until, after one generation,
all the electors were of the Roman persuasion. From that
time on the livings were at the whim of the king who gave
them to his friends, with the remainder becoming a part of
St Mary's College. Evidence of this can be found in some lo-
cal farm names such as "Gilmerton" [farm commune of the ser-
vents of Mary].
Meanwhile, urban religious needs outgrew the ability of
the cathedral clergy to serve the entire city. So the
Canon's of St Augustin became the first urban parish priests
and as such they no longer lived within the cathedral close.
However, some of these, as pastors, called canons retained
the right to elect the local bishop. This is why some C of E
priests are called "canon" instead of rector, or vicar.
After leaving the cathedral, these parish priests lost
their natural food supply and so they had to be given glebe
lands for their support. As all the priests could not serve
their urban flock and farm out of town at the same time, one
of their number became an agricultural specialist and spent
most of his time in the country. Because these were educated
men, within their order, they used to share their informa-
tion throughout Europe.
Evidence of their former lands are seen in place names
in the UK which include the word "grange". In Spain "granja"
now is the standard word for farm and usually is the equiv-
alent to the English, "manor". In the United States, the
granger movment, designed to share agricultural info and im-
prove the life of American farmers, got its name from the
same source.
The following story contains elements of a religious
fraud [we would say urban myth today], in that the same
story is that of St Hubert in Belgium. Anyway, when Edin-
burgh was a royal castle & residence with its own royal
burgh, the king was hunting in the swamp between Waverly
Station and Arthur's Seat. He came upon a stag, but just as
he was about to shoot it, he noticed a cross [holy rood]
planted between its two sets of antlers. As a result he
spared the deer's life and granted the land to the Canon's
of St Augustin for a priory on that spot.
Later he gave them a charter for a burgh of barony,
which became the burgh known known as Canongate [street of
the Canons]. Amoung the possible privileges granted to
various burghs, were included the right to build a wall,
have a justice court, hold a market or fair, etc. Edinburgh
had the right to have a wall, but Canongate had a market but
no wall.
The boundry between the two was called the Netherbow.
Bow, was a synonym for a type of port, so it would be redun-
dant to say "Netherbow Gate" or "Netherbow Port".
It was called "nether" because of all the ports of Edin-
burgh, it was the lowest and fartherest away from the castle
at the top of the town.
All that remains of the gate are some brass bricks in
the pavement outlining two "D" shaped towers and the arch
between them. Cromwell ordered this gate to be removed as a
symbol of Edinburgh's ability to hold out against him. The
townsmen were able to save the Nehterbow, for a price, but
the same citizens later removed it as it hindered traffic on
the High Street. The term, "Royal Mile" is a later neologism
probably to encourage tourism.
The current ruins of Holyrood Abbey can be seen north
and east of the present palace. As is typical (Iona being
the exception), the church runs from west door to east win-
dow with the cloister on the south side of the church. There
is still a royal crypt in the south transcept of the church.
As medieval kings did not have permanent homes, many
modern palaces started out as monastic guest houses. This is
also true of the original palace of Holyrood which was a
simple wing extending from the south-west corner of the
church and ending the type of tower house, traditionally
called a castle in Scotland.
After the reformation, when the priory had fallen into
ruins, and the union of the crowns, when James VI had moved
south to become James I of England, Charles decided he
needed a proper palace in Scotland. To accomplish this he
built a "modern" copy of the original NW tower house to its
south and connected it with the range to create what is now
the facade of the present palace. This range was then
squared off to produce the interior courtyard and apart-
ments. The present ballroom, a long gallery facing the
courtyard, takes up all of the north range and has within it
elements of the original connection to the church and part
of the ruined priory.
The original arms of the priory have been passed on to
the parish kirk [C of S] which is located about half way be-
tween the priory and the Netherbow on the north side of the
Canongate. On its shield is a stag's head with a cross be-
tween the antlers.
I have also heard the "urban myth" <3> about the canons
using the stone but have never seen an authoritative source.

On the other hand, the story just mentioned above can be
documented and its timing tends to make the myth illogical.

Therefore, "Cadgers in the Canongate" could translate as the dance of the "Sedan Char Carriers in the street of the Canons of St Agustin of Holyrood."

Related asides:
1. Bishops/Abbots/Clergy:
| West [Roman] | West [Irish] | East
----------------------------------------------------
Priest |
Regular | single | single | single
Secular | usu single | usu single | usu married
Bishop | usu secular | regular | regular
Abbot | single | lay lord | single

In the West [Roman], an abbot is subject to the general
of his order, but follows the local bishop out of
courtesy, and may equal him in rank.
In the West [Irish], an abbot is a lay lord of the land
and other things dealing with an abbey, and is over
the local bishop, who is a priest who deals only
with religious matters.
In the East, abbots are responsible to local bishops who
are all former monks, never parish priests.

2. In St Andrews, what is now "South Street", originally
"South Gate" leads from the Cathedral to the "West Port".
The West Port is a traffic hazzard preserved because of its
supposed historicity. Evidence of this is the constant re-
placement of new stone at points 45 degrees from the keys-
tone. You see the arch is a half circle, but busses are
square. Other cities have solved this problem by putting the
gate inside a trafic circle [pedestrians only] or cut a pas-
sage next to it for two way traffic.
When one walled a Scottish burgh, the only communal ef-
fort was its ports, it was the responsibility of the holder
of each tenement to fill in the spaces at the bottom of his
"lang rig". This is why what is left of the town parts of
Scottish burghs are sort of ad hoc affairs, is if designed
by a committee of architects.
There are two reasons why the present West Port in St
Andrews is not so ancient.
A) Most of the original stones have been replaced many
times [including after each bus colision.
B) If one looks at hsitoric maps of St Andrews one will
notice that, similarly to Canongate, the burgh
started at the church door and grew in a westerly
axis in line with that of the church. So when the
town was small, the walls were shorter. When the
town grew, the gate was moved to accommodate the
new walls. In St Andrews the
first West Port was on South Gate near the
Citizen's Stationery;
next, it was moved to just east of Black-
friars and included Holy Trinity within
the city; and
its present location includes blackfriars and
all the medieval and renaissance build-
ings of the city.

3. In the Roman Church, the bishop of Rome is elected, as
above, by the canons, or pastors, of the parishes in Rome.
As a part of becoming a cardinal, each incumbent is made the
the rector [ruler] of a Roman parish church. In the cardinal
appoints a vicar, through whom he can run the parish
<<vicariously>> as an absentee pastor.

*****
1. Alan Paterson <xxxxx@xxxxxxx.xx>
2. Malcolm Brown <xxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx>
3. Anselm Lingnau <xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx>

R Goss
[xxxxxxx.x.xxxx@xxx.xxx]