Restenneth Priory

On this month's journey up north, I called at Restenneth Priory in Angus or Forfarshire in Scotland. Ruinous, of course, though enjoying the benefits of a surviving church tower, it was only ever a little institution, supporting just two canons. It was once upon a small island in a loch, which has since drained away, now approached through a farm. Ardent Protestant though I am, being Prior of such a remote and self-sufficient Christian community sounds rather appealing.

Restenneth was not always the remote island, isolated from the real world, minding its own business. In 1327, little John Bruce, son of King Robert, was buried here, having lived only three short years. His twin brother, David, would go on to become King of Scotland, though his life was complicated somewhat by his relations with the English King Edward III, whose battlefield opponent and prisoner he was to be. I wonder if being an Augustinian canon, or a little prince from whom God’s providence had diverted the Scots’ throne, was a more attractive prospect than living in those violent, turbulent times.

Few of us will ever be rich, famous or powerful. For that, we should be grateful, knowing that many temptations are thereby removed from us. If we revel in the greatness of God rather than the greatness of self, we have much to be thankful for, and much to look forward to:

Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off. Psalm 138:6

A. D