state for many years. In the year 1631, a voluntary contribution was made, by many of the citizens, for raising a fund for establishing a church in Futtie, and for a permanent provision to a clergyman. About L.4000, Scottish money, was raised in that manner, and placed under the management of the magistrates and town council. The ancient chapel, of which they were patrons, was soon afterwards repaired, fitted up as a place of worship, under the established church, and consecrated by its former name. In the year 1650, they appointed Mr. James Ritchie, preacher of the Gospel, to officiate as catechist of the charge.

George Davidson of Pettens, burgess of Aberdeen, about the same time, at his own expense, inclosed, by a stone wall, the ground surrounding the church, for a cemetery,* and was otherwise a benefactor to the institution. This benevolent citizen also granted to the magistrates and town council, in trust, for ever, his lands of Pettens and Bogfairly, and other property, for public works, for various charitable purposes, and as a fund for a permanent provision to one of the ministers of the established church.

The money, which had been raised by subscription, and by subsequent donations, was laid out in the purchase of grounds, in the vicinity of the church, so as to produce a permanent revenue to the minister. These grounds are now distinguished by the name of Futtie glebe.

In the year 1787, when Dr. John Thomson, the present incumbent, was appointed to the ministerial charge, the old fabric was demolished, a handsome new church, with a belfry, erected in its place, and the cemetery, and area in front of it, surrounded by a proper wall. As the population of this quarter of the town has, of late

years,

*For the purpose of preserving the memory of this pious work, executed at the charge of a benevolent citizen, there was fixed in the old wall, and has been rebuilt into the new, a stone, bearing the following inscription :

years, very much increased, the congregation is numerous; and Dr. Thomson administers all the sacred ordinances of religion under the established presbyterian church.

The following is a list of the ministers who have been appointed to this church, since its original establishment, with the dates of their several admissions :

A school for instructing children in reading, writing, and in the principles of arithmetic, was, at an early period after the institution of the church, established at Futtie, by the session of Aberdeen. The present schoolmaster is Mr. William Smith, who was settled in the year 1791.

Some years ago, the late Mr. John Davidson, goldsmith in Aberdeen, left a bequest of L.1000 to certain trustees, for erecting another school, and establishing a school-master and school-mistress: the former to teach, gratuitously, the male children of white fishers, in Futtie, and of seafaring people in the neighbourhood, reading, writing, arithmetic, book-keeping, and navigation; and the latter to teach the female children of such persons, reading, writing, spinning, sewing, and knitting. Mr. William Barnet is the present master of the school, which is under the management and direction of Mr. David

son's trustees.

GREY FRIARS' CHURCH,

This place of worship, which is situated on the east side of the Broadgate, belonged, in ancient times, to the monastery of the Franciscan or Grey friars, established at Aberdeen. The church is said to have been originally erected for the friars, by Bishop Gavin Dun

bar,

bar, about the beginning of the sixteenth century, and was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. After the Reformation, the magistrates and town council, by a charter from King James VI. dated December 30th, 1567, acquired right to the property of those friars, for the purpose of establishing a public hospital, for the reception and support of indigent persons, who were lame and disabled, of orphans, and young children. This intended institution, however, never having taken place, the property, with the reservation of the church, was, in the year 1576, sold, by the council, to three of the citizens, for the consideration of an annual feu duty. In the year 1592, it was again purchased by the magistrates, from the proprietors at the time, for the sum of eighteen hundred merks of price, and presented, by them, to George Earl Marischal, for the site of the college which he had in view to establish.* Although the church had been reserved by the magistrates as a place of worship, to the town, it remained in a state of neglect for several years.†

In the year 1617, it was ordered to be repaired, under the authority of an act of council, and to be fitted up with pews, for the exercise of prayer and other acts of devotion. Afterwards, a gallery was erected in it for the accommodation of the magistrates, on whom the right of patronage was conferred, by the charter to the borough from King Charles I. in the year 1638. About the year 1644, Sir Thomas Crombie of Kemnay, among other benevolent bequests to the magistrates, for the benefit of the town, demised a certain sum as a fund for a permanent provision to an established minister of this church.‡ Accordingly,

* Council Register, vol. xxix. p. 18. vol. xxxiv. p. 840.

+ In the archives of the town, there is a disposition, dated May 4th and 11th, 1692, granted by the principal and professors of the college, with consent of George Earl Marischal, and William Lord Keith, his son, to the magistrates, council, and community, of the Greyfriars church and church-yard; and also of a piece of marshy ground, called the backbuts, lying on the east end of the college garden, and formerly a commonty, which is directed to be applied to the support of the fabric of the church. In the year 1756, it was ordered to be fitted up for the occasional meetings of the church session, and for catechising the inhabitants and their children.-[Council Register, vol. lxii. p. 110.]

Council Register, vol. liii. p. 15.

Accordingly, they have been in the practice of presenting to the ministerial charge the person who is nominated professor of divinity of the Marischal college; but this is merely nominal. The professor of divinity is, at the same time, appointed one of the established ministers of Saint Nicholas church, where he discharges his ministerial duty. When the increasing population of the town required the Greyfriars church for the accommodation of the inhabitants, the magistrates and council, for the purpose of supplying the place of the established minister, were in the practice of appointing a preacher of the Gospel to officiate in it; for which service he was in use to receive an annual salary from the public funds, under the charge of the

treasurer.

Of late years, the preacher, presented by the magistrates, has received no fixed salary from the town; but, as a consideration for his ministerial services, he is allowed to let the seats of the church, and to draw the rents arising from these, which, to a popular preacher, might, perhaps, be considered as a sufficient recompense.

There remains very little of the ancient structure, besides the side walls, and a fine Gothic window in the south end. About the year 1768, the church underwent a thorough repair, but was reduced in length nearly twenty feet, which were taken from the north end for the purpose of enlarging the entry to the court-yard of the college. The small spire was removed; a new roof put upon the church, which was fitted up with new seats; and an aisle and gallery constructed on the east side, for the accommodation of the professors and students of the college, at the expense of about L.500 sterling, defrayed by the treasurer.

Previous to the Reformation, the church was open to the Broadgate, there being no buildings in front of it, as at present. In the year 1562, when the council had acquired a right to the property, the vacant ground was given off to several of the citizens, for the purpose of erecting booths (shops) betwixt the south wall of the church and the line of the street, in consideration of an annual feu duty, to be paid to the treasurer. By the condition of the grant, it

was

was provided, that the shops to be erected should be only four and three-eighth parts of an ell in heighth, from the level of the ground, and that they should have neither chimnies, lights, nor windows, on the east side, towards the church.

Dr. DANIEL DEWAR, one of the Professors of King's College, is the present officiating clergyman in this church.

The following is a list of the names of the successive ministers and preachers, who have been appointed to the Greyfriars, with the dates of their several admissions :