THE INFLUENCE OF A COVENANTING MINISTER: MR ANDREW DONALDSON OF DALGETY

To most people, the name ‘Dalgety’ is synonymous with the ‘new’ town of Dalgety Bay, Fife, construction of which started in the mid-1960s. The parish of Dalgety, of course, had been in existence for centuries prior to that. The first documented evidence of Dalgety is to be found in a bull issued by Pope Alexander III in March 1178, when the church in Dalgety ‘with all its appurtenances’ was confirmed as being in the possession of the Augustinian priory of Inchcolm. From then until the Reformation it was of little significance, with little to record. Matter began to change post-Reformation, particularly after the signing of the national covenant in February 1638 and the debate as to whether a Presbyterian or Episcopal system of Church governance was to prevail began to gain traction. Dalgety found itself dragged into that debate.

BACKGROUND

Nestling between the royal burgh of Inverkeithing and the burgh of Aberdour, Dalgety was then a parish that extended from the coast about four miles inland to the village of Crossgates. It had no central focus as it probably consisted of no more than clusters of dwellings or fermetouns, scattered throughout its length. Its first Protestant minister, Mr William Paton, arrived in 1598, prior to which the church had been provisioned by readers and exhorters.

According to all reports, Mr Paton was indolent and avaricious. He had been one of the ministers bribed to attend the 1610 general assembly of the Church of Scotland, held in Glasgow, and had also successfully denied the minister of Aberdour his rightful stipend by claiming it for himself. In 1611, because of the shortage of ministers, the kirks of Dalgety, Beath and Aberdour were placed under the charge of one minister. As Aberdour was a more prestigious parish than Dalgety, Mr Paton moved to the manse there and proceeded to neglect both Dalgety and Beath while paying indifferent attention to Aberdour. His successor, Mr Robert Bruce, appeared content to follow in his predecessor’s footsteps.

As more Protestant ministers became available, the synod