Isle of May Priory
The Isle of May Priory was a monastery and community of Benedictine monks established for 9 monks of Reading Abbey on the Isle of May in the Firth of Forth, Scotland, in 1153, under the patronage of David I of Scotland. The priory passed into the control of St Andrews Cathedral Priory in the later 13th century, and in 1318 the community relocated to Pittenweem Priory on the Fife coast.
![](../I/Isle_of_May_Priory_097594_by-James-Allan.jpg.webp)
The upstanding and excavated remains of the priory were listed as a Scheduled Monument in 1958.[1][2]
Royal pilgrims
Mary of Guelders, bride of James II, visited the island and the shrine of St Adrian in June 1449, according to Mathieu d'Escouchy.[3][4] On 24 August 1539 Mary of Guise and James V made a pilgrimage to the Isle of May. They took three ships, the Unicorn, the Little Unicorn, and the Mary Willoughby.[5] It was believed that a visit to the shrine of St Adrian could help a woman become pregnant.[6]
Bibliography
- Cowan, Ian B. & Easson, David E., Medieval Religious Houses: Scotland With an Appendix on the Houses in the Isle of Man, Second Edition, (London, 1976), pp. 59–60, 94-5
- Watt, D.E.R. & Shead, N.F. (eds.), The Heads of Religious Houses in Scotland from the 12th to the 16th Centuries, The Scottish Records Society, New Series, Volume 24, (Edinburgh, 2001), pp. 143–9
See also
- Pittenweem Priory, the successor house
- Prior of May, for a list of priors and commendators
References
- Historic Environment Scotland. "Isle Of May, St Adrian's Chapel (57873)". Canmore.
- Historic Environment Scotland. "Isle of May Priory (SM838)". Retrieved 5 January 2021.
- Christine McGladdery, James II (John Donald: Edinburgh, 1990), p. 45.
- G. Du Fresne de Beaucourt, Chronique de Mathieu d'Escouchy: 1444-1452, vol. 1 (Paris, 1863), pp. 177-8
- Henry Ellis, 'Household Book of James the Fifth', Archaeologia, vol. 22 (London, 1829), p. 9.
- Marguerite Wood, Foreign Correspondence: Balcarres Papers, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1923), p. 79.