Canon Alexander Galloway () was a 16th-century cleric from Aberdeen in Scotland. He was not only a Canon of St Machar's Cathedral, he was a Royal Notary and Diocesan Clerk for James IV and James V of Scotland; vicar of the parishes of Fordyce, Bothelny and Kinkell (1516-1552); five times Rector of King's College – University of Aberdeen; Master of Works on the Bridge of Dee in Aberdeen and for Greyfriars Church in Aberdeen; and Chancellor of the Diocese of Aberdeen. According to Steven Holmes,Holmes, Stephen Mark (2015), Sacred Signs in Reformation Scotland : interpreting worship, 1488-1590 he was one of the most notable liturgists of his time, designing many fine examples of Sacrament Houses across the North-East of Scotland. He was a friend of and adviser to Hector Boece, the first Principal of the University of Aberdeen, as well as Bishop Elphinstone, Chancellor of Scotland and Gavin Dunbar. He was an avid anti-Reformationist being a friend of Jacobus Latomus and Erasmus and clerics in the Old University of Leuven. Along with Gavin Dunbar, Galloway designed and had built the western towers of the cathedral and designed the heraldic ceiling, featuring 48 coats of arms in three rows of sixteen. More than anyone else he contributed to the development of the artistry of Scottish lettering.Harrison, A & Burnett, C J. 2017. 'Scottish Lettering of the 16th century', Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries Scotland, 147: 219-37. He has a claim to be what some might call "a Renaissance Man".McAleese, R. 2019 'Canon Alexander Galloway – Scholar, Priest, or “Renaissance Man” (c1478x1552) ', Scottish Local History, 102: 13-20.
Background In 1949, the Aberdeen architect and antiquarian, William Kelly, wrote a brief hagiography and stated:
In 2017, Charles Burnett provided an outline of this cleric.Charles Burnett, 'Alexander Galloway: A Remarkable Aberdeen Cleric', Leopard (2017), 44-46. A publication by Ray McAleese in 2019 provided a character study of Galloway.McAleese, R. (2019). "Canon Alexander Galloway – Scholar, Priest, or “Renaissance Man” (c1478x1552) Scottish Local History Journal 102: 13-20. Apart from these publications, Galloway is almost invisible in the history of the north-east of Scotland. He was considered by the great reforming Bishop William Elphinstone to be one of his most faithful and able Canons. Hector Boece writing in 1522 a biography of Elphinstone, wrote that Elphinstone ".. hardly did anything without Galloway’s guidance..".Boece, Hector. 1522. Episcoporum Murthlacen et Aberdonen vitae (Paris), p.92. There are no public memorials to him apart from references in two stained glass windows by 20th-century artists – Charles Eamer Kempe and Douglas Strachan. Galloway, when he is recalled is most often remembered as the “architect” of Greyfriars John Knox Church on Broad Street, Aberdeen; the Bridge of Dee; liturgic marks and sacrament houses in Aberdeenshire churches;see, Holmes, S. M. (2015). Sacred signs in Reformation Scotland: interpreting worship, 1488-1590. and finally a striking octagonal baptismal font now in St John's, Aberdeen. There are no images of him apart from those provided in glass by Kempe and Strachan.
Family
Little is known of his early history. His father was William Galloway; his mother is named by Kelly as Marjorie Mortimer.A reference in Registrum Episcopatus Aberdonensis, In the Kalendar of Obituaries, V2, P6, lists Wilelmi Gallouay and Mariorie Mortimar as his father and mother – the anniversary is 6 March. See https://archive.org/details/registrumepiscop02aber/page/n27 Marjorie may have been part of the Mortimer family who at the time were the owners of Craigievar Castle near Aberdeen.There is a strong similarity between the arms of the Mortimer family of Craigievar and those of the Earls of Galloway both of which use the lion rampant as part of their arms. Some of the Mortimer "clan" owned Craigievar Castle, some 20 miles from Aberdeen, in the 15th century. No conclusive evidence can link this family to Galloway’s mother. Marjorie Mortimer may have come from Angus. Alexander had two brothers. William Galloway was a Carmelite in Aberdeen. A second brother, Andrew Galloway, features in the history of King’s College later in the 16th century. Galloway’s father had connections in Angus. This can be seen in the records of St Andrews University where Galloway is recorded as being a matriculated student in 1493.
Galloway almost certainly came as a student to Bishop Elphinstone’s new college (St Mary’s College, later King's College, Aberdeen) in Old Aberdeen (see University of Aberdeen). Later in life he adopted the arms of the namesake family – the Earls of Galloway, a common practice at the time. Alexander Galloway is recorded as "master" Galloway – a graduate in 1499. A priest in the making. He emerges from the shadows as a Royal Notary and Diocesan Clerk for the diocese. In 1503, lays claim to lands at Colyhill, near Chapel of Garioch – the start of his fifty-year connection with the Inverurie area of Aberdeenshire and what was to become his principal parish at Kinkell – two miles from Inverurie.
While his family circumstances remain unclear, Galloway had substantial wealth. He used this during his life to fund various projects as well as allowing him to live comfortably in residences in the parish where he was Prebendary (Kinkell) and in the Chanonry in Old Aberdeen. During his lifetime he provided funds to allow scribes to prepare records of the church St Nicholas in Aberdeen, the cathedral of St Machar in Old Aberdeen, and various Rectoral reports for King’s College (University of Aberdeen). It is believed that the 1549 report on his Rectoral “visitation” is in his own hand. He also provided funds to purchase lands for church purposes and in one instance for a Hospital for “Bedeswomen” at the Foot O’Dee in Aberdeen.Richard Oram p.22, fn.30 in, British Archaeological Association. Conference (2014 : Aberdeen Scotland), J. Geddes, J. Geddes, and British Archaeological Association. 2016. Medieval art, architecture and archaeology in the dioceses of Aberdeen and Moray (Routledge: London) He took arms sometime after c.1500 that reference Fergus of Galloway.Galloway's Arms are based on the ancient Arms of the Earls of Galloway and can be blazoned ‘Azure, a lion rampant Argent, langued Gules, crowned Or’. His motto was 'memorare' (remember). The letters A G surmount the shield. These arms were used by Galloway to decorate many of his liturgical works. They also appear in his own hand on an inventory of St Machar Cathedral.
Architect
Within the few published references to Galloway, his role in the diocese is most often referred to as an "architect". However, in the 16th century the term had not yet been applied to the role that he played within the Diocese.Pevsner, N. 1942. 'The Term "architect" in the Middle Ages', Spectrum, 17: 549-62. In common with the way Cathedral Chapters managed the building work in the diocese, a Master of Works or “supervisor” was first appointed by the Bishop. He in turn would have appointed a Master Mason and a Master Carpenter. The Master of Works would also have had a deputy who kept day to day accounts and reported to Cathedral Chapter. In managing building work for the Chapter, a Master of Works may have made use of wooden models and drawings of buildings, bridges etc. made by the Master Carpenter. There are no records of plans or models still in the diocese.The earliest plan dates from the late 11th Century. See, http://www.stgallplan.org/en/index_plan.html No architectural plans are known in relation of Scottish church architecture in the 16th century. See in general, Knoop, D. and Peredur Jones, G., The Medieval Mason : An Economic History of English Stone Building in the Later Middle Ages and Early Modern Times. 3rd edn. (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1967). Galloway was Master of Works for the Diocese from c. 1509 to his death in 1552. He was suited to this potion first, because of a close working relationship to Bishops Elphinstone and Dunbar and his friendship with Hector Boece. Second, his skill in liturgical matters made him a knowledgeable and safe pair of hands.Holmes, Stephen Mark. 2015. Sacred signs in Reformation Scotland : interpreting worship, 1488-1590. His influence was wider than in the Aberdeen diocese. As an experienced Master of Works he developed a close association with Canon Alexander Mylne of Dunkeld (d.1548), first President of the Scottish College of Justice and Abbot of Cambuskenneth. In that diocese, Mylne supervised, as the Master of Works, the building of the “old” bridge in Dunkeld. This was the same time that Bishop Durbar was revising Bishop Elphinstone’s plans for a bridge over the river Dee. Mylne and Galloway had common interests.Later this friendship led to their close association in opposition to the Reformation when Mylne was Abbot of Cambuskenneth. See, Watt, D, E, R.; Shead, N. F., eds. (2001). The Heads of Religious Houses in Scotland from Twelfth to Sixteenth Centuries. Edinburgh: The Scottish Record Society. . Mylne was part of the “jury” that condemned Patrick Hamilton when he was tried and executed in St Andrews in 1528. Galloway also undertook the role of Master of Works for the great wooden ceiling in the Cathedral, the “Dunbar western towers” of the cathedral, various churches and the Bridge of Dee (1522-1527) in Aberdeen. He was also the Master of Works for Greyfriars Church in Aberdeen and the Snow Kirk in Old Aberdeen.
Liturgist
Apart from his organisation skills, Galloway was a committed conservative priest. He was a “canonist”. He also left a legacy of buildings, signs and symbols that place him as one of the great 16th-century Liturgists in the NE of Scotland.Carter, Charles. 1956. 'The Arma Christi in Scotland', Proceeding of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 90: 116-29. Carter has recalled him as :
Galloway made three important liturgical contributions at his own Church. First a sacrament house (1524). In Scotland the host was most often held in an aumbry usually situated at the east end of the sanctuary. His sacrament house at Kinkell is in the form of an aumbry on the NE wall. Galloway had visited the Low Countries where there are similar sacrament houses. There he met Jacobus Latomus at LouvainIt was Latomus who encouraged Galloway in his opposition to the teaching of Patrick Hamilton who held a Lutheran doctrine of the eucharist. This doctrine would have been seen by Galloway to be at variance with his own. The sacrament house at Kinkell can still be seen although it heavily weathered. It is cross-shaped, with the cupboard (aumbry) in the lower part. It is decorated with the words HIC EST SEVATUM CORPUS DE VIRGINE NATUM (“Here is preserved the body which was born of a virgin’”) on the panelled compartments forming the arms of the cross. Two angels can be seen holding the monstrance on the centre and at the top of the cross. At the bottom is the date, AD 1524, together with Galloway’s initials. There is considerable damage to the installation due to weathering.The Church was abandoned by the Church of Scotland in 1771.
Second, a unique crucifixion plaque (1525). The crucifix scene was designed to show the mass as a re-presentation of the passion. Holmes claims: