2013

NS3673 : The John Knox Tree

taken 11 years ago, near to Langbank, Renfrewshire, Scotland

The John Knox Tree
The John Knox Tree
The tree, a yew, is so called because it was under its shade, in the year 1556, that "John Knox is said to have celebrated the first Reformed Communion in the West of Scotland". The notice visible in the foreground also mentions that the tree was moved a distance of 30 metres in 1900; according to the online histories cited in the end-note, it was moved on railway tracks. This laborious procedure was carried out in order to let light into the windows of NS3673 : Finlaystone House.

The following details are from page 41 of the first volume of the "Annals of the Andersonian Naturalists' Society" (1893), and require no further comment:

"The remains of a large yew west of the house are interesting from the tradition that under its branches and those of four others which have now disappeared, but which formed a line running westwards from the house, the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was dispensed by John Knox, when he was at Finlaystone in 1556 as the guest of Alexander, the fifth or 'good' Earl of Glencairn. The visit of Knox and his dispensing the sacrament are matters of history well authenticated, but whether it is correct to associate the ceremony with the group of yews, now only represented by a vigorous branch of one, may be doubted. Within recent years this, the last of the group of yew trees, has been much cut down, owing to its interfering with the house."
Finlaystone House and Estate

See LinkExternal link for the history of the house, and LinkExternal link for information about the surrounding estate. Finlaystone House (c.1764), standing on the site of an earlier castle, was originally the work of John Douglas, but alterations and additions were made c.1872, and more extensively, by John James Burnet, from 1898-1903.


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Lairich Rig and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · Finlaystone House [20] · John Knox Tree [5] ·
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
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NS3673, 142 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Lairich Rig   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Wednesday, 14 August, 2013   (more nearby)
Submitted
Friday, 20 September, 2013
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NS 3642 7370 [10m precision]
WGS84: 55:55.7077N 4:37.1898W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NS 3642 7368
View Direction
NORTH (about 0 degrees)
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Image classification(about): Geograph
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