on that I ever yet saw in mortal ... and I never once
saw him in any other temper but that which I wished to be in, in the
last moments of my life."[169] Leighton was Bishop of Dunblane from 1661
to 1670, and chose it as the poorest and smallest of Scotland's sees. At
his death he bequeathed to it his library, which is still preserved.
Those who wish to understand his devotion and inner life may be directed
to Dr. Walter Smith's beautiful poem _The Bishop's Walk_.

Until recently, only the choir was used as the parish church, but in
1893 the cathedral was reopened after a complete restoration costing
L28,000. The restoration was largely due to the munificent generosity of
Mrs. Wallace of Glassingall. The town bears witness to the influence of
the cathedral--

A quaint old place--a minster grey,
And grey old town that winds away
Through gardens, down the sloping ridge
To river's brim and ancient bridge,
Where the still waters flow
To the deep pool below.[170]

8. DIOCESE OF ROSS

David I. followed the foundation of the great bishoprics by dividing the
country north of the great range of the Mounth into separate sees, and
the first of such appears to have been the diocese of Rosemarky or Ross.
Makbeth, the first Bishop of Ross, appears as the witness to a charter
between 1128 and 1130.[171] The church was founded as a Columban
monastery by Lugadius or Moluoc of Lismore before 577, and Bonifacius
refounded it in the eighth century, and dedicated the church to St.
Peter. The Culdees disappear in the course of history, and instead there
emerges a regular cathedral body of canons under a dean.[172] The Bishop
of Ross had this peculiarity, that he took his title from the province,
and not from the town, where he held his see. When the see was founded
by David I., Rosmarkie continued as the cathedral centre, but after the
chapter was enlarged by Gregory IX. in 1235, the cathedral site was
changed to Fortrose or Chanonry, and the church was dedicated to SS.
Peter and Bonifacius. Chanonry is half a mile south-westward from
Rosemarkie, and was united with it in 1455 by James II. as a free burgh
under the common name of Fortrose. The presence of an educated clergy
made the place a centre of culture, and famous schools of divinity and
law flourished under the shadow of the cathedral.

The undercroft of the sacristy (afterwards enlarged) seems to indicate
that the work must have been begun before 1250