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James IV (1488–1513) was a highly successful King of Scots – powerful, vigorous and cultured. But he was also a devoted pilgrim. He made annual journeys to St Ninian’s shrine at Whithorn (and to St Duthac’s at Tain in Easter Ross). In 1507, he made an eight-day journey to Whithorn on foot.
Travelling by foot
A pilgrim's journey was usually made on foot and often over long distances. In the summer of 1508, King James IV met a group of pilgrims bound to Whithorn from Tain, a burgh located in the Highland area of Scotland.
Today, such a journey would take several hours by car. In the 1500s, without good roads and on foot, the journey would have been truly exhausting.
Though pilgrimage was difficult, tiring and lengthy, an infrastructure existed to help pilgrims.
Monasteries provided food and shelter, while inns and other hostelries offered respite.
Pilgrims would also meet up at well-known assembly points such as the prehistoric standing stones at Laggangairn and a bridge over the River Bladnoch.
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| Pilgrims en route to St Andrews, by David Simon. © Historic Scotland |
Illustration from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales depicting medieval pilgrims lodging at an inn. © Glasgow University Special Collections. |
Travelling by sea
Pilgrims from the Isle of Man, Ireland and England travelled by sea to the Galloway coast arriving at the main port of the burgh, Isle of Whithorn, and other ports including Mochrum.
They gave thanks for their safe arrival at Chapel Finian in Mochrum and Saint Ninian's Chapel in the Isle of Whithorn.
Safe Passage
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Arrival in a foreign country must have been an added concern for English and Manx pilgrims. Guarantees of safe conduct issued by the Scots permitted them access to shrines like Whithorn, but only if they complied by certain rules. In 1427, James I granted safe passage to pilgrims and specified that they
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